In 2020 we had an opportunity to buy a slip at Poulsbo Yacht Club and we moved Yohelah to Liberty Bay. We were still figuring out how our finances would work in retirement, and didn’t really know what the whole retirement world would be like. Sailing in Liberty Bay and navigating Agate Passage any time we wanted to go further sounded ok then. In reality, we found in time it just didn’t work for us. We love to daysail, and the wind in the Port Orchard Waterway between Bainbridge and the Kitsap Peninsula can best be described as turbulence.
On a nice day with a northerly breeze, it channels down Agate Passage in gusts, leaving us constantly either hunting for wind or fighting gusts. So last month we made the decision to bring Yohelah back to Bainbridge Island, and happily found a slip available in Eagle Harbor. We had an awesome sail back out under the Agate Pass bridge with friends Kelly, Hannah and Barrett, right back into Eagle Harbor Marina, where we had moved from in 2020. Our PYC slip is being sold to a nice couple who are currently cruising the South Pacific and managing the transaction from the very remote Kingdom of Tonga, a place we hold very dear in our hearts and memories.
This is our slip on the outer dock at the marina, squeezed between two ginormous yachts. We’ve met both neighbors and they’re nice as can be.
This is my view from the bow in the afternoon when the high school kids are out sailing and rowing. Pretty blissful, as far as I’m concerned. And the ferry is also right across from us, so I can watch everyone come and go.
Now that the boat is only five miles away, instead of past three major construction projects on the highway, it’s so easy to just pop in and out. And we’re determined now, with the house and deck construction done at home, to restore her and make up for a bunch of deferred maintenance. First on the list is to make her watertight again. The overhead hatches had never been resealed in 40 years, and they were the first project on the list. Amazingly, they came off easy, and went back on just as easy.
The starboard jib track was the next to need attention. When we were in the southeast trades in the South Pacific, we sailed on port tack with our jib on starboard the majority of time. We had completely replaced both jib tracks in our Port Townsend refit in 2005/6, but this one took a lot of wear on the 4.5 year trip and was leaking in several places. We pulled it, replaced the piece of plastic that separates it from the deck, and rebedded all 32 screws.
Also on the list was the replacement of three boards that were cracked and causing major leaks, plus rebedding the deck prism above the nav station. We went to Port Townsend and bought a piece of teak from Edensaw Woods and Rob pattered the curves and built perfect replacements in his woodshop.
Then Rob dug out the sealant in all the places where the decks had worn and it needed to be replaced. We had done the entire deck in our PT refit so many years ago, and had done some repairs intermittently, but it was time to fix the leaks on the spots where it had just worn out over the years.
When I’m not helping Rob above decks, I’m on a mission to brighten up below. The portlights are all beyond a lovely bronze patina, now green and black. We have some super strong vinegar that will break it all down with a little soak, then I need to clean off the piece attached to the wall. I’m also painting between portlights. We had several cracks from when we replaced the portlights, plus over 40 years the formica has just yellowed.
It’s actully quite lovely now with new paint and polish. I’ve done 3 of 15 so far, but hoping to be done with major cleanup by spring.
Carly Lennstrom is getting married on the boat next July, and I would very much like for Yohelah to be the pretty girl she was when we found her so many decades ago.
