more boat projects

We are diving head first into boat renovation. Our plan of leaving Oct 2023 is a deadline that is fast approaching. We have just emptied the entire boat of all it’s possessions. We are going to deep clean everything. Paint and freshen up the interior. Completely clean engine, engine bay and bilge. After that I’m going to tackle an electrical refit. Wires are everywhere and it’s driving me nuts. I’m hoping to make the jump to lithium. We are then going to go through the water system and probably replace the old hoses with pex. In the meantime I’ve removed a chainplate that looks great, but it has Japanese writing on it so I believe it’s original…which means I’ll just replace it. I’m going to take the standing rigging down slowly, support the mast and bring the rigging and chainplates to the local boat yard so they can be replicated. Once that’s all done I need to fix the propane locker. Repair SSB. Replace the lifelines. Install netting. Install radar. Service windless. Service water maker. Install new electric head. Need to buy a liferaft, starlink, irridium go. Ideally buy scuba gear, surfboards, standup paddle boards:)

In the meantime the house needs all new windows. The backyard needs a complete makeover. The stucco on the house needs repaired. Need to decide to rent the house furnished or not. Need passports for the entire family. Need to research homeschool options. Life is busy, but life is good.

Boat Work

Well life is humming by and the boat hasn’t been sailed nearly as much as I have wanted to. Between work, major house renovations(we completely remodeled our kitchen), kids, kids school, kids after school activities blah blah blah it’s been a little difficult finding time to get to the boat.

The move to Richmond has helped immensely. I often race to the boat during my hour lunch break and I get to spend a solid 30 minutes mucking around with whatever the project is. So far the boat has mostly needed some good old routine maintenance and a lot of cleaning. One major expense though was the bottom paint job. Ultimately had the paint taken all the way off and the boat yard applied 2 coats of epoxy barrier and then paint.
On the sailing end of things I finally made it outside the Golden Gate. It was awesome. The boat felt like it was at home, racing along through the ocean. My thoughts drift to the future, and I see the horizon filled with only sky and water.

From the Delta to Richmond

We made it. Left at 10am arrived safely docked at 1am. It was a long day. A couple of my friends long with Liz, Max and Harry came along for the journey. We had to motor pretty much the whole way against 20 knots of wind. The engine was overheating if I reved it up to much so it was slow going but beautiful.

Daydreaming

I’m in love, not only with my wife and kids but with this 45’ fiberglass shell full of tangled wires, lines, chain and fuel weighing in at 37,000lbs that they call a sailboat. Memories of her curves linger in my mind as I drift to sleep. She exudes a sense of power, quietly but restlessly tied to the dock…I can feel that her soul yearns to be cutting through the vastness of the oceans exploring the world we live in. Almost all of her systems are in need of deferred maintenance. The house batteries were bulging and leaking acid, the head doesn’t seem to be operating properly and I insist everyone poops in a bag, the cable to shift the transmission broke…the list goes on and on. Working on it has been frustrating yet gratifying. My initial plan was to leave the boat in the Delta until the spring of next year, but after taking ASA 104 and sailing to the Golden Gait and along the City front we’ve changed plans and are going to berth the boat in Richmond. It’s 1.5hour drive without traffic to get the boat, and I’ve been unable to get down to her as much as I would like to. With the boat in Richmond I can go there during my break at work and most importantly sail her, something I have not been able to do in the Delta. The move to Richmond is happening next Thursday and it feels like I’m 8 years old and waiting for Christmas morning to arrive.

Anchors away

Lots of beers, a bunch of dudes and a sailboat. Perfect setting to take the boat out for the first time since being towed back to the doc. The plan is simple, leave the doc, motor a few miles down the river, anchor overnight and come back the next morning. I had replaced the dead starter battery and also the house batteries and felt fairly confident things would go well. In order to get out of the main river I had to do a tight 180 turn. Unsure of the exact turning radius I decided to do a fairway turn, where you pop the engine in short intervals of forward and then reverse and it enables one to turn the boat around on it’s axis. Everything was working out great and I just needed to power the boat up in forward gear to clear a docked boat and motor out into the delta. As increased power the boat suddenly started drifting backwards. I thought the wind was overpowering the bow so I gave it more throttle and the boat quickly got stuck in the mud and reeds behind me. 30 minutes. 30 minutes after leaving the doc and I was stuck again. More frustrating was the fact that I could see my doc, lying empty 300 yards away. It was noon, sunny and the increasing temp had all of us sweating. The best course of action was to stop an drink a beer. After further investigation I found out the linkage to the transmission broke and when I throttled forward it actually put the boat in reverse. We fixed the linkage and rowed the dinghy out a 100 yards and dropped an anchor. We wrapped the anchor line around the a winch on the main mast and cranked on it, pulling the boat slowly forward out of the mud. I powered up the engine and this time confidently in forward gear we slowly motored out to the river. Ah it felt good. As we said in the Marines, adapt and overcome. And that’s what we did. The rest of the trip went well. Anchored, drank and laughed. The next morning we returned and the boat would wait patiently again to be brought out.

