SV Moontide
Find a Topic!
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Life Aboard
    • A Woman's Perspective
    • A Guy's View
    • A Dog's Life
  • Restoration
    • 2009-2010
    • 2011
    • 2012
    • 2013
    • 2014
    • 2015
    • 2016
    • Resources
  • Gallery
  • Videos
  • Guests & Crew
  • Contact Us

Sometimes Boat Life really IS all Fun and Games!

10/30/2013

0 Comments

 
PictureMichael, coating seams in the wheel well with a waterproof fiber sealant before encasing it all in fiberglass cloth and epoxy. Work progresses.
Looking at our earlier blogs, one might get the impression that all we do is work on the Moontide. Not at all! 
Well, it's what we MOSTLY do, but life on the boat, particularly life here in Pirate's Cove, does have its fun and relaxing moments.
For instance, last Saturday, we had a wedding on the dock, just a few slips down from us!
John and Char Redlich tied the knot on the bow of their new boat. Fortunately, Nature obliged with a with a beautiful Sunny day!

Picture
John and Char posing for pics.
Picture
Cutting the cake as well-wishers look on.

PicturePhotos by Janet Mickelson Hansen
The weather was not as accommodating the following day, however, as we joined the crew of the pirate ship Royaliste for one last dash of the season up the channel to the Willamette. 
It was cold -- obvious, when you note how bundled everyone was -- but the rain let up, and the wind eased, and we were able to motor without difficulty south up the channel.  Kate and Shuhe, owners of the Royaliste,  led the crew in some sailing songs, and the raised voices seemed to chase the clouds off, as the afternoon warmed and turned beautiful for the voyage home.

Picture
Cold work, heading upstream.
Picture
See? We're not working on our boat!
Picture
Hal, Mark and Kate, music-making after a safe return to PC.
Back on the dock, rum and music-making were the order as everyone joined in to bundle the Royaliste up in her togs for the winter.

Actually, in the summer, there are many dockside potlucks, BBQs and dinners here at Pirate's Cove.                                                                                               We celebrate birthdays and bon voyages, from TGIF to TGI-Wednesday- or if it's not raining, or if an eagle flew over, or if someone catches a fish, or -- any of a thousand good reasons to celebrate life.
Picture
In July, the dock had a going away brunch for our neighbors RaeAnn and Frank Haynes, as they cast off and began the voyage South to warmer waters on their sloop Luna Sea. (So jealous!!!)

Picture
Helping hands ease Luna Sea from her slip.
Picture
Fair winds, Luna Sea!

We hope everyone keeps warm this Autumn as the weather and waters turn cold .  Til next time,
Fair Winds,
M&G
0 Comments

Adieu, sunshine!

10/10/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
Gabrielle tearing out the last rotting section of the cockpit well. Yea!
With the last really summery days of September upon us, Gabrielle and I made a concerted effort to get the remaining bit of old deck off Moontide, and the new deck on. It turned out to be a more complex and laborious project than we (as usual) expected.

Picture
Building frames for a new design in the wheel well required head-aching math, contortions that people our age are loathe to do, and a good deal of trial and error to get a result with which we could live. 
But, as things were just beginning to fall into place, the first storms of Autumn came early... and with a vengeance, on the last days of September!

PictureGabs and Moonie, ready for what the weather has to throw at us.
We stopped building on the boat, and devoted the next several days to creating our latest version of the Moontide "Conestoga."
Not only does it keep the rain out, it gives us room to keep working out of the elements on the deck.
By the first week in October, the rains had subsided , giving us moments of fair skies. We could crawl out of the tarp, run and cut a piece of wood on the table saw up in the parking lot, then run back down to the boat before the sky dropped another deluge on us.

Picture
Now, as mid October approaches, we can once again look through our main hatch, and see the general shape of a cockpit on Moontide's aft deck.
We still have filling, and grinding, and sanding, and epoxying, and fiberglassing, and more sanding and stuff to do, but we also have th satisfaction of knowing all our rotten wood is off the boat, and she is regaining her shape and beauty.
We'll share more as it happens.
Fair winds,
M&G

2 Comments

    Michael & Gabrielle Dowding

    We are the owners and restorers of the SV Moontide. This is our life. These are our adventures!

    Archives

    December 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Adventures
    Friends
    Restoration
    Sailing

    Other Blogs you might like:

    SIYC.org

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly