She is back!

It took over a year, but with much joy I can say, OUR BOAT IS BACK!

After surveys, insurance claims (all denied), finding a rigger, ordering the mast, and waiting a LONG time for it to get fabricated, work began on the boat in mid-July. Of course we moved it to the yard only to have a week of horrible storms and heat to slow us down. 

By late July, I was going up to the boat every day. Not only was I checking to see what progress the rigger was making on getting the new mast ready, I was also waiting for the yard to prep the boat for bottom paint and trying to clean/wax what I could while I stood around. Finally the weather started to cooperate and I was able to get two coats of bottom paint, Prop Speed, new anodes, and our R.E. Thomas Marine Piranha dual line cutter on. 

She loves a fresh bottom!

And I waited. And waited. I've realized that we are very lucky that there are many boat jobs that we can do ourselves, on our own schedule. What I've learned from this mast/rigging job is that we need to be better about understanding tradesman timelines and demanding proactive communication when things slide (as they will) without us having to hunt for updates. We entered into this work with what we thought were good references, but after the fact I'm wondering how old some of the references for our chosen tradesman were. 

On a hot morning in early August we finally launched and the mast went on. The rigger wasn't able to finish his work, but the mast was secure and we needed to move the boat out of the yard's marina. Frank and I took the boat into the AICW the next day and made our way through the Great Bridge Lock and Bridge before making a stop for weather and schedules. The next week, we were able to do one very long day to bring her home to Lamb's Marina in Elizabeth City, NC. We may have had less then 6" under the keel on our way in, but she's HOME!

More than a year after the crack was discovered we have a new mast!

The rigger has work to do, we have a leak to chase down, and I need to scrub the boatyard grime off of her, but Lehe Paine is finally fixed and home.

Boat Habits Do Not Die!

Today the remnants of hurricane Idalia are dumping rain over the Carolinas and we are under a flood watch as we live in a low-lying, swampy part of northeast North Carolina. School is cancelled, Frank is off working at the Coast Guard base, and what was I up to this morning? Using nature's bounty of water! Maybe it's because we lived on a boat for over a decade, or maybe it's because I've been a "tree hugger" for as long as I can remember, or maybe it's because sea water amazed me as a little (and older!) girl, but I am always looking for ways to best use this precious resource. 

While cruising and making our own water, we found lots of ways to conserve and really only washed the boat when we had a good downpour. As we prepared for this rain yesterday, I connected hoses to our rain barrels that were sure to overflow given the forecast and ran them to the pool which has been low since we haven't had rain in a while. The spigots are open and water is flowing from our roof to the pool! I had to adjust the hoses this morning to get a little better flow, but the pool water level is rising nicely.

We live down a gravel road so I've mostly given up on having a pretty car (which pains this Midwestern girl's heart), but with this steady rain I decided to go out with a rag and wipe some of the dirt off knowing that she will get another few hours of rinsing! Of course, both neighbors across the street were leaving their houses during this time and no doubt think I'm absolutely crazy. So it's probably good that they left before I continued on to wipe down the mailbox, painted fence posts, porch railings, front door, and porch siding, but guys, it's BRILLIANT! Now I don't have to tap into our water table and run our pump (we are on well water out here in the sticks) to get the clean house that I love! No electricity to run the pump, no wear-and-tear on the pump, no sucking water out of the ground when I can use it as it falls from the sky. My apologies to my new neighbors, but this is me!

I may have looked insane, but I'm always happy to clean!

And for anyone that is curious, I did visit the boat yesterday to make sure all was well. We weren't super worried, but I did take down the sunshade, added a few lines (as the marina had requested everyone double up), and checked for chafe. She's looking good (albeit maybe a little lonely) and the MWR Norfolk Naval Sailing Center crew is keeping a good eye on her and the docks!

~Jo, Country Domestic Engineer 

Land Life--Hall Bath Refresh

Our land life home is very dated, so much of our time (and money) is spent right now updating it. I'm at the point where I think I can say we have two complete rooms (others are close, but need trim painting and new flooring)--the laundry room and the kids' bathroom! And I just wanted to remember what we did in that bathroom so here it is!

LOVE how this room turned out!

