I transferred my flag back to Arcturus for the summer.
Wild was left in dry storage in Sonora for hurricane season. And I had to renew my passport. It's a chance to deal with loose ends and unfinished projects that might hopefully make Arcturus more salable. But the going has been a little slow as I have only been on board about three nights a week. Hikes, trips to visit friends... summer.
It's past time for new bottom paint. Something that is needed whether I sell or keep the boat. (Something that I had hoped the new owner would take care of, but maybe fresh paint will help lure in a new owner.) It seemed to pencil out to be more efficient to have a boatyard do the job this time around. Besides, there is the not insignificant danger that if I haul Arcturus out behind the barn on the family farm, it might never leave again. Just rotting and dying there, among the corpses of buck rakes, hay wagons, and old tractors.
So I spent a couple of days motoring down river to Portland, against the westerlies. Come to think of it, I've never done that before with Arcturus... I always waited for an east wind day. But this time there was a schedule to meet. Getting around the point opposite Starvation Creek was in doubt for a while, against 30 knot gusts (and associated waves.) But once around there, things flattened out enough to make reasonable progress. (Wild has no problem plowing through this stuff.) I've learned to read the ominous signs: Calm air at dawn, off Hood River, but big smooth spooky swells rolling up the river. It means things will be rocking and rolling down by Mitchell Point. Yes, you can sail through it, but it means tacking back and forth across the river all day and only making five or ten miles progress.
We actually got to Bonneville Dam a little ahead of schedule. It was a nice sunny day, so I cut the engine and just drifted for an hour or two off Cascade Locks until the scheduled transit time. Lunch. Nap. With 5-10 knots of wind against the current, under bare poles, Arcturus just stays in place. Well, it forereaches a little toward the shore, so I have to reach out and nudge the tiller with my toes once in a while to turn around and go the other way.
I must be nuts. Now I have TWO boats on the hard, in commercial yards, generating invoices in two different countries. Meanwhile, I'm living out of a car with a backpack.
Those boatyard guys are such jokers... The quote for the bottom job seemed reasonable, but every few days they call up with an escalation. "We strongly
recommend fixing this or that... only a couple thousand more bucks." (The guys in Mexico do too, but they only want a couple hundred, for twice as much boat.) They had me going for a minute, but went too far when they estimated $500-$1000 to repack the stuffing box on a 3/4-inch shaft. BWAAH HA HA HA!!! Good one guys!
I think I'm in the wrong restaurant...
Wild was left in dry storage in Sonora for hurricane season. And I had to renew my passport. It's a chance to deal with loose ends and unfinished projects that might hopefully make Arcturus more salable. But the going has been a little slow as I have only been on board about three nights a week. Hikes, trips to visit friends... summer.
It's past time for new bottom paint. Something that is needed whether I sell or keep the boat. (Something that I had hoped the new owner would take care of, but maybe fresh paint will help lure in a new owner.) It seemed to pencil out to be more efficient to have a boatyard do the job this time around. Besides, there is the not insignificant danger that if I haul Arcturus out behind the barn on the family farm, it might never leave again. Just rotting and dying there, among the corpses of buck rakes, hay wagons, and old tractors.
So I spent a couple of days motoring down river to Portland, against the westerlies. Come to think of it, I've never done that before with Arcturus... I always waited for an east wind day. But this time there was a schedule to meet. Getting around the point opposite Starvation Creek was in doubt for a while, against 30 knot gusts (and associated waves.) But once around there, things flattened out enough to make reasonable progress. (Wild has no problem plowing through this stuff.) I've learned to read the ominous signs: Calm air at dawn, off Hood River, but big smooth spooky swells rolling up the river. It means things will be rocking and rolling down by Mitchell Point. Yes, you can sail through it, but it means tacking back and forth across the river all day and only making five or ten miles progress.
We actually got to Bonneville Dam a little ahead of schedule. It was a nice sunny day, so I cut the engine and just drifted for an hour or two off Cascade Locks until the scheduled transit time. Lunch. Nap. With 5-10 knots of wind against the current, under bare poles, Arcturus just stays in place. Well, it forereaches a little toward the shore, so I have to reach out and nudge the tiller with my toes once in a while to turn around and go the other way.
I must be nuts. Now I have TWO boats on the hard, in commercial yards, generating invoices in two different countries. Meanwhile, I'm living out of a car with a backpack.
Those boatyard guys are such jokers... The quote for the bottom job seemed reasonable, but every few days they call up with an escalation. "We strongly
recommend fixing this or that... only a couple thousand more bucks." (The guys in Mexico do too, but they only want a couple hundred, for twice as much boat.) They had me going for a minute, but went too far when they estimated $500-$1000 to repack the stuffing box on a 3/4-inch shaft. BWAAH HA HA HA!!! Good one guys!
I think I'm in the wrong restaurant...
- Published Date
- Aug 16, 2024
