Maiden Voyage of the Dinghy

The family has pretty much decided to call the dinghy Shambi.  Today Paul put it in the water and we broke in the new engine.  The dinghy has so much more room and feels very comfortable for longer distances.  We have room to bring a lot with us or a lot back with us.  Whatever we may need.

We do need to figure out a way to get it up into the davits without scratching up the back of Shambala or damaging Shambi.

Tomorrow should be good weather for painting the dinghy and then we can do some more problem solving.

Paul is working hard tonight cleaning up his tools on the inside of the boat and may get to build a shelf for another water bladder to give us more water carrying capacity.

It Floats.

Ta Da!

Two young travelers are attempting to wait patiently while the engine idles for 10 minutes.  This is what was recommended to break the engine in.  You only get to break in a new engine once.

Off they go in the maiden voyage.  

Now we can get pictures of Shambala from the water side.

Back in the Water Again

Yesterday was our big day back in the water.  The travel lift came to pick us up early so we could go in at high tide.  The launching of the boat went perfect and it feels great to be back on the water again.

Looking out the port holes and seeing water instead of a metal building feels right.

The next step was cleaning the boat of all the grime and dirt that had built up over the years it was stored in the boat yard back in Port Clinton, OH.  The weather was warm and sunny and perfect for some deep cleaning.

Last night it rained all night and we found a few new leaks.  Maybe cleaning all of that dirt of the boat was not such a good thing after all?

We are in the process of figuring out our new wifi booster so for now we blog using the internet at the boat yard.  We should have the kinks worked out soon.

Enjoy the pictures of the big splash.

Starting at 8:30 AM we were off the boat and watching the travel lift work.  This time the kids made sure we remembered their water and food unlike the time we were pulled out onto the hard and forgot.  Oops! 

The launch is waiting for us and looks inviting.

Nick, the owner is on the left.  Bobby, next to the piling works with him.

Our empty spot next to the warehouse.

Mama gets to scrub the boat.

And Scrub.

And Scrub!

Paul works on the dinghy.

I think it is clean enough.

The De-Naming Ceremony

Today was another big day.  We received the main sail we ordered about 4 weeks ago and have it on deck.  We invited our friends Judy and Charlie over for our big de-naming ceremony today.
(Charlie and Judy were the friends from Ohio that drove our minivan to St Augustine for us)
The corks flew off and we doused the bow with a bottle of champagne while we enjoyed the chilled one after.

Then the new name of Shambala went on today.
Next step is the water maker, the bimini top with a new dodger and a sail cover to match for our new main sail.  All of this plus paint the dinghy and add a rub rail.

Happy Holidays

We are getting ready for our big launch back into the water this Friday.  We have been here a month and we got a lot done.
The dinghy davits are installed.
We are finishing the installation of the wind generator and solar panels.
Our new main sail should be here tomorrow.
The bottom is painted.
The boot stripe is complete and now the top stripe is complete as of Christmas Eve (thank you, Bruce).
We still need to buff and wax the white part of the hull and do a few more odds and ends but we should be good to go on Friday morning. The dingy probably won't get paint before we launch but we can do that on the boat.
Bruce(the guy painting the stripe in the pics) repairs boats and has been working on a few in the yard. He has been very helpful and generous while we've been here. He even invited us to his home for a great Christmas dinner and he and is family gave the kids a bunch of gifts.  We feel very fortunate to have met the people we have so far on our journey.

Everyone in the boat yard is full of advice and being very helpful.  This kids are loving the time here but we are all ready to get back in the water and get south to where we don't have to run the heater at night.  

This is a good picture to see a before and after of the bottom paint.

Every once in a while the bottom of the refrigerator needs to be cleaned out.
Anyone need a big jar of dill pickles?

Getting prepped Christmas Eve for paint.

Finally finished the cross stitch stocking in time for Christmas Eve.

Santa was able to find the boat. Amazing!

Before we go back into the water we will perform the de-naming ceremony and then put on our new name Shambala.  The champagne is chilling as we speak.