Category: DIY Boat Project

Kairos Gets Some New Bling: Replacing Our Rigging in Martinique

An Unexpected Trip to Martinique

We had previously decided that Dominica (blog post to come soon) would be the farthest south we would venture this year. We’re planning to sail back to the States before hurricane season and we’re looking forward to spending some more time in the Bahamas with its plethora of white sandy beaches, mahi mahi, and lobster. However, we’ve already learned how quickly plans can change while cruising. It seems like mother nature and boat maintenance are constantly creating obstacles and we’re no longer surprised by delays. But we never would have predicted the events that occurred on the morning of Friday, January 13th that caused us to make an unexpected trip to Martinique. read more

Hauling Out is Hard to Do

Our first sailing season has ended and Kairos is sleeping safely on land in the Puerto Del Rey boat yard. She’ll get some much needed rest here and some TLC over the next four months before she splashes back into the water in early November. I was dreading haul out day. The amount of work required to prep a boat for storage can be overwhelming. I knew it would be hard work and I was right. However, with a little up front planning and organization, the process can be smoothly executed. read more

There is No Such Thing As a Free Lunch

Just 4 short months ago when I was working for an engineering firm, I would attend “lunch and learns” one or two times a week. A company sales rep would bring in lunch and present their products to us engineers. Engineers are like college students and love “free” food, so we’d come out by the dozens to attend these “lunch and learns”. But the lunch wasn’t free. In exchange for lunch, we gave up an hour of our day to learn about the company’s products and potentially specify them on the projects we were working on. read more

A Delayed Start

Our lease at the marina ended on Wednesday, Feb 10th. We decided that this would be our departure date. On Monday, Rob pulled me up the mast to replace a lower shroud that was damaged. The only chore we had left to complete before we could set sail was replacing the alternator, which we received in the mail Tuesday morning. We thought replacing the alternator would be an hour long job, then we could relax and enjoy our last day at the Regatta Pointe Marina.  Little did we know, Kairos had different plans for us. read more

Puppy Proofing

Any dog owner can relate to the sacrifices we make for our furry children. They depend on us for everything—food, safety, shelter, affection, water, etc. It’s difficult to see how our pups are related to wild dogs, because these two wouldn’t last a day on their own. Jaela would probably chase a squirrel off a cliff and Baxter would curl up and die without his blanket. read more

And the New Name is…

When we adopted Jaela last year we decided right away that we would rename her. “Jaela” wasn’t as bad as Baxter’s pound name, “Coco Puff”, but we could come up with something better. After two days of reviewing dog (and people) name lists, we decided to stick with Jaela after all. It was just easier. read more

Operation Cushion Update: Completed

I am a domestic goddess! Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but we finally finished updating the salon cushions and they are divine. After reading Jody’s (Where the Coconuts Grow) DIY Cushions post and watching some Sailrite videos, I was convinced that updating our cushions would be a breeze.  They made it look so easy. Who cares that I’ve never really sewn before?  My recent throw pillow success had me filled with confidence. read more

One Step Forward…Two Steps Back

Well, we’ve had our boat for a week now and we’ve already learned that owning a sailboat is HARDWORK. We’ve been working very long days. The good news is that we are becoming very familiar with our boat’s systems. The bad news is that every time we fix something, we discover two more things that require maintenance in the process. We were testing the hot water heater, when our fresh water pump failed. We cleaned out the anchor chain locker only to find that the windlass and raw water wash down pump weren’t working. Thus, our to-do list is growing faster than we can cross items off. read more

Who Has 4 Thumbs and Owns a Boat???

These Guys!!!
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It’s official. We bought a Pearson 39-2 sailboat. We plan to move onto this lovely lady in the Regatta Pointe Marina after the New Year. Until then, we will be dwindling down (and of course adding to) our to-do list. We are looking forward to taking her on some shakedown sails this weekend when Rob’s dad is in town to help. read more