Well what an interesting weekend that was. Saturday we didn't start racing until around 2:30, then 1 heat was ran before we had an hour wind hold. Yes, it was windy on Sat! We finally got our boat out, and in that 1st heat we pulled a 4th. For the final we were 3rd. Barely. Our boat and one other were head to head literally the whole heat, and the other took it by 1/4 of a boat.  Sunday, it was beautiful, hot and not windy. We started alot earlier in the morning, so the day went quickly. First heat I think was a 3rd, final a 2nd. And it was a close 2nd! It makes for such a cool heat when boats are battling, but really sucks when you don't get the win. So, all in all, we did manage to finish 1st for the weekend in points, and a trophy for 2nd in the final. So, we are currently standing (still) 1st in region 10 high points, and I think 2nd in the nation. That one is hard to calculate though, with all the different races going on nation wide, and in Canada, the points revolve alot. But I know we had alot of people commenting and grumbling this weekend about our point standing. Cool is about all I can say.

So our next race isn't until June 1st. This one will be in Issaquah, and to date, our boat either loves it or hates it. We are putting a new motor in, and will have a new tow vehicle by then. That means that we can now take our camper and tow the boat, which in turn means no hotel or dining out. Money saved!! I have to point out to the islanders that the ferry isn't going to be any different with the new set up compared to the old. You know, over 30 foot long gets the same charge as those over heights! And we already hit that one! I am dreading the summer prices coming up though. That always hits hard. But, I can't complain to much, it is our choice to live here and race! Well, I am running away, I have much to do this week. Hope you have a grand one! I will post pics soon, I promise!

You know when you go on a va-ca, and you have enormous amounts of things to think about? Well that is kinda what it is like for a race. We have to pack our clothes, and all the things you use on a daily basis. Plus if we are camping, all that stuff to. Then food, drinks. Have to make sure we have alot of Red Bull on hand.....the reason? It is the best way to let you down slowly after a big adrenaline rush. You don't just crash.

Then the boat stuff. This is the hardest, takes up the most space, is the heaviest, and unfortunately, doesn't all go in/on the trailer. Alot ends up in the truck. My poor truck going over the pass, towing the boat, loaded to the max, is a sad, sad, thing. We need a 3/4 or 1 ton truck. We have been looking, but things just never seem right for that type of payment....I'm sure you understand that!

So we are off to Entiat this weekend, hoping that the getting there is easier than it was last week for Lawrence. We are supposed to be in the apple blossom parade on Sat, but I don't know if we are going to get there at a early enough time on Friday to get any sleep, so not sure if we will be in it or not. Although we should do to the sponsor factor. We'll see.

Currently we are sitting 1st in points for our region, 4th in the nation. This I can handle!

Well doesn't that just say it all?

After a rough start of actually getting to the race site, the weekend once started, ROCKED! The first heat of the day, not our class, had a boat flip on the second lap. Same spot as Jim last year. The second heat, our class, the first corner after the start line, we had a boat spin out literally right in front of us. Thought we ran over it. So they restarted that heat, minus the one boat, and on the second lap, another boat flipped. Same spot as last year. So after yet another restart, we pulled a third place. I was a little jumpy after all the boats going over, so I talked a bit more on the radio's than normal, which I think in turn affected how Jim raced. Our second heat on Saturday we somehow managed to pull first! Whoo hooo! So then to Sunday. Some more boats flipped, some blew motors, and one in our class broke the speed record. Congrats Jon! We pulled second in that heat, nobody wanted to blow Jon's chance of getting the record, so we weren't really fighting for placement. The final heat on Sunday was pretty blah. After a weekend of boats flipping left and right, (I think we saw 7-8 go over, 4-5 blow motors, 3-4 spin out) and the rain and wind kicking in, and the record being broke, no body's heart was really in the final. We took a third. Over all, we placed 2nd for the weekend, which currently puts us 1st in points for the moment. Entiat is coming up in a few days, and we were elected to be in the apple blossom parade (5 miles!) prior to the race on Sat, so that should be a interesting way to start a race! So I will post pics when I get them, and keep you updated for Entiat.. Have a grand week!!

Wow, I can't believe it! We got the yard mowed, the garabage to the dump, the house cleaned! I finally got a weekend home, without having to work on the boat, or be at a race, so my house got some attention. Cool. Ok, so this Lawerence Lake coming up this weekend, and I am being a little nervous. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that this is where we killed the boat last year. I wonder how many butterflies I will be able to count on Saturday? It doesn't seem like Jim is worried though. Ok, this is a quickie, I am at work, and should be doing work stuff I guess. So, I will update on Monday on how it goes!

