Well, Life thought I was bored, so it sent a phone call from the marina. I became un-bored. I was the victim of a boat crash. I got back to the marina as quickly as possible with a ton of worst case scenarios racing through my head (and the accompanying solutions) because they...
The Palani was built with an icebox (standard for yacht makes of this size in the 1970’s) which was then later converted with a holding plate. To upgrade this to modern standards would require replacing the holding plate system and adding insulation to improve the energy efficiency...
As is the tradition on a New Year I took a look at what had been done in the last six months and started to plan for 2017. As with most things in life, a lot of the projects are limited to timing due to budget, but there are a lot of projects that require more “elbow grease”...
Took a week off of work for the Christmas break. Originally the first few days were supposed to be dedicated to the sail plan changes but the rigger came out two weeks early and did the first phase of the install by himself. So spent most of the week just enjoying the break, getting back...
Came home from the grocery store to find a new neighbor hanging out on the bollards behind the boat. He is a Double Crested Cormorant
The start of my sailing dream is based on the economic crash of 2008. After closing my businesses and frustrations with the employment environment of Southern California, I spent a lot of time re-evaluating my priorities in life. At the time I was recently diagnosed with diabetes and...
My big project, the sail plan changes, for December happened a couple of weeks early. It was supposed to happen the week before Christmas, but the rigger was able to squeeze it into his schedule earlier. A big shout out to SparmanUSA. If you’re looking for any rigging work in the...
My long term plan to sail off into the sunset when I retire in 9 years is multi-faceted. Having been raised in an offroading family with an emphasis in long distance desert trips I’ve always been a little bit of a “boy scout”, in that we always planned for things to...
I took the Thanksgiving week off from the day job to work on the v-berth remodel. Except for the 2-day cold snap, it was a lovely week. I got a taste of what I’m looking for when I retire. Worked a few hours (some days 4 or 5, others 7 and 8) then kick back with an adult beverage...
One of the things that came out of the Hurricane Matthews experience was a case of the molds. During the height of the storm, there were a few small leaks that started up at various stages. When the conditions where tropical storm level there were a couple of small leaks around the fixed...
One of the minor projects I’ve had on my list has been the removal of the boom gallows from the cockpit area of the boat. The boom gallows creates an arch over the cockpit of the boat, supporting the boom when the mainsail isn’t being used. I’ve replaced this support by...
One of the challenges of owning the Palani is that the previous owner died so I don’t have an easy source to what the game plan was and the boat was part way through a refit before I bought it. As the Cabot’s were sometimes sold as just hull and basic interior shell with the...
Hurricane Matthew passed about 40 – 50 miles east of Jacksonville as a Category 3 hurricane on Friday the 7th of October. Pictures and videos at the end of the post. Thursday the 6th of October was spent doing the final preparations. The hurricane would start with winds from the...
Spending the next couple of days preparing for Hurricane Matthew to show up. This weekend should be interesting, my first hurricane. The picture above is Windytv’s prediction of Saturday morning. As with most people in Jacksonville been spending the last couple of days watching the...