Good news: It’s a girl! Which would make this a mid-berth update, I suppose…
Sorry, I will make better jokes next time. I promise.
This post comes to you from Grand Marina in Alameda, where we are waiting for the boatyard to step the mast. Since she arrived on a container ship from China last Thursday, we’ve been watching our 30,000 lb. bundle of joy turn into real sailboat.
The owner of Outbound Yachts, Phil, has been commissioning the boat over the past few days. Of course we expected him to have a firm handle on everything, this being the 65th Outbound he’s delivered. But it has been remarkable to watch just how deep his knowledge is. He has no checklists and no manuals for several days of work and hundreds of pieces of gear. He is a walking owner’s manual, and we are lucky to have a few days to pick his brain.
Here are a few photos to show the highlights. Still lots to do, but already the first few days have been an unforgettable experience.
Coming off the ship in Oakland. The boat looks like a toy!
Phil safely brought the boat to Alameda for commissioning.
Name and home port on the transom. Woohoo! Want to come aboard??
Deck hardware installed, minus the rig.
Mast is rigged and ready.
These guys were total pros, but we were a touch nervous for a few minutes.
This whole process only took a few minutes, drama free.
Starting to look like a sailboat!
2 comments
Hi Guys,
Long time no talk. I’m an excellent Facebook/Twitter lurker following your boat delivery and future adventures! Kelly and I recently purchased a 1986 Hunter 25.5 that’s on a mooring buoy in the Potomac nearby our place in Fairfax, VA. I’ll be following your posts for advice on long cruises, we hope to get there some day. In the meantime we hope to keep keep our toddler out of the electrical equipment in the cabin, unless some harness exists to keep him on deck. Reese loves her V-berth room up front so we don’t see her much. Anyways, appreciate any posts that reflect on kid friendliness portions of your travels.
Best,
Chris
Whoa, hey Chris! Great to hear from you! We miss hanging out with you and Kelly. Congrats on the boat… that sounds like tons of fun. Reminds me of the Catalina 30 we kept on a mooring in Chicago. We hope to meet lots of young cruisers (and old too!), and I suspect some of the young ones will have kids 🙂 Thanks again for the note.