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Hi Russ!

Yeah, getting the mast on & up are definitely on the list!
It’s just that until we get our pintle, hard pilot-house Dodger and improved arch/Bimini it’s gonna be a while.
We spend the majority of our boating time on rivers and estuaries down here and the mast complicates things limiting where we can go easily. In our first season we kept the mast on but in the lowered position. It was awkward as we regularly clonked ourselves on it. Maneuvering wasn’t easy as it extended aft a fair bit too so one had to be watching forward as well as aft at the same time. My eyesight dexterity was beginning to feel like a gecko’s with one eye in each direction… The next season without the mast was definitely easier!

We’d like to have mast back on but have it capable of being fully horizontal rather than angled up at the stern when stowed and at least 6-1/2 ft clearance above the cockpit sole (so I can retire my crash helmet ). We’d also like a Dodger that gives I bit of interior headroom and is strong enough to act as a support when getting up/down from the cabin deck

For now operating in cruiser mode works for us…

Best Regards,
Over Easy

Hi NiceAft!

Thank you for the suggestions of Snag-A-Slip, Dockwa, & Safe Harbor!
We weren’t aware of Snag-A-Slip and it will definitely be appreciated as we work on our trip planning and adaptation while enroute!

This upcoming ICW cruise journey is sorta a big thing for us and a primary reason why we originally chose to get our Mac26X.
Our week long journey to/from Charleston last year was a good initial shakedown of what we could anticipate on a longer trip.
Our extended 70 night stay on Lake Champlain familiarized us with living aboard Over Easy and how to comfortably integrate with differing marina facilities.

Best Regards,
Over Easy

Hi All!

Hope everyone is doing well!
New England got more snow but currently here in SC the temps are in the mid to high 70s for the past several days with sunny skies!
Funny to recall there was snow on the ground only a week ago!

Been up in the attic fixing A/C duct work and move stuff out of the new kitchen area.
Gonna make ‘paper dolls’ of the proposed cabinets and counters as a means for the Admiral to “see” what things will be operationally before knocking down walls and the like. Measure three times before breaking things. Experience has repeatedly shown that It’s way too easy to break things but hard to actually create things that work for everyone….

It is a small thing to test out concepts and ideas with mock-ups and scaled trials rather than just tear things apart just because your stupid and have a hammer.

An acquaintance once hired a high flier buddy of his as a contractor to do a renovation of his house and kitchen without actually checking on the actual experience and costs of his “buddy’s “ prior projects that as the acquaintance said ‘looked sooo cool’. Turns out the ‘buddy’ tore apart all sorts of things and “was winging it” as he went…. Failed to get permits or qualified trades people… broke stuff that didn’t need to be…and then swapped in stuff that the ‘buddy’ thought would be ‘really neat’ but were functionally and aesthetically crap. After running grossly over budget and time the acquaintance found himself with a renovation that wouldn’t meet code, couldn’t be insured and was at risk of losing his mortgage. Meanwhile the ‘buddy’ just walked off after closing his LLC and opened another firm under a different one. The acquaintance was left holding the bag with what turned out to be years of trying to fix all the damages caused by letting his ‘buddy’ have a free hand to make ‘something unforgettable’. It nearly bankrupted him and did irreparable damage to him and his family by his account. Another premier graduate from the Famous University of Terminally Dumbness.

I much prefer working within the regulations and actually making a project actually work within time and budget.
It’s also a lot easier to make changes and adaptations on and with paper than wood, plaster and appliances.

On a more nautical note…. Looks like we’re gonna move our ICW Cruise timeframe forward by about a month.
Our younger daughter’s plans to hike the Pacific Crest Trail have changed and we will be taking care of her dog sooner than we originally thought. Originally she was going to do the first portion with him and the second half through the National Parks without him while we took care of him but that’s no longer the plan I’m told… As her dog is too big for the boat and our own dog and cat the best option is to move the ICW Cruise forward. Easy- Peasy … right? Phbbbt

It’s really not an impossible thing but it does change some things around on the logistics.
Plan is still basically the same as before to head north from Beaufort to Charleston and on further as weather permits.
Seriously considering the prospect of going as far north as time permits by boat then getting a slip for a couple days while we rent a car one way to drive south, pick up the van and trailer, drive north, load the boat on the trailer and then head south to home and relaunch to get back into our home marina slip. See? Easy-Peasy!

That way we can get to see more of the ICW and complete a longer section of at least the East Coast portion of The Loop!
It’s an idea at the moment anyway…

I’m gonna have to defer the top deck paint job and a couple of the planned mods I had hoped to accomplish but those aren’t critical to our cruise or our enjoyable use of our boat. The hard Dodger, arch, mast pintle are pretty much off of this years list on onto next years. Oh well…..

Hope to be launched at the beginning of April and in our slip to have some time to get things squared away.
Also will give a day or so to change out the bunks on our trailer that have seen better days.
Some PT 2x6s, boat carpet and new connector fittings should do the trick.

Gotta get back to it….
Best Regards,
Over Easy