Racing again. Breeze in my hair, bee's too! The sound of the boats, the water and....SUNBURNS! Well I really sucked at keeping you updated over the weekend didn't I? Well in my defense, I was exhausted, sun burnt, and starving when we got to the hotel. So we ordered pizza, took a cold shower, and passed out. Pretty much in that order to. So here are the stats. Sat: 1st heat of the day, we took 4th place. For the final: 1ST! The sucky thing here is that our first heat was the 3rd heat of the day. Our final, was the last heat. That is about the equivalent of 5-6 hours of nothing to do but sit in the sun and fry. Which is what we did! I was nice for the first few hours, got to catch up on all our friends, and meet all the newbies, but 5 hours is just to long. So then, on Sunday, we took 3rd and in the final, another 3rd. So we somehow finished 2nd for the weekend overall. Not sure how those points added up, or I would tell you! So no damage, no needing fixes, no anything to do's. (Except slather lotion on the sunburn's) So we now have 2 weeks of not really having to work on the boat, until our next race. Which is Lawrence Lake. The flipping one. Oh what fun. The joy, the excitement. Ok, gonna go now, really should be working ,being I am here.......

Oh! I tried getting pictures, didn't work, kinda hard to do when the battery is dead, so next time....

Moses Lake! It was a challenge just getting here. 1st we caught the boat, then had to go try getting a company to fix our radio's because their last fix didn't work. An hour later, we were on the road. Traffic jam in Seattle, exhaust broke in North Bend, had to stop and get that welded. Then half way over Snoqualmie, ran into a military convoy. Well, that was after the 20 ish mile backup behind them. Free sailing from there. Made it here around 7PM. So I have internet connection here, (obviously) and will keep you updated over the weekend. Wish us luck! And check out the new paint job (completed) pic!!

oh say can you believe, by the dawn's early light. What so proudly we hailed, the boat stood there gleaming.. oh that's so sad, I should delete it.. but it gets the point across. Did you guess yet? It's PAINTED! Three color's no less! WOW! I haven't seen this thing in paint in just shy of a year... Remember mother's day last year? And guess what else? I took pics, AND the camera is hooked up to the comp right now. I could have danced forever when we took those stupid face respirators off our faces for the last time.  So let me fill you in on the the sad, sad details walking up to that wonderful final clear coat.

1. can we say sanding anyone?

2. cleaning shop, boat and everything of dust.

3. painting the blue coat.

4. sanding the blue coat because the paper and tape lines stuck.

5. painting red

6. cleaning lines between red and blue

7. painting white.

8. sanding blue a little bit more.

9. CLEAR COAT!

10. pretending we don't see those little tiny runs....(only two)

So take a look, there are new pics over there. We will be in shop alot over the next week, so I might not make it to this. I will try. I plan on taking pics of the boat, when we buff it, and pull it into the sun.....so keep watching! We are in the countdown now! 8 days....

Well the last coat of primer went on last night. J walked in the door around midnight. Now we just have to scuff this coat, and I think we are painting this weekend! Yippee! With a whole 2 weeks to spare! Wow! Now for those of you who are new to this, trust me when I say, this is a first. The boat is normally still in the curing mode while driving down the freeway to the first race. I don't know why this seems to come so fast every year. It isn't like we don't know at the last race that the first one is in the spring. Yet it still jumps us every time. Some year, I have faith in the fact that we will have the boat ready by the end of Feb. Or better yet, by the end of Jan!! :-) I think that today is a daydreaming day for me! Maybe it has something to do with 4.5 hours of sleep, but I am being very optimistic this morning. Probably won't be so much by this afternoon......pretty grumpy would be my guess. Just in time to work on the boat. Honestly though, we aren't on it every waking moment like I must make it sound, I have been getting emails on how are we spending time with the kids, working on the house, or even getting laundry and dishes done. Well for those questions, I will say this. If you knew me well, you would know that it takes a whole lot of motivation for me to get the laundry and dishes done anyways, so the boat doesn't really change the frequency of those.(hehe) As far as the kids, I spend a good chunk of my day with them, so I don't think that the 2-3 hours in the evening are going to really be a bad thing for them. Not to mention that they are at the shop with us, riding bikes or playing on the computer or having broom races through the shop, whatever might entertain them that night. And working on the house.....*sigh* that's just a pipe dream. It might get done in the next 10 years. Maybe. I am being really optimistic on that one! Sooooooo on I go. Sorry, had enough questions about that, that I felt this would be simpler to put here than responding 40 million times..

