Setting our new sails for Key West

Today Mark and I were soaking in the hot tub and discussing all of the items that need to be packed for our upcoming trip to Florida. We were having a dilemma on how to get the dinghy there so that we can use it to get us to land when we are anchored or moored. Do we try to check it on the airplane? Should we send it on Amtrak? Can we ship it? In the end our final decision was to box it up and ship it Fed Ex ahead of us. We sent it to the business where we bought our boat with prior permission. It is now being tracked en-route and is somewhere in Florida. Yay!!

Next we have to pack our bags and remember to bring PFD's, paddleboards and paddles, pump, snorkeling gear, tool case, fishing poles, tackle, and who knows what else will end up on the list! The good part is that we can leave all of this additional stuff on the boat. Our plans are to fly there again right after tax season for our spring trip. It will all be there and we won't have to worry about it.

We are picking up Endurance in Fort Lauderdale, FL. We have a reservation at the Los Olas Marina.
 Active Captain has a great description of the place and you can make reservations here Reservations. We have stayed here once before on New Girl for our trip to the Abacos, Bahamas and really enjoyed it. It is on the ICW 17th St. bridge, very inexpensive and also has mooring available. It is 2 blocks from the beach, washer/ dryer, showers, wifi, and close to shops. There is also the Sun Trolley that we can take for provisioning. It is a great means of transportation.

We will be celebrating New Years Eve right near the beach. They will be dropping a ball. That sounds pretty cool. I have only seen those things on t.v. in New York.  Key West will be celebrating with a drag queen in a large high heeled shoe. Ha! I hear there are crazy things that happen on Duval Street.

Then on New Years Day  we are to casting off the dock lines and heading out for Key Largo. We have a lot of plans for paddle boarding, snorkeling and lobster fishing. We have purchased our tickle stick, snare, net and bags that are needed for the hunt. I think there is going to be some good eating in the cockpit at evening hours! I am also hoping that this is something that doesn't freak us out and we can actually catch them. Have you ever tried this? What was your experience? Please let us know in the comments.

We will travel all the way down to Key West and do some exploring of Duval Street and the town. Hemmingway has a museum there with live 6 toed cats out front. Lol!

When our adventure is done in the Keys we will head back up the Gulf Stream and catch the elevator ride up. Our entry will be St. Lucie/Stuart and then head up the St. Lucie River toward the Okeechobee Lake. We will rest the boat on the hard at  Indiantown Marina. We did a lot of research for a place to leave her out of hurricane trouble and away from the high cost of Fort Lauderdale/Miami area. We will have to go through our very first set of locks with a 13ft. rise. I am so excited to experience this. I saw my first lock with my sister-in-law Mary in Appleton, WI.

Bahama bound is planned on her come November, 2015. We will head down with the truck and trailer in tow from Montana. We will get to visit friends and family on the way. Sail her to the flower Bahama Islands this time and then drive her home. Come May 2016 she will get dropped into fresh water for a nice bath, fun weekend sailing and racing with our yachties at the  South Flathead Yacht Club.

DIY Craft Table

This whole things started when Molly and I were crafting in the living room. We had to start cleaning up all of our stuff around us because we had to have the space livable. Sure would be nice if we could leave all this here and keep working the next day. That's when we both decided we needed a craft room. Where could we put one? Rachel had moved out a couple of years ago and we moved some gym equipment in there but the room just didn't get used enough. We both decided thats what we would do. So I started searching the internet for types of rooms that we wanted. There sure are a lot of beautiful craft rooms out there. I finally ended up on Pinterest pinning bunch of different ideas that we liked. I found one pen that was a craft table and had plans with it for building. Marco always tells the kids if you want something bring me some plans and we can build it. Perfect! I see a craft table in our future.

