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April 12

Today, april 12, (easter sunday as a matter of fact, not that it makes any difference.) Kat and I, with the invaluable assistance of George, moved our new 40' converted motor launch, (well, new to us, she was built in 1944) from a boathouse in Kennydale on Lake Washington. To our new digs on the ship canal just in from the locks.

We cast off at approximately 0830, and the adventures began. There was a light chop on the lake, enough to give some roll to the boat when we crossed the wave. It was a bit cool out, but otherwise pleasant, the Seattle rain made a brief appearance, but soon left us alone.

Crossing Lake Washington was uneventful. We were doing 7 knots, but it seemed as if we merely glided along. Judging your speed on water can be quite deceptive I have found.

We then passed through Union bay and into Lake Union, where we saw a floatplane take off. Then into the cut and the ship canal. There were several kayakers out at the time, and those little things can move. Anyway, finding the marina from the water side wasn't as bad as I had feared, and George brought her into dock nicely. All in all, an enjoyable 3 1/2 hour journey.

After that, we tied her up:) and grabbed food. Now the work begins, we have decided to tear down the engine room, and replace it with a doghouse, the engine room takes up a lot of space, and you only use it when you are working on the engine, a task that hopefully isn't done often. So the engine will sit underneath the galley table, the galley is going to be moved into the aft cabin, and the forward cabin made into a work area. (we were going to make it into a berth) and we will build a captains bed in the main salon, with wooden doors for privacy. The whole point of the captains bed, and of the engine accomodations, is to keep as much space for general use as possible. We have so little space that it seems a shame to dedicate any more than neccessary to single use functions. We will keep a full head though, Kat vetoed the idea of a wet locker. So, the story continues, and I hope to add more as soon as I have more to add.

Well, the construction continues apace. Kat has done most of the work in tearing down the engine room, and in building the engine doghouse. The replacement floor, of 3/4 in douglas fir marine grade plywood is done. (man, this stuff ain't cheap!) The engine doghouse is _mostly_ done, with some rework neccessary due to a last minute space expansion. (I forgot to tell Kat that we needed space for an air duct to the intake, and she forgot to read my mind.) No problem, we will be veneering over it anyway. :)

I got the latest West Marine catalog today, and already have spent >$50k in my mind, have I mentioned that the cost seems to go up by >50% for anything with the the word "Marine" in front of it.? Bow thrusters look like a cool thing to have, but they are a little expensive.

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Last modified: Sun Jul 4 22:54:06 PDT 1999

© 1999 Jim Richardson