Friday, April 26, 2013

Our first guests!

We had our first guests on Aquabat last week! It was a very exciting event and this was the motivating factor in cleaning the boat. We had budgeted two solid days for cleaning the inside of the boat, thinking "oh this will be easy." In reality it took us about two weeks of hard work! From scrubbing the carpets, washing all of the linens (a big thank you to Bryce's mum for all of her help!), poking in all of the crevices with cotton buds, cleaning out all of the cupboards and washing the windows, floors and walls combined with a two hour commute each day, there was alot to keep us busy! And we still aren't finished! None of this was helped by the massive amounts of rain that seemed to pour down without fail the exact moment that we set foot on board the boat. Finally, two days before our guests were due to arrive, the rain stopped and hasn't been seen since (touch wood)! This break in the weather allowed us to clean the outside of the boat with the pressure hose (which is my new favourite toy), tidy up the lines and air out some things from down below.

My mum was in town for a couple of days and she, along with four of my aunts and uncles, Bryce's parents and the lovely couple who own the house where the boat is tied up, were our first guests on board the boat! It was a beautiful, hot day and we had a delicious picnic lunch next to the boat! 

Our picnic location!
Aquabat (with a small motor boat in front for perspective)!

My Mum and I on board Aquabat

Photos courtesy of David Courtney

Monday, April 8, 2013

Welcome to Australia!

We have now been back in Australia for almost a week and have been busy on the boat. Our final three weeks in the US were quite busy as we journeyed around the west coast.
We went as far north as Vancouver and as far south as Los Angeles, visiting family, friends and national parks in between. We managed to hit: Seattle & Yakima, Washington; Portland, Corvallis & Eugene, Oregon; Hoover Dam & Las Vegas, Nevada; Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona; and Redwood National Park, San Francisco, San Jose, Monterey, Yosemite & Sequoia National Parks & Los Angeles, California. Thank you to everyone who was able to take time out to spend with us!

Since we have arrived we have been trying to clean out Aquabat and fix her up to be ready to go.  At times it has seemed like there is 22 years of dirt built up but overall she is in really good condition! We have yet to take her out for a sail but hopefully we will do so next week. This is what we have to look forward to when we do!


Aquabat!
(Photo from the archives of the previous owner)