LIVING ON THE WATERLINE

It is a very strange feeling to be sleeping at a level six inches (150mm) under the waterlevel about plank thickness away. It is even stranger to realise the toilet ( the head) is now below water. Whoever leaves the pump switch open is in serious trouble. YES,... WE HAVE FULLY MOVED ON BOARD. YES,... WE ARE STILL FLOATING, ALTHOUGH SOMEWHAT LOWER IN THE WATER. YES,.... WE CAN DO THIS. The good thing is that everything is very close. The bad thing is that everything is very close. Bending down is a toss-up between butting your head or hitting your butt. Until we are fully used to it all we are definitely living in the ultimate "Bruise Factory".



The Queen's adaptation to the new galley is wonderful. I heard her dancing and singing while trying to make her pressure cooker work. I think she was singing. Hot coffee from a cooktop percolator in the morning is also new and tastes real good, and with LP gas it really is hot. It is terrific to have instant hot water on board from our LP gas heater. Luxury cruising at its best. On the downside is the constant dripping condensation from the ceiling when the outside temperature is 4-5 degress below freezing in the morning. On the upside is the fact that we have a little heater going during the night and we are, as they say, " COZY AND TOASTY".



We have changed the departure plan a bit. The new owners of SVEA will arrive in January and so we will delay our departure so that we can leave together. It makes the most sense, keeps us tied to the dock (and to a heater) and will allow us to do some orientation with them before the joint adventures begin. "IN SEARCH OF PALMS" CONTINUES. Soon I hope, before it becomes " IN SEARCH OF ALMS".

.

Here are three blossoms to remember the joys of summer. The Queen and her daughter on the water's edge at Long Cay in the Exumas, part of the southern Bahamas, during our summer cruise in 2004. Both photos are enough to keep anyone warm this winter.

FAREWELL TO FRIENDS

The POT OF GOLD is definitely buried in JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA. A wonderful chance to work, to meet the Queen, to discover tremendous friends including John Moore who took the rainbow shot and a grand opportunity to fix and repair many things on ARITA. These same friends, some eighty or more came together last night to celebrate our eminent departure.

The farewell party was wonderful. The QUEEN's longtime friendship with her three bosom buddies dates back to junior high (primary) school. That's over FORTY YEARS. (Did I just give away Her highness's age). What's not remarkable is that we change our clothes regularly, our shoes and watches less regularly, our vehicles on occasions, our houses even less, but when you hang out with the same friends for FORTY YEARS now that's REMARKABLE.
LISA, KAREN, ROBIN and LAUREN, steel magnolias, all of them.



The caps and a good bottle of Bahamian Mango Rum are all that remained standing of the Pirate and his Queen. Not sure if the bottle is exactly standing ........... Perhaps the Pirate's cap says it best...... "Time flies when you're having Rum".

Thank you to all those who came and have supported us all these years, especially Laura, Brent and Robin. You certainly know how to throw a great party. It is truly a treasure to know all of you and those who couldn't make it. Most things are just stuff, but friendships are irreplaceable. Please join us on this journey and stay connected.

LOADING HER UP

The cold is here and it is here to stay, at least for the next couple of months. Shortly, we will be joining that long line of "snowbird" yachts heading down the Intracoastal waterway (ICW) on their way to the Caribbean for the winter sailing season. Thoughts and images of our past cruises in the Bahamas and beyond keep recurring. We have memories of sights like the magnificent tropical flowers, golden beaches, waving sea-oats and incredibly blue water.



YES.... WE ARE LOADING AND GETTING READY TO GO. We should be in Micco near Sebastion for Thanksgiving to spend time with the "Duchess" Dana Hope, the Queen's sister and her husband "Count" Chris Hope.

SPLASH.......

FINALLY ARITA IS BACK IN HER ELEMENT. Amazing how easily you pick up a yacht turn it and move it over the water and just drop it in. It used to be a case of divers putting solid wood blocks on a railwaycar all under water, and the yacht slowly coming out of the water on a sloping railway. Shivering, shaking and rocking as it came up. In those days one's heart would make the same vibrations until the yacht came to a stop at the end of the track. Double click on the pics to get better detail.



