Our Love Story and the Anniversary Tattoos

Well we met when we were in 5th grade, we were around 10 years old.

We both remember what we were doing, swimming in a pool. He lived in a house with a large pool, my mom took me and my sister to his house for a visit. His mom made snacks, a salsa poured over cream cheese served with tortilla chips, which we eat to this day.

Our families spent the next 4 years having fun hanging out. Then his family moved far away up north and we didn't see each other until after our high school graduation when he came back to visit his relatives. We hung out and played, had a good time. Then he left back to home, we didn't romance each other. I had just broken up with a boyfriend and was young and dumb.

Another 5 years went by until we saw each other again, at my sister's wedding in Las Vegas. Oh boy he was a super hottie, and I was too shy to say anything. We both had children by this time, and had already ended a relationship with the parents to our children. But we just talked, he played with my daughter, then he left. I didn't talk to him anymore after that, and wish I would have done something more that night.

Ten years later, we were in our early 30s, he sends me an email. He found me on the internet and was wondering how I was doing. I was SO excited, I responded immediately. We talked online for a couple months, video chatted for a couple more months, then met for a weekend (he was a gentleman, nothing happened, we just hung out and had fun). We parted ways at the end of the weekend, kissed each other and I knew he was the one. I cried all the way home and couldn't wait to see him again. 

Well shortly after this weekend I flew up to him, we made plans, then he flew to me. And I moved in with him, we started our lives together. Got married and had our son, now 7 years have gone by.

On our 4th wedding anniversary, at 40 years old, we decided to ditch our wedding rings and get a tattoo, my first ever tattoo. This was a step towards our plan to sail into a life with less material things and more meaningful adventures. We designed it together, a heart with infinity sign, to signify our love forever.

Clean and Dry the Bilge, aka the Black Hole

Ok, hubby read in a book about fixing boats that we need to clean, dry, and paint our bilge to get rid of blisters located on hull of our boat, near the aft.

So one of my duties, as first mate and occasional admiral, is to clean this old grimy, oil, dirt, water filled thing down deep in the boat. I can barely reach this section of our boat. I know it's there because I regularly fill the water tank and see it, but it's like that black hole where no one dares to go, except me.

A picture of the black hole.

I started inspecting this black hole, and gripped a lot! Initially, I demanded I need this, and that, even before I start this sort of project, hubby looked at me like she'll get over it. I devised a plan, learn how to do this, ask around, stall some, and then do it when I'm done complaining. Hubby knows me well.

So for the past week I have gathered some of those absorbent pads, for oil spills, and placed a few down there in the black hole. I used our stick to grab the dock, it extends, to get it down there. When I pulled the first one out it was black, ewwww, I was done! Hubby, promptly sprayed simple green around and inspected, then told me its not that bad.

I read some more about cleaning the bilge and the miracle chemicals that say they will do it without any hard work. But I was not born yesterday, and there is no miracle stuff that's gonna clean out this grimy stuff, it's been there for at least a decade. I could barely see our bilge pump, it was black like the water, hence the black hole!

For the past week, I open the hatch and stuff more absorbent pads in the black hole. I believe there were about 6 pads down there today when I decided to get them out because hubby got more from the marina, they give them to us for free, he's gotta keep me on task.

After pulling the pads out I scrubbed the pump and actually saw its colors, then I pulled out a zip tie and old plastic bag. I could hear things swishing around down there, so who knows what else lurks there. I did manage to figure out a neato way to clean the grim using the pad and the stick. I wrapped the stick hook with the pad, then placed a rubber band on it so it won't come loose while I scrub, this worked really well at releasing the grim.

I used up all the pads, now I've got to get more. We flushed the hole with some water and ran the pump, now we can actually see there is more than just black down there. Oh an we pulled out our sensor that was disconnected, it's supposed to be a safety feature that turns the pump on when the water level gets to high.  It was so old n grimy who knows when the last time it worked, now we've got to get a new one.

And while down there in the black hole, guess what? I noticed a leak of water from the engine room. The other day we had to squeeze the motor battery into a compartment near the plumbing and I think we hit a hose cause water started to spray out from a bulging hose. We tightened them down, but they are still leaking. We may have to replace all the hoses sooner than later, as we had planned to get this project done later, time will tell if a quick fix will work.

Here is picture after I've cleaned out quite a lot, but as you can see there is a lot more to go. And the leak just keeps going, darn hose!

The Many Uses of Freezer Paper

Me and hubby use freezer paper all the time for our DIY projects around the boat.

