Sinkhole

The road we take to/from work, church, grocery store, Mark's Dad's house, etc was recently closed due to a large sinkhole/slide. It happened during the heavy rains/flooding a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately they can't even start work now until April when things are a little more stabilized. Then it will be 6-8 weeks for the repairs! There's only one other road we can take from the marina so hopefully that road stays open! You'll see in one of the pictures that a car slid down the side - no one was injured.

Summer/Fall 2007 update

We did get out for a few day sails this summer but that was about it. Hope to do more next year and maybe even over the winter. Since we have our full enclosure, which keeps us out of the wind and rain, we can go out.

We are still on D dock at Shilshole but will be moving this month to our permanent slip a few boats closer to the gate.

We made two trips to Minnesota this year - once in August for the Butterfield Threshing Bee. It rained most of the weekend so some of the activities were cancelled but we still had fun. Had an opportunity to visit with lots of relatives. Then we went back to Minnesota in October for Aunt Miriam's wedding to Vaughn. Again, visited with lots and lots of relatives!

Seattle Boat Show purchases

We just spent three days at the Seattle Boat Show mostly attending some really great, free seminars on sail inventory, rigging, radar, pc navigation, weather, etc. We also did a little gathering of info on things we need to purchase and even bought a few things. We "splurged" on a custom mattress that we should receive in about 3 weeks. The salesman is at our boat right now measuring and making a pattern to send to the factory. We can't wait until it arrives! Hopefully our backs and hips will be much happier also! We also bought a life raft. We weren't really planning to do that yet but we can push out the actual purchase for a year (with just a $100 deposit) and can probably delay that even further so we thought we'd go ahead now. We bought a Winslow Offshore Plus which is a very reputable life raft manufacturer. A bit pricey but if we ever need it we should be very happy we spent the money on it! The salesman is the VP of the company and part owner and was really great to talk to. He threw in a number of options at no charge like an inflatable floor (that looked like a mattress), storage pockets, and even an upgraded fishing kit and waterproof playing cards :) I posted pictures below of the mattress and the life raft.

Custom Mattress and Life Raft pictures

January update

I posted some additional interior pictures below. Just returned from a business trip to Orlando where I took a connecting flight on NW through Minneapolis on the return. I was able to spend a few days in MN (Thurs - Sun) so spent most of it with Mom & Dad in New Ulm. While there got to see Steve/Denise, Aunt Joyce and Bonnie/Jeff. Sure was nice to see them all! Then spent Saturday night at Aunt Miriam's in Minneapolis. She had a nice dinner and invited Dave/Gena, Beth/Eldon and Hilary/Mark. Also saw cousin Matt briefly and went up to Mark and Hilary's condo for soup. Was nice to see everyone even if it was a quick trip! This week the big Seattle Boat Show starts so will spend time shopping, gathering info, and attending lots of seminars. Should be fun (and perhaps expensive)!

Additional pictures

Starboard side

Finished the upholstery so now both the port side and starboard settee's have the same tan fabric.

Port side couch

Port side looking aft towards galley.

Looking aft

Galley

Galley - you can see the "refrigerator lids" now installed in the top of the counter.

Vberth cushion covers

With the middle section out.

Vberth cushion covers

Vberth with middle section in - makes one big bed!

Vberth cushion covers

The sides of the vberth are not yet finished so look VERY UGLY! We have a leak, perhaps in the stanchions on the deck, so want to fix that before doing the vberth sides (actually called ceiling) and the ceiling (actually called headliner)! The pillow you see is actually stuffed with a sleeping bag. The piece behind that is the section that fits in the front. You will see it in another picture.

We've moved! Now in D48 (from K32)

We decided since it was a beautiful day (as you can see in the picture) that we would move to our new slip on D dock. We got settled in nicely and then washed the boat. No neighbors for now so we'll see how long that lasts.

New seat cushion material

I recovered the seat cushions on the starboard couch in the same tan material as the port side couch. I did not have enough to do the back cushions so they remain green for now.

Moving to a new slip at the marina

Well, we got our notice yesterday with our temporary slip assignement at the marina. We will be on D dock now (currently on K dock). We have until Nov 6 to move. D dock is at the other end of the marina which we're not thrilled about but we didn't have a say in it. The marina is currently going through a huge remodel and building project. It's a 3 year project and they are 1 year into it! They are redoing all the docks taking out old wood and creosote pilings, demolishing the old marina building, have built a new marina building already, adding a new restaurant, etc. Will probably be nice once it's done but what a pain in the process! The dock we are moving to (D) is a new dock so will be interesting to see the differences. The parking around that dock though is horrible so that's not very convenient. Once the project is completely done they will then do permanent slip assignements. We will probably move again and may move a number of times. We hope that some of the same people on our dock now will be on the same dock with us! We'll have to ask around and see where everyone is moving.

Our new rug in the salon

Full enclosure

The full enclosure we had made this summer. It is really nice to have! Mom & Dad sat out there reading and doing puzzles when they visited us in June. The side panels all come off if we want to open it up. Additionally, the bimini (the very top) folds back which would really open it up. Or if the weather is bad we put on all the side panels and zip it up!

New stern rails

Stern rails were added both on the starboard and port side of the cockpit. We can then put solar panels or whatever we want on there. It's also much sturdier to hold onto versus the lifelines.

Instruments in the cockpit

The Radar/Chartplotter, wind, depth and speed are all at the helm now!