Life afloat on a 40 foot boat.

We have been so busy that we have had no time to tend to our blog. Finally we have made a few spare minutes to update it.

We have been in the USA for almost a month now and we were due to leave Tomorrow. But between working on the boat, and a little going out for dinners and drinks and enjoying ourselves time has run away on us. So we have pushed it back another week and we plan to start cruising on the 12th March. and with a gale warning current, its not a bad idea to stay put and start provisioning and finalize any projects ( a list as long as my arm!) that need doing on the boat.

Our boat has been moored in the heart of Wilmington for the past 4 months. Wilmington is an industrial area with a lot of trucks, cranes, oil rigs and ships. It was amazing to see the dirt gather on the boat - cleaning the deck of the boat was a never ending chore. We must mention how lovely the people at the marina were - so nice and friendly.

Finally after two weeks of working on the boat, we made our maiden voyage - 23rd Feb.

So onto some pics! Our first day sailing in pics..... We moved onto a more expensive marina close to the sea called Shoreline Marina at Longbeach. Here you can take a 2 minute walk and order a $50 steak.

Feels good to just get the boat moving

Bye bye Wilmington, but we are still friends with many people we met here.

Just as we left the channel and before we even had a chance to raise our sail we had to perform a rescue.

We had to take a kayaker aboard as he had fallen off his kayak and was unable to get back on!

The taste of a $2500 glass of water. Desalinated to perfection. almost...... The high pressure pump died minutes later. It wasn't Dennis's fault though, there was a manufacturing defect with the pump - which he later repaired.

New furling cruising code zero by Island Planet Sails works well.

Safe arrival at Shoreline Marina, Longbeach.

Sitting Pretty.

Fixing the bimini - now we can turn the winch all the way around, a small victory! Previously the metal tube level with my shoulder continued on down at a 45 deg angle finishing up right in front of the winch. I took it out and had it bent off site then re fastened it forward of the winch.

Neat work - Dennis has learnt the art of splicing. End to end splice for our endless line furler!

TV installation - Now Knotty Lady is complete with a Panasonic 37" led flat screen - and at only 2.8A current draw we will actually be able to use it whilst we cruise. Note the mess below. A daily occurrence for the past month!

Dennis up the mast! Quick trip up to add blocks for the lazy jacks and to remove mast head wires which were needed to re-enforce the davits for the old 300kg tender.