I use it to make the vbirth and settes templates for foam, to hot glue my hoops for port windows, and for any other sewing project outlines I need.

Hubby uses it to paint on, and when he does fiberglass or epoxies stuff.

We are on our second roll since we bought the boat, and wow these rolls last a while.

Buy some freezer paper if you are DIY painting or sewing, you will love it!

Sewing Project for Dock Neighbor

We are learning the sailor lifestyle and how to help neighbors out. Here at the marina, things are different, than in the city. Our neighbor gives us rides and goodies, like fresh crab, and we help him with mechanical and canvas stuff. The friendliness at the marina is addicting, many people offer to help and always say Hi or open the gate door while on gangway (a bridge to the gate from the dock).

Our neighbor needed a companionway cover, we talked about it and I offered to make it for him. He got the material and snaps, then I sewed it up. I took the measurements to make sure we had enough material, we only needed 1 yard. We also discussed which fasteners to use, the color thread, and where to secure snaps to companionway.

After all that, I used my freezer paper to draw a diagram of what the cover should look like size wise and with the lip at top, cut out for lock in the middle, and length/sides of cover. 

I made two pieces of material. The first piece was quite difficult to measure and sew for the lip. I used vinyl under the canvas to help it lay and grip around the lip. The second piece was easy, I just cut and sewed based on the trapezoid shape. I used a piece of Dacron at the top seam of the bottom piece, so I could leave a small opening for the lock, between top n bottom pieces. 

This picture was taken before I finished attaching the two pieces, (you can see the white Dacron showing between top n bottom where lock will be). I was measuring where to fix top to bottom. I like to staple the pieces together and keep trying them out to make sure it fits. Right before I did this picture I had to adjust the top piece over the lip and place a seam so it would lay flatter over the lip and more even, this was tricky. I'm always adjusting and readjusting, then measuring and remeasuring.

The finished product looks nice, covers the companionway, and we are all good neighbors!

Sewing, Making Cushions Part II

Ok, here is my part II to making cushions. The first part was how I went about getting all my supplies to make the cushions and somewhat how I did it. Here I hope to show more in depth how I made the cushions and the final product. I have since changed our sette cushions, due to fabric's inability to stay clean, so pick your fabric wisely.

After I have measured and cut the foam, I learned to just put the foam on fabric and outline it. To cut the outline, no seam allowances. This is so different than what a typical seamstress might do, because you always cut with seam allowances, but when working with foam you have to compress it, thus forget any seam allowances. And make sure you know which is top and bottom, especially when there is curves or unevenness, if it is a square then top and bottom doesn't matter. This picture is outlining the top plate (top or bottom piece of fabric, they call this a plate) and the other pictures show another fabric where I used my pencil to outline the foam for plate and the measured the long panels.

  I also measured around the foam for the paneling (the fabric that goes around the cushion, part has a zipper) and I did cut 5 inches in width for 4 inch foam, just habit for me, but next time I will probably cut just 4 inches to make the cushions tighter as mine came out a little wrinkly.

There are two pieces of paneling, one for zipper and one for remainder to go around cushion. I measured the zipper piece first length wise so that the zipper would be at the bottom of the cushion, and 2 inches up on each side, I did give myself extra 1-2 inches just so the panel with zipper was long enough to go down each side. The panel without zipper I measured around foam 2 inches up from one side all the way around to the other side 2 inches from that bottom, and give yourself an extra 1-2 inches, seems like on some cushions I ended up about an inch short for some reason and had to add extra fabric.

After everything was cut, I sewed the zipper panel in preparations to make the zipper. I just folded that piece in half length wise and sewed a loose stitch, because you will sew zipper on this and have to rip that seam. I'll post in Part III how to make zipper and finish the cushion.

Camping Trip, Time Away

Sometimes living in the marina I get the fever. It's like cabin fever, so I call it marina fever.

Hubby says I'm restless, and I guess at times I am.  However, the other live aboards talked about their need to get away, and some have left for a month or months then return refreshed. I wonder if it is the constant coming and going of your neighbors, or the same beautiful view every day you get spoiled with. Not quite sure why I get this marina fever, it could also be the space we live in is quite small and with a rambunctious three year old tight quarters is constraining. Anyhow, whatever the reason I explained to hubby that I need a break from the boat/marina, so we went on a camping trip to Mt. St. Helens.