So, I have every intention of taking pics of the boat tonight, so look for them by the end of the weekend, and you can see the lovely PURPLE primer we have on it now!! Tata!

Well, the 2 motors are getting close to done, just waiting for some last parts to come in. Guess what I am doing? Yep! Still sanding... I have just a few hours left on this coat, then we do one more coat of primer, sand that, then paint. For those of you who are wondering why so much sanding and priming, here's why. Unlike a car, we can't really use the bondo (sp??) to fill in the low spots, because believe it or not, that stuff is heavy! I know it doesn't seem like it, but think of how much that can weighs.... then transfer that weight to the boat. So we sand instead. This way, it fills in the lows, but the highs get sanded off, therefore, we are only filling the absolute needed spots. Now on to the paint. If you use bondo on a boat, it has the possibility of cracking or separating when the boat flexes. And it really flexes. We wound up using it on one line last year, and that line was bubbled under the paint after the first heat.

So when we paint the boat, the real colors, we will use as little of paint as possible. Once again, weight. 1-2 gallons is pretty heavy! When we rack ours brains on how to get/keep the weight down/off, this is one of those "hidden" things. I mean really! Who in their right mind has really thought of how much weight paint puts on their car, boat....etc... I hadn't until I was carrying the paint into the shop a few years ago, and in my typical style, complaining the whole way about how heavy the stuff was..... Then watching a dawning look go across Jim's face, it came to me also on the weight.... Oh how some things get discovered! I am sure there are many people out there that are sitting there going DUH! I knew that already! Well in my defense, nobody TOLD me! So anyways, that is the really long reason for not using bondo..... And now students, that is your lesson for the day, I will be reviewing your knowledge on this next week! :-)

Man, in case you have forgotten, let me remind you how much I hate sanding.....YUCK! My arms hurt, my clothes are nasty, and I have a grand total of 1/2 a sponson sanded. Yuck. That is about all I have to say! But since you are here reading, I guess I will say a bit more. Hmmm let's see. The backup motor is almost done, not as pretty as the first, but almost done! We are rapidly coming up to Moses Lake, and really starting to feel the time pressure now! I have so many things going on already, that I am having a hard time coming to grips (why doesn't that sound right?) on having to add races into this packed schedule of mine. I don't remember who told me once upon a time that a mom might get some free time every now and then, but man oh man, they were most likely not a mom would be my guess! And I can guarantee they didn't race! On the flip side of all this, I can't wait to catch up with all our friends from the races. I keep in contact through email, but that just doesn't cut it for 6 months. So looking forward to that! Ok, I get to go sand some more tonight, so I will keep updating, and I have my camera in the truck to take some pics for you!

Wow! As I sit here on my computer this beautiful day, I think of all the things I should be doing on the boat. Instead, I took the kids to the beach. What else could I do? I know I should be sanding, but really, I have to be a good parent to!  It works well for an excuse doesn't it? Nobody can argue with that! Not even my other half. So anyways, we were looking at the calendar, ticking off days till our first race, Moses Lake. It is the second weekend of April. Early this year. Might be a tad bit cold to. I firmly believe that Moses Lake in the spring is a bad time for a race. I mean really, it gets so windy there in the changing of the season times. So I am guessing that our first race will be time taken to sitting on the shore watching how big the wind can get the waves. Freezing our back sides off to, would be my guess. On the flip side of that, if I don't start sanding, then the boat won't get painted, and Jim will have to spend time on that instead of the parts that are really needed for making a boat fly. I hope we don't do that again this summer. That would suck. Sorry, I am jumping from one thing to another today. To much sun. Is that possible? Probably not this early in the year here I guess. So we are trying to figure out how to paint the boat. STILL. We discovered last year that the blue was to much. Ever try spotting for a blue boat on the water? I can personally say, it is really hard. Take your eyes off of it one time, and it takes precious seconds to find it again. And I take my eyeballs off it alot, I have to see what the other boats are doing! So we are looking at putting some more white on it, but yuck! White boats are so, so.... I don't know, normal? Every other boat is white. Maybe this is why. Humm never thought about that till I typed it. Ok, so we are talking about reversing the colors, red into blue, more white and maybe more on the cowling, since it is the highest point of the boat.

