Thursday, December 5, 2013

We have a motor!

 Things have been crazy busy for us as of late with the holidays coming, busy at work, and still working on the house, but we took time out to run down to Bardstown KY to look at a 2006 Nissan 3.5 hp long shaft outboard for Memory Maker. The owner said the motor had never been in the water and once I saw it I believed him as it is brand new. Just a bit of dust under the cowl from sitting around for so long. He said the original owner bought it and took it out of the box. Was going to fill it with oil and mount it on the boat the next day but his boat was stolen that night. After a couple of years he sold the motor, still un ran, to the person we got it from. He was new to boats and did not know the difference between long and short shaft motors. He takes it home, fills it full of oil, sticks it in a bucket of water and fires it up. Said it started on the first pull. Satisfied that it ran he mounted it on his small john boat. Luckily he stepped back and looked down. The bottom of the motor was almost dragging the ground. He put it back in his garage and there it set for another year. He got it out and fire it up this year and listed it for sale. That is where we come in.
 Bardstown is about an hour and half south of us in Bourbon Country, as the locals call it. Jim Beam, Heaven Hills, and several other distilleries are all located right around the Bardstown area. Downtown Bardstown is very neat with nice shops and places to eat and sample local bourbon. Just go there on any day other than Sunday as most places close on Sundays. We walked around the town for a while and checked out a local antique mall before going to the bourbon bar on the sw corner across from the courthouse. Cindy tried some bourbon while we shared some loaded cheese fries. It was not long before it was time to go look at the motor. Another lesson learned with my phone's GPS. If you are outside of Verizon's coverage area the gps will not give directions. Luckily Cindy's phone picked up a stray Verizon tower and got us to the owner's house. Checked out the motor, fired it up, paid the man, loaded it up and headed home.
 The weather in Indiana is always unpredictable but it is getting to the time of year that we can start having winter weather any day so I was planning on covering Memory Make up for her long winter's nap. We had received 2 letters from the company we insured Memory Maker through and I had assumed Cindy had opened them. Luckily, I happened to come across the un opened envelopes in the boat file before I covered her for the winter. I opened them to discover that we had ten days to send them detailed pics of the boat from all angles, inside and out, plus photos of the rigging, sails, and motor. A quick look at the calendar showed we had only a few days left to get them pics or have them cancel our policy. Yet another lesson learned, always open letters from the boat insurance company. We got lucky and the day after Thanksgiving was sunny with temps in the lower 40's. We bundled up, well at least I did, and headed out to step the mast and rig the boat one more time. One would think that things would have gone smoother the second time around since we had one previous rigging under out belts. Stepping the mast did seem to work better this time with me lifting it off the crutch to Cindy who held it in place while I got on top of the cabin with her. Then I lifted it up to vertical while she attached the forestay. We, ok, I, really thought that when we put the jib sail up the last time that we put it in the bag so that the first eye to come out would be the top of the sail so we could attach the jib halyard and go. Well, turns out that was the main sail. The jib still had the jib sheet attached so we rolled it up with the jib sheet going in last. Goof ball me attached the jib halyard to the tack instead of the head of the sail. Cindy started clipping the jib to the forestay as I pulled the jib halyard down. A stray line hit my head so I looked up and was surprised to  see the jib sheet hanging 8 feet in the air. OH crap! We, ok,  I , put the sail on upside down! Had Cindy's sister Dottie not been standing on the ground watching we might not have ever told anyone what we, I, did. Minor delay as we re rigged the jib. From there on it went smoothly. I attached our new motor to the mount and started taking pics.

 
 
It did not take long to take the pics which was good as Cindy was freezing. We looked like old pros taking everything down and dropping the mast. It was just getting dark as we backed her into her parking spot and put her to bed for another nap. This time we did not have any issues with the trailer coming off the ball as I picked up a 2" ball at Harbor Freight. Amazing how well the right size ball works.
 Well with this being Indiana if you do not like the weather just wait a few minutes and it will change. The past few days have been crazy warm, like 70 degrees yesterday. I took advantage of the warm days to get Memory Maker ready for the winter. I took her mast off and hung it from the trusses in the garage. I felt safer with it indoors so we do not have to worry about a tree falling over it and ruining it. then I build a vertical support that attaches to the mast mount. I then ran a 2x4 from the front pulpit to the support and another 2x4 from the rear rail to the support. The 2x4's will make the ridge boards for the tarp roof over the cabin top of Memory Maker. Last night I covered her up with a new tarp and secured it down around her. My covering skills will get their first test over the next few days. Rain is forecasted for today, changing to sleet this evening, changing to snow tonight with 5-7" total expected. Then Sunday we are forecasted to get up to 3/4" of ice. I wish she set level as then the slope of the tarp would shed water off both side equally. With her listing to port about 5 degrees the starboard side of the tarp is almost level. Until I get her parking spot leveled all I can do is keep an eye  on it and clear the tarp off as necessary. Hoping to work on the cabin though the winter I covered is so I can still get in the cockpit under the rear rail.
 After I removed the mast there really is not much left on the cabin top. That got me thinking that it would be pretty easy to go ahead and paint the cabin top before we put the mast back on. Looking at the mast it could use a new coat of paint as well. Looks like I just added a few more things to our to do list. Lets hope we have an early spring so we can get everything done before it is time to take her to the lake!!!!




