"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do then by the ones you did. So, throw off the bowlines. Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover"

Mark Twain

Broke Down on the High Seas

After a week of installing all of our Raymarine instruments I am now ready to calibrate the new auto pilot. It is a real simple procedure involving a couple of 360 degree turns then some S turns. No big deal. So we leave the safety of our slip Wednesday 10/14/09 to do our sea trial. About 5 minutes out of the slip and we lose our starboard engine. We can't put the boat back in the slip with just one engine so we continue to head out to the Galveston Bay. Jen drives while I go below to fix the engine. We go all the way out in the middle of the bay, close to the Houston Ship Channel, (about two hours) and then the port engine dies. So here we are out in the middle of the bay, a dead ship, and then to add insult to injury we didn't have either of the dinghies. We were only planning on being gone for 3 hours. (Where have I heard that before?! It was only going to be a three hour tour.) So we drop anchor and I continue to work on the engines, 3 hours later and still no luck. So now we have to decide 'Do we want to sleep out in the bay?' or 'Do we pull up the sails and head back to our marina?'. We elect to head back. Since we weren't planning on sailing we had to pull all the sail covers off adding about 20 minutes to the job. There is not much wind, which is why we chose today to do the calibrations, but there should be enough to get us close to home. Once we get to the Kemah Boardwalk we flag down Mark, a very helpful and friendly boater, who gives Jen a ride back to our marina. So now I am alone on board trying to sail the channel, good thing that it is a slow day and there are not a whole bunch of boats out. I make it about a mile from our marina with no mishaps when the sun fades over the horizon and the wind quits, now I am truly a dead ship. Then out of the blue here comes Bill, another helpful and friendly boater who just happens to be the official towboat for the sailing regattas! So Bill offers to tow me into our marina an offer I gladly accept. So as Bill is pulling me here comes Jen in the dinghy. Perfect timing. Bill tows me to the bayou right behind our slip where I throw anchor as Jen pulls up to take me and Sissy to shore.

Thursday 10/15/09.

We wake up bright and early and begin work on the engines. After an exhausting series of troubleshooting I finally determine that the starboard engine has a failed fuel pump. So after a trip to the hardware store I jury rig an electric pump, bleed all the lines, and cross my fingers. Varoom the starboard engine is now running smoothly! Now on to the port engine -bleed the lines and it is running as well, but then it only runs for about 10 minutes then dies. So I determine that it's fuel pump is failing as well. What are the odds? So I splice it into the jury rigged electric pump and everything is working great. We load the dinghy up (we learned our lesson) and head back out to do some maneuvers to make sure everything runs smoothly before trying to pull into our slip. So after two days of nonstop work in the engine room we return from our three hour tour hungry and exhausted. However on the bright side, other than the engines failing the rest of the boat performed flawlessly.

We found out this weekend that our neighbors thought we were out practicing being boaters.

Gee thanks guys! I guess that you are laughing at us after all. Karma is such a Bitch!

Time flies when your having fun.

We have been home now for a week and a half. It has been great. I have been busy working a little on all of my different projects and Jen has been cleaning, painting, putting things away, and getting ready for her parents and grandparents visit this weekend. They will be here for a week. Jen is pretty excited.

(Before and After shots)

I installed a projector and screen instead of a tv.

I removed some more of the old equipment, filled in the holes, and painted.

Last night we took an evening off and had date night. We took the dinghy over to the Turtle Club and had steaks and bushwhackers while the one-man-band played all my favorite songs. We made a new friend and had a great time.

Last weekend was the big boat show at the marina. George and Jan came to party with the crew on the dock. They just couldn't stay away from us! It was a great weekend, Saturday morning we wake up and Robert cooked the whole dock breakfast. (Thanks Robert.) Then later that afternoon we all went to the boat show to see Kelly McGuire sing. He is a Jimmy Buffett style singer so of course I liked everything he played. Then to top it off Deb & Janice made a couple of pasta dishes for dinner, which were both excellent. (Thanks Deb & Janice.) And Sunday Morning Deb made brunch for the whole dock. (Thanks again Deb.) And that afternoon Rosemary brought out snacks and had made some really good hotwing dip. (Thank you Rosemary.)

For those of you who were worrying I'm defiantly not going hungry here.