So have YOU looked at the race schedule yet? Do you know which one your going to? I personally recommend the first Issaquah race, not only is it the closest, but it also has a good car show, bands playing in the evenings, and a pretty good food court. This is a big race as far as spectators goes. Tastin N Racin is what this one is called. To get more info on it, you can go to this web site.    http://www.tastinracin.com

I will be keeping you updated more often as we get closer to the big starting day, so keep checking back with us! Hope you had a grand beautiful day!!

Well, cockpit training was fun and entertaining like always. A bunch of guys getting into a pool to be spun around in a cockpit, what could be more fun to watch? As far as the boat goes, well, it goes slow. We have managed to luck out and get pretty much every type of cold, flu, and whatever that is going around. Sucks. We typically luck out and not get to much of anything, but currently, my hubby has the flu that is going around, as for the kids and myself, pneumonia!! yah! A week at home, 24/7, no work, school or anything, with my babies! I am such a lucky mom. (no sarcasm I swear!:-) So, the boat hasn't gotten alot of attention. Although, looking at the calendar, our first race is coming up soon, and we still don't have paint on it. Or an idea of a paint scheme either. So I just thought that I would give you a tiny update, and let all of you out there that we are still here, and here very soon, this will get updated regularly, being the fun is about to begin...in about 6ish weeks....EEEEKKKK!

So we are slowing getting up and going on the boat. I have our memberships registration for APBA in, and I remembered to send in the club fees to!! That my dears, is a first! I normally forget about them till the first race, were I am promptly reminded. So lets see.....update's are in order. Motor #1...done. motor #2....started. Paint job.....still thinking on a paint scheme for that. Electrical, plumbing, cables, wires and all that stuff.....done.

We are going to cockpit training next weekend. That is always cool to watch. You get your helmet and air tank, climb into a swimming pool, then into a cockpit. (cockpit only, not a full boat here) Then they strap you in, and with 5-6 guys standing in the front and back of the cockpit, they start rolling you. About 4 times, then they stop you, make you give them a thumbs up, then start rolling the other way. Then they stop you upside down, and you have to get unbuckled, and out of the cockpit on your own. There are divers in the water with you, but they won't step in unless needed. This is a requirement for all drivers, I believe that it is due every 2 years. Could be wrong on that, but it is every so often. So....that is what we will be doing on Sat.

J's birthday is coming up soon, so immediately after Christmas, we get the pleasure of dealing with a birthday! I have been thinking about telling him his birthday is in July. So Batman it is!! Batman cake, presents and wrapping paper. I made him a cape out of an old black skirt that I had, sewed a Batman symbol on the back, so yah me!! A free birthday present! Doesn't happen often.

Ok, I am out of things to talk about for the moment, now I have to go type up a sponsorship report. Know anyone who would want to sponsor? We have 2 available at the moment, on main sponsor, and one for gas/ferry. I wish we could get the ferries to sponsor us! HAHAHAHAHAHA  yah right! So I will start keeping you updated as we go, I am going to post a few links for some races we have coming up this summer... ENJOY!

 

www.richlandregatta.com

www.moseslakereagatta.com

http://www.tastinracin.com/

Wow, how fast the times go by! Well, scarily enough, it's that time of year. You know, the merry, caring, sharing, jolly time of year. (Who came up with all that anyways?) So being it is "that" time of year, the boats are on a far away back burner for the time being. I am already getting updates on races and meetings and all that fun stuff for next summer, but I can't get my mind around that until "this" is over! So, for all of you sending those wonderful emails, I will get to them, I promise! As soon as it's all over, I will get back into the swing of answering emails. We have done absolutely nothing on either boat, besides look at them and sigh. Alot. And big ones too. But, kids do come first believe it or not, and that being said, all money is being diverted to them. We do have a growing list of parts and pieces to pick up along the road, most for the newbie, but some for the oldie to. We are going to put new shaft, rudder, skid fin and a few other little things on the oldie, race it for the summer, then transfer said parts to the newbie when we get to racing that one. We have officially put off selling the oldie for the time being, even though we have had offers. Neither one of us want to miss another year. (I know, we didn't really miss last year, but with missing alot of it, it seems like we did)  Well, that is about as much as the kids are going to let me get away with for the moment, meltdown anyone? So, hope you all have a great Christmas, and I will chat later!

