Hooray!
We finally made some breakthroughs! So happy! Matt finished up doing all the things that needed to be done around the engine area, so we were able to get the galley back into place! I feel like we can really enjoy the boat again in the truest sense. We have been able to sail but not stay on the boat. Now we can!!!
One task we needed to get done was to change out the engine's oil. Matt was able to miraculously do this & not get oil everywhere. I helped by cheering him on while he was at work. The crazy thing is that this takes something like 3 hours to complete the job! I'm pretty sure it could be done wrong or badly though in less than that time. Good thing Matt has the highest standards. -The impatient devil in me does not.
Changing out engine oil.
It always lifts my spirits to sail. So, very happy we were able to sail 2 times in the last week! One day was full of high swells & high wind. That day we had only the genoa sail out & actually had to reef it fairly early into our day voyage. Nice to know that our genoa can get us along at 6 knots in higher winds. -I think they were around 14 knots that day.
Towel must be put on the solar panels.
Or this happens. - Unfortunately it's his fav outside spot.
The 2nd day we got to sail, it was in the mid 80s! I think it was the first time I actually was able to wear a tank top while sailing! The swell was much lower. The whole day was pretty perfect. -If you didn't look inside our boat.
So great to be out on the water! Had to take a photo of the depth sounder - which is one thing that has consistently worked!
Beatiful sailing day!
After some sailing days, it was time to get back to work. I did what I could, washing the deck & filling up the water tanks. -Although I dropped one of the caps into the harbor & overfilled the tanks & got a bunch of water all over the inside of one of the storage compartments inside. I don't want to brag too much though or everyone will start wanting me to help out on their boat! -And I can only work on perfecting one boat at a time.
Getting the giggles over my impatience & frustration. I mean, I've been waiting to get through all this since November!
The last major project, before getting the galley back in place, was to hook up the hot water tank & for it to work. And after several hours of working on this, Matt decided that the hot water could wait for another several months -as he couldn't figure out why everything he did wasn't working. However, once we did get the galley sink area back into place he tried the hot water again & it did work!!! That's right children, work hard, give up & your wildest dreams will come true!
The master working on the water heater connection.
Getting there???
Me-Hoping it all works now....
Zephyr-Hoping that bird respects my authority!
Matt is amazing! I don't know how Zephyr & I would function without him. During all of his hard work, I did try to pay attention & soak up some information on what he was doing so that I can be possibly more helpful in the future. What I also really need to do is study the more mechanical side of boat vocabulary. My vocabulary right now consists mostly of, "Thanks Babe!" "You're so incredible Matt!".
Getting the galley back in place! Water works! And cushions put back on!
Hooray!
So the cushions are back in place! Life is good! I did spend part of the other afternoon cleaning up some of the interior. Made a slight dent in cleaning up MerSea inside. Hopefully I can get back to it tomorrow so we can eat dinner onboard & also spend the night again soon. Very thankful to be past the projects that have challenged us the last several months!
I really feel now that we can look forward & start working on our sailing skills. We are planning on sailing to the Channel Islands in October. It's important for us to get to the point of being extremely confident that we can do that trip responsibly. Very excited that this feels like something that will actually happen. I definitely started having doubts. Fun to be past that now & looking forward. Now I'm just a little overwhelmed on all that we have to do before October. However, I find stress more manageable & would rather deal with that than disappointment & boredom. Luckily we all get to deal with all of those emotions!! So I guess we all just have to make the most out of all the different experiences life gives us.
Anyway, if you want to share some big hurdle that you've gotten through lately, let me know. -Even if it isn't nautically related.
Other than that, click on the follow & like buttons below if you feel inspired to do so. Thanks for reading & I'll be posting again next Wednesday!
