We are on board and eating again

We took a photo of last nights dinner as it was yummy and a delight after being on the water since 5 am. Unfortunately, it did not save. Let me try to describe the plate. We had green aspiration (combo of aspagus and broccoli), pasta with garlic, parsley and olive oil and Lindsay Green Tofu. YUM!
So, what I did was heat my skillet with some oil add one pound of pressed, chopped tofu. Sautee for a few minutes and then turn down the heat to medium to cook out the water. Using a silicone steamer I placed my rinsed trimmed aspiration in the skillet with the tofu and thought I was quite clever to use that heat/steam to cook the vegetable.

Whlie the tofu cooked I heated the water for the pasta, it is boxed pasta but I only add the water not the fats they call for and I drizzle the pasta with extra virgin olive oil to finish it off.

I cooked the pasta, 8 minutes, turned that off , stirred the tofu that was browning nicely in the pan. Cooked that for another 5 minutes added soy sauce stirred and as soon as the soy sauce started to bubble I took it off the heat transferred the tofu to dinner plates. I added nutritional yeast and set aside. Drizzling some oil into the used skillet I turned back on the heat tossed the aspiration to finish it off. Total time 25 minutes start to plating. We had been on the go for 13 hours and needed something warm and healthy and quick. This fit the bill!

Let me know if you need more directions but really I just eyeball the soy sauce, you don't want to saturate it but use it a seasoning maybe 2 tablespoons. The nutritional yeast flakes I order from swanson vitamins and love it. It is full of b vitamins and has a nutty flavor. Its great on popcorn. I use a quarter of a cup ususally and sometimes more.
This was a good meal

Last Beaufort Evening

We spent Thursday re-rigging sails and completing last minute boat tasks. 

Today was devoted to provisioning and moving aboard. 

Now we are going to spend our last 2012 Beaufort evening with friends. 

Tomorrow we are planning a 05:00 departure to correspond with the slack tide in Beaufort inlet.

C'est la Vie tied up at Beaufort Docks ready for an early morning departure

C'est la Vie tie up to the Beaufort City Docks

C'est la Vie is resting in the water at the Beaufort Docks after five months on the hard at Burbridge & Wilson  Marine.  As with every launch day the pre-launch hours are a blur of last minute prep... a final coat of bottom paint, wax the boot stripe, polish the bow pulpit, install the dodger, heft the dinghy back on deck, et. al.
 

C'est la Vie awaiting the travel lift for launching

still awaiting the completion of the new mainsail cover and need to install head sail.

The launch went smoothly with no surprises or hiccups... Whew!  Hanging in the slinging checking thru-hull fittings and starting the engine is always nerve wracking for me.

The new engine room sound proofing works amazingly well.  Because I'm accustom to adjusting the throttle by the volume of the engine when first pulling away from the boat yard basin I ran the engine at way too high an RPM.  Once we gained the ICW, and checked the RPM gauge, I  discovered the needle up in the 3600 range.  Our typical cruising RPM is around 2400.  While approaching the Beaufort Channel Bridge we discovered another quirk of the new sound proofing.  Previously we could hear the engine transition from forward to neutral to reverse.  Now when shifting gears there is only silence. We must rely on visually checking the shift/throttle lever.  I never really thought about my past habits, but now realize the large degree to which I was relying upon engine sounds when operating C'est la Vie under power.  Learning to use more visual cues when motoring is a price we are willing to pay for the reduction in engine noise.

None of our launches are void of unwanted discoveries.  While checking the status of our rebuild dripless shaft seal, I noticed the packing gland on the rudder post is leaking.  High speed packing glands allow some water to pass to serve a lubricant for the packing, but the rudder post should operate fine without allowing water to pass.  By the looks of the brine build-up on the bronze fitting, I'm guessing the leaked has existed for some time.  Fortunately while C'est la Vie is sitting at rest the gland is above the waterline.  Hopefully I can borrow a pipe wrench and remedy the issue before departing Beaufort.

Looking into our crystal ball... we will spend Thursday completing rigging installations, boat clean up, and last minute repairs.  Friday we will move food and personal stuff back on the boat, and very early on Saturday morning we hope to slip out Beaufort Inlet and run outside to at least Masonboro Inlet.

To mark our launch and begin tracking our fall migration southward we have started a new photo album... NC to FL - fall 2012

sub 24 hours to launch

After a week of shuttling vehicles, moving non boat stuff to Everglades City, and celebrating a friends wedding in Athens, GA, we are back at the boat and hastily ticking off the pre-launch to do list.

The engine re-install is complete!

Engine access cabinetry & new sound proofing installed

engine access panel closed and companionway steps back in place.

 Prior to installing the foreward engine compartment cabinetry we did test run the engine in the boat.  After a brief panic due to a loose engine ground wire, the engine ran fine.  I am really looking forward to experiencing to what degree the new sound proofing reduces our engine noise while underway.

My parents are in town to assist us with boat projects and shuttling the last of our non-boat stuff out of Beaufort. Bud & I have two coats of anti-foulant paint done and one more to go.  Other than panting below the waterline, I spent today tackling a myriad of pre-launch prep.  Bud applied a coat of wax to the topsides.

Bud applying wax to the topsides 24 hours prior to launch 

So much still to do... tick-tock, tick-tock