Good Day! Lots of work done.. but lots more problems

Today was a good day for me and the boat. I was able to get the 2 remaining hatch frames scraped free of old sealant and caulking so they will properly glue down to the deck when I put them back on. It was a cold morning and I awoke to find a huge puddle of ice and icicles from where the marina turned on the water on my dock to keep the lines from freezing.


I got up and went straight to work on scraping and just trying to get it over with. Its hard work and with the cold weather my hands are in constant pain from being numb and working the screwdriver and utility knife. I made some calls and am now waiting for quotes to send in the hatch frames to a local company to have them sandblasted and then powder coated black again. The original paint is chipping off at a rapid rate and they don’t look as good as they could so if the price is right we will have them painted.

I made some calls to West Marine and had them do some checking on me for our Garmin GPS Chartplotter which doesn’t seem to want to turn on for me. I have checked at the plug in that I have 12vdc and I do but the unit refuses to power up. I tried the factory reset HOME+POWER keys for 30 seconds or so and still nothing. Im researching to whether or not Garmin can honor the factory 1 year warranty but I doubt it as the West Marine guy confirmed that the serial number shows a manufacture date of 2007. There is still a dim hope that this unit sat on a shelf for 2 years but I highly doubt it. The good news is Garmin will honor the fact that we purchased this unit and will take ours and send us a refurbished unit for $500 with a 90 day guarantee. That’s not a bad deal considering a brand new unit will set the owner back $1800 so I guess we are heading down this road.

I also undid all of the steering lines today to get ready to replace them. I demounted the wheel steering until so I could disassemble it but I ran into problems yet again. I need to disassemble the home-made unit so I can remove and repair the Raytheon AutoHelm that is attached to said wheel. However, a few of the set screws that hold the whole thing together are severely seized so I ran it to a local welding shop only to find they were closed. Im considering checking into having this whole thing remade or just making another one from glassed plywood. The drum that the tiller line wraps around is slightly out of sync with the wheel and I think the whole thing can be made to steer a lot better. However, Im trying to save the owner money so I will just try again at the shop tomorrow to see if they can heat the metal and get the set screws out of there.

My problem lately is my infatuation with this boat. Im having so much fun that Im forgetting its not mine. I want to redesign so many things and change this and that to make it even better but then I have to remind myself that this is not my boat and the owner is already throwing a fit over the money he is putting into her. I have tried many times to reassure him that this boat is worth much more money than he paid and anything he puts in is just an investment into the boat and her longevity.

Jason, the owner has paid local author, carpenter and boat builder Scott b. Williams from Mississippi to come out and advise us about some of the damage and rot I have found inside one of the main hull beams. Im pretty excited about meeting him because I have read 2 of his books and been following his blog for about 2 or 3 years while he has been building a very similar boat but at extremely high standards. He should be coming out next week sometime when the weather is supposed to be a little warmer and better. Im also excited about the warmer weather because I have literally been freezing here on this boat and working in 40F everyday with inadequate clothing. Sure I could go buy more but at the rate of pay which I am receiving it would be literally several days boat pay just to get some good working clothes so I have decided to rough it out. When it gets warmer next week I will start preheating my cans of epoxy and hardener and try to keep them at or around 70F so it should go on nice and smooth when I begin glassing the wooden deck frames for the hatches to sit on. A lot of water gets trapped under here and I would feel better if they were sheathed in epoxy before I reseal everything.

Well that about does it for this post. Im headed to my brother’s place in Biloxi this weekend so I should have something fun to write about afterward.

Cold and Wet!

Today was a tough day to get out of bed. The weather has been horribly cold lately, especially this morning. I woke up around 7am and took a glance at my digital thermometer which was indicating a snug 36F inside the hull. I really had to pee and it took about 5 minutes of thinking before I was able to convince myself to get out of my shell of blankets and sleeping bags.

I returned to bed and woke up about an hour later and I promptly hit the deck to begin working on the hatches once again. I was surprised to find a decent amount of frozen water in containers that had been sitting out all night thus ending the debate of whether or not it actually dropped below freezing last night. I worked hard until 11 at scraping off the remaining 5200 Marine Sealant, which is a mixture of silly putty and badass glue. Its extremely difficult to make it come off in large segments and I found myself with a small flat head screwdriver removing bits and pieces from all the sections of a 24”x24” hatch frame.

