Snow!

For the first time in a couple years, Bellingham got some real snow. It started on Saturday night, built up to about eight inches, and finally turned into a persistent drizzle of frigid rain on Monday. We went down to check on the boats, and were surprised to find a layer of snow building up on the water. It's not unusual for the harbor to ice over when the air temperature drops to 20 degrees or so, but it was a balmy 35° out, and the water temperature was about 40°. I guess this snow doesn't mind being above freezing.

Although Misogi is in the boathouse, a north wind blew enough snow through the door to coat the entire top deck in a fine layer of the accursed white stuff. This is rather frustrating because I had exposed some rotten wood on the back of the pilothouse, and it had been drying out for about a week. The snow got it all damp and squishy again. Mariah, unfortunately, is not in a boathouse. She got thoroughly coated in snow which is now probably leaking inside through the cracked window seals. Hopefully she'll forgive me for not brushing her off; I certainly don't want her to break the engine again out of spite.

Back at Sodhaven, we lost power for about 14 hours, and I discovered that nothing in this house functions without electricity. Not even the heating system. I'm not sure why anyone would design a house that could not be heated without electricity, but clearly Sodhaven's architect didn't think it would be a problem. I'm really looking forward to living on Misogi and not relying on the City's electrical grid for power.

Snow is Sticking-  In the Water!

 Mariah

Sodhaven's Front Yard 

Cool find

While working on Misogi in the boat house we noticed this large undulating critter swimming under the boat. It was about six inches long and mesmerizing as it swam

The Project Begins

   After a horrible 2-1/2 years of living on land, my family has decided to move back onto a boat. We spent a few months searching for the right boat, thinking that we learned from our mistakes on the Patriot. This time, we decided that we would get a smaller, faster, fiberglass yacht that would be easier to maneuver and maintain. Well, things usually don't go as planned, and we bought another big, mostly-rotten, 40 year old wooden trawler; the Misogi.

      In order to restore our old rot-bucket to water-tight condition, we decided to move her into a boathouse. The boathouse was advertised as being 18 feet wide and 20-something feet tall, and Misogi has a beam of about 17 feet, so we were about 70% sure that we would fit. We didn't. The boathouse had a few beams and appendages in awkward places, and we got stuck. Luckily, my dad had his sawzall along, and he cut enough off of the Misogi's top deck that we were able to squeeze in. 

     We have now started the process of restoring the boat. This involves cutting out the rotten bits, soaking all of the surrounding wood in epoxy, and screwing new pieces of wood into the holes where the rotten wood used to be. In theory, it sounds quite easy, but in practice it is very demanding and time-consuming work that involves all kinds of annoying geometry. My dad hired a shipwright to repair the really curvy bits, but there is still plenty of work for us to do. Here's some pictures of the move and the start of Misogi's restoration:

Driving to Bellingham; Lummi ahead.

Stuck in boathouse door.

Rot damage.

More rot damage.