Thursday, February 28, 2013


Ready or not…
We are under a hundred days to departure.  As excited about the adventure as I am I feel nowhere near ready.  But there is no stopping this train now…
 Our landlord has been informed we will be out by June 1st - departure will be within a week of that. Arrangements are underway to have our household goods put in storage and Tamera is jettisoning as much excess as possible – we now have a reserve parking space at the Goodwill drop off.  Mail is being minimizing by going paperless / e-delivery with as much as possible, we have informed Sean’s school he will not be back next year and the crew’s passports were updated yesterday.

Our new red sports car showed up (12' SD365 Saturn Inflatable Boat)
 
 
 I quickly sold our 4hp Yamaha 2 stroke outboard on Craigslist and put the proceeds towards a 15hp Mercury 4 stroke...it should be here any day. 
THE PROGRESS
The weather has been a little inconsistent here in Virginia so there has been no progress with rebedding deck fittings.
The Admiral                                  Swab

 But new tunes have been installed and all the CD’s in the house are being transferred to an IPod along  with some 2000 hours of movies – technology it’s a wonderful thing – 300 pounds or 3 ounces – no brainer.
The wiring for the freezer should be completed this weekend if I can get the technician to stop day dreamin about tropical rum drinks and warm weather … Ooh... that would be me. 
A new issues popped up – the tachometer on the lower helm has stopped working - because I don’t have enough to keep me busy… 
On the bright side the ice maker is working great!...  the sun is shining it's a beautiful afternoon to sit on the flying bridge have a cocktail and daydream…




 
 

 

Monday, February 18, 2013


February 2013
The weather has been relative cold here in Virginia – yeah, yeah, yeah I know not like Maine cold but cold to me… So we have been doing some interior work/decorating.  We started in the forward head…
·        New plumbing (removed the copper - on a boat are you kidding me?) replaced with flexible tubing

·        Replaced ugly faucet

·        Refinished the cabinet face

·        Restored the bright work

·        Added a working 12 Volt DC outlet /replaced 110 outlet w/GFIC

·        Added a new tile counter top
·        Fixed the overhead light
Looks can be deceiving... it was much worse than the photo reveals
 
 
 
 
Before, during and after - the tiles come from a inground pool my folks use to have in Connecticut. Sean and I set them in a clear epoxy to give the counter a smooth surface and some depth.
 
Next the master stateroom needed a paint job... Tamera was not enthused with the oatmeal color so she picked and painted the room sunshine yellow - excellent job.
Before
I am still trying to figure out how to move the photos around and label them on the blog - amateurs...
After... oh yeah, the carpet did'nt go well with the yellow paint so we had to installed bamboo hardwood flooring. The yellow is much warmer in person -  reservations are required.
 

You can't have tile work, new floors and fresh paint in the staterooms without... new mattresses!! 'Sooo, Carol show us what's behind curtain number 2!...   Well Bob it's a brand new set of mattresses from Portland Mattress Makers!!  Yesss, the Kellys will be sleeping in comfort and style after a long hard day of boating and whatnot while cruising the Loop!'   
 
But wait - there's more... the master head can't be left to look second rate... how about a new color for the shower!  Yes, a complete epoxy sealer job with a pool grade epoxy paint in what other than
" Bikini Bottom" blue!  
 
Looking forward to better weather to go boatin …


 
 
 

 
 

       

 
 

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Maiden voyage
So to back track a little… we took KISMET (to be renamed Sea Chantey) on our maiden voyage from Gloucester Point, VA to Portsmouth after picking her up at Jordon’s Boatyard. The bottom was painted, zincs replaced one through hull repaired and one replaced. It was all of a forty mile trip in beautiful late September weather on the Chesapeake.  Most things worked as they should - at least as far as I could tell.

Note to self - watch tide tables - it was a mighty slow ride up the Elizabeth River.
 
Looking to get wet
 
                                                                   

       Bottom bath

          The crew; Spencer, Sean "Swab" and Tamera "the Admiral"


         Sea snacks


      "Remain calm, all is well..."