I haven't blogged in a couple months because nothing interesting that related to living on a boat was happening. This last week though, lots of stuff has happened. Our boat fleet expanded by two; we finally got our tow-behind tender after months of off-and-on research, and I picked up a really cheap sailboat at the Port's abandoned boat auction. Our cats came and stayed on the boat for a couple weeks, and we just hauled Misogi out today to get her ready to actually be used.
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| Beached Whale |
Thumper is our new tender; an 18' Hewescraft. It gets it's name from it's nasty habit of slamming into waves in choppy weather, an effect caused by having a nearly flat bottom at the stern. Adding to the thumping experience is the fact that the boat is built of aluminum, and sounds like a drum when it hits said waves. Although the flat-ish bottom and light aluminum construction don't make for the most comfortable ride, they make the boat very efficient (about 7 mpg) and fast (about 40 mph). We've only used Thumper once so far because my dad is a party-pooper and wants to install a bunch of safety equipment, but hopefully in a couple weeks we'll be taking day trips around the bay and to nearby islands.
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| Thumper |
My auction sailboat's name is Yggdrasil (pronounced eeg-drah-sil). I was going to change it to something more pronounceable, but an elderly Norwegian guy with a weathered captain's hat and admirable facial hair stopped by when I was cleaning out the cabin and gave me a hand-written letter about the history of the name. We talked about boats and history for a while, and I learned that Yggdrasil is a massive tree in Norse legend that supports the nine realms (of which Earth is one) and holds fate together. After an encounter like that, changing the name seems like bad luck, so "Yggdrasil" my boat shall remain. Yggdrasil is pretty rough; she's covered with algae on the outside, has no engine, and was filled with mildewed upholstery and rotten food when I got her. Fortunately, she came with seven sails (including a spinnaker), and is structurally very sound. Her design also has quite a pedigree. Yggdrasil is a Swedish-built Albin Vega, and her sister ships have gone through the northwest passage, circumnavigated the world, and made it around cape horn. After a few months of gutting, re-building, and installing some kind of motor, Yggdrasil should be a fun and bomb-proof little cruiser.
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| Yggdrasil |
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| Yggdrasil's Gutted Interior |
I forgot to write about it when it happened, but we got our cats back for three weeks! My aunt got a new job and had to go through training in Oregon, so we took the cats to Misogi and looked after them. They took a few days to adjust, and never really got used to storms or the engines, but seemed pretty happy and relaxed most of the time. I'm kinda glad that they didn't end up living on the boat permanently though, because having a litter box in such a small space is rather unpleasant.
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| Potter |
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| Lily |
I'll probably be back in a week or so with another post detailing all the complications we will inevitably have with various hull-out chores.