We began with a builder-basic bath that was almost 20 years old and complete with peachy fixtures, bright blue paint, vinyl flooring, mis-matched light bulbs, and a super short vanity. They goal? A "John Wick"-worthy space that could be done quickly (while our daughter was away in France) and preferably for a reasonable cost. The plan was for Jody and Trent to do most of the work, with Frank helping out on the weekends and after work as needed. It ended up taking just under four weeks, but given that Frank was away for the first weekend and we headed to a NASCAR race and had a full soccer schedule in there, I think we did okay!

The original bathroom.

The design was a mix of stuff we chose (Trent chose the mosaic that is featured and drove pretty much every other design choice, and the kids picked out all the faucets), stuff we had (the vanity), and stuff we scored crazy deals on (paint and vanity top). And everything else just sort of fell into place.

THE tile that drove the design, along with the flooring and vanity paint chip.

Summary of changes:

- The bath. We tore out the old one and chose to go with a tub/wall system. While we prefer full tile, it's been over a decade since I last tiled and really just wanted to keep this project moving along. Therefore we chose the Bootz Nextile 4-piece wall system (available at Home Depot) so that we could at least add a little pop of tile. This required us to pick a tub with an edge that would work with the wall system and as we weren't fans of the shallow tubs they market with it, we opted for an American Standard tub that curves out a bit. The Nextile back wall actually comes into the shower space about 4" to create the niche (rather than having it set back in the studs) so the curved tub helps to regain that space so the shower feels spacious. Paired with a curved shower rod it's just perfect! But...this choice led to some issues. The subfloor was in good condition, but there was luan under the vinyl flooring and not under the old tub, and since the new tub curved out over where the old vinyl floor was, we had to pour some self-leveling concrete to match everything up. We also had to cut the subfloor to drop the old drain about 2" to accommodate the modern tub. And totally not related to our tub choice, we had to fix the framing around the tub--we had always noticed a curve in the wall and discovered that 1x4 "shims" had been used on one wall and we honestly think it was done because the ceiling drywall was cut short and they had to fill the gap somehow! Gah! I removed all of that unnecessary wood, we shimmed the sides equally where needed, and I fixed the drywall. While we were in there we also ran the water lines correctly through the studs rather than outside of them like we found them. And just for fun, I added rockwool to all of the shower walls to help keep shower sounds out of the adjacent bedrooms. 

A quick before/during/after.

The plumbing issue (top left), the "interesting" shims (bottom left), and the view of the drainpipe from inside the crawl space--just had to adjust this a little!

The build!

- The tile. The Nextile walls gave us the opportunity to add an accent to the shower and we opted to use that same tile as the backsplash for the vanity. I love how it ties the room together! This was a bit of a splurge, but as we didn't need too much of it we went for it. The tile really set the mood for the other design choices. We also finished out the tub with a border of subway bullnose tiles. For the grout, I chose the grey color from a selection of $3 "open bags"--we didn't need much and that stuff is normally $19.50 a bag! We also had to get some white grout for the tiles around the tub.

A splurge, but I LOVE this shiny/matte/cracked glass mosaic!

- The vanity. The old vanity cabinet was only 30" tall and basically hit Trent mid-thigh, but it had lots of drawers that the kids liked. And since I don't like trashing stuff if we don't have to...we made it better! The vanity was "lifted" 4.5" on a wood base and we cut a new side panel and toe kick for it. We had scrap material from another project and only had to purchase two 2x4's to make this work. It was all painted with an oil-enhanced latex furniture paint in a gorgeous dark green and given new, matte black hardware. I am very happy with how modern this old vanity looks now and super happy that Trent can brush his teeth without doing a deep squat!

This little project brings me so much joy! So happy we could make the old vanity work!

- The vanity top. This is noteworthy for just how crazy this item is! We had purchased the basic $200 white vanity top at Lowe's when I saw a FB Marketplace listing for a 48" black vanity top that looked sharp. But there was a catch--it was only 48" (normally you have a 49" top on a 48" cabinet). I chatted with the seller who had installed one (he had a spare!) and his contractor had shimmed the top a bit to make it hang over a little on the right edge. We looked at our tile mosaic and realized we could use the tiles from it to make a little shim, too. I went for it and ended up with a vanity top that retails at $1300 (but was on sale for $900 at the time) for $150! Cheaper than the Lowe's basic and it looks so good! 

The surprise bargain of the project!