I went to the nearby McDonalds for lunch at noon. Not so much to eat but to use their free WiFi they have. I sat in my van while checking my email, talking to Adriana and researching a few things for the boat. I made my lunch which was tuna and salteens and I highly enjoyed it! Amazing that such a cheap lunch can do it for me. I need to stick to this because I have been spending a tad too much cash here and I need to save as much as I can for when I get to South America.

The weather has been very cold lately and even just sitting in my van at noon was almost unbearable after half an hour or so. I decided to leave after I noticed my MorningStar SunSaver Duo solar controller flip out for a second and surge my house battery to near 16volts! This caused my inverter to overvolt and my laptop charger stopped working for a bit. My solar controller will “float” charge at 14.5v but this also depends on temperature and it was pretty cold today so 16v might be normal. I need to do some research about possibly some type of circuit protection to ensure nothing higher than 13v hits my lights and inverter.

The boat has been coming slowly as I have been finding a bunch of problems. It’s a 42ft boat and there are a ton of systems that need to be checked and repaired. Right now Im after the electrical system and deck hatches because they leak like crazy. The electrical is fine and working but I just don’t like some of the setup. I also have been doing some checking and it looks like the boats solar controller is on the fritz because it refuses to even try and charge the bank of batteries. The boat has a nice solar setup too so basically its tons of power just going to waste. The AIR-X Marine wind generator was cranking out high speeds the other day so I decided to check it with my multimeter. 5VDC?!?!?! It should be around 20vdc+!!! I isolated the circuit right at the generator and same thing, 5.6Vdc. I have to get her hooked up straight to the batteries because it has an internal regulator so that might have something to do with it but I highly doubt it. Right now I have it shorted and is self braking to prevent wear.

Ill try and get back on this thing because I know I haven’t been writing much lately and I can tell. I need to get these fingers moving again!!!!

In Florida, working on a boat!

I have been here in Florida now for a week. I am working on a Wharram Pahi 42, a traditional type catamaran sailboat to get her ready for a long voyage to Colombia. Our tentative departure date is somewhere around mid March due to weather and other constraints.

I have been working hard on the first thing on my list which is to get the hatches on the boat sealed up. They are leaking water when it rains which means they will be leaking out on the ocean as well and no one likes a wet boat. It doesn’t seem like a big deal at first but when you are on a passage or even living on a boat in such a confined area, the smallest things can bring major discomfort and anger. I have been pulling the hatches completely from the deck and sanding down the deck areas. Next when the weather and temperature permits, I will begin reglassing the hatch frames to help seal and protect the wood below. Then I will reseal the hatches to the wood frames with 3M 5200 Marine Sealant. That stuff can glue/seal anything when it comes to boats. The next step will be replacing the hatch gaskets that we ordered from Bomar and then finally I will be resealing the plexiglass seams in the hatch lids. It’s a lot of work but its worth it to make a dry boat be possible.

Anyways, Im going to have dinner and a few beers and catch this Auburn vs. Oregon game everyone is going crazy about. I have a lot more to write about concerning the boat but that will have to wait for tomorrow.

WOW! Long time with no update! Im back in the USA

Well, basically Im back in the USA!

I was getting a little bored living my dreams with no waves. OK, OK... basically I should have pushed on but I had been hanging out with the previous owner of a Wharram Pahi 42' catamaran that Im in love with. He hooked me up with the current owner who is moving to Colombia for awhile and the new owner needs a captain for the trip.

I have been talking with him and basically we came to an agreement about the trip and some work that needs to be done on the boat. So Im headed to Panama City, FL to live on the boat for a month or so while I get the boat ready. Then sometime at the end of Feb or mid March, we will be heading off to Colombia.

Im pretty excited about this trip and the timing is great. Ive talked to friends back where I was in Mexico, apparently still no waves!!!!!! This whole thing is about adventure so I will follow it wherever I have to go.

Im suffering a little heartache though. So many goodbyes and brief welcome homes. I got to see my family and friends for about 4 or 5 days and now Im heading off into the horizon once again. Im missing one of my best friends pretty badly as well and saying goodbye to her is always hard. But the thing Im finding it the hardest to deal with is not having my dog by my side. I left her back in Texas with my parents for awhile and its very hard after traveling with her for 3.5 months and being with her every single day and night. I love that dog... more than I knew. So with a heavy heart, I push on...

