Bailey's birthday was yesterday... he turned... one year older than he was. I probably should know this... but then, there are alot of things I should know. Here's the birthday boy in Vegas.
Happy birthday Bailey... I miss you.
Today, April 11th, is the official day of closing on my boat. Not going to lie... its a bit scary.
Now I just need to get some work done, and find a home for her.
This last weekend, a bunch of friends and I went climbing in KY's Red River Gorge. We went down on Saturday morning, early... way early. I was not in the best condition, due to the celebrations of buying a boat the night before. That made Saturday's climbing not so good for me. I felt good until the middle of the first climb... then I was pretty much dead.
Sunday was a much better day for me climbing. We went to Pistol Ridge and climbed 3 sport routes (a 5.7, 5.8 and a 5.10a... my first lead of a 5.10!), and a few trad routes. I did not second any of the trad... because I was tired, and do not have good crack skills. We then went to Roadside crag where my buddy BJ climbed the picturesque Ro Shampo which is one of the most amazing climbs. The moves are not hard, about 5.10, but the wall is overhung by 15 degrees... and its pretty long. Then we went down the path for an easier route for me to lead (90 foot 5.8).
Some mexican food and we headed home. People are going to wonder about the scars on the backs of my hands from climbing.
So... I bought the boat on Friday. Not going to lie... a little scary. Usually the greatest experiences start as being scary.
Guess I should learn how to sail!
The purchase of the sailboat has been moving along a little slowly... waiting for the weather to get itself figured out. On Monday, I spent the day (a crazy travel day... barely made it there, and then barely made it out) on the boat with the surveyor. It was quite the educational experience.
The boat is a C&C 34, with a centerboard keel, which means the main part of the keel is not as deep as a fin keel, but it has a centerboard which you can lower down for better performance. The advantage of this is the ability to get into shallower areas (she draws 4 feet, instead of the 6 feet of a fin keel)... the disadvantage is performance. Since I do not plan on racing her, I am not concerned about the 1/2 a knot of windward performance loss. This picture shows the system to raise and lower the keel.
The surveyor was generally very impressed with the condition of the boat, and her systems. For being 25 years old, she is in awesome shape, and is very strong. There are a few issues with any boat this age however, some of them being more of parts just worn out, others being about bringing her systems up to code (for insurance) and some things have just broken. There was some water-infiltration around this fitting on the deck, and has infact shown to be leaking into the cabin. The leak has caused a high moisture reading for about 3" or so around the entire fitting, but it does not appear to have weakened the deck much. The leak can be simply corrected by bedding this fitting properly, however, the deck will likely not be able to be dried out significantly.
There were a few stuck sea-cocks, a broken shower pump, and a few minor things. The biggest area of concern for me (however the surveyor did not see it as much of an issue) was that there is some separation in the rudder. It sounds like the fiberglass on the rudder has separated from the core... likely due to water in it. It has not caused it to change shape at all, and there doesn't appear to be much effect on structure of it, from what he can tell without drilling holes.
The sail inventory is impressive. It has a new mainsail, a backup mainsail, 3 genoas (110, 130, and 150), a cruising spinnaker, and a racing spinnaker. Only the 130 is setup for the roller furling, so I might have the 110 cut for the roller furling, but that is something for down the road.
Now I am just waiting for the survey to get back to me... but this is a good boat for her age/price, with some issues that the broker and I are going to have to address to get corrected. The deal is not done yet, as it depends on the survey and a few other thigns.
There is a video below that I shot from the deck of the boat... this will give you an idea of how big... or actually, how small this boat really is. This will be like living in a small New York studio apartment, that rocks back and forth. Its a real paradigm shift in lifestyle if I choose to really go forward with these ideas. I am not going to lie... I freaked out a little thinking about this being my home for the next few years... but I think if I didn't getting a little freaked that'd be bad.
I have decide to name her the Mystic Venture. Mysticism from the Greek (mustikos) "an initiate" is the pursuit of achieving communion or identity with, or conscious awareness of, ultimate reality, the divine, spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition, or insight. Venture is a wonderful undertaking, synonymous with Adventure. Thus... the Mystic Venture is a wonderful undertaking to discover the ultimate reality... or maybe just a way not work in a cube anymore.
If you want to keep up with just news of the Mystic Venture, click and bookmark this.
(The knocking you hear is surveyor's high-tech, german engineered, instrument testing for hull integrity)
So... there are some out there asking the stage of the sailboat and stuff... so here is a little update.
Originally the acceptance date was February 24th, and closing date was March 3rd. Before I accepted the boat, I needed to have a survey done, and insurance and financing lined up. To get a survey done, the boat's hull needs a moisture test to determine the integrity of the hull... and the low temperature has to be above freezing for a few days, for this to occur.
Ofcoruse, it has been cold near the boat, but it is warming up... so there is a survey scheduled for next Friday now.
After this, it will be a week for acceptance, and another week for closing... and then I will be a yacht owner. After that... comes the real work.
So... I thought I would share something a little interesting with the small number of readers of this blog.
The Springboro Amphitheater was my first project I designed professionally. It is the first professional project I designed to receive a design award (AIA Dayton unbuilt award), and it is the second project I designed to be constructed (first being McCormick building). On Sunday, it became the first project I designed to have a major structural collapse!!! The lower canopy is now sitting in shreds on the stage.
Cause is being investigated... I am sure it will be some time before we know everything that happened.
As Sergio always said... "better to fail spectacularly than to succeed at mediocrity."
Just a little post to let the readers of this interwebloggy thing know that the seller of the sailboat below and I have reached an agreement on the purchase price of the boat. I now have until Feb 21st to arrange for everything I need arranged, including insurance, financing, survey, blah blah blah... and agree to the purchase.
Its all very cool, and awesome.
She is currently docked in New Jersey... I plan to move her to a more bikini-friendly location this summer.