Thursday, November 21, 2013

~Success on so many levels~

                                                               Cindy's Perspective

I've not really spent much time blogging.  Sam is much more experienced than me but I had to supervise a girls basketball game tonight at school and if your own daughter isn't playing, the games can seem to drag on.  I thought I'd take time to give my version of why our first attempt at stepping the mast and raising the sails was a success.

Let me preface my reasoning by comparing that I anticipate our first attempts at sailing could be like the couples participating in "The Amazing Race".
Some couples fight and blame each other when it gets a little dicey while others encourage and support.  Based on the dynamics of our relationship, I was already certain that when the excitement mounted in our attempts, there would be support and encouragement.  Last night confirmed my suspicions.  Although nothing catastrophic happened, there were some moments that tested Sam's patience.  He passed! My first instructions were to clip something to something attached to the bow of the boat. (I don't know all the nomenclature of sailing yet and I apologize for that.)  I was wearing gloves and it took what seemed like forever.  I'm sure Sam was thinking,"what the heck is taking so d@#* long?"  he never uttered a sound let alone asked me why I wasn't able to carry out the simplest of tasks in a reasonable amount time.  FIRST POINT  SCORED.  After that was done, I had to go to the stern and help do something to the boom.  Now given that my center of gravity is low to the ground because I have short, stubby, tree trunk type legs and some limited high school gymnastics balance beam experience, one would think my balance would be solid as I traveled down the skinny sides of the boat.  Not so much.  I looked like a college coed her first weekend on campus.  Staggering like a drunken sailor, I inched my way to the cockpit and landed with a thud.  The trailer had already bounced off the hitch once and when I landed, it would have been another opportunity for Sam to criticize my less than perfect form.  Again, not a word was uttered.  POINT TWO.  After we raised the sails and tied them off he lead me to a seat and opened the hatch and produced our camping wine glasses and a bottle of yummy wine that I renamed Cindy Knoll instead of Windy Knoll.  POINT THREE.  He truly is the most thoughtful man I have ever met.  He took our pics and the romantic moment was over because we were burning daylight.  With all of the stuff out of the cabin except the tiller and rudder, we had a chance to really examine sleeping space.  We are certain we have enough room to bunk overnight.  Sam is about 6' 2" and with some curling of long legs (his, not mine) it will be very cozy and doable.  To be honest, I get so excited with anticipation of how cool it will all be that I feel like a teenager anticipating getting their drivers license.  I knew that purchasing this boat and then having to wait all winter and some of the spring before we can actually get on the water was going to be torture.  And once again I'm right.  It is.  And last night really whet my appetite. The ONLY good thing is that this body has some time to prepare for a swimsuit.  But that's a whole other blog entry....
Taking everything down and folding it all up wasn't bad at all.  I had visions before we tried it, that the sailing hours would slip through our fingers rigging everything and half the day would be over before we even had the chance to get to the middle of the lake where speedboats would cuss us for being in their way.  Turns out, we will have plenty of  time and opportunities to make people mad.
Our first "at mast" was fun.  And I think I can speak for both of us that just like our first date, it left us wanting more.  ;-)

We went sailing!!!

 Ok, technically it was just yard sailing but we had fun and learned a lot. It was our first attempt at stepping the mast and rigging the sails so we were both a little curious how it would go. I had the her hooked to Juicy the Jeep and the mast ready to step when Cindy got home from work. After a quick change of clothes Cindy scampered up the ladder into the cockpit and we got to work. Cindy stood on the cockpit seats and lifted the mast up as high off the stern crutch as she could then I pulled, really hard, and stood the mast up to the vertical position. It was actually quite a bit heavier to lift from her hands up to about the 45 degree point than I thought it would be. I am looking into someway that we can increase how high Cindy is able to lift the boom so I do not have as far to raise it up. It seems to be much easier to be under the mast pushing up that it is to be in front of it trying to pull it up. Once we got it vertical Cindy moved to the bow and secured the front stay to the bow eye. I put the bow pin in the mast base and she was stepped. Then it was onto the sails. I had only seen it done twice but it turned out to really be a lot easier than I had it made out to be in my mind. The jib snapped on easy and Cindy raised it up. We let the sheets lay loose on the deck just incase a breeze did blow up from somewhere. Next came the main and once I found the clew and slid it in the top slot on the boom all went well. Our main sail has sail slugs on it that run up a track slot in the stern of the mast. Cindy pulled the halyard while I fed the slugs in the slots. We had it up in no time. For some reason I thought I forgot something so we dropped the main back down. It was then that I realized what I forgot. Dave had told me something went in the slot the slugs go in once you get the main raised. There is a plug that goes in that slot that keeps the slugs from dropping out when you lower the main sail. Once the sail started coming down and the slugs were falling out I suddenly remembered. We just ran it back up reinserting slugs as it went up. We did not have much time before it got dark so we did not mess with trying to find the plug for the slot.
 Once we had the sails up it was time to share our first glass of wine at sunset on our Memory Maker. I had hid a bottle of Windy Knoll Red and our two collapsible wine glasses in the port side storage locker before Cindy had got home. We made a quick toast, took a quick pic
 

