The Periwinkle and Stargazer Blog

Here's that next clip I was talking about in my last post on the second long sail I got in last year. It's a morning clip when I woke up and poked my head out the hatch. Really nice morning, I can't wait to get out sailing again...

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This entry was posted on February 17, 2012 at 8:29 PM and has received 20 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

I've got all kinds of videos and pictures and I was thinking about how I was going to put them together into something viewable and have neither the time at the moment or creativity to do it.. there wasn't enough video in succession to make any sense! bummer. I'll have to do better next year. Trip 1's videos aren't bad, I'll see what I can do there but maybe I'll just take this approach of putting up small clips that show a part of the trip as I narrate it and show the surroundings.

Anyways, this clip is from the second sailing trip that I took over to the gulf islands. I had sailed all the way across with just some minor motoring at the end where the wind somewhat died off. It was a beautiful day and a great sail across with lots of wind. I think there was so much so that I wasn't able to concentrate on too much other than sailing, so no video of the trip across, just the first destination.

This is where I made it to: http://g.co/maps/a7rf4, just off of Valdes Island on the North end, beautiful area in the right weather. I didn't have any issues that night and have another clip in the morning that I'll have to post up shortly.

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This entry was posted on February 15, 2012 at 9:10 PM and has received 21 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Well, I realize it's been a while since the last update but things have been busy otherwise and boating has been at a standstill due to crappy weather.. Not like it's getting any better but I thought I would get on with some preliminary work on Stargazer as my goal is to get both the port side interior done and the hull completely repainted before sailing this season gets underway.

Without further ado, here are a couple of before pics of the port side:

From one angle:

and the other:

As you can see.. it's very ugly. As with the galley side:

Here's the final for that, the previous owner had done a real hack job with the paint and setup. The original layout of the boat seems to have been changed a bit over time and if all goes well then maybe this will be the last! Who knows..

Anyways, my first step was to gut it. I need all the ugly vinyl off the wall and let it dry behind there. As I took it off, it was of course no different than the starboard side and had a lot of mildew on the vinyl itself on the back and also on the hull. When I get in there next I'll have to plastic everything off so I can sand away at it and then put on a coat of paint to inhibit and kill any remaining. Same as the starboard side.

For planning, I will once again turn to my trusty 3D software and see what kind of concept I can come up with. It should be spacious and functional, built out of mahogany of course. I need new shelves and possibly a bit of a cubby to put stuff in and close it away. I also need a permanent spot for the radio and stereo. A couple of "cigarette lighter" sockets would also be handy so I can connect back up the portable fan and anything else I want like a charger for the phones etc.

Here is how it looks now:

From one angle:

and the other:

This entry was posted on January 9, 2012 at 9:25 PM and has received 56 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted up on here. Not to say things aren't happening, but both Terry and I have been VERY busy doing all kinds of things that aren't boat related which makes it tough to get updates out in any timely manner.

On Terry's boat there are all kinds of updates. I've been waiting to get some pictures from him to put a good story together but he's a busy guy. To put things in a nutshell though, the boat has had it's mast removed and been moved inside the shed at the marina to be worked on over the winter. The hull has been heavily fortified with a ridiculous amount of fiberglass that despite what may be though, physics does take over and it should float. The inside has been very nicely cleaned up and reinforced all around to accommodate the new engine that will be going in.

The fuel tank has been manufactured and now fitted with the brackets built and installed.

Cushions have finally come back from the seamstress/cushion maker, so those can go in when it's all done.

No work on the galley or head yet, Terry is still hard at work refiberglassing the inside of the hull and fixing holes in the deck etc.

The boat was painted, trim done and topside got a fresh coat of white. From here hopefully the inside will be finished up before next sailing season.

My boat hasn't received any upgrades because it hasn't needed any! ha! I did get a few trips in the boat which I'm keen to tell about on here. Got video and pics but just no time to do anything due to family needs and work overload. Life is incredibly busy and good, I'm very much looking forward to this winter for some good snowboarding and sledding, and of course next sailing season. The next thing I want to do on my boat is the port side ceiling pieces and a new shelf to go on it. Needs to match the starboard side of course and I have all the materials here.. I may work on it over the winter myself, just need to warm the boat up.

Once the spring warms up I'll be painting the hull. That's a total pain as it all needs to be done. Gotta sand down to the hull and do it from scratch. If I can make enough money this winter then I may pay a company to do it.. we'll see.

Anyways, that's the quick update for now, I'll try to post more soon as I hassle Terry for pics the next time I'm over there. Until then though I'm sure I'll be busy with work and with a certain little girl's first birthday! ha! I can't believe it.... time flies.

This entry was posted on November 15, 2011 at 1:19 AM and has received 65 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

I managed a quick trip not too long ago and took some video to prove it! About half way through it switches from my Canon DSLR to the Atrix (my phone), it's hard to see the difference but there is definitely some interesting colour correction going on with it. Most noticeable at the end where the entire background essentially turns blue... weird. Either way, check it out!

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It was a really nice day with just the right amount of wind. Got the sails all aired out, the engine all warmed up (did a beginning of the season oil change last month) and it looks to me like I'm ready to go on a trip! Anyways, enjoy the view, it sure was nice while it lasted that day.

This entry was posted on June 24, 2011 at 11:22 PM and has received 155 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

I'm just about at my last update here as I can't imagine doing much more work to the galley other than some finicky stuff. I do have some lights to go in, so that will probably be the last update I think. hrm.. well, maybe a few pics on what I might refine.. I'm not sure who I'm kidding here, it may not be in the next couple of months but I'm positive I'll have more updates as I perfect the galley. The thing is, I have to start using it to know what else I want it to do! Soon.

Anyways, priority number one was to get a lid on the cooler so I could actually use it. First step was to get a lip created for the lid to sit on. I am still humming and hawing about what to do as a final finish, so for now I just used some pine I had lying around. I routered out a lip and cut the pieces to fit the hole. Actually, I cut them to fit a piece of teak I had that I was going to use for the lid. After I came to my senses about that (as this could very well be a temporary fix for the lid) I ended up with a slightly smaller opening due to the teak piece only being so long. Either way, no big deal.

I cut the new piece to go in as the lid after it was all fit and measured down to the millimeter (yes I used metric, it's easier). Went home and cut it, next time I went back I fit it to be sure and then took it back home to apply the countertop laminate (same as the counter in the galley), install the hardware and then take it back.

I applied some weather stripping foam that I got from the local marine consignment store (cheap!, but the product was brand new) around the edge the lid will sit on to help it seal better, but I doubt it makes that much of a difference at this point.

Finally, a fitting of the lid.

There's lots to do with it still but it works for now. I tested with a couple of jugs of ice (as you can see in the picture) and after 6 hours of being in there I could barely get a 1/3 of a mug of water out of the two of them together. After an hour of them being in the car I got a whole mug of water between the two of them. I think the majority of the melting happened to cool the cooler down, after that it would be very slow to melt. Putting my hand in the cooler itself I could feel it was quite cold. Perfect. Should work really well.

I'll post soon on why I was able to test for 6 hours. Let's just say, it sure was a nice day that day.

This entry was posted on June 24, 2011 at 8:36 PM and has received 131 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.