First sail: stuck, no engine, coast guard

It all started out great. My wife and 5 other friends joined us to take the boat back to the Delta. We left at 9am and motored out of Vallejo and towards our destination in Iselton. We pulled up a hammock between the ketch and enjoyed the cool breeze, sounds of the waves and the peace that comes from being out on the water while sailing.
The time passed and I went to start the engine so we could get back to the doc before sunset. I was met with a gut wrenching sound of the starter trying to turn over. The batteries were drained so I shut off all the electronics and hoped the solar array would give us enough juice to start the engine. No luck. At 6pm the breeze picked up and I was confident we could at least get back to the doc before dark. The river wound around the corner and the green buoys that marked the left hand limit of the deep water channel disappeared. We were sailing in the middle of the river when we came to a gentle yet firm halt.
Swearing ensued, we attempted to get out of the mud that we were stuck on but to no avail. I hailed the coast guard at 8pm over vhf and ultimately were towed back to our doc at 1am.

Survey and purchase

The surveyor showed up at 8am was finished by 6pm. To summarize there was a laundry list of deferred maintenance that needed to be done(change engine oil, change intake hose, clean clean clean), but all the big items appeared solid. Standing rigging, sails, engine, steering and hull were all good to go. My wife met me with the kids that evening to look over the boat. An hour later we made the plunge and the boat was ours.

First impressions…

Oh my, about to buy a boat…probably. Absolutely crazy. My wife said I was going through a midlife crisis….could be possible. Either way it was 5 am and I was driving to pick up the owner of the boat. We met at the haul out location, which unfortunately was about 8 hours away from where the boat was docked, but it was the closest one since the boat was deep into the delta.
I hit it off with the owner right away. He had bought the boat 5 years ago with the same goal of escaping society so he could spend more time with his family. Unfortunately he was unable to pursue that dream…a fresh reminder that you never know what is going to happen in life.
The trip to the marina went well. The boat motored happily along throughout the day against the tide. It felt like a tank, albeit a messy one. Gear, lines, sails and extra parts were crammed everywhere. When we arrived at the marina one gentleman shouted out to us “is that a Fuji?…those are awesome boats!.” A few minutes later after docking another guy asked to hop on and check out below, only to come up a couple minutes later and say “this boat is a beast, definitely built to cross oceans.”

I am excited.

10 days and counting…

In 10 days the Fuji 45 will be hauled out of the water and a full survey will be conducted. If all goes well we will own it that night. Exciting. Scary. Exciting. I still haven’t even seen this boat, so there’s a chance it might not happen. If it does happen I get to enjoy bringing it back to it’s slip the next day with the help of my wife and friends. This entails motoring over 5 hours into the heart of the Delta that lies outside San Francisco Bay. I’m praying for a non-eventful day, but it’s nerve racking thinking that I’ll be steering a 35,000lb vessel for the first time down a potentially busy waterway. I’m sure it’ll work out fine:)

Below is a picture of the boat when it was hauled out by it’s current owner. I think she’s beautiful.

bought a boat???

so we could be buying a boat! crazy!

“This could be a really good deal,” was the title of another email my coworker sent me. He had sailed across the Pacific before with his own family and constantly sends me craigslist adds for boats that I should buy. While my intention was to buy a boat a couple years from now, it was useful to see what I could get for what price. This add was a 1977 Fuji 45’ Ketch. Built in Japan, they are known for their ruggedness, safety. It felt like a few stars had aligned and I started to really ponder if I should make a move on this one.

For one the price was much cheaper than I had planned on. It was listed for 45k. My expectation was that I would spend nearly double that at minimum. I also had actually seen the exact same model 6 months ago, so I knew the layout and was pretty familiar with the overall design and construction. My previous coworkers are travel nurses that have sailed all over the coast of Mexico, and they happened to also own a 45’ Fuji. In short they loved it. Super safe and great to sail. Since there were only 23 ever built they actually knew the current owner. Apparently had similar dream of cruising with his family, but health problems forced sale.

