Plan B Progress

We have reserved a slip on Lake Mendota for the summer. Whoo Hooo! It will be really nice to have a fully rigged boat just waiting for us in a slip. We should be able to get in lots of sailing even on week nights when the winds are fair. I told Brenda we now have a cottage on the lake.

I had some time today to begin prepping Plan B for a season of sailing. Brenda and I have ordered a bunch of things to repair and pretty up our O'Day 25. We ordered new foam and material to make cockpit cushions, new material for the interior cushions, an LED anchor light, a Bimini, spare tire, handheld VHS, zippers and thread.

The boat came with about a gallon and a half of bottom paint which it sorely needed. Mike rolled this on today and it looks so much better. The tiller was a really sad looking piece of wood, so Mike is laminating a nice new replacement. One of the owner modifications we have seen was storage shelving built in behind the cabin table. We made up the shelf and installed it today as well. Nice!

Table Before

Table After

Table Unfolded

Looks like the perfect place to store some wine and Drambuie.

Table Stowed

The fixed VHF was ancient and the wiring was rotted out, so we pulled it out and don't plan on replacing it. We now have two nice West Marine handheld VHF radios that will work just fine. The stereo was located in a lousy spot that was difficult to access, so we will relocate it to a better spot in the cabin. Mike is cleaning up some cobbled wiring inside and then it will be time to clean everything up and load all our sailing gear.

She may be an oldie, but we'll bet she will still look pretty good when we are done setting her up.

 

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Let the season begin!

The sun is actually out and you don't need a winter coat every time you step outside. The grass is greening up and the birds are singing a happy hello to spring. FINALLY!

Let the sailing season begin. Mike delivered our beloved Wrinkles to her new owners this week. It was tough to drive away from her knowing he would probably never see her again. We learned so much aboard her and there will always be many fond memories of her. Fair winds Wrinkles.

So today we plan on picking up Plan B, our 1982 O'Day 25. We don't expect to do a whole lot of renovations on her, but we do have a few items to take care of before our first sail. The bottom (Antifouling) paint needs a fresh coat rolled on and there are a couple of wiring issues with the mast lights. The hull needs to be buffed out and waxed as well. Then it is time to put her on the water. Brenda will start loading our personal stuff aboard to see how low she can get our waterline. (Mike - I think she takes this as a personal challenge!) We mailed in our deposit for a slip on Lake Mendota hopeful that we beat the rush and got one of the few available.

Over the summer Brenda plans on ordering some closed cell foam and Sunbrella fabric to make us some cockpit cushions. Mike will measure the cockpit and order a new bimini for shade. We also plan on modifying a couple of cabin shelves to organize the storage.

Soon we will be on the water taking in beautiful views like this one.

 

Looks like we will be driveway sailing the next week or so. Whoo hoo!

 

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"Plan B"

As posted recently, we decided we needed a Plan B in the event the house didn't sell right away. Concerns about being sailors without a sailboat were bothering both of us. We didn't want to simply repeat last year's sailing without gaining new experiences and skills. So Plan B was born which entailed buying an inexpensive large trailerable sailboat and sailing her as much as possible. The boat would be nearly as big as our future cruising boat, so docking and sailing it will add to our skill base. We plan on some extended trips to adjust to living aboard.

So here is " Plan B", a 1982 O'Day 25.

We will be delivering Wrinkles to her new owners in the next couple of weeks. She has been a wonderful teacher and we will always have fond memories of her.

Once Wrinkles has been delivered, we will pick up Plan B and start on Plan B. We are already making the to-do list.

 

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