Looking Back - Spring Prep: Bubble Hatching, Rigging & Dinghy Prep

Sitting here in Boston Harbor on a 89 degree day, this past winter feels like a VERY distant memory! It seems New England just sort of skipped over spring again this year we went from 40 and raw to 90 and humid - whew! Though we, for one, are not complaining. This winter was one for the ages for us. I swear I was showing signs of PTSD (see photo right) after surviving this FRIGID winter aboard in Maine. I never trusted that the weather was actually going to get nice again, I kept waiting for the temps to drop and the snow to fall. Whew, I am so, so happy that summer is here (though I still have a heater ready to deploy in the aft cabin, just in case!)

I promised that we'd revisit all the preparations done this spring for this sailing season. We both admitted that we got A LOT later start to the prep this year than last, mostly because this was the winter that would never end! It was cold, rainy and cruddy most of spring, so cold that we needed our heat on! Our minds were not even thinking sailing so, needless to say, we were delayed. Finally in mid-April the weather gods were with us on a weekend and we hatched from our bubble. Once again, nothing felt better than taking the knife to that plastic shrinkwrap that encapsulated us all winter and springing forth into the sunshine and seabreeze! Becoming a boat again instead of a wrapped up floating apartment! 

We also had a professional sailboat rigger down to the boat for a looksee. We never had a rigging survey conducted and we knew our standing rigging (the mast, the stays, chainplates, etc. all the things that help hold the mast up) was a bit worn. Paul, the rigger, did tell us she was showing her age, OK, but old. He suggested that before we cast off to the islands we should consider putting on a new rig, we are starting to save up to do that this Fall/Winter. It's a lot of money and a big project but there's nothing more important than your rig on a sailboat, no one wants to deal with rigging failures "out there".  

B.O.A.T. = Break Out Another Thousand

We (stupidly) left our dinghy in the water all winter and she was a little worse for wear. The engine was happily kept aboard but the boat was covered in an array of very interesting species. The wiggly, squirmy wormy things were moving around and not excited to be seeing sunlight. Armed with a scraper and some magic elixir from the dollar store I set to work. It came out SOOOO clean and sparkly, I was quite proud of my handywork. 

Tim then set out to do some outboard engine maintenance with our boat neighbor Brendan's help.  Some lube, some oil filters and a wiggle and waggle and the old Evinrude sprung back to life! Of course after a day of dinghy work the boys had to try them out so they zipped across the river to Martingale Wharf while I walked over the bridge. We sat at the outdoor fire pit and enjoyed the view we knew we'd be leaving soon. 

Casting off into the Piscataqua River 

The boys did have a 'hiccup' on their way back across the river due to water in our dinghy's gas tank. We've since bought a new 6-gallon tank and the problem's resolved. 

We spent a lot of spring also soaking up all the things we loved about the place we called home for the last 8 years before moving to Boston - hitting our favorite bars, cockpit cocktails, dinner with friends, loving on this little seaside town. 

Friday seisiun at The Press Room - always a favorite 

Great nights with friends at favorite bars, Rusty Hammer 

Portsmouth just takes away your breath away sometimes...reminds me of NOLA...

The obligatory Portsmouth Tug Boat Photo 

Saying goodbye to great winter boat neighbors aboard "House Cat", Celie and Jennings, they're anchored up in Great Bay this summer! 

Late night beers in the cockpit with the Naval Shipyard off our bow 

There's more spring projects to report on...NEXT UP...Ground Tackle Upgrade. Stay tuned...

Hatching From the Bubble

Starting to peek out into the world!

The crew of the Zephyr has hatched forth into Spring full of expectation and excitement! A couple weeks back with the help of our good friend Justin and Tim's brother Andrew we took to cutting back the plastic wrapping that had contained us all winter. It felt AMAZING to cut through the plastic with knives and rip away our shield. 

Toby was so happy to have the wind blowing through his hair again!

Ah, the sweet feeling of knifing through plastic to see the gorgeous blue sky again!

We were the first in the marina to hatch and though we knew it was a tad early in the season we couldn't help it - we were READY! We are so excited about our first spring/summer season aboard we couldn't take our winter protection anymore. 

Justin cutting through - WORD!

Knock! Knock! Who's There? 

When it was all ripped off the view of the bright blue sky was glorious! To sit below and look up and know what the weather is doing is a wonderful thing! And to be able to see this awesome, active, exciting harbor we live in again and not just hear grumbling engines or tug toots - we love it! 

The scenery I can see while I cook dinner in my galley, never dull on this magnificent river!

We're lucky enough on board Zephyr to have a fully enclosed cockpit which is a big reason  why we were able to take the shrinkwrap off so early. The enclosure keeps the cockpit nice and warm from the sun and dry from the rain. It's become our main hang out spot and big plus - we can see the Sox game on the TV in the main salon from the cockpit couch! 