 as we enjoyed the sun setting through the trees,

then gulped our wine down so we could get busy taking everything back down and get her put back in her parking spot before it got totally dark. Gotta love it getting dark at 5:45 in the evening. Take down went well with no real snags. Not sure we folded the sails right but is there really a right way? I am sure there is and I am the first to say that I do not know what it is. We tried to fold them so that the part that came out of the bag first would be the first part we needed to work with. I guess the next time we go through our mast stepping drill we find out if we were close to being right. Funny thing about gravity, the mast went down a lot easier than it went up. It did not seem to take very long and we had the mast down and all lines secured to it. We backed her back in her parking spot just as the last few rays of daylight faded to darkness.
 All totaled we stepped the mast, rigged the sails, had a toast, took some pics, gulped our wine, and then put everything away in 55 mins. We did not think that was bad for a couple of total newbies. Surely the few minor delays we had figuring things out the first time should get better the next couple of times we do it and I don't see why we could not have the boat on the water in 15 mins or close to it. Granted we did no set the rudder on the pins or have to mess with the motor but both of those items should go pretty quickly. We still think being able to store her with the mast up on the trailer will still be the way to go. Then all we will have to do is hook onto the trailer, rig the sails, load the booze and food, put the motor on the mount and rudder on the pins, then launch her off the trailer.
 Juicy had no problem moving her back and forth out of her parking spot so the idea that we an use her to launch and retrieve her out of the water seems feasible. We did have one little surprise get us and it was not the boat's doing. Both our utility and kayak trailers use 1 7/8" ball couplers. The boat trailer is a two inch coupler.  In an attempt to save time, you can probably see what is about to happen before I even write it, I just used the hitch with the 1 7/8" ball to move the trailer. I have done this several times in the past with no issues, but now that I think about it, I never did it where there would be a negative amount of weight on the hitch, like there was when we were in the cockpit of the boat. So as we stood in the cockpit of the boat admiring the fact that we got the mast stepped and the sails up all of a sudden the bow shot up in the air and the stern of the trailer hit the ground. Crap, the hitch slipped over the ball! Remain calm, not a problem. I had Cindy to move aft as far as possible to hold the stern down then I hopped out and went to the hitch and then lowered it back down onto the ball. Just to make sure we did not have a repeat performance I put the wood block under the rear of the trailer before I got back in. Yes, a second hitch with a 2" ball is now on the list of items we need to get for our Memory Maker!

Monday, November 18, 2013

She made it home!


 Well the day had finally come and we were on our way to pick up our Memory Maker. I picked up our company truck and stopped back by the house to pick up my lil lady before we headed off to Terre Haute to bring her home. It was a dreary, cool, mid November morning in Indiana. It was also the first day of deer gun season so we were on high alert for deer jumping out in front of us as they ran for their lives. We had a good ride over to Terre Haute and arrived at Dave's house to see our girl sitting in his driveway. Dave had gotten her ready to roll for us and gave us some last minute advice about how to handle the "parade" of cars that usually back up behind a boat being towed down the road. We practiced the wave he said his wife uses with cars as they race past them when they finally get a chance to pass LOL!
 We hooked and headed out on our journey. We stopped a couple of miles down the road to check how she was riding and all looked good. I was concerned about the length of the trailer light pigtail as it was just barely long enough to reach the plug on the bumper. I would really like to meat the genius who came up with the idea of putting the plug 18" to the left of the hitch. They must have flunked geometry as almost any six grader could tell you what will happen to the wire in a tight right had turn. WE got lucky and the pigtail was just long enough to reach even in a right hand turn. She pulled well and seemed happy to be on the road again. I took the pic of her in the mirror as we sat at a red light on the south side of Terre Haute. We stopped a few miles down the road to adjust the strap that we had going up and over the sidewalls of the boat as it had worked loose. I did not want to loose our boat like Dave and Susan did their new one on their trip home with it. I moved the strap as far aft as I could get it and tightened it back down. It road there fine the rest of the way home. While not as light as an SJ's we had been looking at the truck did not seem to notice it was back there much at all. I knew she was back there for three reasons. One, I kept checking my mirrors every second looking for issues. Two, in trailer mode the shift points in the truck really get stretched out. And three, the instant readout on the gas mileage was really depressing me. I saw a lot of single digit numbers on the way home. We are defiantly going to be keeping her at the lake as much as possible next summer to avoid single digit gas mileage numbers!
 We made it to Bloomington with no issues so we stopped at Chic Fillet as I really like their waffle fries. The place was crazy busy so we parked in the Target parking lot. It too was crazy busy but I found some open spaces and did my best to get the truck and trailer to not stick out too far in the lane behind or in front of us. I would have preferred to park lengthwise but there were not enough open spots to do that. We had open spots on each side of us when we left her but had people sitting right next to us upon our return. There was no way to pull through now so I got lucky and was able to back her out. That meant we got to parade her past the entrance of Target instead of exiting out the back of the lot. Too bad we did not see somebody in Santa outfit. That would have really screwed with the kids to see Santa go past in a sailboat LOL!
 Our path home took us right across the causeway of Lake Monroe, which will be her new home this coming summer. I pulled in the Cutright boat launching ramp so we could get a pic of us with our girl by the water.

