Cruising ~ The Cat’s Meow Style ~ mid-February – March, 2005

We arrived in La Paz after a hectic two-week shopping trip in California, mid-February.

Within a couple of days after our return, The Cat’s Meow was finally ready to go back into the water…. again. She was put into the slings of the lift and carefully carried to the water, where she got her bottom wet. Can’t you see her smiling?

We are ready……again TCM takes a ride

She is smiling! Friends & champagne….again!

Friends from the sailing vessel Winsome were there with champagne to toast her return to the water, so we had to have a good time!

The next task was to move from the apartment onto the boat. We were both ready! It didn’t take us long, and it felt so very good to drive away from the apartment to the dock with the last load, including our cats. Although TCM is no where near being finished, it feels good to be back onboard. The gentle sway at the dock, looking out at the water and the Bay of La Paz, just BEING on the water feels sooo good. Although we have had a beautiful tile bathtub since last spring, we had never had it plumbed and ready to use. Martin got the plumbing working recently, although we still need a flow meter, so we have a temporary fix with a switch, but we took turns trying out the tub and we deemed it WUNNERFUL. The tiled tub has lotsa hot water and is very comfortable, a great way to relax after a hard day of work. Here is the “suitable for family viewing” photo:

Robin enjoys the new tub

Living aboard TCM right now is a lot like camping. We have a cooking center set-up, we have survival cooking and eating utensils and food handy, we have a bed and a bathroom we can use.

Camping in the salon Living on TCM right now

The work in the stateroom and the head has been almost completed; Robin is working on finish work now, such as putting the trim around the headliners, door latches, etc. Martin is building new steps from the salon to the stateroom. Here are some photos to demonstrate how far we have come:

Stateroom, June ’04 Stateroom, March ‘05

Head, June ’04 Head, March ‘05

Doors still need to be made, and we will be putting rattan webbing inside the doors instead of the louvers, and there are other finishing touches to make, but we are getting there.

Martin has also decided to change TCM’s exhaust system from a dry stack to a wet exhaust system, which means removing the stack from the boat. Robin is not sure how she feels about this…..she likes the look of the stack on the boat and always has; however, the carbon that floats down all over the boat each time the engine starts up has become quite irritating! Anyway, as this is written, the stack has been removed from the top deck of the boat and Martin is progressing with that project.

We continue to work almost every single day, slugging away at the many projects before us. It is good to look backward sometimes, and realize our progress, too. It is now mid-March. Once again (!!!) we had to have TCM hauled out of the water. One or two places in the last bottom repair never stopped leaking completely, so the boat has to be out of the water to repair those places again. This time it seems the job is going along quickly and we HOPE to be “wet” again in a few days, instead of a few weeks.

That is life on The Cat’s Meow at the present. Do come back and visit us again for more Cruising ~ The Cat’s Meow Style!