We enjoyed a camp fire the first night, and paid $23 per night to the state so we can sleep on dirt. The second day we visited the volcano on federal lands, and learned there are many restrictions, warnings with possible fines, and fees. We viewed it and promptly left. As we returned to the campsite we were hit with a ban on campfires, ugh. We got a little perturbed with this state campground and their quick burn ban, but we had already paid for our second night, so we took off for a drive. 

Our drive brought us to the Columbia river, almost where it dumps into the Pacific. I have to say this part of the river was beautiful, there are years of history along that river. Unfortunately, other parts of the river were quite depressing, it was littered with industry. If the day had not reached its end, we may have made it to the mouth of this giant river, but night was quickly approaching and we turned back to our overpriced campsite.

Overall, the trip was a learning experience about ourselves and how much we like our space away from bureaucracy. 

Our campsite.

A big volcano.

Throw Pillows in Salon

While picking out the material for our cushions, in the whole boat, I picked out some materials and pillows to add to sette in salon. Hubby's daughter turned me to Pinterest and showed me several color and decorating variations, this gave me lots of ideas!

The throw pillows we really like and use every day. I made them with a polyester outdoor material and pillows that are special for outdoors (mildew resistant). The covers are made like a slip over, so they can easily be taken off and cleaned. 

This week while doing laundry I threw them in the wash and they came out nice and clean. I find that as we work outside sanding and whatnot, the grime gets in the cabin and it can be tough to get out. And the small hands, from our son, and small paws, from cat n dog, they like to touch everything after eating something sticky n gooey creating a mess everywhere. Thank goodness for vinyl and polyesters that wash n clean easily.

 (Side note: Not all polyester outdoor materials clean n wear well, the material with chevron print for back cushion of sette is horrible, shows all stains, tough to get out stains and is fading with wear, so be careful when picking materials)

Reminiscing About Our History

Well our plan has definitely worked out for the best.  I was laid off from my job and hubby left his job. We saved enough to buy the boat and fix it up, and live for a while, but the kitty is dwindling fast.

The transition of leaving the work grind is interesting, sort of like removing a brainwashing helmet from my head.  Weeks after leaving the job I dreamed about it and the people I worked around.  For months I had this feeling I have to get up and get ready for work and I know when it's a Monday.  Luckily, after 6 months these feelings are starting to fade.

Downsizing stuff in our house has worked nicely too, it has been therapeutic to get rid of stuff we've held onto for many years.  We wondered why we have held onto, stored, and moved these material things for so long, it makes no sense now.  

In my view, pretty much everything has a value, so I always try to sell it first, and if it doesn't sell then I donate it.  My philosophy is to take care of us first, and if we have left-overs then I give to others.

The sentimental stuff is so much harder to downsize.  Our children's art work (the two daughters are young adults) we kept very few, scanned them all, and either gave it to them or tossed. And their pictures we scanned all, and gave to family or tossed them. We scanned away pictures for months, I calculated about 6,000 pictures overall. I have two small boxes stored in the trunk of our car left to go, which we will scan sometime during winter time.

We bought three scanners in preparation for this downsize.  The first Epson stopped working, so we bought a Kodak.  The Kodak feeds the pictures, but has poor picture quality.  The third scanner is another Epson, like the other one it scans 3-5 pictures at a time, having to open the lid each time.  The Epson does have good quality of the scanned pictures.  And we have found a spot for each of them on the boat.

The other part of our transition is preparing to home school our son.  He is pre-school age now so it isn't too difficult.  He is also smart and healthy, so we are pretty blessed with a great beginning in our home school adventure.  I have to say that I am excited about home school with him.  I really do not know what our future holds, except that we want to raise our son instead of paying others to do it.  And we do not want him to attend public school, no offense to all those well meaning teachers out there, however the public school system is just another controlling bureaucracy that we are trying to get away from.

Our pets have transitioned well onto the boat. But they are a lot of work, always something to do with them, walk the dog, clean the cat liter, feed them. Both of them swim, and both have fallen off the dock into the water. Sort of weird that domesticated cats and dogs can swim by instinct at a young age, but humans cannot, puzzling.

Anyhow, our life aboard Harbinger is worth any difficulties we have come across or will cross in our future. We work as a team, hubby and me, outfitting the boat while caring for our son and the pets.

Our Fresh Water Tank

Our first weeks on board we used a leaky 5 gallon jug for all our kitchen/galley water uses, washing dishes and cooking. When my hubby bought the new water pump and wired it up, we had running water in our galley and head, oh what a glorious day that was.

Now I had to research and purchase a water filtration system that will take us into the future, sustainably. So I got a basic 10 inch filter to attach after the tank (easily replaceable filters) it will remove most of the chemicals and a 3m whole boat filtration system for drinking water it will remove chemicals and microbes. 