 I think she was saddened that we did not back her up and get her wet but we have lots to do before we are ready for that. We got back on the road so we could finish our journey. Cindy was all excited thinking about all the fun we are going to have with her. I have never seen someone who can come up with so many different ways to have fun. Cindy just keeps coming up with new scenarios of won't this be fun and won't that be fun. I have to agree they all sound great but I keep trying to remind that we have to learn how to sail first!
 Before long we were pulling into our driveway and heading up the hill to her new winter hangout. We plan on keeping her on the west side of our garage on graveled area that I normally store our utility trailer and kayak trailer. We live on top of a ridge, so level ground is a prized commodity. Being that owning a sailboat was not on my radar when I leveled the ground for the garage I did not think about leveling the parking area on the side of it. Needless to say when I backed her into her parking spot she listed pretty good to port. I originally thought I would just jack her up and level the trailer but after seeing how far out of level it was I gave up and will just level an area for her. But while I had the left trailer tire up in the air I spun the wheel to hear how the bearings sounded. Oh no, it sounded like a hand full of gravel had been thrown into the bearings! I grabbed the tire at the top and bottom and rocked the wheel. There was close to an inch of movement! Boy did we just get sooooo lucky! I would say we would have major wheel issues in another few miles. Cindy still has a lot to learn and does not fully understand my concern about wheel bearings. I think once she sees them apart and can better understand what little holds it all together she will have a better appreciation for them and my concern about them. Nothing sucks more than loosing a trailer wheel because of bearing failure. Sure you might have a jack with you and can change a tire on the road but who carries a spare set of bearing and races??? All of a sudden a quick pull home turns into the day from hell trying to find bearings and tools to put it all back together. Ask me how I know...
 But we got lucky and made it home safely. We played around inside her and came up with different ideas on how and what we want to do to her this winter. Can someone tell me why the wiring on most small sailboats looks like a squirrel on crack just built a nest??? Cindy was a little less than comfortable moving around in her too much due to her listing to port so far. We went topside and  tried to see if there was enough room for both of us to lay back on top of the bow so we can watch the sunsets together. I could not get Cindy to slide over far enough to port to find out as she was afraid we were going to tip her over. Needless to say I was glad the bow pulpit was there to keep me from falling off the starboard side. Nothing like one cheeking it LOL.
 Breanna, my daughter, got to  check her out yesterday. I do not think she had ever been on sailboat before. Her first concern was how to steer it since the rudder and tiller are tucked away in the cabin. She went down below and just kept saying how you better like whoever you are with really well as it so small. Granted it is not huge but once everything is out of the cabin and in it's place we think there will be plenty of room for overnighting. Bre did get a kick out of the toilet paper holder built into the port side of the interior wall. I though it was a nice touch myself. But then she commented that the porta pottie seemed a bit sketchy LOL.
 We had strong storms pass through yesterday but we lucked out and did not get the worst of it. I was concerned that a strong gust of wind might weathervane her around which would have lined her up to go down the hill side. Gravity would have taken over and we would have had a good story to share about how our new sailboat wound up stuck between two trees in the woods. Sometimes having a wheeled tongue jack is not always a good thing. But my fears never came to life and she rode out the storms like a trooper.
 We are hoping to get some practice stepping the mast this week before we remove the mast for the winter and cover her up. I have this fear of a tree limb falling down on her and ruining the mast. I can repair fiberglass but if you ruin the mast you are basically screwed. I would feel better with it tucked away in the garage. Dave's estimate of how long it should take us to step the mast and be on the water had dropped to ten minutes from fifteen when we picked her up. I will be happy if we can get it up and rigged in less than an hour the first few times. Needless to say it should be a hoot. Stay tuned for details on how it all goes!!! Only a 134 days to go till the official start of the sailing season!!!!


Monday, November 4, 2013

Still not home yet

 Well our first full week as sailboat owners was a little depressing since we did not actually have our boat at home. We are hopeful that we be able to retrieve her and bring her home soon. Maybe this weekend if all works out well. The fact that we did not have our Memory Maker home did not detour us from lots of conversation about future plans and what we want to do and get for our new camper on the water. Cindy is busy making plans for the cushions we will need to make. We differ in our opinions on how best to make the cushions for the main sleeping area over the table. I sure once we get her home and get to play around inside her a bit we will soon figure out which is the best direction to go on that issue. I have been busy looking for a grill, stereo, and other accessories we think are "must haves". Still searching for a outboard motor as well. Have a few on Craigslist that I think would work fine but of course they are located some distance away. The ones that are close enough to go get are all more money. Go figure. Isn't that how it always go. We have plenty of time before sailing season gets here so I am not too worried that we get it all worked out.
 We are still unsure just where exactly on Monroe we will be keeping her this coming summer. I think we are leaning more towards the fenced in storage at the Lake Monroe Sailing Association. The power that flushing toilets has over Cindy is quite comical. Hot showers and not having the fear of our boat sinking in the night while tied to a buoy I think are the real plusses to dry storage over the buoy.
 It turned out that we were at Lake Monroe both days this weekend. Friends of ours from Fort Wayne met some friends of theirs there Saturday to kayak and camp. We went over Saturday night to share their campfire with them and catch up. It was beautiful night with clear skies and a annoying wind that would not choose one direction nor lay down for the night till after we left. I got to see the two wooden strip kayaks that Jay had built for himself and his wife Joyce. There is just something beautiful about a stripper. Stripper in this sense referring to a cedar strip kayak LOL. I have long wanted to build one and still do. Even more so after seeing Jay's boats out in the light. I was really hoping to build us a tandem strip kayak this winter but I could tell that Cindy was really wanting a real boat more than a new tandem kayak. I was fine with that knowing we would probably get more use out of the sailboat than the kayak. That does not change my desire level to build one though. There is always next winter and realistically I will have more than enough projects to keep me busy  around the house this winter.
 Yesterday we met Jerry and Amy at Yellowwood State park and paddled around the lake there in the afternoon. It turned out to be a beautiful fall afternoon with the fall colors probably at peak. It is not the most colorful of falls that I can remember but none the less it is still a nice change of pace to see all the different colors mother nature has on her palette. The lake was calm and there were a few other kayakers canoeist out. The shore line was busy with people walking the trails and taking pics of us out on the water.

