Silver Anniversary

 Wow 25 years ago today Pauline and Mark were married.  Been a fantastic run so far.

Yes, We are Still in Ensenada

We haven’t posted in a while, and yes we said we were leaving.  We wanted to get down to Mag Bay before the grey whales migrated out but we missed that.  We had some issues installing the new lithium bank and of course the cruising kitty funds were dangerously low.  So Mark took a job which should finish mid March.  Too late for the grey whales but still ok to hurry around and get some time in the Sea of Cortez before hurricane season.

While we were waiting we knocked out some jobs that we were going to do further down the road.  We have started the process of laying out the new design for the spray dodger.  Pauline has assured us she will have something made before Mark returns.  Since this is her first she is not promising pretty but with all she learns on this attempt version two will be much better.  Mark thinks she will be fine as she always does a pretty fine job on the projects she attempts.  

We finally got the lithium bank in and the Battery Bank Management System is doing its job keeping the house bank fully charged.  We put in two 300 AHr LiTime batteries and Clark and Emily’s BBMS.  This gives us basically 480 more amp hours of battery time when on the hook basically adding 3 times more life than we had before.  

We changed motor mounts.

We fixed some rotten wood which was the ceiling in a hanging locker and the sub floor for the starboard counter top where our radios sit.

We also took time out to visit the dentist.  Pauline cracked a tooth and needed a crown.  Mark hadn’t been to a dentist since Seward and took the opportunity to get all of his old fillings replaced and a crown as well.  So hopefully we will have good teeth for the next few years.

All in all we are making use of our stagnation

Batteries solar controllers and battery monitor

New Mounts

Locker With a New Ceiling

Sister Ships

We think we mentioned in an earlier post that there is a sister ship to Sari Timur here in Ensenada.  We have talked with Jakub the owner of Kallista several times via email but never met as he is currently based in Europe.  We did of course look at the boat.  As far as we know there were only three of the Freedom 45’s built and of course the yard went into liquidation just after our hull was laid up and the boat was finished by outside contractors.  We have also been in touch with the past owners of the third one, Bequia Chief and exchanged photos but again never met.  

While we were in Singapore, Jakub contacted us and said he was in Mexico.  The slip next to us was empty so he moved his boat over to do a photo op.  He left the day we came back to Mexico so alas we have still not met but he did send us a bunch of photos so we thought we would share.

There are several noticeable differences; the most obvious is our taller rig.  We also sit lower in the water, part of that is the rig.  Another big part is both of us have changed engines.  He went to a lighter engine while we went to a heavier one.  We are also full of spares and fuel and water and he was almost empty of each.  That is two tonnes right there.

In any event Jakub, we hope our paths cross again some time because we would love to check out the interior.

Back On Sari Timur

November was filled with travel and visiting.  We flew back from Singapore on Halloween and went to stay with the Skerritts, to help them pass out Trick or Treat candy.  We also received four solar panels and various solar controllers there.  We made arrangements with Bill and Titus, and John and Ivy on Ruby Slippers for the eight of us to meet up at the dock in Shelter Island.  Bill and Titus had received two 300 AHr LiFePO batteries for us.  John and Ivy agreed to carry them and the solar stuff down to Ensenada for us.  So after loading up the boat we all headed over to the Point Break for dinner and drinks.  It was great getting three different groups of our friends to meet each other and visit.

The next day we headed back to Ensenada.  When Mark flew off to Singapore, he had not finished fitting the life line stanchions and didn’t have a chance to bed the ones he did mount.  This meant that there were leaks, so we needed to hurry up and finish off this project before the rains came.  Ruby Slippers pulled into Ensenada on Monday and we offloaded everything and went out to dinner. 

Tuesday, we were off again to San Diego and the Skerritts who were also hosting Chris, Kerry, and John from Guam.  We hadn’t seen Kerry or John since they came to stay with us for Christmas in Japan in 2014.  Pauline had a chance to meet Chris for a very short time when she was in Alaska on a business trip back in 2017. It was great meeting up and spending time together.  Thanks again Jan and Steve for opening your home to us and making this all possible.

Friday, we boarded a plane for North Carolina.  Saturday, Laura and Steve came to Charlotte to pick us up and we headed to Wilkesboro to see Mom and Dad Blasky and have dinner with them before heading up the mountain to Glendale Springs.  Laura and Steve are renovating an old inn there while living in it.  Sunday, we had a big get together.  Mom and Dad drove up the mountain, Stephenie drove from near Charlotte and Jacob, Baylee, and Emerson all got together for a meal.

We spent just over two weeks visiting family. We also took a quick side trip to meet Walt in Roanoake, Virginia.  He lives near DC but was willing to drive halfway to meet us.  We had a great time together.  Sadly Jane, Walt’s wife passed away earlier this year.  She was sadly missed but fondly remembered.