Eeesh... Fell Off Again

Ok well... damn I have to stop that, this whole falling off and not blogging or finishing a story type of thing. I made it home from that ride that night and it sucked bad, especially after a huge buck decided to try and take me out about 5 miles from my house. I did make it home around 12am or so and slept for like 14 hours to try and recoup. It was a long but immensly fun ride and I cant wait to do it again.

About that ticket, I paid it already and I got them to drop a the no motorcycle endorsement charge. The speeding 90 in a 60 and the passing in a no passing came to the whopping amount of $551 bux and that pissed me off. This thing is really starting to eat into my money and I need to be more careful because this is valuable trip money im blowing here! That $550 was basically a months worth of living on the road accoriding to my budget!!!!

Lately there hasn't been too much going on except some sailing here and there. I was going to do the Harvest Moon Regatta (sailboat race) again this year but my work cut me off with a planned network upgrade for that weekend. Well... the good news (for me anyways) is that Cisco, a huge networking company, delayed all of our core equipment until november or early december! Soooo... Im headed to Kemah wed night (sept 30th) because the race starts on Oct 1st. We will be racing 150 miles south to Port Aransas and expect to be there saturday at the latest. Then its parrrrttyyyy time! This year I also got the time off to help bring the boat back so I will be sailing back with Greg (double handed) on monday morning. Im super excited this year and Im hoping we will have a good chance because we wont be 40 minutes late for our start this time! Im also hoping we will have equally amazing winds like we did last year (20kts from the NW, making it a very broad reach, surfing at 10kts) and we will stomp the competition.

Anyways.. this has been my catch up blog. Ill write some more later... thats all I can muster right now.

Texas 200 - Day 2 recap - Or How I Lost 1st Place

So after my first day and a screaming sail through the land cut (picture included) I decided to start a little earlier this time and maybe have a shot at finishing towards the top 10. I left about 2 hours after most had already left including some of the other multihulls. I knew it would be a challenge catching them but I was curious to see what my boat and I were capable of so I was up for it.

I pushed hard through the morning and around noon is when the winds really picked up. 20-25kts from the SE and they really created some challenging chop when in the open bays. I had to surf around them carefully and sail somewhat conservative to avoid a capsize and possible damage to my boat. I was blowing by boats left and right and having a great sail when I finally saw the front 5 boats. A quick check of my charts showed I had roughly 10 miles until the finish, a measly 1 hour or less at the rate I was sailing.

I was hiking out all morning trying to keep the boat on her feet so I decided to rest my back a little and save it for the last miles where I knew it would count the most. As I was resting/sailing my damn hat blew off and I quickly jybed around to grab it. A Texas200 with no hat is just short of suicidal so I really wanted that cap back. I sailed close to the wind with the mainsheet loose, effectivly hove-to (about as much as you can on a hobie cat) and forereached back towards the fleet looking for my hat. As I was looking and I wasnt paying attention to my sideways drift and I drifted out of the channel and hit a shoal, kicking up both my rudders. This is an issue with hobies, especially mine as it is extreamly difficult to get them to lock back down if the cams dont pop properly. The boat was trying to sail too much for me to jump out with a screwdriver and re-open the cams for the rudders so I decided to sail on, no rudders and no hat. BOOOM! Thats the sound of the boom, a part of the rig on a sailboat, slamming against my head. It almost knocked me out so I sat down before I fell off. I finally got her turned around and headed back for the yacht club after giving up vital positions and watching my victory get away. Upon entering the yacht club channel I blew a tack which caused me to backflip in the high winds funneling through the channel.

What a day right???? Thats how I blew my first place (at least top 5) finish.

the image of landcut shows its amazing position to top speed a sailboat. perfectly flat water in a deep channel cut through the low lying land. winds @ 20kts from the SE. PERFECT!

New Video

Here is a video I have been working on the past few days. This is when I sailed down to Port Aransas with friends back in March 09. Make sure ya click the HQ icon in the corner for the supa dupa high quality.

Not much else has been going really. Ive been gearing up for the texas 200. I had some crazy sailing in the Hobie last sunday and Im super sore because of it. I sailed over 30 miles and just blasted across the bay on that thing. Its amazing how much ground you can cover when your running 10+ kts occasionally hitting somewhere near 15! I need a GPS confirmation but Im pretty sure Ive been there a couple of times but we shall see what the GPS says.