 
 
 Here is one of us taken by Jerry. Hard to see but I was fishing with my pocket fisherman while "trolling motor" Cindy was leading the way. Jerry and I each caught a fish so all was good. My fish did me a favor and got off the hook by itself just as I reached for it so I did not have to smell like fish. We took sandwiches and warm red wine with cinnamon schnapps and had a lil picnic on the water as we enjoyed a very relaxing paddle. It was not long before the descending sun brought us longer shadows and cooler temps. We headed back to the ramp and loaded up, destined for our favorite restaurant at Monroe, the Scenic View. We opted not to take the short cut that Jerry and Amy discovered on their way to Yellowwood fearing the restaurant might close before we got there LOL.   
 In warmer temps we really enjoy their outside dining but the girls seemed a bit reluctant to dine under the stars last night so we took the last four open seats that they had which were at the bar. We are always treated to good eats and drinks every time we go there and last night was more of the same. It was dark when we finished and thinks to daylight savings time that started earlier that morning 6:15 felt like 8 o'clock. As we left I tried my best to give the gang a demonstration of the high 85 on the Little Ceaser's commercial. Like I told them, it is pretty much impossible to jump up and get your feet out that far then back down before your rear impacts the ground. I was right, as I landed firmly on my rear on my second attempt. It was a good laugh none the less and I at least get points for being the only one brave/stupid enough to try it.
 We crossed over the causeway at Lake Monroe on our way home just as the last few lumens of light from the setting sun were being extinguished. We looked as far as we could out over the lake but no sails were to be seen. It was not long before Cindy had her head on my shoulder and was fast asleep. There is something about riding in a car that just puts her to sleep. A good copilot she is not LOL.  As I drove I wondered to myself how well she will sleep on the sailboat as we sail. I can see her all stretched out on the cockpit seat asleep in the sun as I sail us off to no where. Good times await and I can't wait! 

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

We have our Memory Maker!!!!

 It is official, we have purchased our own Memory Maker! Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day and after a quick flight down to Madison IN to shoot a job we hurried home so I could get the next step in our retaining wall repair done. After reading Cindy's entry about stopping at 3 wineries and antique stores I knew we better get an early start. Luckily all went well and I was ready to go about an hour earlier than I thought I would be. Well we did not hit 3 wineries, just one, and no antique stores, but we did find a new lake to kayak on. Neither of us had ever been to Yellowwood state park so we stopped and check it out. It was a really nice tree lined lake and we can't wait to go back and paddle on it.
 After we left the lake I got to listen to Cindy struggle with Sirri on her iphone trying to find a winery on the way to Terre Haute. Cindy finally found a winery close to our route but then struggled again trying to get Sirri to give her directions. It got quite comical listening to Cindy annunciate directions every way possible trying to get her phone to understand the address to Owen Valley winery. After a good laugh I finally asked my faithful Droid for directions and in no time we were on course to the winery. It was not long before we got off the main road and followed the signs and my phone's GPS down winding back roads. At one point I really thought either my phone or the road signs should have suggested four wheel drive is recomended to go any further. The road went from new pavement to old pavement, to gravel, to rutted dirt. We kept going and finally arrived at the winery. We sampled all the sweet wines and decided on getting a bottle of Cayuga then we were back on the road eager to get to Terre Haute to check out the boat. As we drove out of the winery I had to stop to take a pic of a sign they had on a post. It was a hoot!!! In case it is too small to read it says WINNO XING!