On the 25th it was back to San Diego.  We hit the marine stores on the 26th and met up again for dinner and drinks with Bill and Titus.  The 27th we stopped by to see Jan and Steve for a few minutes to pick up some more packages we had shipped to them.  We only had a few minutes as our driver back to Ensenada had a tight schedule but we made promises to come back for a visit before we head south.  We got back to Ensenada in time for Thanksgiving and are now trying to get the boat back together with the new battery bank and solar before the surveyor comes on the 5th of December.

Family Get Together

Walt and Pauline

      

The reuniting of the team that concurred Mt Kinabalu 

Chris, John, and Kerry

Mark, Pauline, Kerry, Chris and Johnny hiding

Steve, Kerry, Mark, Chris, and Jan

There is a picture of us all in the Point Break but we can’t find it.  Stay tuned hopefully it will show up. 

Update from Singapore

We heard Pauline’s mom was heading for the hospital again.  Things didn’t look good. We had just over a week to go in dry dock, but we felt Pauline needed to be in Singapore and Mark would join as soon as possible.  So Pauline left on September 23 and arrived in Singapore on the 25th.  

Mark stayed behind and with the help of some friends got the boat launched and left on the 6th of October.  By then mom was already sent home and hospice care was being set up.  He arrived on the 8th wondering if she was going to make it through the night.  She did and after a few days some medical specialists were contacted to see if they could ease her discomfort by draining her lungs.  At 97 any procedure is incredibly dangerous but she opted to give it a chance.  The operation was a success and we feel that she is the strongest she has been in over a year.  We have since put hospice on hold and feel she may make a 100.

Mark scheduled an eye appointment with the Singapore National Eye Center and they set up appointments to do cataract surgery.  Both are completed now and he is on the follow up visits hoping to get the clearance to fly next week. 

It’s been a whirlwind trip but thanks to everyone for their support and prayers.  THEY WORKED!!!

We are wet again

Sari Timur is back in the water. We still have a lot to do before we go sailing. We also are both traveling to Singapore and NC. Sari Timur is resting nicely in her berth.

Not Quite There Yet

Some bottom paint and varnish done

 Well we didn’t launch on the 18th.  But we are close.  We have two coats of bottom paint on.  The topside primer is on and the boat is tented for topside paint.  Realistically we are probably still about a week or more away.  There are lots of little tidy up jobs to do and they seem to always take longer than expected.  But we feel close!

Progress report

 The blister holes seem dry.  They have been building them back and all are ready for fairing.  Some have already been faired.  The new exhaust thru hull was fitted today though it still needs its final mounting. 

While this has been going on we have been scraping and sanding the aft taffrail.  We started to think if we hurried we could get our three and a half coats on before they needed to tape up again for priming and painting.  Well today (Saturday) we made it.  The first coat of varnish went on.  They are supposedly going to begin taping up and prepping the hull on Tuesday so if we keep busy we will be happy. 

Pauline has to leave on Wednesday to go up to Sitka for a wedding.  She needs to spend the night in San Diego as it is an early flight.  So Mark is going to tag along and we will meet up with Bill and Titus for a beer.

He  will hit West Marine on Thursday and then head back to Ensenada. 

The big news is we now have a tentative launch date of Sept 18.  It also looks like we will make that.  So after 99 days Sari Timur should be floating again!

Sanded and Ready

First coat of varnish

Back at It

 Once again Mark got a call for a short job.  The cruising kitty is getting pretty low so he jumped on it.  The job was from Seattle to San Francisco light boat.  Pick up a barge in SF and head back to Coos Bay, Oregon.  The tug, barge and the rest of the crew will be staying in Coos bay for a few months doing support work for a dredging project there.

Meanwhile Pauline held down the fort here in Ensenada and once able began scraping the varnish off of the forward cap rails.  Mark returned late on the 24th and began helping her on the 25th.  

It’s now the 28th and we have the four coats on that we wanted before the yard started patching the blisters that we were waiting to dry.  We also mounted our new dodger top and chimney.  The paint job and anti skid on the coach roof came out well as did the paint work on the inside of the gunnels.

A look down the starboard side

The varnish going on

Getting ready to mount the chimney 

We finally have some non skid on the very top as well.  This has always been a hazard when reefing.  Don’t mind the junk on the deck.  We were working.

Down the port side

The new hard top for the dodger.  Pauline will make the new canvas once we are back in the water.

Pauline suggested one more photo of the installed chimney fitting

More on Going Back Together

 We finished stripping off the teak and they have prepped and put two layers of glass on it ( one very thick mat and one very thick cloth).  So we now know it is stronger than with the original teak.  

We glassed the gunnels.  This was our first major glassing job on our own and also the first time we have ever used peel ply.  The peel ply worked great even though there were obstructions everywhere and the gunnels are full of all kinds of complex curves it came out pretty nice.  We have contracted out the final fairing and painting and that work has begun. 

We started putting things back together below deck.  So we can smell the end of the job coming.  Unfortunately we still have some liquid coming out of a few few of the blister holes below the waterline.  They are now talking about adding some heat to speed the process along. 

The first layer of mat going on

Mat on

Mat and cloth on

Port gunnel primed and first round of fairing added and drying