Well here is the newest thoughts that we have been tossing around. We are for some scary reason, now thinking of NOT selling the boat at this time. Thinking about keeping it, racing next season in it, then when the new one is up and going, maybe selling it then. I know, this means having and working on two boats. But neither one of us wants to miss the race season, and the newbie is not going to be done this winter. So we will paint the "ghost", change some hardware, scour it from top to bottom, (making sure there aren't any cracks that we missed) and then have a grand finale race year in it. We were both a little depressed about selling it, and unless someone steps up and offers more than we have asked for, then we are keeping it. (for the time being) From the sounds of it, by the time our new shop is built, we will have three hydro's in it.......Three you ask? Well, a friend who has raced in the past has one also, and with his new home, has nowhere to put it. So, three! So I guess that means that building a shop for cars and what not is going to turn out being for boats. I'm thinking we need a new new shop now! Just joking! I can't (won't) think about what my beautiful land would look like with multiple shops on it. I don't really like the idea of how it is going to look like with just the new one. Well, on I go. I just thought that I would let you all know what the new plan is! Hope you all had a grand Thanksgiving! I don't know how much I will be on here between now and Christmas, honestly, with two kids under the age of 5, this is getting to be a HUGE holiday in our home. I remember the days of just the two of us, sleeping in in the morning, mosey-ing our way to whoevers when ever. Now, we stay up till midnight getting stockings stuffed, wrapping the Santa presents, then crash into bed only to be woke up at 6 am sharp by squeals of excitement. Not to mention our oldest, (who is 10 years older than us) coming in the house bright and early, in the same said excitement. (for presents, coffee or food I'm not sure) We also have the pleasure of a new kitten to keep out of the tree somehow. We used to hang bells on the bottom branches with our last cat. That way when he started up the tree, the bells would ring with the branch movement, and would almost always side track him. He would then attack the bells instead of climbing the tree. Maybe we will do that once again. So there you have it. I am once again going on and on and on. Sorta like the energizer bunny. (I wish)

Ok, so this is called planning ahead. Way ahead. Here is the tentative schedule for next summer.

April 12-13 Moses Lake
April 26-27 Lawrence Lake  (this is the fast one)

May 3-4 Entiat
*May 18 Spanaway
June 7-8 Issaquah (Tastin’ n’ Racin’)
June 14-15 Kennewick
July 12-13 Black Lake
July 19-20 Oroville
Aug. 16-17 Pateros 
*Sept. 6-7 Spanaway 
Sept. 26-27 Chelan
Oct. 4-5 Issaquah
*Trying to get the Pierce County Parks and the residents who live on Lake Spanaway to allow a two-day race in September (Sept. 6-7). If it does become a two-day race, there won’t be a race there on May 18. But if they can’t make it a two-day race, we’ll race there May 18 and Sept 7.

So for those of you who have been reading, and back-reading, the race at Lawrence is the one where we flipped the boat this year, blew a motor the year before, and put a hole in the bottom the year before that. Sooooo I wonder what can happen next time? Maybe because we just gradually got worse, and finished with a whopper, next year we might break the speed record for our class? Only if we have the new boat going, which at this point doesn't look like that is going to happen unless we have a big jump in help. I wonder if we could work out something with the high school for credits? Hmmm anyone know the answer to that? I guess that would mean that we would have to work on it during the day, and have a bunch a high school-ers at our shop....that could be interesting. Probably not the best of idea's. Well, anyways, one of these days I will get some pics of the newbie up on here. I see by looking at the stats on this page that we seem to have a large amount of daily traffic, which is way cool! But it also makes me realize that I need to keep it updated more than I had planned on for the winter. So we are now looking at a name for the new boat. It will have the same number, unless for some strange reason we decide to keep and race both. (glutton for punishment, I know) But it has come up in more that one conversation. Scary, Scary! If that happens, then we really do need more help on the boat(s). Not just in the shop, but during the summer for races. Ok, back to the name. Start posting me idea's for a name, or sending them in to our email K? goneracin@rockisland.com   Ok, gonna run now. Have to clean my house since I am home for once! Ta Ta! 

