First Sail

Sunday funday and you know what?  We sailed Vitte for the first time!  We motored to Desoto Point first to have lunch and test out the dogs’ life vests.

Getting suited up

All set!

"We can swim FOREVER!"

Ransom even had a warm solar shower after swimming

After a leisurely swim we decided to see how this baby sailed.  We pulled into the wind, raised the main sail, and were underway in no time.

Raising the main sail

Ransom wanted to raise the jib and see how she did with two sails, so again we turned into the wind and as Ransom began to raise the sail he turned to me with an unusual expression on his face…he had dislocated his shoulder again. 

This was one of the scariest experiences of my life.  We are under sail, it’s Sunday (TONS of boats on the water), and our half raised jib needs to come down because Ransom’s shoulder is out of socket.

YOU MUST REMAIN CALM

Ransom managed to get the sail safely down and on deck with one arm and I managed to sail the boat without completely FREAKING OUT.  Once the sail was secure, Ransom came to the cockpit and I gently put his arm back in socket. 

After the first dislocation I paid CLOSE attention when the doctor put his arm back in.  It’s really simple and nothing like what you see on TV or in the movies (violent jerking and lots of screaming from the patient).  First you secure the patient (sit down and behave!) then you hold the arm at the elbow (keeping it close to the body) and the forearm.  Finally, you gently (and minutely) swivel the forearm and “POP” you just relocated a shoulder!  Ransom said I did a great job, not only keeping my cool and sailing the boat but also, putting his arm back in socket quickly and gently.  

Drama aside, sailing Vitte was AWESOME!!!  She handles very well and points true. 

I’m hooked

Life Aboard: Week 1

Mon

I’m a sensitive sleeper.  I like a firm bed and a dark and quiet room.  So usually my first night in a new place is, well, difficult.  As expected, I woke several times during the night trying to get comfortable (and subsequently banging a knee or elbow in the reduced space of the v-berth) or asking, “what was that noise?!” 

 

Tue

Our second night aboard fog began rolling in at around 9:30pm.  By 10pm the fog was so thick and so complete that you couldn’t see the lights from shore.  I was waiting for the Black Pearl to come sailing out of the fog demanding pieces of eight.  Unfortunately we couldn’t get a picture of the fog at night, but I got a decent shot the next morning (although it was not as dramatic).

Fog

Wed/Thu

By mid-week we had settled into a nice routine.  Wake up; take the dogs to shore, return to the boat with dogs and boxes.  Work all day; return to shore, feed humans, feed dogs, shower, and return to boat.  Watch Netflix, enjoy some rum, and then off to bed! 

Repeat

I think he likes it out here  ^_^

Little Frejya

Watch dog

Fri

While watching Netflix Friday night our (wimpy) inverter let out its shrill beep to indicate a low battery level.  Ransom and I exchanged looks of confusion and scrambled to start the engine and recharge the batteries…no luck, wouldn’t crank.  The next day we unhooked the battery bank and took all four batteries to Auto Zone for testing…all 4 were bad.

On Saturday we got four new batteries, but a whole new set of issues.  The ice box is draining the batteries for two reasons:

1. cold is escaping from somewhere
2. the wind generator isn’t charging the batteries fast enough

Ok, no big deal.  We knew the wind generator needed to be raised in order to harness the most wind.  Right now it’s on a 4ft pole and it gets easily confused with changing winds, so we need to raise it for maximum harvest.

Too short

As for the insulation…more “Great Stuff” I guess.  We know the cabinets and drawers are way too cool, so it must be coming from there.

It’s always something…even when we get it all sorted out I’m sure something else will require maintenance. 

It's still better than land  ^_^

The Rest of February...aka week 15

After moving the boat into the river and spending the night, we still had work to do.  We hadn’t finished moving, and the ice box (although installed) wasn’t hooked up yet.  Not to mention all the other “to do’s” on the checklist…

This week’s projects:

• Hooked up ice box and turned her on!

• Insulated ice box in engine room using Styrofoam blocks and “Great Stuff”

• Installed weather stripping on ice box hatch

• Ran up main sail and folded on boom under sail cover

Swanky new sail cover

• Organized aft cabin…why does it feel like this is always on our list of projects?