Catch Up!

Well its been a while since I have written anything and now Ill have to play catch up. You know.. I have noticed that when a lot starts happening in my life and I havent blogged in a while, I actually dread blogging everything. So, I procrastinate and just let it build up a little more and then the next thing you know, I havent written in a month! So, Im going to take it easy on myself and recap quick and dirty and well, skip a bunch of parts.

I went sailing a few times on the hobie cat the past couple of weekends and its safe to say Im really addicted to it! The speed is hard to describe and when you get everything trimmed perfect and your body weight is perfect you just flyyyyyyyyyy!!! I really want a Hobie 16 so I can take another person in comfort but it just isnt in my budget right now. We shall see what happens :)

So... I went sailing down to Port Aransas like 3 weeks ago and we spent 2.5 days offshore on our way down and about the same on the return trip home. This was my first bad trip offshore and it showed me just how crazy it can be out there. I realized just how hard single handing is going to be and just how important certain things on a boat are ie. an engine. Near the coasts the commercial traffic is just incredibly dangerous and engines and other people on board help make it a tad safer... I dont know. The other thing is just how violent the world seems to be getting. Cruisers are being killed everywhere and that makes me nervous too... imagine that? Me... Dave Rich actually a little nervous by all the cruisers getting chopped up with machetes.

Ive decided to focus a little effort back into just driving for my getaway and I already feel like Im betraying the faith. I love the ocean and I love sailing... I dont know.. Maybe its just not my path for right now. I found an awesome mini-bus for sail in the Kemah area that has been converted into a small motorhome. Its a 98 chevy 1-ton with 36K miles on her! The owners are asking $3500 and it has hot water, sink, stove/oven, small bed, fridge with freezer, and rv ac! The problem? around 10mpg...... UHHHH!!!!!!!! I plan on driving over 100K miles and at 10mpg and $3/gallon, thats $30K JUST IN GAS! So, now Im looking a little more "15-20"ish.... that will help a lot! Plus the van simply will not fit into a shipping container for shipping overseas when Im ready to get off this continent. Just have some thinking to do....

DAMMIT... I always say that! thinking is just getting me no where! Ugh... I need to start acting instead of thinking. Ive got 12K stashed... and by this time next year Ill be sitting around 30K. So Ive set may 1st as my tentative quit date... we shall see how it goes.

Hobie Sailing!

I finally sailed the hobie! Basically... it HAULS ASS! We sailed in about 15kts of wind and we had her on GPS doing about 11kts! Not bad for my first time.

In other news... Im about to head to Kemah because tomorrow morning we set sail for Port Aransas! We are going to head about 80 miles offshore into the gulf to check out one of our favorite bouys (The main bouy I use for surfing!) and then head back in. Total trip 1 way should be around 240 miles. We will hang out in Port A for about 2 days before we head back out to sea and return to Galveston. I cant wait!! Im bringing the fish and a wetsuit as well and there should be some small surf later on in the week. Yeeehaw!

Today is TUESDAY!

Awesome...

So last weekend was pretty damn fun. I had a blast friday night at Damien's house when Rami showed up on his bike. He let me ride it and it was my first time on a street bike and wow did I have a blast! Its a 98ish Suzuki Bandit 600 and its not even a true sport bike but ohh man that thing is fast!

We commenced to drinking after that and playing rockband like we were the real deal haha. We all get together sometimes and do this and its a blast! Me on bass, Rami on guitar, Damien on drums and whoever on the mic. We also played some Wii and I showed them how bowling is done. Actually, Damien smoked me.

Saturday I really didnt do much. I hung out at my dads all day and we fixed the electrical problem in my car. Thank God it was just a fuse I missed when I went over everything. We reqired my trailer harness due to some exposed wire and he thinks the wire could have grounded it out causing the fuse to blow in the first place. I really hope so!

Sunday morning my cousins and aunt showed up. They are moving in with us for a bit until they can get on their feet. Her husband, my uncle, has been living with us for a little over 1 month now and hes working and doing great. Its a little crowded in the house right now but its not bad having family around plus they are cool. Im really glad we could step up and help them like this. I did take my cousin with me on a run to Kemah to drop off the last parts from my Catalina and I got a few more parts for the hobie cat. I got a new cam cleat with a pad eye for the furling line. My old one is stuck and not working all that well. I guess I could have taken it apart but I was feeling lazy and just picked up a new one for $18.