The first thing I did was go shopping with the truck. I needed to find some items discounted. So I went too the Restore  (Habitat for Humanity),  Salvation Army, Flathead industries thrift store and Goodwill. At the Restore I found an old hotel desk that I could refinish, put a new top on and some pull handles for the drawers. At Goodwill I found a dresser that I thought would look cute under the bay windows for storage. It has cute detail in the drawer faces. I just need to refinish it. At the Salvation Army I found a huge piece of plywood that would be the perfect measurements for the craft table top. I got this for $5. That will save me about $60. Now I'm headed to Lowes to pick up the rest of the wood for the craft table, the laminate top, stain, and varnish. The laminate top was a lot more expensive than I thought it was going to be but I believe one sheet will cover both the craft table and the desk. My truck is full. Time to go home with my treasures and get to work.

After all of the sanding, staining and varnishing, I ended up with some good looking furniture. Mark and I built the bookshelf ends for the craft table. Then he put the edges on the top and we I got on top and rolled out the air bubbles with a rolling pin. We brought it all up to the room and then Mark installed the electric outlets to the top of the table. That will work out great for glue guns and soldering. It will be nice having them right there. I found them in black to match at Lowes.

All pieces are now in the room and look great. I will do some organizing and bring all of my goods up into the room but the building is done!

 

What do you think of our progress and the finished products?

 

 

 

 

                                   Building the book shelves (the bottom of the craft table)

 

 

 

 

The bookend after applying a walnut colored stain and 3 coats of varnish

 

                                                     Edges were added to the top

 

                                                   Applying and cutting the laminate top

 

 

 

 

Mark with the power tools

 

     The electric outlets were installed under the table

 

 

                                           Black outlet and covers to match the laminate

 

                               The finished table. I will put baskets on the shelves for storage.
                                               I bought the chairs online from Kohl's

                               Here is the desk that I started with. I am thinking this will make a
                                                  nice sewing table. Nothing fancy.

Stained it all with the walnut varnish to match

and varnished it and the drawers

 

 

 

                                       I added hardware to the drawers for easier opening.

                           We used the remainder of the laminate and covered the desk as well.

                         I found this dresser at the Good Will for $29. I love the detail in the drawers.

                                Espresso stain for the top and bottom and some varnish.
                                I painted the drawers and the detail. I love how it turned out.

 

I found a post on Pinterest for a thread and

bobbin rack so I made myself one.

 

                                                Stained and varnished to match of course.

Time for us to upgrade

When we started all of this sailing we were so excited to get our boat. She has been awesome and has sailed well. We have upgraded and fixed so many things. She is exactly the way that we needed her and she has done a fantastic job of taking care of us. She is a strong boat. We had decided thatwe would upgrade in about 4 years and then again in 6 years. The 6 year mark would be our exit strategy when we quit our jobs, sell everything and go live on a boat.

After our sail in the Bahamas we decided that New Girl was great for us on Flathead lake for a weekend sail. But taking her for extended periods of time was hard. The items that we were missing and we wish that we had were double sinks, refrigeration, a head with a door for privacy, an inboard engine for ocean crossings, a bed that we could sleep together in, and something just a little taller in the cabin for Mark.

With this wish list in mind we started our search for a boat that would fit the bill. We love our Catalina. We have a friend who has the Catalina 320  and we toured his boat. It was exactly what we were looking for. It had all of the items on our list and more.


Internet shopping is so incredible. You are able to go all over the world and shop for a boat with out even leaving your living room couch.  The boat that we found is in Ft. Lauderdale. We asked lots of questions and made sure everything was to our liking. Mark contacted one of the forums that he reads and asked if someone would be willing to go take a look at the boat for us just to make sure that everything was true to what was listed. A guy over there said that he would be glad to check it out for us. After he did a walk through he emailed Mark back with what he saw. We made our offer, they countered, we countered and we  came up with a price that was an incredible deal for us. We then hired a surveyor to do the inspection and it came out pretty well. There are a few things that we will have to fix but that is to be expected with a pre-owned boat. It is the same make as New Girl but 5' longer and about 3' wider. What a difference that makes for the boat size over all and the livability.

We did a search on the internet about the history of the boat and found that it has had 2 owners. The first owner had it named Lanai. Below is the pronunciation and the name meaning.

Lanai

Island in Hawaii

Lānaʻi  is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is also known as Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation.

 Pronunciation and 2nd meaning        also pronounced La nah ee.