It is so weird being home for more than one weekend in a row. We worked on the boat yesterday. Knowing that we don't have to work on THAT one makes for un-normal working times. We figured that we would get it cleaned up, and ready to ship out. Then the fun really starts. This new boat in the background, well let's just say that it has ALOT of work to happen on it. Anyone interested in learning about hydroplanes? hehe. I am for some strange reason looking forward to working on this. For as much as I complain about fiberglass, and carbon fiber and all that itchy stuff, I want to work on this one! It will be really pretty! Oh! Excuse me, it will be very manly.... does that sound better? I guess you can tell it is a female writing here, no real guy would say their boat is pretty. Impressive, fast, sleek, aerodynamic, maybe even hot, but not pretty. So we are now trying to come up with a paint scheme, I know, it isn't even more than a hull at the moment, and has hundreds of hours worth of work to do, but paint is one of the bigger VISIBLE things noticed, so paint we think! We are also having to think about a trailer now. The one we have goes with the boat, so a new one is in order. Just think of all the cool little "extras" that we can add! Locking storage boxes, hydraulic lifts, duel axle,  a permanent place for the tool box so we don't have to lug God only knows how heavy of a tool box from truck to boat to trailer to truck. Man that thing is heavy!  We also get the pleasure of re-stocking our inventory of supplies. Supplies for a wood hull/ kevlar cockpit are a bit different than supplies for a carbon composite boat. We also get to pull out the math classes from years ago. Have to figure out all kinds of lovely things. Ever try to figure out where center of a boat is from side to side and front to back, just so you can get the skid fin within a eighth of an inch of the right placement? It took me forever to find the formula for that one. I finally found it on a web site for building planes. I guess that makes sense huh? Ok, I be rambling now.... So I guess, ummmm have a grand one!

Well now, this is interesting. We finished 15th in the nation this year. Hummmm. Didn't expect that. We missed a whole lot of races! The guy who finished 1st had 25 races. We had 10. 10. That's it. It seems like the race year shouldn't be over, we just started! But there it is. The east coast guys rocked this year. This is the first year that we have been racing that at least 7-8 boats in the top 10 aren't in our region. Normally there are only a few boats from any region other than 10 that are in the top 10. This year there is only 4 region 10 boats in the top 10. Hmmm, looking at what I just typed, it's alot of 10's! Well, just thought that I would update you on the final points of the year. To see these yourselves you can go to either of these pages and click on "high points".

www.apab-racing.com

www.goboatracing.com

 

 

Well.......wow, sorry! The last week has gone by in such a whirlwind, that I didn't have time to post the results from Chelan. Well, let me tell those of you who didn't get to go, lucky you!! Ouch! It was cold, it was windy, we didn't even get started until around 3ish on Sat. We only managed to pull a 4th on the one heat that we got to run. Then Sunday, we ran the final, the back to back the heats for Sunday. So we took a 2nd (I think) in Sat's final on Sunday morning, and I think only managed 4th for Sunday's heats. So all in all, I guess it was ok. So then we had a three day in Issaquah this weekend. Friday we played with the props and some setup, due to the fact of missing so many races this year, we aren't in the points race. (even close!) So we played. We came up with a setup that worked well. I guess it worked well. We placed 2nd overall for the weekend. Well Fri & Sat. Sunday the weather was so lovely that nobody raced. I guess those of you in the wonderful Pacific NW know what I am talking about. SOOOOO now on to my news. We are selling the boat. We are looking at a few offers, think we will wait and see what comes in. Honestly, I am going to miss this boat. We have been baby-ing it for almost 5 years now, and have brought it so far compared to what it used to be! I remember the first time we had it out, we got lapped by pretty much everyone. So that winter, it went on a diet. And a re-haul. New decks, new cockpit, escape hatch, and all the goodies in new hardware. Then in the top 10 in the nation! Then, 4th the year after! So then the beautiful flip this year, yet again a new cockpit, decks and hardware....... and now we are selling it. *sigh* On to a different boat I guess! And yes, we do have one in the background, ready to take all our time for the winter...... so I guess that I will yet again, not get my family room onto the house, and will once again, get to help Jim by sanding, glassing, primer-ing and itching. AGAIN! I keep telling him he has the perfect wife, one of these days I might brainwash him into believing it!

So now that our race season is done, I guess that I will still be updating you on boat progress, just a different boat. I will post pics some day, currently it isn't really available for a photo-op, so I will hold you in suspense for awhile yet!

I most likely won't post most than once a month, but on the flip side of that, there were times where I didn't do that anyways! Our first race will be in the spring, normally in the end of April, so start checking back in Feb, I will post the schedule as soon as I get it!

So more info on Chelan for those of you who have asked. It is the 22nd & 23rd. This coming weekend. The races normally start around 11 on Sat and 10 ish on Sunday. There are some hotels around the area, 2 right on the lake. There is a huge amount of campgrounds all around also. We typically camp at the state park, which is about 10 miles from the course, but is on the lake. (Just the other side) There is no entry fee for the races, there is a fee for a pit pass. It really varies on the race as far as a $ amount, so I don't know that. We will be there Friday night, and at the park by 7:30 Sat morning. They normally get over around 5:30 both days, if there isn't any wrecks. This is a rough course on most of the boats, so typically there isn't a flip, but almost always is at least one or two that go home with holes or some other damage. Ok, I think that answers all the ?'s that I was asked, so we will so everyone there!

