Random Ramblings

I miss the boat. So here are some videos I have of the boat to ride me over till I see it again. 😁 This is my favorite spot on the ship. It's on the back of the boat under the boom of the back sail. We plan to glass the back in so ww can sit out there even in bad weather. https://youtube.com/shorts/Cjt3r-Bx-wQ?feature=share A view from the front of the ship during it's maiden (to us) voyage https://youtu.be/3S_0uBizMHM And finally a tour while at sea (in the harbor) with our 128' retirement plan.  https://youtu.be/FaRKyMa77w4

Back in 1990, James Gast, a professor of oceanography at Humboldt State University in Eureka California, decided he wanted to build a boat. From my understanding, his thinking was he wanted a boat he could retire on and also still do classes and do research trips.  The ship was designed with the help of naval architect Phil Bolger, who has designed more than 700 boats and has 7 books out on boat design out there. This boat is design #410.  The boat was called the R/V (research vessel) Phuma. There were several iterations of the design along the years.  It's a double steel hulled so it can go where there is ice. Mr. Gast did the welding himself. It has a very shallow draft, of about 5ft, so it can go into shallow water for research. It was designed to have leeboards that would provide stability when sailing. The steel hull also allows for the boat to be run aground during tides in case the rudder or something needs to be worked on and then it'll float back into the w

So we 5 took the ship out around the harbor to see how it did and to see how we did. It was not as smooth as it could have gone but it could have been way worse. I'm not going to tell you what happened because we don't need that spreading around! Lol but we left, we made it around & we successfully docked again. 😅 And boy was it stressful for everyone! 😳 We did get to talk to probably a dozen people who were happy to see the boat moving because it had been sitting since it was started being built long before we bought it. We also had a crowd of people (tourists) watching us manouver her back to dock. Videos & pictures are out there somewhere!  I took a couple of video of us while we were underway.  https://youtu.be/C3DL7eyW6oM

So there is a main access ladder located between the galley and the wheelhouse that can be used to access the deck, the galley, the wheelhouse, the captains cabin, and the engine room. So that's 5 "floors" in a 14 foot height.  So you might ask "An elevator? Really?" Yes my friends, an elevator!  And here is why: 1: because it's a ladder we'd have to traverse multiple times a day.  2: it would be hard to climb up & down a ladder with 1 hand if you are carrying something, nevermind something heavy. 3: because we can 😜 how freakin cool would it be to have an elevator on the ship?!?!  Can you imagine me taking the time & care to safely traverse a ladder with my numb feet several times a day? Can you imagine Dan carrying tools or a septic tank down the ladder? He did this. He had the bruises to prove it. Can you imagine us doing this in the decades to come? So I present to you, my fine friends, the prototype frame of a working elevator. Built with w

 So we haven't tried out the stove for cooking yet. I feel like when I get there I'm going to need to learn how to use it. Or get a new one!  The stove is cast iron and runs on diesel fuel. Dan lit it up and took the stove covers off and 🔥🔥. It heats up the entire galley & dining area so it can be used for heat too.  The downside to it getting hot enough to heat a room is it's hot you can't touch it for quite a while after the fire is out because it's cast iron.  But I had a little cast iron toy stove like this when I was little and I loved it so it's kind of cool to have a cast iron stove for real. 🙂 Here are 2 videos of the stove in action. https://youtube.com/shorts/f6szd5XmOYY?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/kzRPEru_9QU?feature=share

This is the 2nd time I'm typing this post; I was almost done yesterday, just needed 1 picture and it erased the whole thing. I was most displeased. So let's try this again shall we? Welcome aboard!  This is a general layout of the boat. The wheelhouse, complete with a giant steering wheel that isn't actually hooked up to anything yet. 😁 The boat is actually steered by a controller with a few buttons right now. There is a bow thruster that makes the boat go sideways and a propeller and rudder in the back.  This is the front of the boat deck from on top of the wheelhouse We almost have a bathroom. However when ordering off Amazon sizing isn't always correct lol The galley. Working sink. And a diesel fueled cast iron stove. Super cool! Probably won't be using it cuz I'm not that good but 🤷🏼‍♀️ who knows. I have videos of the stove working as a heat source I'll have to post! Dining tables for 20...or for