Happy Solstice!

Capaz dressed in white
This year, the Capaz crew saw the Winter Solstice from a rather snowy perspective. It has been snowing on and off here in Seattle for the better part of a week with a pretty good dump on Saturday night. The bright side is that for the first time, here at home, our winter solstice has been . . . . well . . . . . wintry! It is much easier to take with a grain of salt after Skyping the crew of Totem in Mazatlan and hearing of the 80* water that we should be enjoying next Christmas. My new mantra/visualization consists of three things to do on Christmas Day 2009: drink margarita, wear bathing suit, sing Feliz Navidad while dancing on the beach!!!!
With the masts still out, we don't think that we have to worry so much about the weight of the snow on the boat. But, I was still worrying. I have been going down memory lane with some friends the last couple of weeks and I remember the boathouses collapsing and boats sinking the last time we had a big snow like this. Anyway, I went to the boat and kicked most of the snow off the deck and swept off the dodger as best as I could, just to be on the safe side. (There is more snow in the forecast for the next couple of days.) Austin made the coolest snowman on our dock. It's really the first snow we have seen that has been packable enough to make one - it has just been too cold and dry for good snowman making. And for those of you wondering, YES, we still plan to move onto the boat after the holidays!

Austin says "Look very closely for the eyes!"

Cheers,

The Crew of Capaz
Brad, PJ, Bryce and Austin

Power Boat Owners

M/V Capaz

At this juncture, we basically own a powerboat. Both rigs were pulled today at the Seaview East yard in Ballard. Most of the day went pretty much as planned with only one injury. Our mast pulling operations foreman, Harris, got whacked in the forehead by a turnbuckle as the main mast was being lowered onto the cart. He promised me that he was OK and was able to deliver a boat through locks later on so, I will have to trust his diagnosis.
So, Capaz is now a funny looking mastless sailboat (some would call it a powerboat). With the help our friend, Andy Schwenk, owner of Northwest Rigging in Anacortes, Capaz will have all new standing rigging. Both masts were inspected (something that one should do every 3 or 4 years) twice (by Andy and then another friend, who happens to a surveyor, stopped by and put his eyes on them also). Brad, Andy and I spent a couple of hours undressing the masts. I learned a lot about masts today. Some of it very reassuring and some of it a little scary. Most of our rigging is pretty oversized (much stronger stuff than it needs to be) - that's the good news. On the other side of the coin, I learned that the rigging is attached at the spreaders to the mast with very thin wire - granted several wraps of said thin wire, but still, I expected much beefier attachment methods. I have been assured that it is all very standard and safe. I also learned how to pull out codder pins using something Andy calls, "Le Tool" and how to coil big cables.

How it happened:

We weren't sure if we could get the boat back through the locks and be home in time for Austin's return from school on the bus, so we altered our plans a little. I ran home, grabbed dinner makings, picked Austin up at school and met Brad at Shilshole to drop a car off there. Then we proceeded back to the boat yard and finished cleaning up our tools before heading for the locks. Austin is going to make a great boat kid as he did his math homework this afternoon as were waiting for the small lock's green light. Back at Shilshole, we had a quick dinner and covered the holes in the boat so that rain won't get inside. Even if some does, we started up our new dehumidifier - our live-abroad neighbors swear by them for winters in Seattle. (Did you know that the hurricanes in Texas caused a dehumidifier shortage here in the NW? The people at Home Depot were so excited to get a shipment because they haven't been able to since last summer!!! Who knew?) Brad hopes to be able to put the rigs back into the boat next week!
We will be back to being sailboat owners!

No Booms

That's right! Capaz is boomless. We took off the main and mizzen sails yesterday and then off came both booms. We are preparing the boat for having both spars pulled for inspection and new standing rigging. Capaz may be capable, but having good reliable rigging is super important on the safety front. So, basically, we will be turning into powerboaters for awhile until the work is done. The rigs will pulled out later this week at the boatyard. I will try to get some pictures of the boat without masts. Today, in between rain showers, the boys helped Brad get the rigging marked for when it all gets re-attached after the work is completed.
We moved a bunch more stuff onto the boat and even set up a little Christmas tree.
We spent the night and did a little acclimatization with kitties. Tasha does not enjoy the 12 minute car trip down to the boat, but once there, she seems fine with her new environment. She did not like the wind storm that blew through last night, but she remembers how to snuggle in with mom and dad. The boys slept through the whole thing.
Now, Sammy, she is a whole other story. She despises her carrier, the car ride and spent the entire time on the boat (with the exception of visits to the litter box) curled up in a corner in the shower. Know anyone who would like to have a very cute, sort of ferral cat? We aren't holding our collective breathes for her to come around on the adjustment front and so we are starting to look for a new home for her.

Austin marking the turnbuckles

Brad shows Bryce how to take the pins out the turnbuckles

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

Live-Aboard Status

What is it?

Many people have asked what our plans are. Part of the answer to this question requires something that we have been referring to as "live-aboard" status. Most people get a questioning look on their face when this comes up. We planned to move aboard our boat at Shilshole after the holidays. As with many things in life, we did not have total control over this plan. The Port of Seattle had the control. They limit the number of moorage customers at Shilshole who are allowed to live on their boats: live-aboards. At Shilshole, the number of boats with this special status remains at the cap and so there is a waiting list for "live-aboard" status. We have been waiting since June (being totally mystified by the actual waiting list system as our position in the queue seemed jump around on a weekly basis) for the Port to offer us this status.

WE GOT THE CALL YESTERDAY!!!!

