So much has happened in the last month that we haven’t had time to write about it! Adagio was stuck in the boatyard in San Diego for much longer than we anticipated. Once she was pulled out, the guys got to work pealing the hull. As Mike mentioned, he took on the task of modifying the rudder to get the new prop installed. Whew!
While Mike was down in San Diego, I was home in Costa Mesa still working my day job and trying to pack up the house. We were scheduled to close escrow on December 8th. So, getting Adagio back before the house sold was imperative. Otherwise, I guess we were going to be homeless. (Actually, we had offers from friends to stay with them…)
Anyway, Mike got the rudder installed with just five minutes to spare on the Friday afternoon before Thanksgiving. The boatyard guys were calling it quits at 4:00 and weren’t going to wait for anyone! Mike’s hard work paid off and the boat was back in the water on Friday. I took the train down to San Diego after work to meet Mike and get ready to sail back to Newport Beach on Saturday.
We had a nice trip from San Diego to Newport Beach that weekend, other than one little snafu that I’ll let Mike write about at another time. We stopped overnight in Oceanside on Saturday night. We could have made the trip in one day instead of two, but that would mean sailing part of the time at night. Although we don’t have an issue sailing at night, right now is lobster season! That means that getting in and out of any harbor requires dodging all of the lobster pots. They are hard enough to see in the daylight let alone at night. We unfortunately learned this lesson the hard way a couple of years ago when we missed a pot entering the harbor and wrapped the prop. Ugh!
We got back to Newport Beach on Sunday with time to clean up all of the dirt that had accumulated on the boat while sitting in the boatyard for over a month. We were so glad Adagio was back, because Monday we got married and Tuesday we flew to Texas to see my family for Thanksgiving. I don’t think we could have squeezed anymore into that week!
Once we were back from Texas it was crunch time to get everything moved from the house. Mike previously lived on Adagio for several years, so he literally moved into my house with a suitcase full of clothes. I, on the other hand, had accumulated an entire house full of STUFF over the last eight years I lived there. I don’t think you really understand how much STUFF you actually own until you have to downsize to living on a boat! Two walk in closets, a two car garage, a ridiculous number of cabinets, drawers, etc. You get the idea. My packing strategy involved putting everything into three piles: (1) Boat; (2) Storage; and (3) Donate. The boat pile was obviously the smallest of the three.
We donated, put stuff and storage, and finally moved aboard Adagio with the house sold! Unfortunately, because we were so delayed in San Diego, the interior boat projects did not get completed before the move. Let’s just say that it is like moving into a house under renovation, only smaller!
The biggest of the interior projects, which is still not done, is the galley. I feel a bit responsible for getting us into this mess of a galley remodel. Earlier this year, I suggested that maybe we should consider replacing the 30 year old formica countertops in the galley which were a mess. That sounds easy enough, right? Well, the new countertops turned into a new sink, new fridge box insulation and ultimately a new custom fridge box. Not to mention installing a new stove/oven.
The fridge box project has taken on a bit of a life of its own. You can’t just go down to home depot, buy a new refrigerator and install it. The fridge/freezer box is actually built into the cabinet in the galley. Mike has done almost all of the work himself, which has been a huge project. It is going to be fantastic when it is completed, but right now we are living without a kitchen! For those of you that know us well, you know we love to cook and make healthy meals. Eating out every meal is getting bit old.
Here are some pictures of Mike working in the galley chaos.
We are headed out of town for a week for Christmas and New Years, but we’re hopeful all of the projects will be completed in January, so that we can finally begin this adventure!!
Merry Christmas!
~Katie