Where U At?

Just a reminder we are blogging at Woop Woop Blog,Woop Woop our landlubber site, until the end of hurricane season.
Cheers,
Erika


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Ocean Girl ( the boat) is sold

~~OCEAN GIRL~~ Is Sold



I will miss that boat, I think she went to a good home. If the new owner reads this and has any questions, I would be glad to help in any way. oceangirlcd30@yahoo.com

Some leftover issues that may help:
Holding tank, head, and hoses is new, I got the tank from Ronco it is templated from the original version. I have had an odor problem ever since a little six year old boy came aboard and used the head ( don't ask me what he did) if you have odor trouble, check the vent and the pick up tube. I keep the thru hull closed b/c I rigged the vented loop to be able to draw sea water ( I don't trust vented loops!!). On a port tack, if the joker valve dies it may leak into the head. Fair warning :-)

The autopilot works beautifully but was hard wired really weird so I removed it. Once you remount, it's best NOT to store it in the locked(on) position or it may freeze the helm( the belt sticks in position) use the normal edson helm brake. When I bought the boat the autohelm had been sitting for a long time in the locked position it took a good yank to get the belt to get unstuck. I actually removed it the unit always after seeing the wiring set up.

I have the original +1 survey( not including the one I already gave you) you are welcome to them. It may take a while to get them to you, I will not be back in Texas till October.

To fill the water tanks on the port side you fill straight onto tanks, the deck fill hose is original and leaked so I capped it. The starboard tank I cleaned but didn't use or get a chance to work on.

The fill for the fuel tank is seized so I fill straight into tank. I had a friend come over and try to un seize it. As you can see from the crazing he put way to much torque on the fitting, I should of just removed the whole fitting and soaked it in PBblaster or something.

The bowsprit is new. The teak I pick out myself with the help of an expert friend. It came from a 9 foot plank 2 3/4 thick. I replaced all ss with silicon bronze carriage bolts. I kept the extra length on the bowsprit incase you wanted to move the forestay forward to increase J measurement and to relieve some weather helm ( through research you will find some cape dory folks did this and were quite happy with the results). Or you can chop the extra 11 inches off the bowsprit and add a nice anchor roller ( Spartan makes a beautiful one). The plank was already well seasoned and did not need a marine finish, you should only see some minor checking but that us all. A nice washing with murphy's oil soap and salt water is the best for bare teak. No bristles should be used, it digs out the soft grain which is bad, 3M pad or sponge only ( I was a varnish lady for ten years) This bowsprit is strong, you can pick the whole boat up with it!!

I hope this didn't come off preachy. This is your boat now. There are projects I'm very proud of and there are some projects aboard that I'm not so proud of, you can probably spot these by the tell tale duct tape :-) Sorry!



There is more just write me if you'd like, if not that is OK.



Cheers and Godspeed to many adventures aboard your fine yacht.

OCEAN GIRL (the girl)


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Ocean girl update, At the Beach, and Other Happenings

I was just at the beach. Brian and I have had our RV on the beach for a few weeks now after being inland for many months. Swimming in the ocean awoke something in me. Something I had to tuck away before they moved me onto that gurney and rolled me into that operating room. Silly. I was surprised and baffled that all the medications and the doctors visits and all the physical therapy wasn't helping me. I had plateau'd in my recovery. Nothing I did seemed to help, I followed every hair brained idea the docs had, even when I knew darn well I didn't need yet another stupid pill. Lord I am tired of pills!
But that the simple act of walking out into those breaking waves letting each one crash around me. The beautiful bluish green water, sagrasso seaweed floating about. I felt that old childish joy, the wonder of it all, the ocean. But again, Silly. My nickname is Ocean Girl, why am I surprised the real healing wouldn't begin until I could get my ass back on/in the water? It is about the ocean, it has always been about the ocean.
Sorry for the rant, but I haven't done it in a while so figure I was overdue anyway :-).

Brian is great, he swims with me too, that boy has saltwater in his veins I tell ya. This weekend is 'Boys' weekend. Brian and a bunch of his friends are taking Rain Dog out for a weekend sail and getaway.








Brian's nephews, his sister and brother-in-law were down for the weekend. Brian, my niece and I stayed on Rain Dog. Rebecca (Brian's sister) and family stayed at the RV. Avery (Rebecca's father-in-law) was also here, along with Abbey and Ron, with kids Roxy and Sly ( friends from Austin) Whew! So as you can see we had quite a crew!





I was a bit overwhelmed by it all, but my niece and I had a blast boogie boarding and flying kites on the beach. The first day the waves were rippin ( is that the right word?) I saw two small sharks between the first and second sandbar, but big not enough to get out of the water, they were probably 2-3 ft long( little babies!) Though as I write this I realize that the parents of my niece may read this, them being landlubbers may not quite understand or find this amusing. Anyways, Brian also took them sailing and on the Dolphin watch boat.