- The floor. I didn't really need to pull the old vinyl out for the flooring we chose, but I did anyway just to get eyes on the subfloor. We went with a Pergo Wet-Protect LVP flooring. Having used a similar product in two other spaces, I was excited to avoid the 2-day tile/grout process and looking forward to the feel of this floor. The curved tub added a bit of a challenge to the install, but nothing Frank couldn't handle! While the product doesn't require an underlayment, I still had some from those other projects so we used it here, too, just for some extra cushion and sound abatement. Am I worried about the edge that meets the tub? No. We don't have little kids that make big bath messes and we have a nice, flexible trim to help keep water off the edge of the LVP. 

Frank did a beautiful install one afternoon while I was out of town!

- The mirror. I had a plan! I was going to cut down the old builder-grade mirror and frame it in the same color as the vanity. Well, my second cut sent a huge crack through the mirror so I had to scrap that plan and start shopping, soooo....

- The lighting. With the mirror "fail" my shopping took me to a few modern, LED lit mirrors. Oh. My. We had a stayed at some AirBnB's with these mirrors and I liked them. When I priced it and compared to getting a new mirror and a new light fixture, the mirror/light combo was honestly not too much more. Installing it the way we wanted to required us to remove the old light box and wire a receptacle behind the new mirror. It was very easy as the old light had plenty of extra wire to it so I just added the new receptacle box about 10" lower on the wall. LOVE IT. This mirror has a defogger and three different light warmth settings which can also be dimmed. We also trashed the old, loud exhaust fan and replaced it with a low-profile Braun fan with an LED light. As both LED lights have selectable warmth settings, we are able to "match" the light tones in the room to make it a cohesive look. 

I've never been so happy that I cracked a mirror! This one is sweet!

- The commode. The toilet was upgraded to an American Standard "Champion" and we added a Tushy bidet (seriously, I WILL find a way to get a bidet on the boat!). And of course we swapped out the flusher so it matched the fixtures. This toilet may seem pricey when you first see the cost, but it comes with the wax ring you need to install it and a soft-close lid (another thing I think is a "must").

- The fixtures. All the plumbing and hanging fixtures were changed to matte black. Most are Allen+Roth items from Lowe's, but a few are Amazon finds. I also updated the receptacle and switches to decora-style (expect to see more of that throughout the house!).

- The paint. Of course we were going to paint, but this was another "find!" We make a habit of passing by the "oops" paint rack at Lowe's anytime we are in there. This is a great way to get 50% or more off of paint if you're doing a small project that only requires a gallon. While we were picking up the tub there was a grey color that looked like it might work and at $20, we figured we could try it. Well, we're all happy with it and very happy to not have paid $50 for it!

Cost (approximate; note that we get a 10% military discount on most items at Lowe's and Home Depot and that's reflected here):

    Tub                                                      $300

    Shower walls                                       $460

    Rockwool                                              $70

    Mosaic tile                                          $180

    Trim tile                                                $30

    Tile supplies (mastic, grout, caulk)      $95

    Floor leveling supplies                         $60

    Drywall supplies                                   $75

    Lumber (framing, shims, trim)             $50 (and also used some scraps we had)

    Vanity paint                                           $30

    Vanity top                                            $150

    Flooring                                               $135

    Mirror                                                  $240

    Exhaust fan                                          $150

    Toilet                                                    $229

    Bidet                                                       $76

    Wall paint                                               $20

    Ceiling paint                                             $0 (had on-hand from another room)

    Cabinet hardware                                   $14

    Tub and sink faucets                             $240     

    Towel bars/hooks                                   $90         

    Shelves                                                   $20

    Plumbing supplies                                $200

    Electrical supplies                                  $20

    TOTAL                                               $2934

It's probably fair to say I missed a few things so let's call it $3000. We have quite a few tools on hand that will be used throughout the house so the cost of those isn't included, but that's a big part of any renovation project as well. We were also fortunate to have neighbors who let us borrow the perfect hole saw to make our cut for the tub faucet! We could have made this project more affordable as cheaper options were available for the tub, toilet, flooring, fan, mirror, faucets, fixtures, and backsplash (and I guess some would say a bidet isn't a necessity, but IMO it is!), so this could easily have cost $600-$800 or maybe even $1000 less. But this isn't a flip, it's our home. And I'm ok admitting that some of our choices were made simply because we wanted to make them! And because seriously folks, a bidet IS a necessity. 

