As excited as we were to pull into the Buffalo Harbor, there was no rest for the weary. We immediately had to prepare for our first set of lift bridges and our first lock, the Black Rock Lock (we had to practice that tongue twister a few times before hailing them on the radio). We […]
Another 15 Miles on the Erie Canal Read More »
After a month of hardcore boat work, we finally cast our lines on Tuesday, September 12. We were ready but this time leaving Toledo Beach felt very different. We kept pinching ourselves, we’re really doing this! Our first destination was South Bass Island, home of the infamous Put-In-Bay, about 30 miles from Toledo Beach. We
We Just Gotta Make it to Buffalo Read More »
We arrived back at our home marina with a long list of projects to do, and as always, not enough time to do them all. We decided to get the biggest project out of the way first – we needed to lift Pierre Diesely, our 61 hp Peugeot-Lehman diesel engine (named after the legendary 2020
Getting Ready to Go (for Real this Time) Read More »
After a few fun days camping with my family, we returned to Alaya ready for the next phase of our travels. We decided to slowly work our way back to Toledo Beach, trying to both sail more (instead of motor) and anchor out more (instead of spending the nights in marinas). We wanted to be
Shakedown Sail in the Mitten: Part 2 Read More »
By mid-July, we were mostly ready to go. With one week to go before our new departure date, we still needed to sell two cars, reconnect the steering system after our core replacement project, reconnect the engine alternator, rebuild some cabinetry, finish wiring for the new VHF radio, check the rig, organize our storage unit,
Shakedown Sail in the Mitten: Part 1 Read More »
Now that we were both unemployed, the whole adventure felt very, very real. Our to-do list continued to evolve; we made a lot of check marks, decided to postpone other tasks and added even more to the list. It was pretty overwhelming at times, we knew we wanted to leave the dock soon to explore
Getting Ready To Go (For the First Time) Read More »
Once we moved to the boat, we focused on getting Alaya’s “basic” systems running. Priority 1: Refrigerator Last year, we removed the small cold plate and old compressor from Alaya. During the winter, I sanded and varnished the fridge doors and interior. After much research, we purchased a Cruise RO Technotics compressor and cold plate.
Starting with the Basics Read More »
Moving out of our home of the last nine years was a huge physical and emotional undertaking. It was a great house. We started our marriage there; we closed on the house the day before our wedding. We loved and lost our golden retriever, Maggie, there; she passed away in October 2021 at almost 15
As the mitten continued to thaw (sort of), we turned all of our attention to getting Alaya ready for the water. The to-do list started out as manageable and then quickly, and predictably, expanded. The big ticket items included rebedding/filling thru hulls, polishing the topsides, applying bottom paint to the hull and fixing the rudder.
This is the year. The year that we will uproot our lives and careers, move onto a sailboat and sail to wherever the wind takes us. Before we can start planning our beach adventures, there is a lot of work to do, including small things like selling our house and launching the boat. I quit
The Start of a Crazy Year Read More »