[Hilde’s log] Fewer than 9 months to go, and we are making good progress. For those of us who like to finish things, it can be pretty frustrating to have everything out all over the place all the time. We are forever hunting this or that thing that has disappeared into the mess. Yesterday I […]
Two ways to travel – RV v. Sailboat
Raven at the dock in South Carolina (the one with the white hull). Our NuWay rig and GMC pickup. We are working hard to get Raven ready for another spell of cruising. That means we will have to pare down from our luxurious lifestyle in a NuWay 5thwheel back to a bare bones lifestyle on […]
More scrubbing and some shine at last
[Hilde’s log] Let no one tell you that refurbing a boat is not glamorous work. I post this photo of me in varnish/paint thinner protection mask to prove my point. I’ve almost finished the port side of the salon, and have moved into the galley. Here is the galley before I tore into it: You […]
It can be overwhelming
[Hilde’s Log] Ten months, two weeks to blast off, more or less, depending on … everything. We are working away on the physical tasks before us, the financial, retirement, and familial decisions we need to make, trying to take it steady and not get overwhelmed. Sometimes we do pretty well, other times not so well. […]
Cutting a Hole in the Cockpit Floor
[Hilde’s log] I have to admit, cutting a hole in the cockpit makes me really nervous. But if you must, this is what David did: First, he measured it with painter’s tape, which is not horribly sticky on the back and easily removed. Then he made sure (yet again) that he wasn’t going to […]
Slow and steady wins the day (and drives me nuts)
[Hilde’s log] This is our cockpit floor (looking forward toward the bow of the boat), with the new hatch rim laid out for size. It’s a substantial hatch, made of cast aluminum, and quite heavy. When installed (which involves cutting a hole in the cockpit floor), it will be flush with the floor. Using this […]
Eleven months to go….
[Hilde’s Log] OMG. We are actually prepping the boat. We’ve been living off the boat in an RV (so much ROOOOOOM) for about 2 ½ years now, and she’s suffered. Boats like to be used, lived on, and loved, and we’ve done none of those things. Do you remember how hard your last year of […]
The Cold Dreads
This morning I woke up with the Cold Dreads. You may be familiar with them – they are the chattering list of all the things I need to do, finish, start, master, mail, decide, and pack before April 2012. We have drawn a line in the sand to push off then. April seemed a long […]
Grinding toward Plan A
[Hilde’s log] Yes, this is my first post on this log in three years! To see why, visit my other blog: http://www.unedame.blogspot.com/. David took the week off this last week for vacation. I use the term loosely, because we didn’t go anywhere and he worked the whole time. I did my regular work for various […]
Catching up
Hi! Everyone: No, we haven’t fallen off the face of the Earth. Establishing ourselves in Corpus Christi (CC) has been frighteningly difficult and time consuming. When Raven was in Clear Lake we dodged Hurricane Dolly that crossed the coast south of CC. We took our small travel trailer home to Canyon Lake, about 100 miles […]
Life in the old dog yet.
Hi! Everyone: Mister P is running again. Initially, the idle was high (around 1200 rpm) but was easily adjusted to 750 rpm. The shop manual recommends 650, but I see no point in having the engine shake its mounts at that low speed. It took several attempts to start. I bled air out of the […]
Re-entry
Hi! Everyone:No, we haven’t disappeared. Re-entry to landlubber life has been chaotic and exhausting. Our belongings remain scattered in four Texas cities and seem to defy any attempts to gather them all in one place. I’m embarrassed to admit that our large storage unit was so full that when I opened the door stuff fell […]
Raven's cruise log 