It’s Party Time!

Saturday finally came and we had a fabulous Bon Voyage party. We were thrilled with the turnout – it was great seeing everyone come by. We were only bummed we were not able to spend more time with everyone to catch up. Thanks to my good friend Sue Chenoweth, we have some pictures posted for you to see here. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends – and family! In a surprise move, Rene’s parents flew out from Wichita, Kansas for the day – yep, for the day – to visit & see the boat. It was a total shock to both of us. In fact, they both wore costumes to the party to try and conceal their identities as long as possible. Rene’s dad, Bill, wore a long white beard (think Santa Claus) and long, white hair with a stocking hat on top and was hobbling down the dock gangway with a cane and a severe limp. Mom, Sandy, was wearing a bright pink shirt and put on a long black wig, like a Cher wig. We were trying to keep one person up at the party, and one person on the boat and it was time to switch, so Rene was on the dock and Michael was trying to get off of the boat. The couple that Rene was talking to said “look at those two in costumes!” and when Rene looked, she thought it was someone else. But the more she looked, she realized – “Those are my parents!!”. It was great. Word quickly spread through the partygoers who those weird-o’s were and they were instantly welcomed.

We had lots of good food and drink. Nearly everyone brought something to compliment the catered food that was already here, special thanks to Rick for setting it all up for us. We had a keg of Heineken (no Coors Light for Rene….boohoo) and wine, sodas, & water. We started giving unofficial tours of the boat and everyone did a fabulous job of wearing shoes with non-marking soles or taking their shoes off. We were tickled that everyone who came through the boat said how beautiful it was and we both beamed, it’s been a tough couple of years getting it ready and we were proud of how she looked. Even Rene’s Christmas cactus decided to bloom a few days before the party and was displaying some beautiful, festive blooms. We had a sign-in book and gathered about 50 or so names & addresses so we can keep in touch.

We had people on the boat until approx 8pm and then started cleaning up a bit and opening the cool cards & gifts that we were given: CD-RW’s, water filters, laundry detergent, journal & pen, cookbooks, coffee, books, harness’, beading kit, Alaskan ulu and salad tongs, & cold hard cash, not to mention all of the wonderful food, wine, beer, & sweets. After checking out the goodies, we looked very forward to sleeping in our own bed! We were certain that we would get the sleep that we had craved the last couple weeks. But tonight wouldn’t be the night….we are temporarily docked at the commercial docks and there are BIG boats coming and going, picking up passengers at all hours of the night & dawn. And since those big boats and all their passengers weren’t using their library voices, we were up most of the night listening to all of the new noises – hahaha. We’re sure it’ll take a couple days until we get used to the boats moving in and out, at least Rene will get used to it. We spent Sunday morning with Rene’s folks – breakfast, pictures, & wandering the Farmer’s Market for goodies and once they left for the airport, we didn’t do a darn thing. Sat in the sunshine, read a bit, cleaned up a little more, and just generally took the rest of the day off to get some much-needed relaxation.

This week should be another quick week – we have the Generator guy coming on Monday, rigger coming on Wednesday, & some of the last-minute details to finish up. In fact, Rene’s horoscope said to prepare on Monday because the rest of the week would fly by too fast to blink, and Michael’s said he would have too many things to get done, and not enough time to do them all. That pretty much sums it up! I’ll get some pictures from the party up on the website as soon as I can get copies from those who took them and will try to update it soon. While we’re in this slip, we don’t have internet access, but can still receive e-mails. We’ll write more later….Rene & Michael

The Boat Floats!!

Yep, the boat is floating! We're happy to be out of the yard, it was a hard 11 days. The shaft works very well and is absolutely beautiful. We have a couple little issues - one packing gland drips and shouldn't.....and the other one that should, doesn't. But those are small little issues, should be no problem to fix. We motored back to Channel Islands Harbor late this afternoon and had absolutely beautiful seas & wind. We have the boat in the new spot that it will be parked for a while and have the place & picnic tables roped off for tomorrow's party. We have to pick up the beer, wine, & ice tomorrow morning, and get ready for everyone to come. We catered the party so we won't have to worry about food and lots of people have said they will bring something. We can't wait for the party as we haven't seen a lot of the people who are attending in some time. We're absolutely exhausted and can't wait for tomorrow to end so we can SLEEP IN!! It's been great living with Michael's Dad, but we're sleeping on an air matress and you know how it kinda works as a catapult for the other person when the 1st person gets out of bed? I'M ALWAYS THAT OTHER PERSON!! I'll be happy when I can crawl into my little 'hole' and sleep for hours on end. Hahaha...
I'll write more later - Michael & Rene

New Rudder Post!

