Demo, Part 1

Growing up in a family of construction minded people, I have spent many summers doing everything from demolishing old trailers to running electricity and plumbing. Now that I have a little home of my own, my mind quickly wonders what sort of modifications would really improve the look and functionality of the Osprey.

I picked up a little idea from a site most of you have probably heard of called Pinterest. Nothing like a little inspiration when taking on a new project.

After seeing this transformation, it made me wonder what I could do with this space on my boat.

My first thought, the old kerosene heater must go, not only is it bulky and creates soot, but I'm going to spend most of my days at port where electric heat will be my friend. My next though, what is with that ugly wall? What does it protrude so far? Five minutes later...

It turns out that that wall supports the bulkhead during sail, but I'm glad I removed it, I found some slight fiberglass damage behind it due to a water leak somewhere down the line. 

That's all for now!

A Whole New Heart (Kinda), Part 1

The biggest issue the Osprey currently has is that the only means to move her is via sail, and I don't know how to sail.... 

In 1976, the Capitol Yachts Newport 28 came standard with a little inboard engine to help move her around when the wind wasn't a blowin'. Fast forward to 2014, that little engine is seized up and worth little more than a 375 lb boat anchor. 

My options:

1) Trusty Rusty, I can TRY various methods of getting the motor "unstuck" and head North up the Puget sound some 75 Nautical miles to my new home in Port of Everett (still waiting on a slip to open up in Seattle) with a rusty, old, unpredictable motor. This may take quite a while, and may not even work at all.

2) Wind is free! I can pick a weekend and try my hand at sailing. Considering I don't know very much about sailing, and most marinas these days don't allow you coming in with sails up, this isn't even really an option. Not to mention I would be at the mercy of mother nature to send some wind my way. 

3) Outboard engine. If you take a walk down the dock at your local marina, you will find that most older sailboats have been retrofitted with an outboard engine of some sort. These more modern motors hang off the back of the boat and help push you around during light wind, or in close quarters when using the sails is impractical.

After looking at my options I have decided to go with the last. I did some shopping on craigslist and found a nice little no frills 15 hp Suzuki motor that I picked up for a mere $500. They even threw in a dozen fresh eggs from the farm when I bought it!

Thanks to Amazon Prime, I should have the rest of the parts needed to mount the engine in just 2 short days, and the Osprey will have a whole new heart!

Painting the Inside, Part 1

I had my first weekend on the Osprey, and quickly of tired of all of the dark wood. Don't get me wrong, I like the aesthetic appeal of natural wood as much as anyone, but too much in a small space really gives the feel of a gloomy dungeon.

I was having trouble deciding where I wanted to start with the project. When I bought the boat, a couple of the doors were missing, but it came with replacements that needed a bit of re-sizing (AKA the door to the bathroom was too big for the opening). I took this as a hint and started taking all the doors off along with a few cabinets.

I started with the door to the head, I used the ol' measure once cut twice adage and it worked quite well. After cutting the door to size, it was lots and lots of sanding. I decided to re-stain the trim on the door to keep some of the natural wood look. FYI stain takes for ever to dry, and the sealant, even longer...

As I waited for the stain to dry, I turned my attention to the rest of the cabinet doors. The nice folks at Lowes helped me choose a nice and durable paint for a marine environment.

Three coats of paint later and this is what I had to show for all my work...

After two days, lots of sandpaper and plenty of beer, here is the final product. 

Check back in for part two when I decide to tear apart and repaint the master bedroom!

A Late Summer Night Dinner Party

Osprey and I had our first guests aboard last night. After a quick tour of the boat, we settled in to cook dinner. The galley isn't quite fully functional as of yet, but we made do with the above deck BBQ, and drank the beers fast enough that they couldn't get warm. The burgers came out perfectly and we learned that the trick to BBQing mixed veggies boat-side is to add a little dijorn mustard (all that we had) before you put them on the grill.

The soon to be Flemings and I chatted into the wee hours of the night realizing that our plans of conquering the mountains of Washington had just been disrupted by late summer sea-side fun. None of us were upset...

The morning view as the fog lifted off the sound. I must say the view from the boat really does make the coffee taste richer.

The Start of it All!

I created this blog to capture the pursuit and (hopefully) enjoyment of a personal dream.

It's Monday, August 18th 2014, and I have just purchased my dream home, a 1976 Newport 28 named Osprey. Her engine is stuck, she needs paint, but with a little work she will be my floating sanctuary.

I have been traveling nearly every week due to work, and am beginning to feel lost in the chaos of constant travel. The more I seem to travel, the more I NEED to travel, but the loss of that feeling of "home" can really weigh on the mind. Maybe something in the soul needs to latch on and plant roots somewhere, maybe we all need some sort of constant. I don't know, but for now, Osprey will help calm me down.