The boat has to now move forwards, just enough, avoiding the pilings ahead, so that the stern can be pulled over. Continue reading →

The marina, and the slip Baraka goes into is an unbelievable tight spot, it so amazes me , how they have been going in and out of this spot for 7 years now!!!     Vaughan has to slowly come by the end of the slip , then the first mate ( or captain) has to step off, onto the dock, holding a line, as Vaughan slowly keeps on bringing the boat forwards, then the idea is to pull the stern slowly into the slip, remember , this is a very heavy boat!!!    The bow thruster should make this easier, much easier, it will still take a lot of practice, but we could already see that it will be a great help.You can see here ,the bow thruster working, pushing the boat over. Continue reading →

Baraka Bashad left Canoe Cove and headed out , to practice with the bow thruster.   Everyone was exited for Vaughan, as it is quite obvious , how hard it is to manoeuver this boat.   Kenny also owns a large steel sailboat, i think he has a bow thruster also, not sure though……

Vaughan decided to keep the boat out of the water for as long as possible, a job always takes longer then expected, some problems had to be ironed out , but slowly but surely the bow thruster was installed, fared and painted , first with a base coat, then several bottom paint coats.   Both Vaughan and Bert were very exited on March 31st, when Baraka Bashad went back into the water.    Last photo , a definitely happy Vaughan!!!!

She is out of the water, being inspected, the welder has cut the steel out of the hull on both sides, so that the large steel tube can be installed for the thruster.    All is going well, we were there yesterday , and the tube is in, Vaughan and Isaac are painting the primer on the new steel, and over the primer goes a black bottom paint.       All the zincs have been replaced, Vaughan is fixing some spots here and there, sanding them down to the steel and repainting.   She is looking very good, ready for a large cruise to the North!!!!

WordPress played tricks on me again, now the format of my blog has changed again, so the photos ended up in the wrong place, but, even so, it will give you an idea about the size of the boat and how hard it is to leave her slip, its a very, very tight spot!!

Baraka Bashad at her dock.Our friends, Vaughan and Rita ,own a marvelous steel boat, i have been writing about her before, she is a ketch, 56′, Phyl Rhodes design, hull #782.   She was built in Holland and has a wonderful feel about her, her interior is all teak and mahogany woods, and in the main cabin , she boasts a wonderful , very dutch looking wood stove!!!         Anyways, she is big, and heavy, very heavy, and its an enormous challenge to move her out of her slip, leave alone back into it!!!          They plan to take her to Alaska this summer , and Vaughan decided to make life easier for himself and Rita.          He is installing a thruster, in the bow.    To do this, he has hauled the boat out, and (BIG) holes will be cut into the hull.   I have started with taking photos of her haul out, Both Bert and Vaughan brought the boat in, at Westport marina.        Later this week, the hull will be prepared for installing the big steel tube , which has to run, VERY level, from one side of the hull to the other.    But first, here are some photos…..

This way of taking photos has become a lot of fun for me.    i have the right lens for it;a Tamron SP, 90 mm 1:2.8    MACRO1:1.         it is a nice little lens, not expensive but it does the job.       i noticed a lot of photos in Bokeh on Pinterest, and became interested. Bokeh is a Japanese word, and it basically states that it is the aesthetic quality of the blur which is produced by images out of focus.   Bokeh has been defines as “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light”       I have been practicing on the water droplets on the pansies standing in front of my galley porthole.    It is not easy…….   you figure, well, just aim ,focus and shoot, but this Tamron lens is so sensitive that the slightest movement, and your idea is gone, and yes, remember , i live on a boat……..     

Every month ,Bert starts the engine, checks all the connections, runs the engine till warm, then puts the boat in forward, then reverse, and we can watch all the funny ,salt water stuff come off the hull!!     Amazing what grows down there, plus quite a bit of “stuff” comes off near the galley through hull, but i am very careful all the time, no grease, no strange things!!!    He then checks all the batteries and fills them up with distilled water.  he then checks the hydraulic oil level for the steering system, we also have hydraulic propulsion, and he checks all the connections , the hydraulic motor and the pump.

We have always had an expansion tank for the water system, it had a certain amount of air in it, at the top, the rest water, and it gave the system pressure, but the poor water pump seemed to always have trouble with this, it would work great one day, then the next, it would sputter and cough, keep on running, or not run at all, always complaining, so finally, after 14 years (yes!!!) we took it out, or rather Bert took it out, we also took the filters off the taps, the galley one had a special Brita on it, the head one a small filter, but, both these systems would cause a back pressure,   and again, constant coughing and sputtering from the pump.     So, we got ride off it all, bought a Brita canister, fill that every evening, water tastes great, the pump is super happy, and it only took 14 years!!!!

Next week, i bring all the carpets away, for cleaning, there is a super good business here in Victoria, http://www.luvarug.com   , most boats dont have carpet, but we like it, its warm, soft, soundproof, comes in several pieces , all bound on the edges, easy to work with.  So, other then that, i have to wash the ceiling, that happens tomorrow…….i think……..

Remember in one of my posts, long time ago, there was this tree, full of shoes, they were put there in memory of a young man who lost his life.

well, this time we found locks, many, many locks!!   not sure what or who started this, but we found them in two places, at the Light house trail and on the way out of the West coast.From friends i found out, plus finally remembered ,that in Paris, France, under the bridges ,over the Seine, people starting tying pad locks to the structure of the bridge, but as this went on, the incredible weight of the steel locks, became a problem and they all had to be cut off.    Well, at least these locks near Ucluelet ,will stay……  Unless, they are a problem for the fences…… you just never know…..

Pad locks, many, many pad locks……

And some more….