We are headed inland for a few months ( gulp). We are going to Wyoming , Minisota , and Michigan so will be in some really beautiful places. In September we are planning a Caribbean trip, not sure where, still hurricane season so no time to take Rain Dog, maybe fly out to the Exumas to scope out the joint for our next trip in RD. Maybe catch up with some friends on one of the islands. I've been wanting to visit 'See Yawl Later' a catamaran that used to live at our marina up in Kemah. Not sure, I am sure I need some warm tropical water before the long winter. Sabbatical ends October....maybe :-)







This is from an Australian poet Michael Leunig. This poem kinda grabbed me. The frustrations of a slow recovery, especially when it involves the brain, critical thinking, and higher functioning. To know I'm not functioning the way I was before surgery. It is a bit surreal. The other day I was fighting with the remote control, had me in tears because the damn thing was out smarting me. I was flashing to my grandpa fighting with the VCR.. Yep, I was crying over a remote control. Btw the very next night was joking with my husband about physics and made a quark joke. So all my cylinders must be firing, just not all the time....

"It's out there at sea that you are really yourself."
-Vito Dumas

Ocean girl update, At the Beach, and Other Happenings

"It's out there at sea that you are really yourself."
-Vito Dumas

Well ok, " at sea" may be a bit melodramatic. I was just at the beach. Brian and I have had our RV on the beach for a few weeks now after being inland for many months. Swimming in the ocean awoke something in me. Something I had to tuck away before they moved me onto that gurney and rolled me into that operating room. Silly. I was surprised and baffled that all the medications and the doctors visits and all the physical therapy wasn't helping me. I had plateau'd in my recovery. Nothing I did seemed to help, I followed every hair brained idea the docs had, even when I knew darn well I didn't need yet another stupid pill. Lord I am tired of pills!
But that the simple act of walking out into those breaking waves letting each one crash around me. The beautiful bluish green water, sagrasso seaweed floating about. I felt that old childish joy, the wonder of it all, the ocean. But again, Silly. My nickname is Ocean Girl, why am I surprised the real healing wouldn't begin until I could get my ass back on/in the water? It is about the ocean, it has always been about the ocean.
Sorry for the rant, but I haven't done it in a while so figure I was overdue anyway :-).

Brian is great, he swims with me too, that boy has saltwater in his veins I tell ya. This weekend is 'Boys' weekend. Brian and a bunch of his friends are taking Rain Dog out for a weekend sail and getaway.








Brian's nephews, his sister and brother-in-law were down for the weekend. Brian, my niece and I stayed on Rain Dog. Rebecca (Brian's sister) and family stayed at the RV. Avery (Rebecca's father-in-law) was also here, along with Abbey and Ron, with kids Roxy and Sly ( friends from Austin) Whew! So as you can see we had quite a crew!





I was a bit overwhelmed by it all, but my niece and I had a blast boogie boarding and flying kites on the beach. The first day the waves were rippin ( is that the right word?) I saw two small sharks between the first and second sandbar, but big not enough to get out of the water, they were probably 2-3 ft long( little babies!) Though as I write this I realize that the parents of my niece may read this, them being landlubbers may not quite understand or find this amusing. Anyways, Brian also took them sailing and on the Dolphin watch boat.







We are headed inland for a few months ( gulp). We are going to Wyoming , Minisota , and Michigan so will be in some really beautiful places. In September we are planning a Caribbean trip, not sure where, still hurricane season so no time to take Rain Dog, maybe fly out to the Exumas to scope out the joint for our next trip in RD. Maybe catch up with some friends on one of the islands. I've been wanting to visit 'See Yawl Later' a catamaran that used to live at our marina up in Kemah. Not sure, I am sure I need some warm tropical water before the long winter. Sabbatical ends October....maybe :-)







This is from an Australian poet Michael Leunig. This poem kinda grabbed me. The frustrations of a slow recovery, especially when it involves the brain, critical thinking, and higher functioning. To know I'm not functioning the way I was before surgery. It is a bit surreal. The other day I was fighting with the remote control, had me in tears because the damn thing was out smarting me. I was flashing to my grandpa fighting with the VCR.. Yep, I was crying over a remote control.

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Location:Port A

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Nother Blog?

Here is a link to our summer trip blog, so we don't crowd Rain Dogs blog with a bunch of landlubber stuff, which can be quite eye glazing to some sailors ( no offense to the dirt dwellers ) :-)
http://koala26sswoopwoop.blogspot.com/
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