Toby's very happy to have a space of his own away from us - it's been a LONG winter together!

And we were finally able to mount our grill on the stern pulpit - not a bad backyard for grilling, hey?

So, with the removal of the shrinkwrap  and the return of water to the docks we mark our emergence from our first winter aboard. We both can't fully believe we made it! There were times...boy were there times...but now we are realizing that this idea of living on a boat was a great idea! As we sit and have coffee with the sound of gulls and the salty breeze..we feel...

eternally grateful. 

Reason Why Wednesday: Why We Should Take The Shrink Wrap Off This Weekend

Surroundings like this can not be seen under the bubble

1. Cause it's April!

2. Cause Justin is coming up!

3. The leaky back hatch over our bed isn't going to get fixed until it's leaking again

4. We're hoping it will snow again...yeah right

5. You can see in; you just can't see out

6. The barbeque smokes out the bubble

7. Secure the halyards better...it's been a long clanky winter

8. Cockpit party!

9. Andrew called and said he wants to come help on the boat this weekend and the boat will need to be washed
9. The sails aren't on, but the engine works…and a day on the water beats most others
10. You may have read an earlier blog about our sail down from Portland when we first bought the boat.  The little problem with our mainsail track is not exactly remedied yet and the bubble is preventing work on this critical

    

    new this season!

    project
11. Cockpit speakers!!!



2 bridges down, 1 to go just upstream from the picture on top

12. And because gas tankers are taking out bridges around here

Spring Cleaning

For the past few weeks the crew of the Zephyr has been in super-duper Spring Cleaning mode. Unlike a house, where Spring Cleaning means shaking out the rugs and washing the curtains, Spring Cleaning on a boat means lots of bleach, bilge cleaner and engine maintenance. 

I know we've written about the lovely world of mold, mildew and condensation before and though we've learned A LOT about the intricacies of it and read a lot of ways to control it the bottom line is, it's a constant and continuous battle, especially aboard in the winter. It's life. So part of our spring cleaning has been scrubbing and cleaning every single hatch, locker and dark, dingy corner of the boat including the deep, dark world of the bilge. Wiping out the mildew and moisture that has accumulated over the winter before the warmer temps can cause it to fester and grow - I know, gross, this is life aboard. I even remarked to Tim, "I think this is the 'reality' of boat life that everyone talks about, it's not all rum drinks and Buffett songs." But, it also feels REALLY good to get elbow deep in the muck and grime, bleach it and know you're helping eradicate the "boat smell" that we've been living with for the past 6 months. 

"Jesus Juice" as it's referred to by Peggy -
the magical Boat & Bilge Cleaner. 

I call this 'boat yoga' - contorting myself so my arm can reach way under
the sink to scrub the inside of the hull

And we're learning a ton about what's where in the belly of the boat. Tracing wires and hoses and connections so we know which locker holds access to what and when it, be it the water system, the electric system or the waste system inevitably breaks, we know exactly where to go to fix it, this is priceless. We're even going to create a map of our lockers and systems for our "boat binder" documenting the entire running of the boat. I tell you this boat ownership is a constant lesson for us, we are ALWAYS learning something. 

Spring Cleaning doesn't have to be all work & no fun! 

Tim has been practicing in the art of diesel engine mechanics and impressing the heck out of the rest of the crew! He's methodically learned and executed how to change the oil, change both the primary and secondary fuel filters, bleed the fuel lines and change the transmission fluid. Mr. Perkins, our engine, started right up after a long winter's nap and is now purring like a kitten! Our 4 legged crew member doesn't exactly 'love' when the engine is grumbling but the human crew LOVES the sound of a well maintained and running engine. Our main sail is at the sail loft being patched from our harrowing maiden voyage when she sustained some damage. Next weekend we'll finally hatch from the bubble and start rigging our sails back on! We're moving back to the Wentworth Marina on April 20th for the summer so we're planning our first sail of the season now!  We both can't believe we actually made it through our first winter, it feels surreal that spring is actually here and we're prepping Zephyr for her first sailing season with us!

We've also made some nice additions with some great new throw pillows for our cockpit and main salon. THANKS MOM! We're envisioning some nice late afternoon naps up in the cockpit on these beauties  

Last month's awesome spring improvement project was the installation of a fantastic new stereo. We got a Fusion Marine Stereo MS-RA 200 with cockpit and main salon speakers. 

Life aboard with constant music surrounding us is AWESOME! We wake up & make coffee to the sweet sounds of Willie Nelson, we cook dinner to slick sounds of Old Crow Medicine Show, we hang out to the groovy sounds of the Lumineers and yes, we drink boat drinks to the island tunes of Jimmy Buffett. The cockpit speakers were a GREAT idea now that it's nicer weather we're definitely spending a lot more time out there - there's not a lot better than laying out in the cockpit in the warm weather sipping on a rum and coke listening to Jimmy Buffett's "Son of a Son of a Sailor". 