We currently have a aluminum water tank and its got white oxidation stuff on the bottom and outside of it. We are Leary of this tank and do not cook or drink from it. We are worried about the corrosion causing holes and for the tank to leak. Eventually this tank will need to be replaced. We just are not sure if we do it soon and replace all the hoses and install the water filtration, or wait until later. Probably, we will have to bite the bullet and replace it sooner than later. We've been looking at replacing it with the PVC tanks, which cost about $500, a spendy and time consuming replacement (aren't they all!).

For now, we'll keep filling up the current tank and lug in drinking water. Below is a picture of how we fill up the tank, we don't have a filling hole on deck to use, so we bring a water hose down to tank under our stair hatch. No big deal, it's easy to do, and the deck hole will come in time, once we get the new tank. Sometimes I get to close and it runs over or the hose gets stuck and sprays everywhere, well when things get wet it just gives me the opportunity to clean the area. 

We are also learning our water usage, on heavy use weeks we fill it up every 4 days on low water usage weeks we fill it up every 7 days. This will be important in our future to know how much water we use, and to conserve appropriately. The hard part is retraining our brains and teaching our son to not let the water run.

Cleaning Port Windows and Mosquito/Bug Netting

Naturally I clean the port windows with Vinegar, which works very well. The windows themselves leaked and were resealed with new gaskets and caulking in between glass by hubby. Now most of them do not leak, yeah. We have a few windows that we have to take out completely and find new bolts (somewhere? As of yet we haven't found them) and seal the whole thing, who knew there were so many parts to a port window.

Anyhow, with warm days the windows stay open and the bugs come in. As more flies came in, I lay on the sette, burning up, I think to myself there has to be something to cover those windows! Then off to Joann's fabric I went. First trip I bought the white mosquito netting at $2 per yard, and some cream colored nylon netting fabric at $1.50 per yard. I spent about $15 on this first trip. I cut some of the netting and I need something to keep it in place inside the window, and also figure out something for the hatches. Second trip to Joanns, we found these embroidery hoops made of wood, this trip cost about $20. Our galley port windows are 9 inches so the 9 inch hoop worked perfectly, but our head and v-birth windows are 7 1/2 inches, so I had to buy the 8 inch hoop and cut to fit.

Once I cut and measured to fit the windows, I cut the netting and put it into the hoop, as if I would use it for embroidery, then I hot glued the inside around the edge and pushed it into the window. I almost forgot to add a pull string so i can easily remove from window instead of grabbing at netting to pull them out, I tied the string to outer larger hoop and hot glued it. Now with hoops in place it allows me to open and close the windows without having to remove the hoop. The first day I put them up we went down from 6 flies to 2 flies, the next day we had just 1 fly, I was so excited. 

The hatches I haven't quite finished.  The salon hatch I used fishing line and sewed around the edge making it taunt around the hatch so we can open and close without having to remove the netting, this works really good. But our forward hatch in the v-birth I tried to custom make it with the wind scoop and it came out to small, so I have to redo this and figure out how to make a netting and also attach the wind scoop, a work in progress. Then the companion way hatch we've just lay a large piece of netting around it, and I'm thinking I'll use the fishing line with weights so that it will keep the netting in place and we can easily lift it up and down, to get in and out. I'll update those finished projects later.

Deck, aka Ready, Bag for Stay Sail

After many weeks of contemplating the colors and design of the deck bags, in light of deck paint and hull colors on boat, I finally pulled the trigger and bought the material.

I decided to buy remnants of various colors of sunbrella material at the canvas store downtown. And use different colors on the bag, made it unique, yet not too hodge podgie. I had three patterns to go by, I read the pattern in the canvas book, I read the pattern on sailrite, and I inspected the one deck bag survived on our boat (which happens to be for the stay sail). So I decided to use these patterns as my general guide, I can never really stick with a pattern, yah know. I also looked around the marina at other bags and noted the different clasps and zippers.

I had to order some tools for this project which turned out to be very helpful. My hubby always says the right tool makes the job better, so I bit the bullet and bought a $50 tool to set the twist fasteners.

It took me two days of measuring, cutting, sewing, and fastening to work out this bag. Let me say again that I love using a stapler, instead of pins, to prep my fabric for sewing and even test fit the bag. The staples are so easy to work with and they hold the fabric in place.

Here is a picture of the finished project, this is the stay sail deck bag (next is jib sail bag):

Beige on starboard.

Navy on port side.