This week has flown by! I guess this is what will happen until departure…time will only continue to speed up. We’ve had several ‘good’ things happen this week:

Thanks to the wonderful guys – Richard & Mike - at Union Tool, we have a new rudder post!! The Bronze stock was ordered on Monday for Tuesday morning delivery and they received it and started machining it on Tuesday. They called Wednesday morning and told us to come get it – and it was at a VERY reasonable price. We were thrilled to say the least! After putting all the other pieces and parts on the shaft, we found that ultimately two pieces also had to be machined to fit onto the new shaft. Again, the guys at Union Tool came through and got us all set by Thursday evening.

Now that we have the shaft, we also had to rely on several others to help us get all of the remaining items ready – Keith McMillan helped us with some welding, and loaned us some tools to get the job done. He also picked up several nuts & bolts for us, did some alterations to our current pieces, & did everything post haste, as he knew we were scheduled to go back in the water on Friday morning.

Corey Coxon also came over and helped Michael out putting the new rudder in place, with all of the new pieces & parts. We decided to pick up a Pillow Bearing to put at the top of the rudder post to help with some of the ‘slop’ in the top end. We found out by looking at the original plans, that it calls for it. So we picked one up at Allied Bearing, Inc. Bryan at Valley Prop did some alterations on our propeller since we had it off to make it operate better. And everyone at Anchor’s Way Boatyard that have helped us so much: Andy, Gill, Melissa, Doug, Frank, Jose, Dan, & Les – they’ve been so helpful while we’ve been in the boatyard.

Geez, I hope I’m not forgetting anyone! So….the party is still on – at the same location – WOOHOO!!! We’ll splash the boat Friday morning at 8:30 and will head back to Channel Islands Harbor. We’ll tie up close to Michael’s shop and will rope off some space Saturday morning for the party. We’re both starting to get “excited” now. We’ve moved our official departure date up to the 9th of November so we’ll be able to get some business stuff done before we leave. We’ll write more later…..Rene & Michael

Provisioning....

Today is Sunday, and we took the day off from the boat today and went shopping for provisions. We went to Sam's Club and in an hour and a half, spent over 500 bucks. Ouch! And that accounted for approx 75% of the stuff we need - we still need some of the bulky items: Toilet Tissue, Paper Towels, etc. Then we went to Rite Aid and finished off our medical/first aid stuff at a whopping 150 smackers. Double ouch! This cruising stuff just ain't cheap! Now we REALLY know why so many people just don't make it out of the harbor, it's too expensive and it'll drive you MAD!! :-) We had a wonderful home-cooked meal and prepared mentally for tomorrow, and finding the special stuff we need. That's it for now.....we'll write more later! Rene & Michael

Pulling the boat

Today we pulled the boat out of the water and put it in the boatyard. We had been warned that we had a 20% chance of rain....well, it rained. Actually, it POURED!! And it seemed to pour at all the important times! We're both soaked to the gills and have pickled feet from being in the rain all morning. We started the process at approx 10am and didn't get the boat settled in until 2:30. All in all, it was good - the boat was pulled at Anchor's Way Boatyard and is all secure there tonight. I'll send some pics in as I think we can post pics here too. Michael & Corey tried pulling the rudder this afternoon, but needed a big socket that no one seemed to have. I went looking for one but after a couple stops, we decided to get it elsewhere and Corey would pick it up and try again tomorrow. We're going to try to dry out and take it easy tonight and see what tomorrow brings... Will write more later. Rene & Michael

The D-A-D Bed & Breakfast

We've been lucky to have Michael's Dad out here to help out with the store, but as a bonus, we've been treated with being able to stay at the D-A-D Bed & Breakfast, use the D-A-D Laundrymat, and take advantage of the D-A-D Taxi Service. What a blessing it is to have him here. And all in return he asks is for me to fix his computer once in a while - he wants to play his games - fix the little things that need fixing around the house, and eat his dinners every night!! We're really getting spoiled....maybe we'll stay around a little longer. hahaha. Will write more later....Rene & Michael

Trip to Ventura Harbor

A lot has happened in the last couple days! We have been soooo busy, we haven't had time to do much else than work on the boat. We received a phone call Thursday from the boatyard asking us if it was OK if we waited to haul the boat until Monday. The yard is full and they had 2 boats coming out of the water on Monday and it would work best for them. We said OK, that gave us one more day in the slip!! The previous days we spent preparing the boat for moving - tying everything down, making sure everything was secure. There was a weather front moving our way and the weatherman said to expect RAIN on Sunday & Monday - oh just lovely!! So we decided to move from Channel Islands to Ventura on Saturday. Saturday came and it seemed a little windy, but we left the harbor at approx 9:30. It was almost sad leaving the dock and knowing we wouldn't be 'parking' there any more. We were hollered at by a few good friends as we were leaving the harbor, which is always a special treat. Once we got to the breakwater, the winds showed up. We left Channel Islands Harbor and the winds were 20-25 knots and the seas were pretty big - 8-10ft swells and very mixed. We were bounced around pretty good. Everything that we thought would do OK left alone, didn't. Casey wasn't sitting down properly below and tried performing the cat-like move of placing all 4 paws out to steady himself. It was a sight. So, Rene got to go below and anchor the things down that were getting tossed, and get Casey settled down. Casey had already had a bad morning as he had gone swimming by accident first thing. We were walking down the docks and he has this move when he runs out of leash, he does a pirouette, waits for a moment and then takes off again. He's always done this with no problem. Well, this morning instead of a 360 degree pirouette, he only did a 90 degree one. And then he took off walking off the dock. So he was wet, grumpy, and now he's getting tossed around in the boat, he was definately not happy. But after a few minutes of getting him comfortable, he rode the rest of the ride out with no problem. We were lucky - nothing broke, and by the time we got into Ventura Harbor, the winds had calmed down to 10, and the seas were much calmer. We tied up at Anchor's Way Boatyard and spend the rest of the day tinkering.