So... what a day! The first heat of the day, a 5 liter flipped in the beginnning of the 2nd lap. It was his first day in that boat, so between learning the boat, the wind, and the weird course, he just couldn't keep it down. He is completly fine, raced in another class later in the day with a different boat. As for us, we took 2nd our first heat, and a really hard 4th. What a heat that was! For I think the first time ever (for me) almost all of the boats in this heat stayed together. I mean TOGETHER. There was 9 boats in the heat, and 7 of them were nose to nose almost the whole heat. They had to really analize the finish line to see who crossed where.  So we have a down weekend coming up, and then off to Chelan. One of our favorite races truth be told. If you have been thinking about going to a race, this is the one! Not only does it draw a large amount of boats in every class, but the park it is on is wonderful. There is always a mini fair going on, and lots of sun every year. Ok, I am going to run away, had something come up. I will fill you all in on the rest of my story later!

 

Well, my eyes were zapped yesterday. I now have 20/20 without my contacts! Wow! Ow! We were worried that I wouldn't be able to see well enough to run the radio's for the race this weekend, but that is not a worry now. Last night would have been. Soooo just thought that I would let you all know that it went fine. Jim has a new favorite story, as he was able to watch the whole thing, him and I seem to have a different outlook on how it looked, but I guess that can't be helped being I was seeing from the inside out, and he was watching the monitor that the surgeon was looking at....kinda weird from both sides apparently. I will fill you all in on the race Monday morning most likely! Have a grand one!

Well the boat had its first race since flipping. It rocked! We finished 2nd in our 1st heat since May!!! Yah! The races were unfortunately blown out by lots of lovely wind, so we traveled a long distance for 1 testing heat and 1 heat. But we finished 2nd! I did take pics, so sometime here soon, I will post them of our lovely gray boat. This is just a quickie, I have wayyyyyy to much going on this week to sit this long..........have a grand one!

Well, we are almost done sanding the 1st coat of primer. The rate of time spent is something close to this: 1 person, 2 hours, 1 maybe 2 square foot of sanding. See where this is going? We have about 2 square feet left on this coat, then we get to fill in the low spots, then prime again. We then get the lovely pleasure of sanding yet again, although this coat should sand a bit faster. less than 2 weeks to go, and I am gone for one of those! This does give Jim the time to pull some late nights on it though.  Depending on what this next coat looks like, it might just get a final coat of primer, and call it good for the rest of the season. Then to the reassembling everything. Remember, at this point, there is nothing in/on the boat. The fuel cell is under the decks and that is it. So all the cable's and wiring, motor, wings, lids, cowling, skid fin.....yadda yadda yadda. You get the idea!  So I will try to post some pics as for what it looks like right now, I will take them after this next coat goes on........

Well, it is primered. FINALLY! We have been sanding forever as of now. Itching to no end. Now that it is primered (primed?) we get to sand some more. At least it is a different color. Just something different is nice. So, it is Seafair weekend, (for those of you not in the area, this is a HUGE race weekend for millions of boat fans in Seattle.) Anyways, it's Seafair, and we have been watching fellow drivers and crews on national TV, and choosing to stay home and work on ours was a hard choice. We are recording it, but here we are, at the shop, sanding on the boat. STILL. We will have it race ready by our next race, which is in a little under 3 weeks from now. We are now down to 11Th in the nation, so our dream of the top 5 this year is pretty much nil. There is always next year, new sponsors, new paint job. For now, I think the boat will be known as "The Ghost", being it will be a spiffy color of gray primer! We are looking at different colors of gray primer, but let's be honest here, primer is primer no matter what shade of gray it is. That is why it is known as gray primer. Or primer gray to the REAL men. Which I can proudly say I am not. So, that being made clear, I can see that I am really just rambling here, and so I will cut this off now, and go back to my hole to sand some more! Ta Ta!!

Yah!!!! I can hardly believe it! The boat is back. So, here are the cold hard facts. When you flip a boat, it does alot of damage. When you have somebody fix the major things, and don't do it yourself, you can't complain to badly about the things they messed up on. Sooo we have to fix a few more little holes, replace some hoses, sand some extra glass, re-glass said glass, and then fix the boat. Doesn't sound to bad does it?  We have the stringers laid in the spiffy new sponson, we have the deck hatches cut out of the new decks, and now we get to start sanding. Oh lucky us, the wonderful hours we get to spend covered in fiberglass dust, itching till the cows come home. (in this case, till the boat floats) Then the time spent leveling them, re-sanding them, spot putty-ing them, re-sanding them, primering them, re-sanding them, filling in all the little bitty tiny holes that fiberglass is notorious for, then re-sanding them. Then maybe, just maybe, we will paint it. Oh, I guess we need the motor in to! Anyone up for some sanding? (that was a honest ?, not just joking) well, I posted the pics of it with the new cockpit and sponson, go take a look and see what you think!

