Boat Project(s) Life-Cycle

Roads in and around La Paz can easily disorient anyone the first few times they drive around town; possibly as a result of the one-way traffic and four way stop signs. Mexican rule number one says that stop signs are not actually stop signs but sort of a yield sign. As a passenger, I scrutinize […]

Boat Water System Breakdown

Photo above: Western Flyer’s water tank. This is one of two water tanks on board. This one fits under the main cabin bed. I am turning this one tank into two that will also provide more water capacity. This nearly thirty year old fiberglass water tank has a leaky fitting. Out with the old and […]

Rediscovering WoodenBoat

On board our trawler is my collection of well over 100 books on anything ranging from “This Old Boat” by (Casey) to “The Boat Owners Mechanical and Electrical Manual (Calder) to a book simply titled “The Western Flyer” (Bailey) Steinbeck’s Boat, The Sea of Cortez, and the Sage of Pacific Fisheries; plus a great dozen […]

16 Days to Cruising – Western Flyer

18 17 16 Days to Cruising – Western Flyer Thanks to the First Mate and a senior birthday, we are now sporting a brand new Greco Stand Up Paddleboard board (SUP). Of course, I found the great listing on Craigslist. A major shipping mishap or careless forklift driver crushed several of the new model boards. […]

Visit to a Boat Yard

A Non Descript Boat Yard “There are good ships and there are wood ships, and ships that sail the sea. But the best ships are friendships, and may they always be.” – Anonymous The last time he hauled out the S/V Jeannie Marie was nearly four years ago. The last time I hauled out the […]

All She’s Got To Do is Outlast Me

All she (Western Flyer) has got to do is to outlast me. Thoughts streaming through my head while working on this latest of boat project(s) in my engine room. Cruising is easy, tending to anything below is the hard part. Think about all the man hours that have already gone and still continue to go […]

Fish hook, Japanese, Rear Main Seal Leak – Not!

This morning I fired up the Western Flyer and drove it in for repairs, to an area previously unknown to many. Known on nautical charts simply as Fish Hook, it is located on Terminal Island, home to thousands of containers from container ships. Just to the starboard of the main channel and past the federal […]

Boot stripe, sanding cetol, brightwork and more

Boot stripe, Brightwork and more Chris, a local live aboard sailor prefers to use a heat gun over any electric sanding tool that you can throw his way. In the picture below you see him starting to paint the Western Flyer’s faded burgundy boot stripe. I like to see progress, the more immediate the better. […]

Our first Sailboat – 1985 Hunter 40

A short tour down memory lane. Our first sailboat was a 1985 Hunter 40 – that we found listed in “The Log”. She was finished when we purchased her but we needed to make her ours. For years I struggled with the question of how big can I go – as a solo sailor. The […]