Getting out of Dodge

Setting sail on our first day on our way down the bay, some people can not find a way to get off the dock, they are never ready or have just one more thing to fix, I on the other hand was way ready, to jump aboard and blast off.  Monies spent, temperatures dropping and distant bays a calling.  The dream was finally happening, she looked like a million bucks to little ole me and I was so glad we were finally on our way, yes way to the next Whole Foods! and the six million dollar range fed chicken!

interior cushions

Margarita green

New Rig

Finally the new rig with new wire and freshly painted spars in Annapolis

launch day

Hi ho hi ho it's of to the water we go!

getting closer the the end

bottom paint done, strips done, name on, dink on davits, and about ready to launch, notice no rig

sanding

First coat that flashed, more sanding

the metamorphosis of Sea Fan to Hanaleimoon

Sanding!!!!!  Box I shipped out with all my tools and sprayer

choices

This cat was also in panama and a crowther dersign, I almost went for her as she was very fast but in the end to much the same as Malolo.  She was 37' and bread to GO!

choices

This was the crowther cat I looked at in Panama, this cat was really worked and had little comfort inside.

choices

This was the second boat I looked at in Morro bay with Bruce, just wasn't impressed

choices

This was the first boat I made and offer on that I really really liked but he would not come down and the boat was in awful shape.  She was a catana 40

choices

The oringinal Malolo in Hanalei bay,  I thought I should show this incredibly fun cat as it sailed so easily at 10 to 20 knots and was the perfect hanalei fun boat.  She was a Mac Gregor 36 stretched to 40' and widened from 16' to 21' and I painted her with this awesome paint job.

The Transformation!!!  It was to be an entire repaint and refit.  I sanded for days, the under wing was particularly difficult for the shoulders.  Other boat owners were shocked at what I had undertaken, some probably a bit dismayed as I started at day break and quit at dawn for 6 weeks.  The rig came off and got new paint and wire, the old bottom paint was really ugly and took tons of work to grind off.  But it was a work of love and dreams and as the metamorphosis took place I began to really get excited.  In the pictures you will see alot of taping and priming, I actually painted the hulls twice.  The first time I sprayed them and it looked so good, but it got late on me and the dew made the paint flash and by morning I knew I was whipped.  So back to the sanding between coats and the next time I had to roll and tip as the yard said no more spraying, I kinda snuck under the wire the first time and did it on a weekend.  Finally the hulls where done and all I had was the cockpit and deck area, does this ever end?
I met a wonderful bunch of cruisers during my stay and all were so helpful, from changing the zinks on the shaft legs to dinners when they felt sorry for me.  Tom and Lisa on Symmetry became great friends, they had a cat also and we did the Annapolis boat showed together.  They left a few weeks ahead of us but where always emailing keeping us posted on anchorages and what to look for.  We finally caught up with them in Marathon city marina.  They had arranged a mooring buoy right next to them so we were neighbors for a few months.
Kinda got side tracked but when all is said and done it's the people you meet and befriend that makes cruising.
Eventually we splashed the dream maker and I had to motor into Annapolis where the rig was waiting and have it steeped and motor back,  my first solo cruise and what a delight.  All went as planned except for the autopilot that was not going to work at all.  Funny how during survey the are just fine.
Well a few weeks later Patty arrived to help with the final interior touches like, new cushions, pillows, bedding, pillows, cook wear, towels, and lastly food.  She had a map of every Whole Foods Market from Maryland to Florida!  What a surprise!!!!  But it all went very smoothly and eventually it was time to cast off, oops right in the middle of football season, my only regret!

Here she sat until I returned in Sept of 2009 to start the transformation.  The name was first, it had to have some hawaiian connotation and in the end it was to be Hanaleimoon, mostly after the song, it was one of Patty's favorites but also because I love the bay.  And the dink could be called Moonbeam!