 

The boat is now named Endurance. I am not thrilled with this name and would love to return it's given name. What are your thoughts?

 

We are super excited for this change! We are going to be headed to Ft. Lauderdale at the end of December for a couple of weeks for our maiden voyage to the Keys. We will let you know how it all goes and send lots of pictures of the new boat.

Here is a link to the video tour of the boat. Enjoy! The new boat!

Take a ride on the Amtrak

It is Friday morning Sept. 26th. Two o'clock in the morning is not an hour that anyone should be waking. Especially me. I had gone to bed at midnight the night before. I started packing a week prior, doing laundry along the way so that everything that I needed was clean. Of course the day before I had gotten a little full in my huge pink duffel bag so I unpacked to see what I had. Okay everything back in and more on top. Can I get it zipped now with out having it rip out? I put myself on the bathroom scale and now me with my bag. Holy crap that thing is super heavy. Good thing I am not flying, 62 pounds.
The train is running late. I have checked the schedule on the Amtrak app. Only a half an hour though so not too bad. Mark helps me with my luggage and gets me loaded on the train. I am on the upper deck and I end up getting 2 seats for myself. Sweet! The longest i have been on the train was for an hour to the Isaac Walton Inn in Glacier. I am a little nervous of how it all works so Mark was a sweety pie and gets me all situated, luggage on, cooler and supplies (blanket and pillow) at my seat. Hugs and kisses and I am off.
The upper level is dark. Everyone on board has settled down and gone to sleep. I am a little wired with excitement but soon the small 2 hours of sleep that I had gets to me and I drift off.
Exploring the train sounds fun. I go back car to car. There are 4 other cars the same as mine, a dining car right in front of me, a couple of sleeper cars, the lounge car that has tables and benches like a restaurant booth and the observation car. The lounge car has the snack bar downstairs and I go down to grab a fork and spoon for the goodies I brought in the cooler.
The people that you meet along your adventures are really the best part of traveling. Mark and I always say that you get out of it what you put into it. So I start talking to the gal seated across from me. Her name is Karolyn. She is in her mid 60's, from Seattle, was in the Military for over 25 years and is on her way to go.  Chicago to golf in a PGA tournament with some famous people that I don't recognize by name.
We spend a lot of time getting to know each other, she has a ton of stories and she is an absolute riot, she has everyone in our car around us laughing hysterically. 
She and I spend the rest of our trip together as bosom buddies. We have a few cocktails, dinner togethether in the dining car and after that  we end up in the lounge car with our dinner mates. It is loud in the car with raised voices. There are lots of young men here on the the way to North Dakota to work on the oil rigs.
We retire to our seats to settle in for the night. The sleeping is uncomfortable but it could be a lot worse with only one seat. In the morning I awake to find my cell phone has been stolen out of my lap. I search for it through all of my things but in the end it is never found. People can sure be mean at times. Luckily after being in the Bahamas on a boat I have learned to unplug and kick back. I have used my phone and electronics so much less that I am not really distraught. I find it freeing.
Karolyn is in an uproar for me. She says if it were her phone she would have them stop the train right now. No one gets on or off and we dont move again till she gets it back. She is calling her friends and telling them that I should be in a panic. She is having a melt down for me!
Have we become so dependent on this technology that is at our fingertips that we need it 24/7? I don't enjoy being at everyones beckon call. I want a slow paced life and less materialistic things. It just makes you think.
The train arrives in Portage, WI and Mark's mom and dad are there to pick me up. The train is 9. 5 hours late. They ran out of food and alcohol. The boys going to ND drank 8 cases of beer that night. In Rugby, ND a freight train in front of us hit a car on the tracks and killed the driver. That created a crime scene and we waited 5 hours for the tracks to be cleared.
One hour before my stop a man has a seizure and hits his head on a table as he goes down to the ground rendering himself unconscious.  Karolyn goes to help him out with her medical training in the Military. We stop the train to wait for an ambulance.
I wasnt in a big hurry and I had no deadlines.  I feel sympathy for the 2 people that were killed and  injured.
I fall asleep in he 1.5 hour car ride back to the house.
This was a big adventure. My next one will begin again on a bus ride to Gunflint, MN with 45 ladies. Thats a lot of hot flashes!