I guess not many people want to move onto their boats in the dead of winter. That is what we will be doing. We have promised the kids that we would celebrate Christmas at our house and after we get it all cleaned up, we will move onto the boat. We will be getting our house ready for rental and working through all those transitional issues. Please offer any advice on moving that you might have!!

Spa Treatments

Hopefully, Capaz has been been enjoying her treatments in the spa (yard). She has 2 coats of new paint on her bottom lovingly applied by Brad and I. Brad worked on installing new zincs. After his experience diving on the boat in Hawaii spending 3 hours scraping worms off the hull, Brad wanted to make extra sure that the coverage is complete. He went over all the crevices and through-hulls making sure they all had good coverage. Capaz also had her top sides buffed and waxed. We have worked on the same treatment to the decks and cabin tops but were unfortunately stopped by some drizzle. We should be able to finish that part of the job once Capaz is back in the slip on dry days that I have off from work. Yes, I realize that it is fast approaching winter in Seattle and the number of dry days that coincide with my days off may be a very small number, but like always, if the opportunity presents itself, I will jump on it.

"Spa Week" for Capaz

Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Aunt Carrie and Uncle Rex approaching the locks

Years ago, I was talking to one of the "big boat" owner's wives at a Christmas party. She was explaining to me that the boat had just returned from a trip to the "Spa". Evidently, this couple had worked out some sort of rationalization for the cost of the race boat going into the yard for her yearly maintenance. Yard trips are an unavoidable part of every healthy boat's life. It was explained to me, that this particular owner treated the two important women in his life to spa time - each in their own particular way. The wife got to go to the spa. The boat got to go to the yard. I see this couple continuing their already enduring relationship far into the future. It always helps us boat wives when things are explained to us in terms that make sense in our world.
With that said, our girl, Capaz, is headed to the spa. Aunt Carrie and Uncle Rex got out to see the boat and help us move it through the locks to Canal Boat Yard before joining us for a great dinner. We had an uneventful and quick trip. Last boat into the locks. Carrie commented that it was just like driving onto the ferry just before it leaves the dock. It was nice to have them aboard as the power boat that we rafted to was single handing and I was able to jump on his boat and man his aft lock line. We made it under the Ballard Bridge long before the 4:00 cut-off. Carrie seemed a little disappointed that all had gone so smoothly and quickly - she would have liked to have spent a little more time on our boat!

Aunt Carrie mans the bow line leaving the locks

Our favorite fiberglass wizard, Paul, caught us at the Canal wall. We are hoping that we aren't too close to the shallow spot with the lake level down. First thing tommorrow, Capaz will be hauled and we will begin the work on her bottom among other projects. The boys are going to spend a few days at Deer Meadow-Brad and I will be putting long days at Canal, trying to not have the yard bill mount too quickly.










November 6, 2008
Capaz checks in at the "Spa"

Up and out of the water . . . . .

. . . . . . . and into your "treatment space"

F & G Dock Halloween

Baker Pirates ready to Trick-or-Treat on F & G Docks

We had this crazy idea to tag along with some live-aboard pros down at Shilshole for Halloween. The "Ghostsailors" were amenable to having some company on their rounds of F and G docks. (F & G docks are mentioned together alot because we share the same marina gate, so we all see each in the same parking area and at the top of the dock.) Because Angela has had kids for most of the years that she and her husband have lived on their boat, she knows that a little planning has to go into these kind of events. She posted a sign-up sheet at the gate for anyone interested in participating in the kids' trick-or-treating rounds. Most of our live-aboard neighbors were game so that gave about 20 boats to visit. It was a toss-up on who was more exciting the kids: two pirates, a skeleton and blue angels flying ace or the folks on their boats. Armed with Hot Apple Pies to keep us warm (it was a beautiful evening and we probably didn't really need them, but I think the drinks allowed the 3 adults to chill a little about the massive amounts of candy our children were collecting), we started off on the far end of F-dock. Quite a few of the boats were "decorated" and even the residents came to the hatch (don't know how you refer to entryway on a powerboat - help me out here) dressed in costumes. The first person to ask for a trick got all four kids standing on one leg (it was the first thing that came to my mind). After that, the kids came up with knocking on the hull, then crouching below the boat's and yelling "Trick or Treat" when someone came out - better "trick"! We wound our way around the head of the two docks and started down G-dock meeting more people that we don't see as often, but who still seem familiar. We met the parrot that I had been hearing all summer (thinking that I might just have been hearing things). S/V Ghost was the last stop where Angela and Scott prepared to host a Halloween Dock Party. I supervised the first look in light at the candy the kids had collected. O-M-G!!!!! When all four of the dumped out their haul, it covered the entire main saloon of Ghost (I know most boats don't have much floor space, but this was actually a fairly large area). There was an initial sort and then we decided that maybe we go check on Brad who was manning the door back at the house, but hadn't been feeling that well. When we arrived back the house, the boys combined all their candy and then weighed it - 17 pounds. Thank goodness that Austin's class celebrates the holiday by seeing how much candy they can bring in the next day and donate to Childhaven! Most of it has left the house, however, I must say that somehow I was talked into having a basket for the house and for the boat!
This dock community is very friendly and seem very close-knit. It makes us get very excited to become a part of it all (still hoping for moving aboard after the holidays). Our immediate neighbors are both live-aboards and we feel very lucky to have gotten the slip between them, but it is even nicer to know that their welcoming attitude premeates both of these docks.

Stayed tuned . . . . . . . Capaz goes to the "Spa"