Overdue

It has been a long, LONG time.

I got my Associates Degree. I will likely have to put off the Bachelors for awhile, with the way the economy is going I have to work a LOT for not a lot of pay just to make ends meet.

I have changed my plans somewhat. The live-aboard thing is kind of more of a camping for a weekend at sea someday kind of idea now. I met someone. It is serious, in the permanent kind of way. He has small kids, and it would be difficult to control them for an extended trip until they are older.

In the meantime though, I DID get a boat. It is significantly smaller than the 30 foot Catalina I have been dreaming of, but it promises to be just as fun.

I picked up a Hobie Cat 14 (14 foot long catamaran) project. I paid a whopping $200 for the boat AND trailer together. My friend grew up with one of these boats, and he told me it looks to be in pretty good shape. All the necessary repairs are basically expected maintenance and some painting.

I found a second boat that was being parted out due to having a hole punched in one of it's pontoons when the guy's son backed his truck into it. It appeared to be a turbo. This made my day, since I wanted to upgrade mine to a turbo anyway. I took everything but the pontoons and the mast, which wouldn't fit on my truck (trailer had a flat tire, I didn't feel like airing it up)

When I got home, I discovered that his boat must have been a 16, not a 14. Even though the guy said it was a 14. Everything fit fine, except the trampoline. It was a few inches too long. Since it is practically brand new though, I can probably re-sell it to offset the cost of buying a trampoline of the right size.

At least most of the parts for the 14 and the 16 are the same, I still got a good deal.

I need to pick up some epoxy to fix the little bit of delamination on the hulls, and some decent boat paint. Maybe gel coat. I think that might look nice. I dunno, I'm kind of learning as I go.