Time to start loading stuff on board by first taking stuff off. One of the benefits of all this is that many of the boat items are equally useful on SVEA so that it too will be more fully equiped for extended cruising as a result of all the acquired gear for ARITA. Over the years we have ended up with spares of everything. We even have spares for spares. Time to get real or get a U-HAUL barge.




There was frost on the windscreen this morning..... it is definitely time to get moving and head south, I mean south beyond FLORIDA. Somewhere where the hibiscus blooms all year long and where in "winter" you need the shade of a palm tree. Somewhere south where you can walk in bare feet with sand on your toes and the smell of salt in the air.

READY FOR THE WATER

The bulk of the repairs are done. Even the prop shaft generator is installed. The painting is completed and ARITA is ready to be launched again. Fifty years ago ARITA was launched for the first time from a shed in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand. Things have certainly changed a lot with the addition of the bowsprit but the basics are all still there. Amazing to see the size of the tree that became ARITA. Notice the builder and his family at the base of the tree. Double-click on the photo and you'll see.

Not that the ARITA tree was all that large, look at this little beauty being sawn by cross-bows in the late 1870's by the Murray family in the North Island of New Zealand. The logs were normally hauled out of the hills with bullock teams and then floated down the rivers to holding bays along the coast where large ships could load them for shipment to England to be used for house framing.

TOPSIDE IS DONE

For those not too familiar with yachts let me explain, "TOPSIDE IS DONE" is not a scream from the guy doing the BBQ. The topside is the white sides of the yacht above the water-line. The boot-top on the other hand is the green and brown stripe just above water-level and the bottom is the black part normally painted with special anti-fouling paint laden with a high percentage of copper to prevent the growth of algae, worms and barnacles. Now for some local fauna and flora that you can double-click on......


Today "ARITA's" topsides are gleaming and glossy white. Time to check out the golden rain tree, time to check out our friendly green frog who is resident in the frangipani tree, and time to check out the AIRSHOW. The aerobatics of the "Blue Angels" F18 precision flying formation is something to behold. Just awesome. Excellent photography by the "Queen of Florida" considering the "Angels" are flying at 1200 mph and the Queen is standing still. "This is a fast jet wasn't it". Double click on the "angels" to see the pilots in their seats,

NOW, FOR THE JOB LIST

Finally, ARITA is out of the water and we can start on a long list of things to be done. A whole year's worth of barnacles has already been removed. They were huge and very good looking as far as barnacles go, maybe a little obese, no doubt as a result of the force-feeding process when moored downtown, where the nutrient-laden current usually runs at about four knots. The grey stuff on the bottom is not fungus but a special primer on the bare wood where the old anti-fouling paint has been scraped off. The two stainless steel anchors on the bowsprit are of German/Swiss design called "Bugel", incredibly effective and our secret "insurance" in even the worst blow. The structure over the stern is the solar panel array, all of which can be folded over, when we are sailing. The cockpit canopy and dodger are wonderfully protective from both the rain and the sun. We recently added a window at the front for airflow.



TOMORROW WE BEGIN PAINTING THE HULL and she will be just like new. When you see it out of the water like this it is hard to believe that the whole yacht has been built out of a single humungous "Kauri" tree, some fifty years ago.



Considering that the tree itself must have been at least six hundred years old, it is kind of unique to be able to say when people ask " YEP, ARITA IS ABOUT SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OLD."

The Kauri tree was felled in 1958 in the Bay of Islands area of New Zealand, hauled to a sawmill and cut into planks and frames including the kingplank that forms "ARITA's" 8" x 8" backbone.



The keel was cast in a paddock..... dig a hole in the ground, put in some formwork, hold it secure with a bit of concrete, collect all the scrap lead you can find and melt it in a giant copper pot.... then pour it into the mold. Once the keel was finished it was moved to a shed and the rest of the yacht was built onto the keel. When the yacht was completed and floated out of the shed it was again hauled up onto the beach and the interior was completed. Bulkheads put in place, cabins built, bunks installed, and engine connected.



You certainly have to have vision, guts and sheer determination to stand at the base of an enormous Kauri tree and whisper to yourself " Sorry me ol' mate, but I'm turning you into a yacht!" My compliments to the man with guts and vision, the builder, Mr. Dick McIlvride of Russel, North Island. N.Z