 It was not long before we arrived at the location of the sailboat in Terre Haute. As we drove up the owner's drive Cindy saw a pretty two tone blue boat and got all excited, as blue is her favorite color. I had to remind her that the blue boat was not the one we came to look at. Our boat was sitting behind the blue sailboat. It looked really nice from the drive and the owner had the mast stepped up already. We got out and met the owners, Dave and Susan, then checked out the boat. The boat we were there to look at was a 1984 Hunter 20. While it was a foot shorter than the San Juan 21's we had been looking at but it had a much bigger feel with a much more usable cabin area. It also had a pop top on the cabin which gave me almost enough head room to stand up in that area. It also has a table that Cindy was really wanting. The table dropped down to make a bed as well. So Cindy can have her table to eat on and I can have a full size bed to, well you know what on ;-). A win win in my eyes! There are storage compartments under every seat, a place for the battery with an electrical panel, interior lights, port a potty, and a pump sink. The v birth was a little bit shorter than the other boats we had been looking at. While I think I could sleep in it I think it would tight. I am thinking the bed over the table will be out preferred nesting area. One really nice feature is that the forward portholes open up to let in more air. So between the front hatch, the port holes, and the companion way with a screen in it, airflow on warm summer nights should not be a problem. Funny thing about sailboats openings. I guess the manufactures all assume that everyone is going to be sailing these boats in the ocean far away from flies and mosquitos as none of them make provisions for screens in the front hatch or the port holes. I am pretty sure I can make screens for them without too much trouble. I was a bit bummed to learn that  Dave and Susan did not have the interior cushions for the boat so we will have to make new ones for it. Can we say winter project for Cindy??? Outside the cabin the boat is really pretty nice. There are storage areas under both cockpit seats, a detachable swim ladder on the back with a bow and stern pulpits. The pulpit is the rail on the front and rear of the boat. Kate Winslet leans forward on the bow pulpit of the Titantic. Our pulpit is a bit shorter so Cindy will have to be on her knees if she tries that or she will probably flip over the rail and come bobbing up somewhere behind the boat LOL! The stern pulpit is nice as they make gas grill mounts that attach to the stern pulpit. We will have to have one! The grill goes on the stern because when at anchor the boat will always point into the wind. Put the grill on the back and the smoke will blow away from the boat. Like the opening portholes and rear rail, this boat has features not normally found on boats this size. Dave showed us the sails and how easy it was to get the sails rigged and ready to sail. It looked so easy we were both thinking we could actually do it. We helped Dave drop the mast and prepared the boat to go down the road. Again, easy enough we think we can pull it off. I could tell by the gleam in Cindy's eye that she really liked the boat but I had to ask just to make sure. She wanted the boat! So after brief negotiations we arrived at a price, shook hands, and retreated inside to do the paperwork and warm up. Before we left we asked Dave if he could take a pic of us with our very first boat. Her we are with our Memory Maker!
 We were kinda bummed we had to leave her behind but we are making arrangements with a friend to help us get her home soon. Now that we have a boat and know how much weight we are going to be pulling we have a better idea what kind of vehicle we need to get. Cindy is really liking the new Jeep Cherokees so we will have to see what turns out with that. We were giddy with excitement as we drove home. Dream come true for both of us to get a boat. It seems like it has been such a long journey as it has consumed much of our conversations since we first shared the thought with each other that we should get a boat. We spent the whole drive home talking about what we need to get, what we want to get, and all the fun we are going to have. Plus we got gas for 2.85 a gallon in Spencer IN. We took that as a sign from the sailing Gods LOL!
 Dave and Susan gave us some good info about possibly keeping our boat the Lake Monroe Sailing club in case we did not get a buoy. We thought it was only for club members but they told us anyone can keep the boat there. Club membership allows you to take part in the club activities like races and lobster boils. Susan told Cindy how nice the facilities are with porcelain toilets and hot showers that you can use if you keep your boat there. The power flushing toilets and hot showers has over a female. I checked it out online and it looks like it might be just the ticket for us. Our boat would be feet from the water sitting on the trailer in a fenced in area with the mast up ready to launch. The bottom of the boat would stay cleaner and we could sleep easy when we were home that it would not take on water and sink in the middle of the night. That is one call you never want to get in the middle of the night, "Sir, you boat has sunk and you need to come get it off the bottom of the lake". I even think we could drive Juicy the Jeep over and use her to launch and retrieve the boat. I am pretty sure she could manage to pull the boat that far without too much problem.  It looks like it might take an extra 15 mins to get to the sailing club area but it might be worth it. We are going to have run over and check it out when we get a free minute.
 Last night as we wound down for the day sitting on the couch, we talked, sailing of course. Dave gave me a tip that when something goes wrong and you can't do anything else just yell at your wife.  Because if it can go wrong it will go wrong out THERE! I promised Cindy I would never yell at her like Dave told me to do when something went wrong. It was then that she informed me of a interesting little trait she has. I have known for some time now that Cindy struggles with remembering her left from right. Several times I have had to tell her the other right when she would be helping me on the house. Well last night she told me that if I was ever telling her what to do on the boat that involved left or right and my life depended on her getting it right the first time to make sure we were pointing east as she knew left and right when facing east. So much is wrong with that statement but I promised to try my best to always keep the boat pointing east. But at some point we are either going to hit the causeway or want to turn around and come back. Then what do we do???





Sunday, October 27, 2013

Cindy's Perspective......

Hi, this is Cindy.  Before, you read of our not-yet-sailing adventures according to Sam's perspective.  He does a great job of detailing but I see things a little differently than he does.   I'm the optimist and he is the realist.  His philosophy is that a person must always plan for what can go wrong and be prepared for it.  My philosophy is, lets just try it and if something goes wrong (which I don't think it will) we will deal with it at that time.  I keep him upbeat and he keeps me grounded and in check.  At least that's how I see it........

The lottery type drawing for the anchor buoy on Lake Monroe was Saturday morning.   We did a little pre-lottery preparation with our best friends at a local winery on Friday night.  A little dinner, a batch or two of wine, and tons of laughter got us mentally prepared for the much anticipated drawing that would occur Saturday morning.  We eagerly drove the 40 miles over to Monroe bright and early on Saturday.  Because sleeping in on Saturday mornings is so precious to me, getting up at 6:00 am was a huge sacrifice.  But worth it because I was sure our name would be drawn.  Sam pampered me with bringing a cup of this yummy coffee concoction of a little coffee, some creamer, and LOTS of caramel topping.  It definitely helped get me  moving.  We had a hearty helping of B's & G's (biscuits and gravy) at a local restaurant and we were on our way to Monroe.  If you have never visited southern Indiana in late October, you should.  Its beautiful.  Our area is made up of rolling hills and beautiful wooded areas.  Lake Monroe sits beside the Hoosier National Forest so its protected from development.  We passed partially harvested fields as well as fields that had just been picked.  It looked as pretty as any cover of Midwest Living magazine.