In the meantime, our current departure timeline had us leaving just after Mila turned 12, a little over 4 years from now. Everyone I’ve talked to that has done this before, along with most of the online cruising community, has said that her age will be a challenging and possibly limiting factor with how long we will be out for. Basically, go before they turn teenagers.

A couple days after later I watched Mila perform her first competition dance solo. She absolutely crushed it. She no longer looked like my little baby girl…instead I saw the future flash before my eyes and I was staring at my daughter who was now a young woman, independent of mom and dad. The next morning I put an offer on the boat.

Out with Liz…

This is the second time Liz has ever been out on a sailboat with me. I feel a little pressure to perform. I’ve been out quite a few times now and feel much more confident now. I had booked a 31’ Catalina to take out, but it needed a last second repair so they upgraded me to one of their 34’ Hunters.
the weather forecast kept changing, and when they day came for us to go out winds were blowing at 20-25 knots with gusts in the 30’s. Oh boy. We left the dock fine and motored straight out into the bay. I instructed Liz to keep us pointed in the wind while I raised the main. While the sail was fluttering around my face I hear a loud “there’s a boat coming right at us!.” I looked back and a huge cargo ship had just exited the channel, and was in fact heading right at us. It was approximately 500 yards away and I told Liz to keep heading straight as I had almost got the sail up. A minute later “it’s still heading right at us!” The sail was now up… we moved to port, the tanker went to starboard and all was well. The afternoon went well though, especially for how windy it was. Nothing broke, we didn’t hit anything and Liz was a rock star as usual.

More practice with friends…

Went out with a few friends from work, sailed to Angel Island, all went well!

ASA 103, smashing into waves and docks

I cut the wheel hard to port and attempted to have the 33’ boat glide up gently to the doc. We were practicing docking under sail power alone and my hard to port turn didn’t quite do the trick. The 12,000lb hull headed straight toward the dock and smashed into it with a dull thud. Our instructor was awesome, and had me try again. This time I was heading straight towards the bow of another boat. I threw the engine in reverse and cranked on the throttle. The boat shuddered and slowly came to a stop, thankfully before crushing in the side of the other boat.
The class took 3 days, and it was awesome. I learned how to doc, how to anchor, and how to turn the boat around in 360 degrees. I sailed through winds gusting to 35 knots, got hit in the face with hail and salt water, and most importantly I didn’t get seasick. I can see how people fall in love with sailing…it’s all engaging and visceral.

ASA 101-taking action…

ASA 101: Able to skipper a sloop-rigged keelboat of approximately 20 to 27 feet in length by day in light to moderate winds (up to 15 knots) and sea conditions. Knowledge of basic sailing terminology, parts and functions, helm commands, basic sail trim, points of sail, buoyage, seamanship and safety including basic navigation rules to avoid collisions and hazards. Auxiliary power operation is not required.

This would be my first foray into the world of sailing. I signed up at a local yacht club and looked forward to 3 days of hands on training. It was great. Most importantly I didn’t get sick and vomit all over the place.

Reverse Engineering

I love reverse engineering(RE) seemingly insurmountable problems. Simply put it is just satisfying. The Boat Plan has many challenges, all of which are solvable through the time and trusted method of RE. Every time I’ve pulled this off before I had to go through virtually the same process. It starts with a large whiteboard followed by brain dump filled by lots of lines and circles everywhere, interspersed with some pacing, staring at the board from a distance and tossing back a medium hop IPA. Create some rough timelines. Research. Validate ideas with others that have done the same thing. Draw more lines and circles. Create spreadsheets. Then one of the most important elements comes into play, picking a date and letting the world know. After that things just fall into place.

Example:

1: I don’t know how to sail: Many people have done this with minimal sailing experience. If I didn’t have children I would be down for that, but I would like to play it safe. Plan: Take sailing courses and join local yacht club which will enable me to take their boats out to learn on. I’m fortunate to live near the San Francisco Bay, which offers a great variety of conditions to practice in. Have confirmed this plan with others that have done the same.

2: What about our jobs? Money? I’ve been a nurse for over 11 years and I’ve for the most part enjoyed it…but I can feel it starting to eat away at my soul, the part that deals with empathy. The constant yelling, screaming, demanding, abrasive nature of the ER population starts to wear on you. We can translate the sailing goal into dollars and adjust all future spending and purchasing decisions to support this goal. Save, save, save. Additionally, creating the departure date finally gave me the push to officially start my own business, Baseline Finances, and we will use that income as well to help support this endeavor.

3: What about our stuff? Easy…sell it…all of it! Obviously I’m sure we will keep a few select items in storage.

