Snow report--#1

Since all of the cruise ship tourists are finally gone, I decided to eat my lunch at the glacier today, and check on the snow level.  It's a little early still, but I think there is a tiny bit of dust on the towers in the upper right hand corner of the photo.

Look, I circled it for you.  I'm getting pretty good at photo editing.

 Usually snow doesn't hit the ground here until about Halloween.  It is getting progressively colder, and the snow level should make its way down the mountains throughout the month.  I will keep you updated.  In the meantime, I plan to enjoy the warm fall weather as much as possible.  I can wait for the snow a little longer.

I just want you to see how much of the rock is newly exposed.

Safe and sound

On Friday the boat went back in the water and we returned safely to our slip.  All of the new thru-hulls and valves held the water out, and the engine ran much more efficiently on the way back to the harbor, largely because the water intake was no longer blocked.  The engine still runs a little hot (I think?  I don't actually know how hot a diesel engine should run), but engine work is next on our list of repairs, and should be made easier with the ability to shut off the thru-hulls.

In our slip

It was a huge relief to move back on to the boat.  Even though the lift that we used kept us low to the ground and seemed fairly safe and reliable, it was still nerve-wracking getting it off and on the pontoons.  And there was always the worry that the boat would tip over while on the ground, or that the engine wouldn't get us back to the harbor.  These fears were largely irrational, but still, it was nice to be back in our spot.

View from the bow

And house-sitting is fairly stressful as well, for me at least.  We stayed extra busy with boat work the whole time, but it is uncomfortable being in someone else's space.  There are many perks though, including but not limited to indoor plumbing, a freezer, floor space for yoga and rolling around, a couch, and cable tv.  I don't think I will ever take indoor plumbing for granted again.

View from the stern--no 'dramatic' filter, just Juneau sky

It was good to house-sit and get all of this work done.  I'm just glad to be finished and back in the harbor where it is quiet and the swell rocks us to sleep at night.  The princess cat is very happy to be back ruling her domain as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blah

I don't have a picture for today, and I don't have much to say, but I wanted to stay in the habit of doing this.  Tonight is our last night house-sitting, and our boat will be back in the water tomorrow.  Tomorrow night we will sleep in our own bed (cod-willing) and be in our own space.  After we eat sushi to celebrate all of the work we have gotten done.  I am very excited.
If you can, check out Ernie's facebook.  He has put up a bunch of pictures and explanations of what got done.

Still dry...

These were the real reasons Ernie wanted to haul the boat before winter.  These are two of the seacocks and valves that were in the engine compartment.  They could not be closed, which was dangerous, and prevented him from winterizing the engine properly.  Also, note the mixed metals on the one lying down.  That is a big no-no, especially when copper is involved.  Knowing that there are new valves on those thru hulls will help us sleep at night, especially when we are traveling.

I think I'm in love

We started painting the boat today.  I had just about convinced myself that boat life was too stressful and I couldn't handle it anymore, but then we got some good work done, and I feel much better about the future of things.  With a fresh coat of paint on her, she is beautiful.  Anti-fouling paint is nasty stuff, and I don't feel good about using it, but for now we had to go with what was in town.  Hopefully next time I can come up with a better option.

So pretty

The morning was super foggy, which was a good indicator that it would be a sunny day.  It took awhile to burn off, but it eventually got up to 60 degrees, which is about the best we could hope for at this late date.  We scraped and sanded and washed and painted.  We put in a new thru hull fitting.  It was all very satisfying.  I should note that when I say we, I mean mostly Ernie, but I did what I could to help.

So shiny

 

 

 

                                          My my, don't we have a nice rudder.

                                   Hopefully we will be back in the water soon.

We're out!

So we did it.  Our little boat is out of the water and on solid ground.  Things look better than we expected, so hopefully the work goes quickly.  It seems like we may get a weather window so we can paint, and with any luck the thru hulls will be done quickly.  The trick will be to get back into our slip before we are done house-sitting.  It's going to be close.

Off the dock, for the first time in a year and a half.

Looking back at the harbor and our slip.

The Daybreak is on the lift.  Ernie did not enjoy this ride.

The hull got pressure washed and now the boat is on blocks.  We did some interior work afterward, during the first windstorm of the season, and had to constantly keep checking to make sure that we weren't moving.  She held.

Preparation

I went and shopped for boat paint today.  It did not lower my panic level at all.

A gallon of anti-fouling paint runs between $100-$300 these days

We have no idea what we are doing.  I mean, we are familiar with the concept, but we have never done it before, and we don't want to screw it up.

As I understand it, our primary goal is to fix some of our sketchier through-hulls.  We will only be painting if the weather cooperates or the hull looks really bad.  There is a good chance that we will have to haul again in the spring to finish the bottom properly.  The problem with now is that winter is coming.  It hasn't snowed here yet, but the temperature needs to be at least 50F and dry for paint to cure completely.  We would be cutting it very close.

We know for certain that this boat has not been out of the water for 3 years, so this will be a good opportunity to see what the bottom looks like, and use that to make decisions about future work.  We expect, best case scenario, for the bottom paint to be worn and needing to be fully sanded off and redone.  While we are at it, let's also expect that there is no surprise damage down there. 

I will keep you updated.

Boat stuff

Okay, I cheated.  I didn't take this picture today.

I am getting used to the increasing darkness, and didn't get to picture taking on time today.  This problem is only going to get worse in the coming months.  Don't worry, I will figure it out.

Anyways.

The news of the day is that we have an appointment to haul our boat out of the water on Sunday.  It should be a very terrifying exciting experience.  Fingers crossed that it goes well and we don't find any big surprises!!

More practice...

Here are some pictures of the view from the house we are minding this month.  Not bad at all.

You may notice the cruise ship (not on shore power) in the lower right corner.  This year they will be here until the 27th of September.

Shhhhh!

I'm trying something.  I don't want to jinx it, so I am just going to put this up, and see how it goes.

Ha.  As if anyone ever comes here anyway.  At least that means no pressure.

This is the bird we care for when we house-sit.  He is more beautiful than these pictures let on, but he is also a brat.  Parrots are more like two year old humans than you want them to be.  It is, however, perfectly acceptable to keep them in cages.  The birds, I mean.