We arrive at Payntown to an empty parking lot.  Hummmm, this is such an anticipated event, I can't imagine why the lot isn't full.  Maybe this is a good sign that everyone else has decided they don't want a buoy and we will get one for sure.  Turns out we arrived 45 minutes before the drawing instead of 15 prior.  We still ended up being the only people anxious, curious, or silly enough to witness the event.  But because we were the only ones, I was asked to be the Vanna White of the experience.  The very nice ranger who coordinates the process asked me to pick the names out of the hat so no one could accuse him of being dishonest.  There were 19 slots available and they will then pick 19 alternates.  When he asked me to draw the names, I thought it would be fun.  It was.  But with each name I drew that wasn't Sam's or mine, my excitement changed to nervousness.  I  certainly couldn't blame anyone but me if I didn't choose us.  The pressure was mounting....  How could it be that I drew 19 names and none of them was ours?  The ranger could obviously read the disappointment on my face.  That's when he started consoling me.  He said not to give up.  It seems that last year, of the 14 alternates, each of them were given the opportunity for a buoy.  My hopes lifted and we started over.  I had a good feeling.  I just knew I was going to choose the the right name this go round.  I looked over at Sam and he grinned and gave me the "you can do this" nod.  Five more names were read.  Ugh!  Then another 4 names and the finally Sam's name was read.  Hip hip hooray!  We are on the alternate list.  Not as good as we'd hoped for but our hopes are still alive.  I will say that as I've gotten older, I've learned that gratification isn't always instant and because of that, I appreciate things much more than I used to.

We celebrated almost getting a buoy last night at our favorite winery and today we are driving to Terre Haute to look at yet another sailboat.  We flew to Madison this morning and looked at foliage and our drive on highway 46 this afternoon should have some surprises along the way.  I'm hoping for a few antique malls and new wineries to explore.  I'll keep you posted on what we find..........

Good luck to us!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

We got our boat! Almost....

 Well Saturday morning we woke early, like 4 am early. Which according to Cindy is still the middle of the night. We were on the road headed to Chicago by 5 am. It was cool with a steady drizzle all the way to the state line where the rain stopped and the clouds cleared. It was beautiful morning in Chi town to get our Memory Maker. We arrived a bit early so off to Dunkin Donuts for eats and some tasty beverages. We met the owner of the SJ in the parking lot of the storage yard where it was being stored. Once the boat came into view I could tell it was not quite as nice as I had been told but as I have learned my idea of nice and other's idea of nice are not the same when it comes to sailboats. We looked over the boat and while it had a few issues non were what we considered major. We headed to the owners house to look at the sails and other items. Turns out the boat had 7 sails instead of the five listed. He had two sails in sail bags he had never even looked at. Wound up having a main sail, one standard jib, one storm jib, two genoa sails, and two spinnaker sails. The one Spinnaker was really pretty and in really good shape with just one little bad spot in a seam that we could easily repair. While the boat came with a 4.5 hp Mercury motor, after talking with the owner I knew it was probably going to me more of a problem than it was worth as it had gotten hot due to an impeller failure. So we made an offer to buy the boat, trailer, and sails, without the motor. The owner then decided to throw in all the accessories that he had for the boat and countered our offer with all the goodies. While there was a lot there a lot of it was stuff we would never use so I counter his countered and we agreed on a price. So we headed back to the storage yard to hook up to the trailer and make sure the new lights worked and that the trailer bearings were ok. All that checkout ok so after adding air in the tires we started to head back to his house to load up all the other items. We pulled out onto the street and at about 25 mph I could a feel a vibration starting in the drivetrain of the Toyota 4 Runner we borrowed to go get the boat. As we got to 35 mph it was just getting worse so I flashed the lights and pulled over. I told the owner of the boat the issue and that we could not get the boat home with it the 4 Runner shaking like it was as I was not going to tear up someone's transmission hauling a toy home for us. He understood and we did a really slow lap around the block. We parked the boat back where we got it, apologized for taking up his morning, and headed back. Boatless.
 Trying to make the most of our big day out we did stop at a really cool looking winery just down the road from the storage yard. It was large ivy covered old house that just gave one the impression that the wine was going to be of the dry variety and expensive. Never found out if the wine was dry or not as Cindy saw the prices started at 25 bucks a bottle while I was washing my hands. I could tell by the look on her pretty lil face something was up when I came back to meet her. U must understand, we like wine, sweet wine, and the only thing better is good, cheap, sweet wine! So we bailed out the side door and started back down the interstate. I treated Cindy to a delicious lunch of Taco Bell at a road side travel plaza. Nothing like living large LOL!
 We did stop at a couple really neat wineries on the way back home. Carpenter Creek north of Lafayette IN and Wildcat Creek at Lafayette. We were hoping to have dinner with Capt Scott and Marry in Lafayette but they were not able to meet till 7:30 and we were a couple hours early. So we found a nice sunny parking spot in the park across from there house and curled up together in the passenger seat with the sun shining in on us like a couple of fat cats and we took a nice lil nap while we waited. The nap felt great as I was getting kinda tired and I love to cuddle. We woke up about 7 and took a short walk to wake up. We met Capt Scott and Mary for dinner and shared the details of our day with them. They could understand our disappointment but also understood. Scott had burned up a transmission pulling a boat once so he totally understood my erroring on the side of caution. We had a nice dinner at a little mom and pop restaurant that is located on the opposite end of the block they live on. The sign advertised the coldest beer in town. Cindy put them to the test then asked for a glass of ice for her beer. Cindy likes her beer to be just above the freezing point.
 We made it home safely about 20 hours after we left. We are bummed we did not have our Memory Maker sitting in the drive but relieved that we did not tear up the 4 Runner or break down along side some interstate on the south side of Chicago. It could have been much worse and we both knew that.
 So where do we go from here?? Well, this Saturday morning we are going to get up early, again, and going to lake Monroe for the drawing for the buoy's at the Paynetown SRA in hopes that our name will get drawn. If it does then we will figure out a way to get the SJ 21 in Chicago home. If not then we are done searching till we get our own  vehicle we can tow a boat with.