Friday was an interesting evening. There was a derelict boat against the sea wall between our pier and pier 18. The boat appeared to be adrift and had no one on board. So while those of us with boats in the path of possible collision are discussing what should be done, the owner walks up. We all introduced ourselves and Catherine informed us that she had gone to take a shower and that while she was gone the tide had gone out and that she couldn't get back on board. She also didn't have an engine and that she propels her boat by pumping her rudder back and forth. Keep in mind this is a 30 foot sailboat. So I am looking and see that she has to scull her boat right by mine, and the rest of the expensive boats at our dock, to get back out. So I offer to give her a ride to her boat, then tow her out to open water. She gladly accepts, but says she wants to go to McDonald's first and get some nuggets, so we wait for about an hour or so until she shows back up. Kat, Catherine, and I jump in the dinghy and taxi her over to her boat and then try to tow her out, but we had some trouble since the tide had went out and she was sitting on the bottom. So after three or four tries we finally get her dislodged and start the towing process. Which was a first for me and really hard in the dinghy. The sailboat would try to pass me, and I had a real hard time turning the boat even with Catherine steering her boat. (George later informed me that I should drive the dinghy backwards next time, and that I would have better control.) Finally we got her safely to the fuel pier where she planned to stay the night. So after some grilling from Shelia she told us that she plans to head to Key West and charter her boat -her derelict boat with no engine. So Sheila being brutally honest asks her if she is retarded and had a pretty long discussion with her, then Sheila decided that Catherine was a little crazy and gave her a bottle of wine and wished her luck. We had a big laugh over the whole deal and the rest of the weekend she was coined as my girlfriend.

Jen has decided that we probably shouldn't be making too much fun of 'crazy Catherine' since we too are a little crazy and is sure that you are laughing at us. :)

Surely your not, right?!

The Weekend

We spent the entire weekend being glad that we were back on the boat.

Sissy and M&M are glad to be back on the boat too.

Ryan hung up the hammock that he got for his birthday.

We visited with the neighbors and caught up on all the latest gossip and news.

Sis ran around making sure that all the beds are still comfortable and that all her toys are where they should be.

M&M lounged around enjoying the weather, soaking up the sun and today the rain.

We put away almost everything that we had brought from Oklahoma and California. Surprisingly I have found a home for most of it. And the thing that I am having the most trouble with is clothing. I didn't even think that we had that much.

Ryan picked up a new hobby this weekend.

He has started making his own tortillas. The first attempt was a fail, the second were decent, not great but edible, and this last batch was pretty good! I think that he is getting the hang of it.

We also inflated the new dinghy and took it out for a sunset cruise this weekend. And then again for a mid afternoon cruise, another was a trip to the Turtle Club, and a third, fourth, and fifth time just because Ryan wanted to take the dinghy out. :)

Oh yeah ... and Ryan proposed!

:)

It was a bit of a surprise and we have no date or plans made.

But as soon as we make any I will let you know.

Hope your weekend was as great as ours!

Jen, Ryan, Sissy and M&M

Home at Last!

After nearly 3 months and 5,000 miles we are finally home.

Getting here? Getting here was a challenge.

We will begin with first packing the camper.
It was a full load after two sailboards, a bicycle, three beach chairs, and Marilyn's things. Then in Phoenix we added a new 14' dinghy with trailer. It was a bit crowded to say the least.

An impressive windmill farm on the way home. Windmills for as far as you could see.

The sun setting in Phoenix.

And then that is when it happened....Tucumcari, New Mexico, 3:36pm September 1st, 2009.

The poor brown truck had enough; after 260,900 miles she gave up. Ryan thinks that she spun a camshaft bearing. All I know is that she screams every time the engine is running. Poor girl she made it a long way. And she never even realized that she was on the homeward stretch -all down hill and straight from here.

So now what?

Now we start listing everyone that we know with a truck big enough to come get us. (It was a small list.) But after a few phone calls James and Jessica are suckered in with the promise of a road trip. They arrived September 3rd and picked up us and the camper. On Friday the 4th Marty and Annie loaned us a truck and trailer and we went back to get our truck.

*Thanks to all of you! I don't know what we would have done without you.*

So with lots of help we made it back to Oklahoma. Now how are we gonna get everything that's in the camper to the storage container or the boat?! Hmmm. I KNOW! We can rent a U-Haul. Then Ryan decides for the same price as renting a U-Haul we can buy one. So that is what we did. And Ryan couldn't be happier! HaHa.

And that is how we eventually made it home. It was a great time the entire time. Yes even the times that we were lost or broke down and stranded. The trip was a memorable one and we are glad that we had the opportunity to take it.

Now?

Now it's time to get back to work on the sailboat and prepare for our next great adventure!