~Jo, Country Domestic Engineer

Joy! And heartache.

The boat's spa time was coming to a close...the bottom had been sandblasted and faired, the waterline was raised, and the paint was on! Last weekend the boatyard splashed her, we showed up after hours to swap out the house bank batteries (HEAVY!), and before they opened the next day the delivery crew (everyone but Jo) cleared the slings and was underway! The boat was soooo dirty from a winter on the hard where there are a ton of trees and birds, but we decided to just wait until she was in the new slip to address it.

They splashed her and left her at the slings--we can only come/go at this yard at high tide!

Cockpit dinner at sunset with my favorite peeps. Only being at anchor would have made it better!

Yuck, yuck, YUCK! I can't wait to clean her!

The crew arrived at NAVSTA Norfolk just as the predicted increase in wind started. We got tied up, met a few neighbors, and set to work getting tanks filled and systems aligned. JOY! It was so nice to be in a slip with water and power and to see her floating again instead of in stands. We weren't going to stay long so we just did some tidying topsides and would plan to return later in the week for a deeper clean. But then...

Our new slip is awesome!

HEARTACHE. As I was picking up topsides I saw it. Why, oh why, didn't I see it before we left the boatyard??? There was no mistaking--we have a crack in the mast. Again. Yes, again. A class issue on this boat is small drainholes in the base of the deck-stepped mast, which can cause serious problems during a freeze/thaw cycles. This happened to us before over a decade ago (2012 mast crack) and when we repaired it we also enlarged those drain holes. We have sailed and lived in cold areas for half of our time since then without incident. But this one winter on the hard in southern Virginia seems to have been too much and now we have a nearly identical crack on the other side. So, yay, the old repair held! I swear this is the boat telling us how pissed she was about being left on the hard.

Our new crack. We will drill holes at the ends of it until we can get the mast taken down.

The inner sleeve and weld on the original crack have held up great over the years! 

What now? The good news is that this time we aren't living on the boat like we were during the first crack so we have more flexibility. We will clean the boat up, look at our options, research yards that can do this job well, and plan another haul out period. Ideal? No. But we honestly have a lot going on this summer with the kids/house and spending a ton of time on the boat was a bit of a stretch anyway. We will fix it when we can and we will go from there. And who knows? Maybe in the next haul out I'll get to do some more hull work that is on my long-range plan!

~Jo, Country Domestic Engineer who is hopelessly in love with a temperamental boat 

Did we swallow the hook?

And just like that...we have a house! It's not our first time owning one, but it's been a while since we've lived in one or furnished one. 

Our little home in the country.

We had NOTHING on the first day!

Let me back up just a smidge. See, we always expected that we would stay put for a few years (perhaps on the boat!) while the kids did a little normal schooling. Frank planned to go back to work during that time while the other adult tended house and tried to figure out what she wants to do when she grows up. While we were in South America Frank set to out to find a job and we all chimed in on where we prefered to end up. There were many options considered (the blessing and curse of having no constraints), with most being back with his former employer. But something unexpected happened...an opportunity aligned with the right time and place to be near family and after a good bit of discussion, we have settled in northeast North Carolina in the county Frank grew up in! This was definitely NOT on our radar when we first talked about setting our anchor for a few years, but we are near family, friends, the boat, and the "normal" the kids were anxious to experience. And we are all experiencing something we haven't been able to as a military or traveling family--routine dinners with grandma! 

So there you have it. We have dirt. Ironically we have the same number of beds and baths as we had on the boat, but there is definitely more room here! The boat will still be in our lives, just an hour away in Norfolk. And as we are right between the AICW and the Dismal Swamp Canal and near the "Harbor of Hospitality" of Elizabeth City, NC we hope to still see and interact with the cruising community.

In our first month Frank has started work, he bought a great old truck, we have bought three beds, the kids have started to attend driver's ed, we've learned about our well pump, we've learned how to take care of a pool, we've somehow acquired enough seats to sit on and plates to eat off of, we have mowed grass, Katreina somehow talked us into getting a cat, and paint has begun to coat every surface of the home (and about a million other little things). 

Did we swallow the hook? I don't think so. I prefer to think that we have just dropped the anchor in a very secure anchorage for a bit...

~Jo