Category: By John

There are no sailing seasons in the PNW, but there is sure a lot to buy before springtime arrives.

I don’t like to think of sailing as seasonal. Being seasonal is what I think of as differentiating east coast sailors from west coast sailor – 3000 miles, notwithstanding. We keep Caro Babbo in the water 12-months a year and enjoy winter sailing.

This year and last we decamped to Phoenix to work on a house there, making sailing seasonal, even if that was not our intent. Three months prepping a house, only to return to Seattle to spend months prepping the boat, delineates boating seasons as much as I would rather have sailed continuously. Continue reading “There are no sailing seasons in the PNW, but there is sure a lot to buy before springtime arrives.”

2017 Seattle Boat Show – Water Maker and Sailmaker

The boat show was very different for me this year. It was Hilary and me alone. I went to learn about water makers, to see my sail maker, and to meet with Jesús and Zoë, who are friends from the newspaper industry who are planning on calling it quits and move onto a trawler.

Hilary and I are staying full time in the Port Townsend house. It has been very cold (to my PNW/South-of-the-Mason-Dixon-Line self): Highs in the low forties, lows around freezing. It is also 2-1/2 hours from Port Townsend to Seattle. Continue reading “2017 Seattle Boat Show – Water Maker and Sailmaker”

We’re back in the PNW

We’re back in the Pacific Northwest. Well, at the moment, ‘we’ refers to Hilary and me.

Hilary, Jennifer and I spent from October 5th through January 7th in Phoenix working on a house Jennifer owns. It was a time to get fit as Jennifer and I worked 6 to 7 days a week from sun up until we needed to stop.

Some of the gravel I moved about

I got in shape by moving approximately 25 tons of gravel with a wheelbarrow and a shovel. It feels good to carry muscle again. The trick is how to keep it; I don’t belong to a gym anymore.

Continue reading “We’re back in the PNW”

Humidifier isn’t on recall, scheduling boat pull and worries

Derek was nice enough to send me a picture of the label on the dehumidifier. Given the serial number it is not a recalled unit.

The label on the dehumidifier that freed us from the recall hassle.
The label on the dehumidifier that freed us from the recall hassle.

I’ve asked Derek to plug it back in, turn it on and make sure the drain hose is in the sink.

Continue reading “Humidifier isn’t on recall, scheduling boat pull and worries”

Pudgy Comes Homes, Dehumidifier is a fire hazard

Last week, our friends Jeff Storm and Kimberly Lindberg towed our Pudgy home for us.

Their trip was not uneventful with an engine overheating, and a very long wait for the locks in both directions.

But, they brought the Pudgy to our slip, where it is safe and sound.

Continue reading “Pudgy Comes Homes, Dehumidifier is a fire hazard”

We buy a Portland Pudgy

Yesterday afternoon my Google Alert found a Portland Pudgy for sale in Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island, very near Seattle. It had been posted 33 minutes before. It was listed at $3400, is in new condition and came with a Bermuda sailing rig. I contacted the seller and bought it.

Continue reading “We buy a Portland Pudgy”

Hilary

Hilary is the center of attention no matter where we go, but the woman Jennifer and I live with isn’t the woman I met 11 years ago. Yet, like that woman, this woman is buoyant, full of life.
People who meet Hilary once, remember her, call to her and become concerned about her well-being.

Is it rewarding to have traveled with Hilary for five months? No, it isn’t. It is work, unrelenting, uninterrupted work that increases in effort as Hilary progresses with her disease.

Continue reading “Hilary”

Status, statistics, and did anything not break?

1-OCT-2016 – It’s easiest to answer the last item first. Yes, a number of things did not break. None of the standing rigging had any sort of failure (the standing rigging is what holds up the mast). After that it becomes a little more difficult to think of something, None of us, personally, were injured or became ill, nor did any of our guests, so the human factor held up well. Continue reading “Status, statistics, and did anything not break?”

Being Back, Vodka Truth Serum, and Adjusting

It is very good being back, though the noise of a city was assaulting and being afloat but not being on the hook was and is confusing. Continue reading “Being Back, Vodka Truth Serum, and Adjusting”