Sailing with Pippy On Izzy

Well it's almost time to unwinterize Windsong but today we went out on our friend Ty's boat Izzy again. The winds were light (doldrum light) most of the day, but we did get some good sun time in and some Peyton confidence building. Peyton moved around the boat and at the end was able to work on the sides without looking like she was working on a skyscraper. She also manned the helm for a few minutes and at one point was the only one topside. She is a little adventurer, sometimes she just needs a nudge ;-) 

We are making a trip back home to see family, when we come back it will be time for Windsongs maiden voyage with the Young Family. Stay tuned!

Capt Jessica takes the helm!

On Saturday we went sailing with our good friend Ty and his daughter Sarah. Jess the kids and I spent a great February day sailing Ty's boat Izzy around the lake. It was around 60 degrees and though the winds were very light starting out, it became apparent there was a front moving it with winds gusting to around 25kts. This is officially the first time Jess has spent a substantial time on the helm steering the boat, sailing mostly close hauled in relatively windy conditions. 

I'm thinking sometime next month might be time to UNwinterize Windsong and get our sloop out there on the water. There are a few days upcoming where Ty & I will be out sailing so more updates to come. In the meantime here are some more pictures of the day Saturday. 

Slow week, some humor.

So our daughter brought something home from school I thought was funny. Now it's been a slow week with not much to report, except cold weather so I thought this would be worthy of an update.

Peytons School Project 

Now lets see if she does, once it warms up!

Caulking & Cooking With Friends

So we spent the entire weekend on the boat and had the Thurman family (Ty & Sarah) over for dinner last night. Beer bratwurst with sauteed onions/peppers cooked on our new stove top and cast iron pan, it was a meal to remember for sure. After dinner the adults had a beverage or two (or three) while we all watched Wild Hogs, it made for a great evening. 

Earlier in the day we had torrential rain and wind that allowed me to see where we had some small leaks on the boat. As I suspected our original port windows (crappy Beckson) were the culprit. We will be addressing them in the near future with ports from Newfound Metals, completely replacing all 10 of them. Today the goal was just to stop the current leak, or at least slow it down.. So it was off to Home Depot to pickup a boaters favorite thing,,,,, caulk..  Caulked the leaky windows with some help from Colby and covered with a tarp to let it cure, now the problem appears to be under control. 

Today is Jessica's birthday and she was treated to eggs, waffles and fresh hot coffee. Now time for a walk around the marina, showers and hanging out until the game. After hurting my back at work last week I'm finally feeling almost back to normal. It's been a great weekend that would end really well if the Giants can smash Tom Brady and the Patriots.. 

Creature comforts

Well there were a few small things added to the boat that have nothing to do with sailing, but more comfort while in the slip. We had to have the table lowered constantly for the TV to sit on and I wanted more flexibility, so the TV got mounted on the starboard side galley wall. We don't watch a lot of TV, but on a rainy day we do enjoy watching movies. (thank you Redbox)

The second addition to the boat came from the scratch & dent isle at Home Depot. We need to eventually buy a propane stove to replace the alcohol stove that came with the boat. Well in the meantime it was the perfect spot to put a refrigerator. I hurt my back at work so I was dependent on a few friends for help, but it got done.

While these to things don't add anything to our sailing trip, they do make the boat more livable while here and getting ready. The refrigerator will end up going but the TV might stay since it runs on 12v and is LED with less electric draw.. Who knows we might want to watch TV while anchored somewhere nice on a rainy day.