Well thats about it, Ill try and get another sunset shot tonight from the garage.

My Weekend

Well, I got a lot accomplished this weekend. I finally had a friday off that I didnt have to work or cover for someone so I enjoyed my 3 days and worked hard on the boat. I dont think I worked half as much on my old and much bigger boat but Im hoping I will be rewarded for my efforts.

Friday it was dreary and pretty much crappy weather for trying to work outside on the boat. I called Rami up and learned he was planning something extravagant for his girlfriend for Valentine's. Basically, he bought a little over 1000 balloons and a small handpump and was going to need some help. So for the next 5 hours we pumped and tied balloons and had to call it quits at a little over 850. One balloon had a necklace he bought her and we hid it amongst all the others for her to find.

Saturday I got up early (around 10) and started working on the trailer for the boat again with a new determination to finish up. I learned that Ace Hardware carries the apparently rare rectangular U-bolts I couldnt find anywhere else short of the internet. So after $30 in bolts, I assembled the trailer with the help of my uncle who is living with us right now. We got the trailer almost finished and then the rain set it. I went to the bar that night to meet up with Joe and I learned of a small electrical issue with my car. My step dad said he'd seen it before and it was due to my dual filiment taillights. Thank God someone knew because Im pretty mechanically inclined but I hate tracing electrical issues.

Sunday I finished the trailer and began finishing up the actual boat. We got the new siderails mounted and got the chainplates riveted into the tramp bars. I retensioned the stay that runs over the dolphin striker and fixed a pin that was missing. All my rigging showed up this weekend and I was hoping to rig her but I couldnt find the damn turnbuckle I needed at the local West Marine so once again, Im delayed another weekend. Thats when I noticed that small electrical problem go from small to huge. Basically, the bulbs were not the answer. My dad, who was a commercial electrician once upon a time, helped me trace a little and basically it looks like somwhere 2 circuits have fused together. I have taillights but no dash lights, ac, or brake lights. When switching the fuses, I loose all lights but regain my AC and power windows. Amazing! So, my dad offered to help me tear into it this Saturday which basically ruins my plans to head to Austin to check out a 30ft Allied sailboat. O well....

Arrrrrgggg

Ive been eyeing a boat in Austin and I will be heading up there next weekend to check her out. I wont say just yet what it is, but its a pretty awesome boat. Only around 50 were ever built and this is number 12, which is kinda cool.

Im also pretty excited about finally having my 3 day weekends back after I lost all of my fridays off in Jan. I work a schedule at work where I get every other friday off and this happens to be my weekend so Im pretty excited. Ill be working on the hobie and the trailer all weekend trying to get everything ready. Ive got all the new rigging on order and it should be in sometime next week. Now.. if I can just get a week of 70F or higher weather the water will warm considerably in the bay and Ill be taking her out for my first sail on a hobie cat. Im veryyyy nervous and excited at the same time. I cant wait to feel that speed!

Harvest Moon Regatta Part 1

Looking forward in Greg's boat

The Tallship Elissa

Cruise ships back at port

Anchored near the Galveston cruise terminal, waiting for Arty to arrive

Looking aft in Greg's beautiful Morgan 382

Cliff at the helm

Greg and Arty discuss life and politics

Approaching the Flagship Hotel, our start. Late.. very late

Finally we made it past the start (tetrahedron)

The boats in the distance is where we were supposed to be, but we were 17 minutes late for the start.

Vagabond 47, stunning.

Bearing down on ya... better shake that reef out

Our first victom getting passed

This is where I slept

Harvest Moon pictures part2

Greg and Cliff, early morning

Sailing into Port Aransas

s/v Barefoot Babe rounding the marker

Getting swept out of the channel

Greg at the helm, pure concentration

Arty!

Looking aft towards the gulf and the markers

First entering the channel, Arty is our lookout

Sailing Backwards

The current was horrendous!

s/v Barefoot Babe on the left

Yours Truly, Dave Rich in person, steering for the win

Traffic jam in the channel, port aransas

Arty in pre-celebration

Vagabond 47.. a beautiful boat. This is everyone stuck in the channels

The Renegade Burgee

Group picture of crew with the addition of Don (far left) from the forum we frequent for sailing and general rowdyness

Tankers in the houston ship channel

Greg, owner and fearless captain of Catharsis

Damn! Where Have YOU been Dave Rich?

