Planning the Escape.

by Riley

It's time to go on a short shake-down cruise. You know, see if all of the stuff I fixed is really going to work the way I hope. While it was nice to be in a DIY boatyard in Washington, North Carolina, we feel like it's time to move elsewhere. So, this weekend we plan to take a two day sail to Winbrandt's new slip in New Bern, with a planned stop in Oriental if the weather is nice. It will be our first time on Winbrandt overnight at anchor. Wish us luck!

Kabob Kings.

by Allison

We made a quick trip down to the boat this past weekend, and the main agenda (in my mind) was to finally get some fresh shrimp to cook for dinner!  Riley's list was a little longer, but he indulged me and my need for seafood first.  Really, I don't think he minded too much.  Eventually we are going to have to experiment with something other than kabobs, I know.  But it was entirely too hot and humid this past weekend to try out our oven.  And since Riley is pretty much the grill master, I take every opportunity I can get to hand over some of the dinner reigns.  The shrimp, scallop, pineapple, red pepper, and red onion kabobs were a winning combination.  I foresee many more kabob dinners in our sailing future.

Riley's main priority this trip was installing our table.  We had removed it from the boat months ago while we were refinishing the teak interior.  It was previously a generic, off-white colored laminate, the same as the galley countertops.  We tossed around a few ideas for it, and Riley kept coming back to the idea of finishing it with the same laminate we recovered the counter tops in.  This just didn't sit well with me; the "dining room" table is not supposed to look like a kitchen counter.  My preference was wood.  So, Riley took this idea and ran with it.  We couldn't have just a plain wood table... no, we had to fancy it up a bit.  Fine by me!  He covered the existing table with a thin sheet of mahogany, and stained it to match the rest of the wood interior.  Then, we picked out an inlay.  Now, by this point, this may not surprise you, but Riley had never done an inlay before.  So of course, we picked out the most complicated shape we could find for him to experiment with on our mahogany table.  A compass rose, with many sharp angles, in sycamore and blackwood.  And it turned out perfectly (If you ask me.  If you ask Riley, he will gladly point out all of the flaws).  Then, we covered it with a layer of epoxy.  Also a first time experiment.

My favorite part of the whole table project was when Riley actually brought it to the boat.  We arrived on Friday night, but he waited patiently until late Saturday morning to carry it down to the dock.  I think he was pretty pleased with the number of "oohhs" and "ahhhs" he received along the way.

I oohed and ahhed quite a bit myself.  Who picks up skills this quickly or creates something this nice on their first try??  He's pretty talented, that husband of mine.

A Long Weekend.

by Allison

Most of our weekends at the boat have been a hurried "pack up and drive 5 hours, get as much work done as quickly as possible, pack up and drive back home," kind of trip.  The weekend before last, however, we were able to spend four days at the boat, giving us a little bit of extra time to enjoy ourselves, too.  Riley had just gotten the running water working on the boat, meaning that it was a little bit easier to do things like cooking and cleaning.  We tried out our grill and made our first dinner on the boat; steak, red pepper, and mushroom kabobs.  The grill is going to be such a wonderful tool to have; it really helps to open up the cooking space when we're working with such a small galley.

We also finally went on our first sail together on Winbrandt!  Riley had taken her out briefly when we bought her, but I wasn't able to make that trip with him.  It was also Gidget's first time sailing, ever.  Overall, that went pretty well.  I think she has a mariner's spirit!  We bought her a lifevest that she doesn't seem to mind wearing, and it also seems to restrain her from feeling quite so adventurous.

We even took a little bit of time away from the boat completely to do some strawberry picking.

All of this and Riley still found time to do a little work.

  

All in all, it definitely felt like our most successful trip to the boat yet, and also provided a much needed break from the hectic work trips we had been making.  You know what they say about all work and no play...

Bye Bye Boat Yard.

by Riley

Over the past several months of having Winbrandt in the yard at the marina, I have felt like I was constantly tap dancing around gimmicks. It became clear that they had set up to prey on people that bite off more than they can handle, and then try to use intimidation when one doesn't fall for their own overpriced, poor workmanship. Because that's how pirates do it these days. 

While this issue was troubling, I've also met some awesome people there. It's been a lot easier recently, swimming past all the baited hooks, after making some friends in the same "boat." Because I live almost 5 hours from where we keep Winbrandt, I feel a lot better now, knowing that someone is watching my back and boat. My friend James and his wife were redoing an Oday 34 next to us when we met and became friends. His plan is to start chartering the boat, and he has done a exceptional job, as he is a very capable, meticulous craftsman. His work inspired me to step it up a notch on my own refit, and I am very glad I did. 

Boatyard friendships, I feel, have been critical in getting Winbrandt back in the water. I knew little about some of the repairs I needed to make when I started, but that was ok, because my friend did. He didn't have a woodworking shop for some trim he needed made, but I did and could make it. It's also good to have another set of eyes giving ideas and opinions on your projects. While Winbrandt is far from done, I know that she wouldn't be as nice, and I wouldn't have tackled some of the repairs, if I hadn't had help. 

Now, both of our boats are free from the bonds of dry land, ready to go wherever the wind blows.

Back in the Water.

by Allison

 

After a few months of hard work, we were finally able to put Winbrandt back in the water.  Riley made an appointment to have her put back in on Friday, and we were really excited to spend a long weekend on the water, actually enjoying the boat.  Unfortunately, Riley was really sick, so that plus the high winds and gloomy weather put a damper on the weekend.  But, she made it safely back in the water and the diesel started right up.  Poor Riley was so hopped up on Nyquil that he didn't even stress as much as he would have about getting her into the slip in such high winds.  We left for home shortly after she was docked, and are looking forward to getting back down there to finally take her for a sail.

A Good Day.

by Riley

I'm lying here in the cabin of my boat after a very satisfying day of care giving. Sailboats are a lot of upkeep, and even more work to bring back after neglect. It can also be a really rewarding experience. Today is what would register as a good day for me and Winbrandt. The old electronics are gone and the new installed. The hull is polished and waxed. We wanted to change the bootstripe at the waterline from a dark blue to largo blue, which matches the canvas on the boat; this task was accomplished also. My friend James was a lot of help. He also showed me how to move the stands that support the boat in order to paint the rest of the bottom. To top it all off, I had some fine Carolina BBQ for dinner. 

Winbrandt is now ready to put back in the water.

The Galley.

by Riley

Updating the galley was not necessary, but it was something Allison and I wanted. The old countertops were pretty worn and stained. So I pulled all the trim off and bought a sheet of laminate and some glue from Lowes for around 60 bucks. Well worth it for the improvement. The pieces of counter that could be easily removed from the boat, I did, and used my cutoff bit in my router to trim the excess laminate around the edges after gluing. The large pieces of counter I had to leave in the boat and precut the new laminate to fit. After spraying the glue I got ready to place the new laminate top on. I was a little nervous because the glue was so sticky I knew I only had one chance to get it lined up precisely. About the time I started to go for it, Allison ask how I learned to do this. I told her, "that's what we're doing." I think it turned out pretty well.