To The Water, Mate!

We have been spending many hours over the last month making and sewing cushions, upholstery, curtains, and mattress covers.

This photo is of the cushions made and upholstered for the dinette, which also folds down into another bed. We added another inch to the original cushions to add more comfort.





We custom designed a V-shaped mattress for the Berth using a queen sized memory foam mattress we were able to cut the mattress diagonally along the bias, flip on side of the mattress to meet the other one at the angle, then made a custom cover that would allow the mattress to be folded up in half should we have to try to get it back out of the door.


The upper and lower bunks were made of memory foam 4" thick and upholstered with asian themed material which contains clouds and, of course, dragons. By removing the straps of this top bunk from the ceiling, we can drop it down to become the back of a "settee" with the lower bunk being the base.

Beneath the lower bunk is the black water tank, the macerator pump, water pump and plumbing.





This photo is another shot of the dinette, but of the other end. Howard loves to have lots of photos, even if many of them are alike. He wanted to take photos every single day to post on here, but you really can't take photos of some of the things we do like wiring - especially when I am the one doing the job but I am also the one usually taking the photos. Can't seem to figure out how to take a photo of me working somehow.

Dinette was upholstered with a soft brown leatherette material that is mildew and moisture resistant.


We used a futon mattress as the cushions of the main salon settee, it provides the right slant for the back and is comfortable to sit on. Here I am working on the computer, waiting for the signal to get back to work.










We purchased a bunch of wood pulleys and blocks on Ebay to rig our sails and lazy jack systems. Took several days for Howard to learn the techniques for braiding and splicing the rope but he did a great job. Unfortunately for us, we had to take both masts back down to rig it. However, while they were down, I gave them another coat of waterproofing and paint. We also replaced the mast light and installed the necessary all around light required by the Coast Guard.



Can't believe the price they get just for rope! We tried to reuse the small rope on the front mast for the small sail, but now we think we better replace it for new rope as when we used a chunk of it one time, it broke too easily. Don't want that to happen when trying to raise or lower the sail!

The schedule "lift off" to put the boat into the water was for Saturday morning. However, at the last minute the marina owner decided that it would go in on Friday around noon. Next, of course, we waited and waited. Finally they brought the lift over at 5PM! Everyone who had seen us working on the boat, including the local newspapers, had planned to be there to watch the boat enter the water on Saturday and were pretty mad that they changed the time and date without telling anyone and everyone missed it except for the few that happened to be around the marina on Friday afternoon. Here the lift is being maneuvered into place to lift her up.

There were a lot of "onlookers" to "help" get Chut Loon into the slings and remove all of the supports. After it was placed into the sling, Howard had to paint the few spots that could not be reached when the supports were on the boat - under the support pads and the very bottom of the keel.







Chut Loon lined up to be lifted.

Darkness falls as we head for the channel. We had the agreement that we would leave the boat in the sling overnight just in case we have any major leaks or problems.










Getting hard to see what is happening now, not a good time to do this if you want photos, but what did they care?











The agreement to leave it in the sling, of course, also went down the tubes, because the marina owner watched as we entered the water and we were not taking on much water, only some slight seepage in the main bulkhead. Soooo....he just kept on walking the boat on out of the slings without even telling us or getting our agreement to do so! Luckily, they were right that Howard and I had done a fantastic job of caulking as we never had more than 2 inches of water seep into the bilge at any time!! And this boat had not seen water in almost 10 years!!!


After getting fueled up by local marine fuel distributor the next day, our friend Curt helped us move the boat out and into a slip nearby where we would stay a few days and make sure the seepage wouldn't get worse. Howard watches as Curt tries to back into the slip..however, this boat is so big that we bottomed out trying to back it in, so we turned around and came in head first. That was better anyways, as there would be no way to get off the poop deck and onto the dock if we backed it in.




The next Wednesday, it was time to take Chut Loon on a three hour excursion from Pequoson to Fort Monroe, where we have a lease on a slip. Our daughter Courtney came along for the cold ride, and Howard was in his prime at the helm with the watchful eye of Curt advising him on how to read currents, etc. Susan was not going to freeze her butt off so stayed inside the cabin where the heat was on.




Susan comes out to check on the status of how long the ride will be - maybe she'll take a nap in the berth and keep warm under the covers?



Was afraid Susan's motion sickness would act up but luckily no problems. Went back inside to wait for the time to help with docking.







The sun was shining, but don't they look COLD?














OKAY! We got docked okay with Curt's help and Courtney's of course, pretty easy with four people on hand. Since then we have found that three people minimum is really needed to handle this monster at docking and undocking. We have done it once so far with just the two of us, that was very difficult, but with practice we'll figure out the easiest way.









Time to practice driving, docking and undocking, over and over again.












Come in nice and easy now, SLOWLY, don't use too much helm.....












Howard checks on clearance - getting ready to take it out again.











Turning around, practice, practice, practice.














Nice view of the boat name. I need to add a few more dragons around the outside until I reach the needed seven, as "Chut Loon" means "seven dragons" - currently she has three. One on each forward deck support and a large one now in front of the small mast.










Another photo from when we were sitting in the Pequoson channel first day in the water. Dinghy riding on top.











Curt took us out on a three hour tour of the Chesapeake Bay on our first day out. After sitting for so long, and with just an all over fluid change, filter changes, and a couple small repairs, the big Mack 150 engine fired right up and runs very smooth.

Curt gave us the first training lesson on our own boat. We thank him for all his time and effort as well as Frank and Doreen Schooley for their time and company while in Florida, and being patient enough to answer our many, many, emails with questions on just about everything.





Photo of boat at noon, day of launch. Plenty of sunshine for photos then.













Right before lift off and launch.











Final view before launch.

We hope to have a lot of fun with this boat. Just got in the electronics to put on it, so now has installed Garmin chartplotter, depth finder, speed, etc. That will be something for Howard to play with and gives Susan peace of mind of not hitting the bottom and getting stuck.

We have slept on the boat several nights and love the soft rocking of the waves to sleep.

Sorry it took so long to update this blog...so much going on. Now with winter setting in, we won't be able to do to much on it and I don't like going out in it in the cold bitting wind. Will keep in touch on our next excursion. Thanks for Reading.