The answer is quite simple... in many many places and forms.

Ive been dealing with boat insurance bastards.
Ive been sailing on other peoples' boats.
Ive been celebrating my birthday.
Ive been sailing in the Harvest Moon Regatta in which our boat took 2nd place in our division.
Ive been reading non stop about preparing boats for ocean passage and other sailing material.
Ive been working... thats all that can be said about that topic.
Ive been looking at boats and trying to decide on what my next one will be.

Ive been doing everything EXCEPT SURFING.

Isnt that how it always goes? With this job, it has turned me into a weekend warrior and it is almost impossible to catch surf. Living 1.5 hours from the beach and working 8am-6pm is just making it impossible to even think about surfing right now. Its ok though, its making me even more motivated that I have ever been.

I have been working hard on the first step of my huge goal of escape, and that is paying off my debt. Its official right now... IM DEBT FREE! The boat is paid, the credit card is empty... its time to kick it into high gear and I already have my first grand in savings. Im dead serious about getting the fuckkkkkk outtaaaaa this place.

Like I mentioned up top, we just got back from competing in the harvest moon regatta. I was crew on a Morgan 382 and we took 2nd place in Cruising non Spinnaker division group d. It was one of the coolest things I have done. Sailing offshore is just amazing and I wish we could have been out there for weeks. That trip greatly increased my interest in taking a sail boat for my trip so I have been doubling up on my reading. Time to get serious.

Well, I shall be posting some pictures of the sailing trip. Until then...

Two Quotes from my Miki Dora Book

Well, Im nearing the end of "All for a Few Perfect Waves" by David Rensin. The book has been opening my eyes to a surfing legend that who's life was previously unknown to me. I had heard the name but I did not understand who this person was. Miki Dora. A legend in his own.

Here are two quotes, well paragraphs, from the book that have moved me....

"To what avail the plough or sail, or love, or life -- if freedom fail? Freedom. Freedom to what? Escape, run, wonder turning your back on a cowed society that stutters, staggers, and satnates every man for himself and fuck you Jack I've got mine?
To be truly challenging, a voyage, like life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen, who play with their boats at sea --"cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to the sea men, and to the wonderers of the world who cannot or will not fit in.
Little has been said or written about the ways a man may blast himself free. Why? I don't know, unless the answer lies in our diseased values....Men are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security", and in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine--and before we know it our lives are gone.
What does a man really need --- really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in ---and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all --- in the material sense. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade.
The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they like caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.
Dedication to the sea is the symbol of migration and movement and wondering. It is the barbaric place and it stands opposed to society and it is a constant symbol in all of literature, too.
As Thomas Wolfe said, "It is the state of barbaric disorder out of which civilization has emerged and into which it is liable to return."
----Stearling Hayden, Wonderer, 1964


And now the famous paragraph from Miki Dora himself as seen in the movie "Surfers- The movie"

"My whole life is this escape; my whole life is this wave I drop into, set the whole thing up, pull off a bottom turn, pull up into it, and shoot for my life, going for broke man. And behind me all this shit goes over my back: the screaming parents, teachers, the police [laughs], priests, politicians, kneeboarders, windsurfers ---they're all going over the falls into the reef; headfirst into the motherfucking reef, and BWAH! And I'm shooting for my life. And when it starts to close out I pull out and go down the back, and catch another wave, and do the same goddamned thing again." -- Miki Dora

Some Sailing Videos

Sorry if these have been posted before.

Not much has been going on. I had a pretty uneventful weekend on the boat, mostly trying to catch up and get back in the maintenance when the heat is down. This weekend I lubed my winches and re bedded the bolts with 5200. They turn MUCH easier now!

That Hurricane is just tooooooo close!

Dolly Dolly Dolly. I wish you a speedy death.

It would have done us wave starved Texans much much better had she taken a middle of the Gulf route. Instead the Florida pan handle caught the goodness we usually are blessed with, as if they dont get enough swell!

Its getting big around here but the conditions are less than ideal with us being on the "dirty" side of the storm. The winds are all over the place and our surf is in total 'victory at sea' condition right now. Everyone is hoping on Thurs or Fri, IF there is enough swell left over. Im just writing it off and hopefully we will have some decent winds this weekend for some good sailing.