Well, I guess from looking at the last date that I posted, I kinda sucked on this lately. Oh well. Life kinda grabbed us, we have been really busy, and we don't even have the boat for a excuse! We have been going to the races, helping out where needed, then the 4Th, then we were camping for the rest of the time. Both kids have swim lessons and soccer this week, so my work schedule is weird. Oh! And did I mention that we have a new lady in the family? Well 2 of them really, but let me send out a big welcome to miss Rowen Ashtyn! Your auntie can't wait to get her hands on you baby girl! The second welcome goes out to our new cat, Marshmallow. (no she isn't white, or fluffy or sticky, that is just what J&R started to call her) Well, an update on the boat, since that is what this site is for.... Cross your fingers, eyes and whatever you can, because it sounds like we get to pick it up on Sat! SAT!!! Can you believe it? Me either! We might really get to race a boat again. (I was beginning to wonder) YIPPPEEEEEEE! We did get to visit it this weekend, and oh baby, what a purdy thing it is. The cockpit is in, and looks no different than when we did it ourselves. Big pat on the backs to Jim and I, as this means that the professionals did it the same way, and then the sponson....... oh wow. *sigh*  It is seriously amazing how neat a person can get a piece of wood to look. It really is a beautiful job. All round and smooth, just a big piece of curved wood. They even made the spray rail look the same. Which is a big thing... really it is! Well, as soon as we get the boat in the shop, I'll take pics and post them, so you all can see how beautiful she is!!

It's shrinking!! Good golly Jim, it's shrinking!!  He he.... some of you have sick minds.. I meant the to do list on the boat! :-)  We have word that the cockpit is done and the sponson is soon to follow. They told us another week and we should be able to pick it up! Yah!! Soooo I finished the scoop and pedals last night, itch like all out. I love working with the fiberglass, but does it have to itch so darn bad?! I need to finish fixing the cracks in the seat, and Jim needs to finish both motors, I think that one is done, but the way the words were flying around the shop last night, I'm thinking the second one isn't. Other than that, there isn't much else we can do until we have the boat back. We have everything that we need to fix it, so we shouldn't have to be running all over the island and internet finding whatever. So I guess that I will keep keeping you updated, and let you know when we get the boat back! Have a grand one!

Well we went to a race this weekend. Unfortunately, the boat didn't go with us. Gotta tell you, it really sucks going to a race and not being in it. I could feel my heart pumping and was telling Jim (who was standing next to me) the countdown and how many boats and where they were. Doesn't do any good if he is on shore with me, seeing what I see. Not to mention the fact that I probably looked like a moron. I really didn't think that I would miss this as much as I do. What I can't imagine is how much Jim must miss it. It had to really suck watching our class go out, and him not being in it. Well, it was a good weekend though. It gave everyone the chance to tell us what they saw, heard, felt. Lots of versions let me tell you! I don't know that we really got the same story twice. I did get to met the lady who took the pic of the boat in the air. What a nice lady!! And really quick reflexes! So an update on the boat. It is in Seattle, from the sounds of it, not much had been done. Sucks. We don't have a clue when it will be done, but my visions of BlackLake are rapidly fading. Sucks. Oh well, on the flip side of it all, my house is clean, yard is mowed, I even have washed my truck more that once! This is not normal!! Well, chat at you all later, have a grand day!!

Well, the boat goes to the shop on Tuesday! Yah!! wonder how long it will take to fix? hummm...

So the decks are on, we are hoping to glass them on Monday, if the glass shows up. We still have to cut the decks around the cockpit so they can easily get to it. It sounds like they are also going to be fixing the sponson. That really saves alot of work for us, and being the company is so busy right now, this is a real mind reliever. The motor will be done and ready to go when we get the boat back. So now all that is left to fix is.... the seat, pedals, motor, scoop, seltbelts, radio, sanding and priming, and then reassembling everything back in the boat... not much right? Ouch! this is still going to take a while folks! Black Lake is coming up fast, and it is still 5 weeks away! Ouch. On the flip side, the rudder, helmet, props, and....and.....(ok, that is all I can think of) are all ready to go!