Friday, October 18, 2013






 
The Adventures of the Memory Maker
by
Sam & Cindy
October 18th, 2013

 Welcome to our blog. Not sure really where to start but here we go. Hang on tight and enjoy this journey with us. It might get kinda wild at times. Here we go!!!
 Cindy and I have both long dreamed of owning a boat. We both love the water, sunsets, the sound of the waves, and the laid back relaxed lifestyle you find on the water. While we love to kayak and paddleboard we both wanted to take the next step and get a real boat. Cindy really did not care what kind of boat, just so long as it floated. I was a lil more picky. It had to have a cabin so we could overnight on it. There is nothing like sleeping on the water. To lay awake on the deck at night staring up at the stars. Then to wake in the morning with fog all around you as you gently bob up and down in the water while sipping a cup of coffee is always what  I envisioned owning a boat to be.
 After much conversation and looking we decided a small sailboat in the 20-22 foot range would suit our needs, and wallets, best. Having never really sailed before we both thought a lesson or two would be wise. So we took a trip up to Bear lake MI for our first sailing lesson this summer. It was my first time on a sailboat and Cindy's second. Our first sail was awesome. Gentle winds, smooth water, good conversation with friends. It was the perfect sail. We were hooked! Later that afternoon we went back out for our first real lesson. Capt. Scott told us that we were going to man the boat this trip and he would just tell us what to do. Well, by now the gentle winds were gone. It was blowing 20 knots out of the southwest with gust to 25 plus. the lake had white caps on it. Let's just say it was not the type of conditions you hope for your first go at the helm. After almost throwing our captain overboard in our failed attempt to sink his boat we finally got under way. With the tiller in my hand, the wind in our faces, and our Captain's breathing rate returning somewhat back to normal we were sailing! After returning to the safety of the dock and going over our post sail briefing I took the viewpoint that sailing is like flying. Just like with flying and landing, any sail  you can walk away from is a good one. I say we passed our first sail with flying colors. Capt. Scott probably thinks otherwise LOL. Two things were for sure. We, ok, I, now know what release the cleat means(release AND let go of the rope) and we were getting a SAILBOAT!!!!
 I think we came up with the name of our boat long before we even decided we were going to get one. Memory Maker just made perfect sense. I have heard that memories are events in your life that stop time. Since getting together with my soul mate Cindy, there have many events that have stopped time. We are always making memories together and with our friends. The name seemed perfect. Now we just needed to find the boat to go with the name. While there are a lot of sail boats out there for sale we had to find the right one for us. While we are hoping to luck out and get our name drawn for a buoy at Lake Monroe we both know it is a longshot. So we decided that whatever we get needs to be light enough that we can pull it back and forth easily and stepping the mast can't take all day. After much research I discovered that a Clarke San Juan 21 is light, has a mast that is easily stepped, sails very well, is fast(if you call 6.5 mph fast), has a cabin large enough for two to comfortably overnight or weekend in, and is affordable. The SJ 21, as they are known, are raced in several areas around the country. With over 3000 of them being built they are fairly easy to find used. Just finding a nice one seems to be the real trick. During our search we have discovered that sailboat people tend to be a special breed. They seem to be less concerned with the smaller details, like is the boat clean and neat, and more concerned with will it float and sail. We are looking for the boat that has an owner that cared about both points.
 We thought we found our boat in Troy MI but due to still trying to finish our house and work schedules it sold before we were able to go look at it. From the pics and talking wit the owner on the phone it seemed like he took good care of it. But it was not to be. So tomorrow we are leaving at 5 am to go look at a SJ 21 in Roselle IL which is just west of Chicago O'Hare airport. We are hopeful that this will be the one for us. While we have no idea what to do with it be we both want a boat with a spinnaker sail. A spinnaker sail is a large head sail that you use when sailing with the wind. They tend to be the colorful sails that you see in the pretty pics of sailboats. It basically acts like a large parachute that fills full of wind in front for the boat and drags the boat along behind it. Most of what I have read recommends flying a spinnaker in 10 knots of wind or less and to be ready to drop it fast if the wind starts to pick up. How hard can it be??? Something tells me we are going to find out at some point. Anyway, the boat we are looking at tomorrow comes with not one, but two spinnakers!! That is surely a sign from above.
 So as I write this first entry today I am trying to make a list of everything we will need  to take with us in case this is the boat for us and we buy it. In my head I am going over everything that could go wrong pulling a boat 250 miles down the interstate. While I tend to be detail oriented Cindy says she is more big picture. We say we balance each other out. So while I am sure she is probably more concerned with the color of the boat and the fabric on the cushions I am trying to figure out a way I can jack the trailer up and check wheel bearings without getting filthy. Last thing we need is to loose a wheel on the trailer on the south side of Chicago.
 While we both know we are more likely to get a better deal buying a sailboat in the winter than in the spring the thought of having a new toy and not getting to play with it all winter is already killing Cindy. I assured here there will be things we will need and want to do to it over the winter and on nice days we can get it out in the driveway so we can practice stepping the mast and rigging the sails. I even told her we should probably spend a few nights sleeping on it in the driveway so we can get a routine down and find out what all we need and don't need. That way once the sailing season starts we are better prepared and won't look like total newbies till we raise the sails for the first time.