That night, we went to dinner at our friend's Jeanne & George Mitchell. We had a scrumptious dinner and wonderful company with one other couple. I had expressed to Jeanne how difficult it was going without a car for these last couple weeks, so when we left, they let us borrow one of their vehicles. Woohoo! What a difference it makes having wheels! We're thrilled, and very grateful for the loan.

Will write more later....Rene & Michael

Only 5 days left in the slip!

This week was a very productive one as Michael spent most of the week
working on the boat. Lots of those little ‘finishing’ projects were
done…..the Refrigerator temperature sensor was changed to read the cold
plate, not the temperature of the box as a whole which should help keep it
from cycling so often. Chad, the rigger was on the boat all day Friday
and we were able to get more of the rig ready to go, although there’s
still some more to go and it appears that we might be working on that in
the boatyard. I finally gave up on the @#($& hard drive recovery and sent
it back for replacement. The First Aid Kit contents are 99% complete. We
sent out invites to the Bon Voyage party on the 29th. We were planning to
have it at SeaFresh Restaurant which is over by the Shop, but on Sunday
morning at approx 12:45’ish we were woken up by both of our cell phones
ringing – it turns out that the SeaFresh building caught fire and was
badly damaged, so we won’t be having it there! Michael’s Dad is getting
more and more trained at the store….all is going well and slowly getting
done. Our list seems to be getting a little shorter, although it seems
that when we take one thing off, another goes on.

This week, the repaired portion of the generator will be installed. We
have to get a pickup truck to get a bunch of stuff out of storage, we
still have to make our Sam’s Club run, there’s some more purchases to make
this week, I have to track down a long, lost IRA that seems to have
disappeared, the Electrician is coming over to make sure we have all of
the parts he needs to ensure our electrical system is running perfectly.
And we exit the slip on Friday. We have a haul-out scheduled at 10:30.

We’ve been joking that we’re getting more and more ‘cruisers’ each day –
we sold all of the vehicles so we’ve been either walking, riding the bike,
or bumming rides from everyone, but as of Friday, we won’t have TV, DSL,
Electricity other than what we make for ourselves, and we’ll be in a
different Harbor than the shop, so no more taking the dinghy to work!!
That’s OK, we’ll be calling in all of those favors……hahaha.

We’ll write more later,
Rene & Michael

Last minute preperations

Many of you have asked what we’re working on in the last month. Well….here’s a quick list:
- I have been frantically working to restore the .mp3’s that were lost when the hard drive failed. I’m getting pretty close to getting most everything, it looks like approx 10% of what we had will be lost forever. I’m also researching mp3 players and will be purchasing one soon – I’m leaning towards the Creative Labs Zen Xtra…
- I’ve also been working on the First Aid Kit. As everyone knows, you must be able to handle most any situation when you’re out there sailing that comes along as medical care can be more than 48 hours away. So I’ve worked with my PCP Dr. Gay to establish a list of items, and medications that will be needed. This sounds so simple, but to everyone, me, Dr. Gay, and the Pharmacist, it’s a long process.
- Michael has been handling everything else. Hahaha! Some of his list consists of getting the Spinnaker Pole completed and mounted, the fix to the Generator, nailing down a place for the Bon Voyage party, ordering all of the necessary spare parts for the boat, lots of arranging inside the boat, his specialty, making lists and checking them twice for all of the items we must know and be prepared for – courtesy flags, charts, ensuring everything is working perfectly. This is all while he’s training his Dad at the shop and getting him comfortable with everything here.
- We’re also perfecting the way we’ll communicate with everyone while we’re gone and getting the laptop ready. My Dad, Bill Hayes, has graciously taken the responsibility of posting these messages on the site and we’re getting a system together to send them.
- Geez – other than that, we’re working on the lists of provisions, getting prepared for being in the boatyard and those final preparations for leaving. I guess you could say there’s nothing new and exciting…. Sue Chenoweth taught me to crochet and I’ve been playing with that at night, what an addictive hobby!

Will write more later....Rene & Michael