August 2010 Moving Aboard...almost

Wand'rin Star at Corpus Christi Municipal Marina

Board Boat Sailing at it finest!

Yumm, those Bay Yacht club dinners..

The Commodores Cup on Adagio

Moving Aboard

Wow we sure packed a lot of stuff into our 42 foot boat. The V-Berth is full, one shower is full, all the lockers and storage spaces that are easy to get to are full. Gotta get some stuff off this boat but I just have to be patient as the Admiral needs time to figure this out. Our Condo is rented a lot in August so we spend a lot of time getting acclimated to living aboard a 42' boat that is stuffed with to much stuff. We have errands to do but we try to limit getting into the car to every three days or so but sometimes we just have to go do stuff, all related to the transition Part II. Some weekdays the condo is available and we escape the August heat and enjoy longer hours without Direct sun.

Corpus Christi Heat

We did not stop to check on the historical weather of Corpus Christi, did you know Corpus is the 6th hottest in the nation and it is also the 6th most HUMID, beating out Houston by 1 point? Why on earth did we make this move in August? We got out the deck covers after a couple of weeks and put them up to help shade the boat from the relentless sun. Sailboats are just made for Deck shades as the boom and all parts of the rigging can be used to support all types of canvas to shade the boat. Wand'rin Star however came with a custom set of canvas just for this purpose, but after putting it all up you are not really willing to take it down to just go sailing! The Air conditioning units and the refrigeration were working overtime. We were getting prepared for a huge electrical bill, About $45 worth come with the slip rental then anything over is charged to your monthly bill. So we conserved as much as possible.

Bay Yacht Club

Belonging to a yacht club has several advantages. Mainly it gets you away from the boat projects and dealing with Transition II issues. Right off the bat we were invited by Dena and Aleta to Cruise in the Navy Regatta on their 47' Irwin "Adagio". A great sail over and to the Navy base and a great dinner. We took the shuttle home that night with another invite to race back on Kevin and Kerry's 30' Cape Dorey "Kerry Ann". It was a great single tack downwind run back to the Corpus Marina. Another Saturday was spent learning to sail the yacht clubs Sun Fish Fleet. Yeah it was hot but just one mistake and you are in the drink cooling off. A couple of Saturday night dinners at the yacht club and we were in the thick of it. Another invitation on Adagio to crew for the Commodores Cup race rounded out the August fun.

Boat Projects

The best part of living on your boat is you have more time for boat projects, One of the first was to add a cooling fan to the refrigeration condenser. The frig was almost running full time and the small space where the condenser was located was getting up to 90 degrees. SO a cooling fan was added to draw cool air into that space. We added a Wi FI antenna so we could get the free Marina WIFI, and then started working on corrosion issues that will take lots more attention to get to it all. This is a constant n saltwater boats. You just have to put aside time each month for maintainence in this area. Several boat more projects were planned in August but would have to wait for more boat units to arrive and September time.

The Transition Part 2 is just beginning

My god, how long does this transition stuff last? We can't seem to get in a routine or groove. Every day is different and you have to watch your budget when your on a fixed income so you can't just go out and do anything anymore that results in spending money. We did find a really cool free pastime in Port A. Birding. On a whim we went to the Port A Birding Center one Wednesday morning at 9am where we found Nan Dietret and Lyndon. See www.portasouthjetty.com/news/2007-09-06/island_life/071.html They are naturalist who give free birding tours every Wed. in Port A. They have actually become friends, we have hung out with them several occasions and are truly enjoying not just sighting birds but gaining deep insight to the birds environments, nature all around and our responsibility to preserve natural habitats. We are also getting pretty good at using binoculars and finding birds in very camouflaged locations. Insects, alligators, crab, turtles, wetlands, marsh, mosquito's, and much more are part of this experience. Be sure to go to the Port A birding Center at 9am if you are there on a Wed..Do Not forget to bring binoculars.