March 29, 2012: SPLASH DAY 2012!

The 2012 boating season has officially started! Splash Day 2012 was attended by all invested parties (plus a few others) and culminated with the first Boat.B.Q. of the season. Here is a small video documenting Splash Day 2012. Enjoy!

March 27, 2012: Shield Your Eyes...

...from the glare off that hull!

Washed, waxed, buffed, painted and ready to splash. Spring is here.

Also, another good shot of the view from my house in Rancho Santana... well, not "my" house, but the house I was staying in -- over looking Playa Rosada.

I snapped this pic because seeing sailboats that close to the coast is rare for that part or Nicaragua.. AND... I thought it might actually another Catalina 38 -- specifically, Estancia out of Costa Rica (http://svestancia.blogspot.com/) But no dice, wasn't him. Oh well cool picture though.

March 4, 2012: New Winches

Finally found a used set of sizable winches to replace the original non-self tailers!

I found a set of 5-year old Harken 53sts in Florida. Story was, that they came off of a Benateau 45' that was upgrading to electric winches. Got them from Well Found Yachts in Key Largo. Great company, very nice people. Treated me well -- up front an honest. And I think I scored them for an amazing price. The internet is full of deals if you just know where to look... like right here. (I have a set of Alloy Lewmar 48stors & Lewmar 48 3-speeds for sale!)

Just popped the winches on today. 65 degrees and sunny in Baltimore in March, gotta love it!

Obviously they were a diferent bolt pattern than the original winches, but no problems drilling new holes and fitting them.... except the port winch. Our propane locker blocked access to winch so we had to cut a small access hole in the cabin room above the galley. Super easy with the Dremmle tool, and the hole is basically hidden anyway due to it's location. So job well done!