Rami and I went sailing on sunday and we had a damn blast despite the late start. He hasn't been out there in a long time but he quickly remembered. This time though, I was going to give him the full crash course and get him handling the boat comfortably. We had a great sail with light winds at first but they steadily increased later on and it was my first time to sail into and across the ship channel. We were just enjoying the vibe, drinking and I was laying down below trying to imagine and pretend we were sailing across the ocean somewhere. Total bliss! I got Rami to start single handing and forcing him to tack and work the sails at the same time. We sailed all the way through the channel coming in and were coming along nicely but a little slow. A beautiful classic cruiser passed us motor-sailing through the channel and a motor boat was stuck behind us and our little sailing traffic jam. I was worried he would pull the typical "power boater" attitude and I apologized to him as he passed and he just laughed and said "no worries man, isnt that what its all about??". You rock dude! So the wind picked up and I forced Rami to sail straight at the Sundance Grill2 to scare the people a little and get the most of our tack. We pulled a BEAUTIFUL tack maybe 15ft before running into the dock and we caught some thumbs up and shouts from the crowd eating outside.

Coming across the lake I asked Rami what time he had to be home. He informed me that he didnt have any schedule to adhere to so we quickly turned around and headed for the Turtle Club, a floating bar. We tied off and headed in to get the sunday special called Bushwackers. All they told me was "a couple of types of rum, some Kahlua, some licqour crap, and yea...... they'll put ya down. After 2 each, we decided it was time to get outa there before being on a boat would have just been too difficult and we motored on back to the marina. What an awsome night!!!!!

Everything else has been going ok. Ive been getting a little bored as always so Im thinking of a new direction for this site in conjunction with my youtube account. I have a good camera and I would like to start filming some sailing and stuff so stay tuned.

Subway Lines

Well, not those trains but the restaraunts.

Why does it seem that every single time I go there I get stuck behind some douche bag who is ordering for the entire office? Why dont they ever have enough sense or kindness to let me, single sandwich guy, pass and pay????? So I just want to say thanks to the lady who drug her 3 very young children into the store and let them choose their sandwiches while explaining all of the available options and wasting 20 minutes of my lunch period. Asshole.

Not much else going on, just hungover and tired. I had a late night last night and some more drama and I swear to God Im so ready for this week to end. Its has been NONSTOP shit all week and it has to end. Its too much to explain but lets just say I have never been so well reminded of why I have been single for almost 2 years now.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Im going to try for a sail despite the shitty wind forecasts. Lol, love the optimism today in this post

not gonna happen

Well, I was supposed to haul the boat out this weekend and repaint her bottom and clean up the hull, but I found out the yard will be closed on Sunday and that's the day I need to be back in the water and headed back home to my marina. Crap! So now, I will hold out until next weekend when I have more time and the yard will be open longer. I will try and get some good pics of the boat on the hard and the bottom work. Im also getting some vinyl stickers with the name of the boat for both sides. She is to be named "2 Far 2 Drive" and I will go through with the whole shebang of the tradition of naming the boats. After all, I want Posideon and Neptune to look well upon me and always give me gently following seas. Ok, well, I dont want following seas all the time but in general, protecting me would be nice.

Work has been a little crazy. With all the updates and everything going on, the IT dept has been nuts. We have been rolling out new things everyday to try and make the new finance software run much better. We have been employing and utilizing technologies that 3 weeks ago, we had only heard of, now we are running Windows Server 2008 virtualized with Terminal Server rocking out, handling several clients at full speed. We have 2 other virtual servers running Server 2003 and they are acting as terminal servers as well. We have been messing with the terminal server stuff to increase line speed and app response to our remote locations. Needless to say, its been a blast.

I missed some damn good surf today and that kind of sucks. I decided not to go at the last minute when I already had the green light to burn some of my comp time and now Im kind of regretting it. My buddie Charlie which some of you may remember from 3 long years ago (one of the guys I went to Costa Rica with and the guy who introduced me to surfing) went and said it was not as good as the pictures showed. He said the afternoon which was around the time I would have been back to work, was waaaay better with a high tide filling in and the current calming a little. Either way, it was nothing short of glass out there today. Well, this is Texas and its spring time, one of the best and most consistent times to surf here.

Well thats about it. Look out for the pictures of the boat on the hard coming soon. I gotta get her ready for her Freeport trip!