4: What about school? Homeschool. I’ve read 100’s of blogs about other families that have done the same thing. Their story is the same. They worry if they are going to damage their children’s education, they start with a rigid homeschool schedule, then end up with a loose version of schooling, and the children plug back into regular school with straight A’s. Scholarships to Colleges. The child just experienced a life changing journey, schooling just isn’t something to worry about.

5: What about safety? Will be treated the same as we treat it now. Pirates? I wouldn’t drive my car through some neighborhoods and we won’t visit places with pirate activity. Storms? We will travel the same route everyone else does when they want to avoid storms. Middle latitudes. Sail East to West. Sail only during the correct season(won’t be in the Caribbean during Hurricane season), pick large weather windows when doing passages, etc. As far as health goes we are all healthy, and my 10 plus years in the ER will cover unforeseen injuries.

If you have a challenge or a dream you’re trying to accomplish, get a good nights sleep, grab a whiteboard, marker and a beer and start writing things down.

Hamster wheels in my mind and decision making…

I can feel the cogs in my brain start to turn when faced with a binary decision. Instead of asking “is this something I want to do?” I first examine the other factors that come into play, and often the question of is this something I want to do becomes irrelevant. The outcome of the algorithm forces the answer upon me and the I feel thrusted down the path that had already been decided by me.

Example- Bungee Jumping.

Step 1: Is this something that will improve the quality of my life? If not, the process stops, the hamster stops running and the wheel and cogs wind down and I’ll resume life. If yes the hamster runs a little more and I’m off to Step 2.

Step 2: If I do this what are the chances of serious bodily harm or death? Similar algorithm runs but this time it’s on a sliding scale along the X & Y axis, the hamster is running at full speed and the process becomes a little more muddied. If there’s an element of serious bodily harm or death I have to balance that vs the perceived improved outcome of life. Usually the answer is clear at this point.

In the case of bungee jumping it was easy. Yes, it would improve the quality of my life. The memory would be priceless and self confidence would rise. Statistically the chances of harm or death are relatively small. Decision: do it. So I did it…and it was awesome.

In the case of The Boat Plan the same process was run, over and over, until the outcome became clear.

Step 1: A resounding yes. My kids are 7, 5, 3 and to much of the time I spend with them feels fleeting and shallow. According to waitbutwhy.com and reflecting back on my own life experience, 93% of the time you will spend with your children will be when they are under the age of 18. I can sense that I’m going to blink, they will all be older, and I’ll be listening to Cats in the Cradel wondering where it all went.

Step 2: I’ll get into details of this in another post, but the short answer is the chance of serious bodily harm or death, while present, is overall lower than the act of getting in a car and driving to school. Life is full of risks, even if you try to avoid all of them.

Decision: Spend 2 years traveling around the world on a boat with the family.

There’s plenty to do and the unsettled feeling I have is quickly dissipating, replaced with excitement and zeal. We leave in 4 years, 11 months, 10 days, 13 hours and 44 minutes.

The Boat Plan

After 8 months of backpacking around the world I concluded happiness is a choice and often appeared to be inversely correlated with the number of possessions one owned. I had never felt freer and my only concern was where I was going to sleep at night. My total personal possessions were limited to what I carried on my back…some clothes, plenty of underwear, camera etc. I sold everything before I left.

Some of the people I had met left lasting impressions on my soul, specifically the smiles and look of satisfaction on their faces that contrasted with the stark poverty they lived in. Kids laughed and played with a soccer ball consisting of a rolled up piece of paper taped together while mom and dad opened their doors offering me a couch to sleep on. No iPads, cell phones, or electronics, just dirty shirts, no shoes and plenty of smiles.

After arriving back in the States I quickly plugged back into the “normal life.” I stepped into the current of our society and the 8 month trip became a dream, slowly occluded behind an ever thickening mist. I finished school, got a job, got married, bought a house, had 3 children, a variety of animals and hummed along with the Matrix of life. I love my wife, my kids and most of the time my job.

Over time I noticed I had started to become increasingly unsettled. The depths of my soul did not resonate with the reality I was living in. My house is filled with stuff and my schedule so busy that the greatest feeling of peace I derived from life was when I happened to be driving home from work, watching the sun set over the bay. While gazing out the window I listened to a story of a family that had sold everything to go live on a Catamaran in the Med…it felt like a hand slapping me on the face, trying to wake me from the dream I had succumbed to. It’s time to escape. I knew my wife felt similarly, and after a bottle of wine and a few hours I had her locked in. The date is set. The family is on board. Time to implement The Boat Plan.