• Took Vitte across the river to Regatta Point Marina for some diesel

• Installed jib winches

Innards

Bolting to boat

Inner workings (wenches are actually pretty sophisticated)

Putting it all together

• Sanded down soft spot on deck to see what’s going on…more to follow

• Stocked up on food! 

• Dropped off life raft for recertification

Moving Day!!!

After three months in Cut’s Edge Marina we were partially moved on and ready to move out of the marina and into the Manatee River!

…But not before sending Ransom up the mast in the bosun chair to fix the anchor light!

On top of the world!

To get Vitte from A to B, however, was not as easy as pie.  We had to (basically) take the long way.

We set out from Cut’s Edge Marina for the channel through Terra Ceia Bay (a shallow and somewhat tricky channel to follow).  That channel empties into Tampa Bay and then after a short trip around the longest sandbar ever, we made our way into the Manatee River and towards our anchorage off McLewis Bayou.

Captain Ransom  ^_^

Boat dogs!

Navigating Terra Ciea Bay

Into the Manatee River

First Mate McChuckles

Our route from Cut's Edge to McLewis Bayou anchorage

Dinghy ride from house to boat

Anchored in the river!!!

Week 14 (2/14-2/20)...or what Lauren did while Ransom was in Texas

After replacing the transducer and re-splashing Vitte, we moved back into slip 17 with a new found confidence and drive.

We were ready to start moving aboard!

However, this was also the week that Ransom would fly to Houston, TX for work.  Looks like it’s up to Lauren!

This week’s projects:

• Finished painting aft cabin

Finally stopped procrastinating and got the job done

 

• Installed galley shelves

Those other pieces to the right, no idea where they go

Ready for shelf "paper" and food stuff

• Rearranged tools and hardware and moved to aft cabin

OMG, a cabin not completely filled with tools!

 

• Cut non-skid shelf paper for cubbies and shelves

• Unpacked galley

"Nested" glassware

You know you're jealous of our Darth Vader spatula

•  Unpacked books

It took me multiple tries to get them all in and situated properly

• Charlie came with me all week (no Rei) and I think it really helped him get used to the boat

He's just a little guy (*sob*) in a big 'ol world!

 

• Removed charts for inspection and cleaned chart drawer.  Found the original boat plans mixed in with the stack of charts

 

• Ransom flew home Friday night, so the weekend held more serious projects:

• Rewired port nav light

• Cut vent hole for refrigeration unit

• Installed fan and condenser for ice box

Condenser unit

Evaporator

 

Launch...Part II

It sure was a bummer that we had to pull Vitte out of the water only days after launching her.  However, a misfortune as scary as a leak was most welcome in the marina versus in the middle of a cruise somewhere.

After Mike did some welding and Ransom installed the new transducer, we painted, caulked, and launched Monday (Feb 7^th) afternoon. 

Back to slip 17, and more work before leaving the marina.

Lucky work week 13 saw some milestones!

• We got our Florida driver’s licenses (Ransom's with a Mohawk)
  

  
  

•  Finished caulking the head so we would not experience that leaky disaster from before

It looks like a space ship (but simple/easy to maintain)

 

• Created a 24V battery bank for the windlass

Two new batteries for the one surviving piece of European hardware

•  Installed lifelines (sorry no picture, but you'll see them plenty later)

• Re-paneled aft cabin

• Rigged and installed stove

Mmmmm, butane

We bolted it to a reinforced wood platform and mounted the old stove's swivel arms onto the platform

• Galley plumbing

Yay!  Running water....sort of

• Serviced old tail logger (found under floor boards opposite old transducer) with ospho and rust stop paint (no caulking required).

Ransom is actually working with the plumbing in this picture, but you can see the tail logger just above and to the right of his right hand

• Mounted wind generator, ran cables, and installed breaker switch

Breaker switches for the wind generator and the ice box

• Re-caulked forward hatch…after the major caulking job we still experienced some dripping in the v-berth; so I went back and got real detailed with it.

• Installed macerator pump and switch

And most importantly…WE INTRODUCED THE DOGS TO VITTE!!!

They were excited!  I think they knew this was where we’d been disappearing to all day every day for the last 3 months.

They could not sit still and were very jumpy when people would walk by the boat.  They also whined and cried a lot if we were on deck and left them below in the cabin.

This is going to take some work…