Sunday, June 22, 2014

sunday share.









This week brought us to the beginning of July and that meant we needed to make sure all our boat registration and documentation was up to date. When we purchased Interlude, we registered her to have her home port in Racine for tax purposes. Since she's a coast guard documented vessel, this means her hull should have her name and home port on the hull, 4 inches tall and clearly visible. Oops. Up until now, her hull has been emblazoned with Park Ridge IL as her home port (and not even in 4 inch type). 

Last week I ordered the decals from Boat US with the new home port city and when we went up, we applied the new ones. First though, we had to remove the old location (which was painted on). We scoured the internet for advice and found that a solvent and a rag should do the trick, albeit slowly. Acetone is a good option because it won't damage the gel coat and dries very quickly. Luckily we had some acetone on hand and plenty of rags to get us started. Oy! It was slow going. I spent 15 minutes working on one letter with little progress being made. At this rate, it'd take all day! Meanwhile, Josh taped a piece of brown paper bag to the letters on his end and was dampening it over and over with acetone in hopes that it'd loosen the paint and would rub off easier. Josh, the smarty pants he is, thought maybe a scrubber might work and sure enough, it turned our interminable affair into a blink of an eye's worth of effort. 

Once one side was completed, we turned the boat around in the slip so we could get at the other side. It took 30 minutes to clean off both sides, tops. 

Then came the application of the new home port. The instructions were very simple--wipe the surface clean with glass cleaner, put masking tape on either end of the decal (before removing the backing), line it up, put a strip of masking tape down the middle once it's where you want it to be, peel the backing one end at a time, and press down using the squeegee provided. Then repeat with the other end of the decal. Voila! Repeat on the other side. 

Monday, June 16, 2014

sunday share.

Finally back on the Sunday sharing project I started months ago. Oops! Sorry about falling off the earth with it!

This one is a quick little d.i.y. for convenience and comfort on passages where the waves are less than optimal for eating. Basically what we're doing is giving the bottom of our dishes a non-skid surface to keep them from sliding across the table while we're trying to down our breakfast.

You need plates, bowls (we have the melamine kind but any kind should work), food grade caulk (get the kitchen kind), a caulk gun, and wax paper.

Turn all your plates and bowls over so bottoms are facing up. Lay out some wax paper (enough to fit all your plates and bowls). Fire up your caulk gun and run a bead around the rim on the bottom of the dishes. I was a little messy and didn't exactly keep a nice smooth line but you get the idea. Once you've got the bead along the bottoms of all of them, flip them over so they're bottoms down (the idea is to flatten out the bead so it'll sit level when you go to use the dishes) on the wax paper. Then you leave them to sit and dry. Once the caulk is clear and no longer white, the dishes are ready to use. I hand wash ours and have used them in the microwave with no issues. Easy peasy and makes eating underway much more comfortable!








Thursday, June 5, 2014

long time gone.









It was a long, cold winter here in the midwest. Lots and lots of snow and plenty of frigid temps keeping us huddled inside around the radiator. But I am happy to announce, it seems to be behind us? It's still not exactly summer here in Chicago but we'll take it. Especially since we were finally able to put Interlude back in the water! Yep, finally we are afloat and back at Reef Point Marina. Unfortunately, Larsen is still being pains in our rears regarding the fixing of the chainplates so that issue is still outstanding. Supposedly they'll come sometime this summer to measure and then haul her out once the chainplates have been fabricated and are ready for installation (most likely at the end of the season). But in the meantime, we have some big news to share...

There is about to be a baby onboard the Allen boat. Initially we had hoped to shove off and head to the Caribbean this August, but were pleasantly surprised right before Christmas when I found I was expecting our first baby! After years of trying and finally making peace that it just wasn't going to happen for us, SURPRISE of a lifetime,  we are a mere 11 weeks from the birth of our baby (we're waiting to find out the sex until the birth). Needless to say, since I am due in August, our date of departure has been pushed a year. It's an exciting new aspect to our plans and we couldn't be more thrilled. 

For now, it's baby bump on board, which is, in itself, providing a whole new set of exciting and exhausting challenges (like changing sheets in the v-berth and closing the head door once I'm inside). I'll try to be better about updating the blog on how being a big-bellied lady aboard a sailboat is full of adventure and keep you abreast of all the projects we're doing this season ahead of our summer 2015 departure (you know, while we still have the time and free hands to do them before baby arrives).  

Here are a few photos from this weekend of Interlude and one of the growing belly :-)