"Haul the sheet in as we ride on the wind

That our forefathers harnessed before us

Hear the bells ring as the tight rigging sings

Its a son of a gun of a chorus

Where it all ends I can't fathom my friends

If I knew I might toss out my anchor

So I cruise along always searchin for songs

Not a lawyer a thief or a banker"

We are feeling quite excited and very grateful that we followed our guts last September when we bought Zephyr and persevered through the challenge of purging all our worldly goods, rallied through Nor'Easters and blizzards, overcame sub-zero walks to the showers because now we are the ones who we were envious of our whole lives - we're the ones down on the docks in the springtime, we're the ones sitting on our deck for happy hour, we're boat owners and we can only imagine it's only going to get better from here! HELLO SUMMER! 

Something about Happy Hour after a hard day's work - it's just sweeter, Toby can concur. :)

So Spring is here and the crew of the Zephyr is feeling pretty darn great...this about sums it up for us these days. 

Spring Fever/Planning

Despite having had the 3rd snowiest winter on record and what feels like the windiest EVER, our heads are drifting off towards spring. Perhaps it's just a form of escapism (delusion?) or perhaps it's because we're on the other side of winter. As Tim says, "it's not like it's November & we're staring down the barrel of a gun with winter approaching." 

This was our neighborhood during "Nemo"

But, what a winter it's been! Having never been a fan of winter since living down south for 5 of them, I'm 'sensitive' (Tim would say I'm miserable). But, I have to say I'm proud of myself for not leaving Tim, packing my things & bailing to a trailer in Miami! It's crossed my mind every now and then, especially when I'm walking up to the showers at the marina club house at 7am in sleety, snowy, awfulness. But it seems I can ALWAYS find something gorgeous about my surroundings, whether it's how the sun is coming up over the Navy Yard or a loon off our stern or a fresh, salty breeze filling my lungs. 

Toby, a native of Maine absolutely LOVE the snow

As we've written about before we live & breathe the elements in our lifestyle and you just have to persevere through them. I recently read that life aboard in New England year-round is like a Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Thing is, we only got a small taste of what it's like in the best of times since we moved aboard in September. So when we're persevering though 30 mph winds and 6" of snow we aren't really able to think, "well, remember July? This is worth it to get to July." So needless to say here we are at the end of February and we're starting to daydream about life outside 'The Bubble'. 

This past weekend we attended the Boston Boat Show. It's perfectly timed for all boaters who are starting to dream about summer, who are sick to sh*t of winter and for us young boaters it also coincides with our tax refunds! Perfect! We wandered around, attended some seminars, chatted with some riggers, sailors and 'boat people'. We scoped out some new toys and tried to avert our eyes to the sleek, new, million + dollar Beneteau sailboats that we can only dream of affording. The booth that caught my eye was the EZ Hang Chair booth - imagine flocks of people lounging in hanging hammock and canvas chairs, complete with leg rests & cup holders. The photos of the chair mounted on the deck of a sailboat was all I needed to sell me. 

The sales guy knew he had a ripe one when I asked - "does the cup holder fit a large sized Tervis cup of Rum & Coke?" Signed, Sealed, Delivered - we left the Show with a new boat hook and a promise of awesome Summer afternoons. 

The other big Spring Fever project currently underway - a new stereo system for the boat. A stereo is something we'd wanted since the day we moved aboard but there were other more important (think: utilitarian)  things we needed to install to make life aboard livable (i.e. water filter for drinking water). But when my brother Pete gave us a very generous gift card to Amazon we thought - let's splurge and get a sick stereo system complete with cockpit and main cabin speakers - I mean who are Jill & Tim without our music??? We got the top of the line in marine stereos a Fusion MS-RA200. This baby can link up to our VHF radio, it connects to NOAA Weather forecasts, it's got dual zones so we can rock out in the cockpit when someone else (Toby?) is sleeping below deck. Tim is like a kid in a candy store with a new electronic gadget to not just play with but also install (i.e. run wires around the boat, tie into electric panel, cut holes in the boat for the speakers, etc.). Tim plans on posting a blog post about how the install goes...good thing I'm away this weekend so it can be man-town electronic install time. 

So though we have A LOT more to do to get ready for sailing season, A LOT more. These couple things are helping us get over this last hump of the doldrums of winter. Thinking about hanging above the foredeck, cocktail in hand, stereo cranked, the sweet sounds of music floating around us might just get us through the inevitable next snowfall and wind storm. 


"One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain 
So hit me with music, hit me with music
Hit me with music, hit me with music now" 
- Bob Marley "Trenchtown Rock"