Follow the directions and play by the rules!

Didn't we learn this at a young age?

We are once again anchored in woods Bay on Flathead Lake. It is a warm sunny morning and the water is smooth as glass. We got the word last night that I didn't have to paddle in the races this morning. So our plan is to have a delicious breakfast cooked by Mark and then go out and explore on the paddle board.
Mark is making hash browns in a small frying pan on the right burner. The flame is getting lower and so he knows that the denatured alcohol is getting empty. I am out in the cockpit doing my thing and I see him grab the alcohol to refill the stove. Good thinking! Otherwise breakfast will be lunch. He keeps on cooking the hashbrowns on the right and starts to pour the alcohol down the burner on the left without turning everything off and opening the stove like it is supposed to be done. I think that these kinds of directions are written for a reason and I can't help but hear Jeff Foxworthy in my ear, "Here's your sign". "Honey", I say, "do you really think that is a good idea to pour the alcohol down there without turning out the burner and opening the stove?" It will be fine he says. Don't worry! I watch closely in disbelief, thinking that this isn't going to work out as well as he thinks. However, I can't seem to leave his side wanting to see what's going to happen. BOOOOMMMM!!! That's what happened! Fire went spraying after an explosion sound and I went running out into the cock pit. I turn back to see the new cushions that I recovered are now burned in a spray pattern and Mark's hair on top of his head is crispy! Wait a minute...so is mine! Damnit!
He turns to me and says humbly, "go ahead and tell me, I told you so". You know that I did! Quite a few times in fact. We are damn lucky that is all that happened.
So, the next time that you want to cut corners and save a step, remember the directions are written for a reason. We know that and so does Jeff Foxworthy!

 

2014 Dragonboat Races Kalispell, MT

It is a very cold morning waking up in Woods Bay on Flathead Lake in Montana. It is overcast and dark outside being 530 in the morning and we are the only boat on hook.
Friday evening we got to the marina and unhooked from the dock. we motor sailed all the way to Woods Bay since the wind was straight on our nose. It was breezy and we were getting waves with white caps. Flathead Lake can be downright scary at times and you don't want to be caught on the water at those time. This reminded me of the gentle rolley (auto correct didn't like my spelling) rocking motion of the ocean. We arrived in the bay a little after dark dropped anchor made our beds. It was quite cold tonight with the forecast dipping to  36* so we got on our "jammies"and crawled in for the night .
We arrived at the Flathead Lake Lodge around 7:30 am. Mark swung the boat around and dropped me off at the dock.
I am registered to be a paddler on the Got Mamm dragonboat in the 2014 Dragonboat Races. This is a huge event that supports breast cancer. There are about 30 teams with 20 paddlers. Four boats race at a time and they have a chart set up like a softball tournament. Eventually the winner will have raced everyone in a set and prevail.
In the afternoon there are four boats full of only breast cancer survivors for a ceremony in honor of the battle with the disease. They are given roses that are thrown into the water. It really is quite beautiful.
I paddled in 3 races. Two were our randomly put together team from Kalispell. We had no experience and most had never done this before. The other race we joined up with the Abreast of the Rockies. They are a team from Canada who have been together for 9 years and they practice twice a week. Weather permitting, they are in the lake or paddling poolside. These are some serious ladies who aim to win but have a lot of fun building friendships and bonding over the years.
By the end of the day there were about 28 races with 4 boats a piece. The winners compete the following day to separate the winner from the rest.
It was a fun experience and I am so excited that I got to participate in the event. Perhaps next year I will be a better paddler as will our team.
If you get a chance to watch the dragon boat races as a spectator, you will not be disappointed Overall a lot of money was raise for a worthy cause.

We were able to keep New Girl anchored out here for the entire day. When I was finished racing we paddle our paddleboards back to the boat and watched the rest of the races with the spectators!

What's in a name?

