Assessments

I recently read a post on another blog that said that no self-respecting blog writer would see the New Year in without doing a post on resolutions. I,on the other hand, studiously avoid New Year's resolutions because I'm a firm believer that they just don't work. If you're not motivated to change the things in your life that bother you from February 1st to December 31st, what in the world would motivate you between January 1st and January 10th or 18th or 23rd or whatever other date in January you deem your self-fulfilling failure of a resolution has failed. I do, however, use the beginning of the New Year as a time to assess. Due to my position on resolutions, my assessment is not geared toward what I have done wrong, nor the piling on of guilt, nor the insane rush to correct all my mistakes of the previous year in 10 days as the tabloids claim with their latest lose-25-pounds-in-a-week cover diet (positioned strategically next to the recipe for death by chocolate cupcakes). The main goal of my assessment is to encourage myself with what I have accomplished and to take a deep, clearing breath and organize things in my life to accomplish what needs to be accomplished in the upcoming months. With all this in mind, I decided to take some time this weekend while Tim is sleeping off his cold in the comfort of the V-berth to assess our progress.

My first assessment is the progress of our goal. We took our first sailing lessons in 2007 as an exploratory into whether the idea of selling all our worldly possessions and moving onto a boat was a wise thing that fit us. Although we really decided to make a go if it in the months before, I consider that we really started our 5-year plan June 14, 2008 with the purchase of Nomad, our first boat. June 14 of 2013 will be the end of our 5-year so I figure we're still on track.

As all of you who have loyally stuck by the blog know, we have had our trials since buying Kintala, enough so that we've periodically wondered if we had made the right choice. I was breathing a sigh of relief after finishing the dodger enclosure a couple weeks ago, and for some reason I looked around at her and began to realize that we've come a long way, and this is not the same boat we started with. So here's a tour:

We gave her a proper name, Kintala, which means Karma or state of balance. We even did it right, with John Vigor's renaming ceremony and offered the proper libations to the boat, to the lake, and to the onlookers.

















We dealt with the V-drive




















We put in a decent head to replace the leaking, rotting base one with the wicked, deadly handle that was in there.

Spent two days carrying buckets of oily bilge water to the hazmat barrel and scrubbing the bilge:

We cleaned up heaps of trash that the previous owner left:






















Cleaned out gross cabinets:

Changed engine mounts:

Built a new nav seat / storage cabinet:

Replaced all the water hoses and a few drain hoses:

Installed new halyards for the ones that pulled out (don't ask):

Installed new mainsheet and traveler lines:





















Built a new spice rack:

Installed a new backsplash:

Installed LED drop-in bulbs in all lamps and installed new LED strips lights in the galley:

Added a hinge and more insulation on the refrigerator:

Built a stovetop counter to replace the one that was missing (go figure):

Had a custom mattress and memory foam topper made for the V-berth to replace the one that was missing (go figure again):

Converted bimini to rigid frame and got rid of the f*&!*# straps:

Refinished all the teak with Cetol Natural Teak, 3 coats and 2 coats of clear:

Refinished the hatches:
















Refinished all the ports:

Before

After

Built a storage bin where the old VHF remote used to be that was ruined by leaking water since there was no latch on the hatch (go figure again):

Tore out all sorts of malfunctioning equipment including the supposedly working autopilot, an antiquated Loran, and multitudes of non-functioning instruments:

Replaced the anchor windlass gypsy:

Designed, constructed, and installed a new dodger:

Not to mention all the things for which I don't have pictures like:

1. Polished all the brass
2. Installed Command Strip hooks in various places on the boat like for towels in the head
3. Made a custom dish drainer rack
4. Made pillows for the settee
5. Sewed sun covers for the hot weather
6. Removed enough unused and unconnected wire from the bilge and engine compartment to circle the globe
7. Cleaned up existing wiring - bundled and secured
8. Fixed an inoperative sump pump
9. Fixed an inoperative fresh water pump
10. Sealed a badly leaking toe rail
11. Built screens for the hatches and the companionway
12. Repaired the bimini window
13. Restitched multiple sails
14. Replaced illegal propane cylinders and a badly corroded regulator
15. Had the spare anchor blasted free of rust and awaiting paint
16. Replaced the cracked acrylic weather screen in front of the ignition switch / tach assembly
17. Repaired a few soft spots in the deck

I'm sure that there are multiple things that are just escaping my memory at the moment, but as I sit and look around me it occurs to me that we are well on the way, projects are indeed being accomplished, the boat is becoming our home, and life is very good. 

My resolution? To enjoy every minute on this boat, my home. Tick - that resolution is accomplished.