A few months ago I had a little digital camera snafu, I thought I had deleted some of my haul-out pictures...but...it turns out, I didn't! If you didn't see the original haul out post, click here.
   ~Paul   ETC

Kingsley's captain and crew took a little time this weekend washing her salon cushions. The cushions say dry-clean only but we washed them carefully in the normal wash and they were fine (what do cushions know anyway). One little hint we learned - our cushions had little tags on them with a location code so you could figure out where they go when you get them mixed up.

SFS = Starboard forward seat...We were proud of ourselves that we actually figured that one out pretty quick! I'm sure it is a factory boat thing, any boaters out there with more hand-made type boats have code on your cushions?
   ~Paul & Amber   ETC

   It's all about the little things around here aboard Kingsley. We've been trying to figure out our Force 10 galley (indoor kitchen area) stove/oven. We bought the propane, tested the lines for leaking, fired her up, no problem. The oven wouldn't light but we got both of the burners to go. My thought was if we repeated our actions then it should light again just fine. Not so much. We tried and tried to light the stove. We waited a little bit, then tried again, nothing. We were a little tired of eating sandwiches and other things that don't require heating. So...

   Pow! We upgraded our old rusty 'Sea-B-Q' with a brand new model, on sale at West Marine that week. She works like a dream. Amber has cooked a few meals on her, the best meals of the adventure so far! It's worked pretty well (except for the red button starter up there, it only worked once but I've heard they usually break pretty quick - we just use a lighter). Below are some pics of the old grill and the installation of the new one (not too hard, especially since we used some of the parts from the old grill - the parts that hold it onto the rail). 

   ~Paul & Amber   ETC

   At this point I think I'm posting jobs just so I can one day look back and find out what I did all summer. Next on the list: clean our dinghy Kya (Bob Marley song/album reference) (the wife grew up in Jamaica). I would love to get a new sailing dinghy in the future but for now she's all we've got. She wasn't that dirty, just a little boat soap and some scrubbing is all it took.

Above: Kya has these handy metal thingys installed so that they hook on the back of Kingsley (the boat). Although it stores her nice under sail I don't really like it because it blocks access to the back of the boat (future lake swimming because Kingsley's back opens down to the waterline).

Below: A handy way to hold Kya on our dock posts (which we had to rent extra from the marina) while I grabbed the rope to tie her up for real.

   Sorry to open with such a green picture...but this is what we're dealing with on deck. I mean, the lines (they call them ropes on land) aren't in horrible shape and if I had tons of money I might just have them all replaced, but I don't.
  I am replacing some of them - the ones that carry heavier loads like the outhaul (it pulls the mainsail out of the mast towards the back of the boat). The only bad part is that lines are expensive and if you want them to put the nice little fisheye loop in the end it takes time (it's on my list of things I need to learn how to do).
  So I scrub...and scrub. I pressure wash, I soak, I try almost everything while trying not to rough up the lines too much. Some of them come out looking pretty good (see pics below). Then, just as I was starting to get the line scrubbing blues, I found a bunch of used line out next to the marina dumpster - some of it looking better than what I have now - jackpot!

~Paul   ETC

   OK, so it took a little bit to get our new Hunter sailboat Kingsley looking this good (you're welcome Kingsley). Our two best friends throughout the initial cleaning were/are Simple Green and a wet/dry shop-vac. We decided to work on the inside first since we are planning to move aboard ASAP.
   Below are a few pics of what we're dealing with...probably about 11 years of dog fur, moisture, a little mold, a little oil, and rust. Not too bad, but it still took (is taking) a lot of work to get her in shape. Clean your boats people! 
   

   So, you get the idea...it could be worse as boats go...but still icky. Here's a few post-cleaning pictures of the salon to cleanse the palate. The aft cabin, galley, head, and salon are finished. Up next: the V=berth and then we move up to the cockpit and deck! 
   ~Paul & Amber  ETC