John's 60th birthday celebration in Fondi, Italy
Our first week in Italy was quiet and relaxing. Thirty other people joined us for the second week; we rented four different houses in Fondi, halfway between Rome and Naples. It wasn't quiet!
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Summitting dangerous Mt. Fondi (496m) in Fondi, Italy
My brother Ben and cousin Bryan are a little too large to go mountain climbing. So we went mountain climbing. There was a lot of complaining. Much whimpering. Some swearing.
John's 60th birthday pre-celebration in Puglia, Italy
Sara and I joined my parents (Ann and John), my mother's sister and SO (Jane and Gibbers), and my father's sister (Joyce) for a week-long pre-celebration party in southern Italy. We stayed in a beautiful trulli near a small town named Ceglie Messapica. It was incredible.
Doublehanded Lightship Race
Dylan and I sailed his custom Dogpatch 26 "Moonshine" in the doublehanded lightship race, a short offshore race outside the SF Bay's Golden Gates.
Finishing touches: hawse pipes, tri-anchor system, dinghy and outboard onboard, extra halyards; sailing with friends and family; farewell from Centellax
With the end of September came the end of our gainful employment. Sara's senator, Wes Chesbro, was being termed out of office, so it worked out nicely for her to depart. Although the Senator's term ends in the beginning of December, Sara was so excited to get sailing she managed to escape a little early.
My job situation was a little different. When I first moved to California, I joined a little technology startup named "Centellax". Centellax and I grew together, and I moved from a design engineer to the Director of Sales. Leaving was very hard.
Farewell cake
Laundry day!
Moving onboard, Sean joins, Wanderlust christening!
Sean arrived, we christened Wanderlust with some champagne, and even had the boat blessed by a wizard.
William with champagne
Wizard blesser
Moving on-board, cushion installation, winch rebuilding, steering cable installation, and our first sail!
The weekend came way too fast. Everything turned out to be a blur, but one thing kept us going: we were going to go for our first test sail on Monday September 18th. All the work, the drama, the late nights and expensive stainless marine parts - they were all going to be worth it.
Saturday we were up early on a mission. As soon as we got to the boat we had to put the cushions down. The patterns we picked are great, the covers Sara's mother sewed for us are amazing, and you can barely see where we screwed up with the foam cutting! Everything looks just top notch.
Loading up the cushions
Sara installing the dri-deck
Cushion construction, moving out of our apartment
This week was completely and absolutely exhausting. Moving out of our small rental turned out to be an epic project. Sara's sister Amy came and helped, plus we finished building the cushions.
Messy living room!
Cushions off the assembly line
Cushion foam cutting, winch assembly and greasing, folding dinghy wheels
The short week after the long weekend was a nice rest from boatwork, and we got a lot done! During the week I managed to tear apart the two main Genoa winches, which very obviously have never been maintained. Never. The grease must have been the original grease placed in the winches in the 1970s.
I used the technique that Jim, the Mechanical Engineer at Centellax, recommended, and a tool from my motorcycle racing buddy Ray. Sorry Ray, it's not that sharp anymore.
Petroleum solvent cleaner
Winch disassembly with Ray's tool