What's in a name? A lot I figure. It s your identification, what sets you apart from the rest. If you are on the radio and say, "I am the blue and white boat calling that red and black boat, can you hear me?" It just doesn't work well. For the last 5 years we were that blue and white boat. We knew the name of the boat was Cool Change but no one else would know unless we told them. And if someone were searching for us, that makes it difficult as well without the proper name on the boat. Ask me how I know. I called the Coast Guard at one point when Mark was away on one of his fishing trips. I hadn't heard in from him and he normally calls after going off shore. I got nothing And nothing again the next morning. So they were ready to start a search. There was no name on the boat. (Everything was fine by the way).
This year we decided it was time to give her the name. And so it was!

 Oh, and from one of my last posts I told you I would post a picture with the new aluminum arches that got installed. There they are. We were able to get the dodger canopy to clasp onto the arches so that we don't have to use the flimsy small aluminum tent style poles anymore. What a great addition. Also check out the rod and net holders on there. Mark also moved the anchor light from the bow, which you could only see head on, up to the top of the arches. It is folded down in this pic.

It's a GO!!

Last night we hooked Cool Change up to the truck and headed down our long steep driveway. We were headed to the lake for a trial run of the boat. Mark has worked on her and got the engine running but we haven't yet splashed her in the water and really tested all of the mechanics. We drove the 10 minutes that it takes to get to Foys Lake on the other side of our mountain where we live. Foys is a smaller lake but it does have a public dock and boat ramp. The lake itself goes anywhere from 7ft- 112ft deep. I was surprised at the depth. It is a popular lake with the locals during the week because it is so close and can be visited after work without huge plans and time driving back and forth like most lakes. So we got her in the water, turned her over and took her out to make a wake. And make a wake we did! She runs so well! I am so proud of all of Mark's efforts. They have once again paid off huge. It was a beautiful night on the lake and what a wonderful feeling to have such success. We also tested the downriggers and those were working well also. Yippee!


Friday night we will be pulling out of our driveway again with Cool Change in tow...but this time our destination will be the Pacific Ocean!

Getting the stink out of your boat

There are two horrible smells on a boat. A holding tank and diesel. Two months ago the holding tank was taken out of Cool Change, our Bayliner 27. It stunk real bad! It was so strong it was like smelling ammonia. The pipes had gotten plugged 2 years ago and we were unable to dump the tank and flush it out. Nothing leaked, the smell just permeated through the hoses. Two years it went through the seasons. Freezing, thawing, over heating and back again. Oh my gosh it was so awful I couldn't go on the boat and you could smell it just walking up to the boat.

Now that the holding tank and toilet are gone the smell still lingers. Some days it smells just as strong as when it was still in the boat. Something had to be done. We are heading out fishing and I couldn't imagine staying on the boat with this smell, let alone bring along friends. So I Googled how to get rid of odors in boats. It came up with all kinds of suggestion. I had to choose one out of the many. I was pretty skeptical and so was Mark. But what did we have to lose? What I ended up with was pure joy on my part. It worked so well that I couldn't even tell that there was once a smell.

 

1. Fill a couple of bowls with charcoal briquettes and place them inside your boat and let them sit for a couple of days. I filled about 5 cereal bowls. I probably went crazy but it is not like it cost me anymore to overdo it. The charcoal absorbs odors in the air and should remove most of your smells relatively quickly.

 

2. Clean every surface of your boat with a vinegar and water cleaning solution. I wiped down all of the lockers, the walls. the floors the countertops and the teak. I cleaned every surface in the head as well. I didn't scrub crazy like, just a once over. I also used it to clean out the refrigerator. As a side NOTE straight vinegar also removes rust.

 

3. Because the holding tank was located in the engine compartment and it still smelled while standing in the cockpit. I also put a bucket with a bowl full of charcoal briquettes in there.

 

I am thrilled to report there is absolutely no smell anymore! I know it sounds too easy to be true....but it works! And what did it cost me? A small bottle of vinegar and the time I would have spent any way to clean the boat. The charcoal briquettes we will  reuse in the grill.

 

Give it a try and tell me how it works for you.

 

Charcoal in the bucket. Just like 10 briquettes did the trick.

With the extra space, from the holding tank being removed, Mark has made a holder for the extra kicker motor!

Blue bowls of charcoal sucking up the stink!