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pearson triton sailboat project work, bad epoxy job gets fixed
pearson triton boat work day 17, new zodiac,
pearson triton sailboat work
In a few more minutes it will be midnight. In a few more hours, about 9 of them, I’ll be in Klamath Falls Oregon. On the Amtrak Train somewhere above Oakland headed due north. It’s going to be cold in Oregon, last time I saw snow fall was in Charelston SC. It snowed on the palm trees and a local told me it’s not normal. I’m exhausted, but figure this should be a fantastic time to write. I have plenty of time, and I can write about returning to Oregon after being on the road since summer of 2009. When I left Bend Oregon in my thousand dollar Jeep Wagoneer I had no idea I’d be returning via the California border on a choo choo train. Of course this was the basic ambition when I left, to enter into a state of travel with little known and nothing intent. I did have one big desire when I packed my bags two summers ago. That desire now floats in a muddy little slough, surrounded by Otters and man eating Sea Lions, just inside the breaking waves of the central Californian Pacific Ocean. How was that for a description of the piece of water my 1963 Pearson Triton floats upon. She’s old and beat up, but as tough as they come. The perfect boat for me to tear into, learn to work on, and eventually sail. I’m almost certain my first sail will be down the Pacific Coastline, around Baja, and into the Sea of Cortez. Wether this happens next fall, or the next fall, I’m not worried about it at the moment. These past few weeks I’ve become way to caught up in working on the boat, rushing myself through each project, stressing as if I have a deadline to meet. A few factors are to blame…. one being a leaky old boat with the onset of central California’s rainy season, and the other being my new found love of epoxy work. Epoxy is my archenemy when it comes to working on my boat. No doubt I need the stuff to make Selene seaworthy, but the stuff will make you blow smoke out of your mouth when your not holding a cigarette, setup in the pot at about ten dollars a minute, and rob you of your sleep as you sit up late at night in your van praying to the boat gods that your epoxy is hardening. I was telling Sally the other day, people are going to start walking past the boat and saying to eachother…. “is that guy making an offering to the portside of his sailboat?”, as i sit hunched over the gunwale begging for the epoxy to like me. Anyways, I’ve tried to desribe for you just how much the stuff stress me out. So, as I go to my moms place in Oregon for a few weeks I’m going to unwind. Focus on the fact that I left oregon to buy a sailboat in Florida and now have a georgous sloop in California. I’m one step closer to my dream of traveling on the wind and water. Plus, I made partner with Youtube, if you don’t know look it up, it’s a big deal to me…. something I’ve been working towards since I first started sharing videos with you all. Thanks everyone for your wonderfull support and involvment in this journey of mine, I enjoy having you along.
Pretty wild, I’m arriving in Kalamath Falls in a couple hours…. if you watch my first few video travel logs, I got stuck in Kalamath Falls when I first started this trip. I was broke and abosuletly terrified that I would never reach my sailboat. Even wilder is the fact that I ended up driving all the way around the outer edge of the United Sates to find my boat just a days drive from where I started. And even wilder than all that is I got my boat, having started out with 0 dollars, losing the jeep in florida, and now the van in monterey. I did it, I’m alfoat!!
pearson triton window trim
pearson triton sailboat work day 14
It’s been a while since I last wrote. If that doesn”t sound like a journal entry… either way, it’s been a while. It’s easy to write when I have a new boat, sitting on the old owners ball, and can’t find a place to put the new boat. But that’s all over now. Selene has a home and is in the slow process of being made over. I could try to write about the work I’m doing on the boat, but some of it I’d rather not re-live. The work that goes good, I’d rather not write about that either. I’m to afraid of writing myself into a confident stupor before tackling the next project. I will say the boat has a lot of needs, also leaks. Thankfully the leaks are all above the water line.
So yeah, when life is status quo, and I’m chugging along on boat projects, I can’t find the nerve to write blog entries. Now that I’ve got you real curious about what happened to make me want to write one, I’ll tell yeah. I just bought another boat. One of the inflatable varitey. A classic old bright red inflatable zodiac. It’s about 10 feet long, wood slots for a floor, and rated up to 10hp. Even has an inflatable keel. I figured I needed a way to keep my little 4hp outboard in shape, so why not get a zodiac. After purchasing the soon to be named(?) tender I went and purchased a Carne Asada Burrito, Wet. It was my first since getting back into California, it was authentic, and ohh how I’ve missed them.
So no, I didn’t really come online to write about a personal christmas gift to self, not that self indulgent. I came on to write about my Zodiac purchase experience. Kind of like a review for West Marine. Except I didn’t buy the thing at West Marine, I bought it off craigslist from a Raiders Fan in Oakland. He opened the door looking fit to fill the bill for the pirate logo on his sweatshirt. A geniune Oakland resident, and genuine human being. As he steps out his front door… “oh, your in a wheelchair” few minutes later “what happened?”. Before I got hurt I don’t know if I would of ever have had the guts to be as up front with my thoughts as he was. Often times I run into people and can see it in there eyes. The questions are burning inside, but their mothers told them don’t be rude. Forget it, as far as I’m concerned ASK THE QUESTIONS! If it’s already on your mind, spit it out. I’m not out trying to change the world for people in wheelchairs. But when I roll up to your door in a wheelchair, in Oakland, in the middle of a rain storm, at night, hoping to buy a tender for my sailboat, it’s OK to be curious.
The greatest thing about a person speaking what’s on their mind, we can get down to solid human interaction faster, share a real laugh, tell a good story, or even pick up on some advice. See, I’m already getting all inspiratinal, not my intention. I simply wanted to share with you how cool it is when people are up front from the get go. Now I get to drive home, or back to my van, with a big smile on my face and a good old deflated tender behind me. I probably should be spending the money on more fiberglass epoxy for Selene’s decks, but that stuff stresses me out. This zodiac is just what I need for the next time a boat job goes south, something to take out for a little spin.
As I sat and waited for my burrito from the Mexican joint, I dreamt about pulling my tender up to a beach on the Sea of Cortez and gorging myself on all the wonderful foods of Mexico. My latest thought on cruising destinations, as you can tell, are Baja bound.
Jordansname.com 