Our First Solo Cruise

Today is the day!  Al and I took her out all by ourselves.  It was fantastic! We sailed around the bay... and learned the hard way that there is a reason why you put the bow of the boat into the wind to roll in the furler. Poor Al had to go up the the bow and untangle the furling line from the drum.... We really do need to get that thing fixed.... there is no cage on the drum! But it was a wonderful day.  And, Al put her back in the slip like a pro!  Yea Al!

Sails Up!

Our maiden sail!  

We finally found the right time and conditions for us to put up our sails.  

Curtis and Diane were with us again.... sure am glad to have them along.  I know we will one day be able to do this by ourselves, but not yet!  It was a picture perfect day.  Light winds but we felt comfortable hoisting the sails  and we were able to practice tacking and Al was able to get comfortable with driving and maneuvering the boat. It was a wonderful day and Al brought her into the dock perfectly!  Yea Us!

Venture out into the Bay

The Eddingtons came along as we took Cambria out on our first venture into the bay.  

It was too windy for us to put the sails up.  We just are not ready for that yet. But we motored out to the end of the channel past CM2 and then we came back into the mouth of Clear Lake and then brought her back to the slip.  Well, actually we 'surfed' up the dock... Al just backed it down and brought her back in safely.  No harm done... glad we have floating docks!  We also met our slip neighbor - Nobel.

The Dreaded First Collision!

Well, as with most any vessel, whether land or sea, there comes a time when you just can't avoid a collision.  Fortunately for us it happened the day we moved her to KBM, so we got that out of the way early on. The first time Al put her in the slip was perfect.  It was too cold for us to sail, but we did want to practice getting her in and out of the slip so we did some practice docking maneuvers. On the 3rd time disaster struck! The current was really strong (for us anyway) and we (The Eddington's were with us) all hands trying to get her back into the slip.  The current pushed us past our slip and in our attempt to turn her around we 'clipped' the bow of a power boat 'Lone Star' with our anchor.

We broke the bow mounted flood light and immediately went to the office to report our infraction.

 We told the harbor master that we wanted to contact the owner but he would not give us the number for privacy reasons.  He said he would contact them and get back with us.  We had never seen anyone on the boat and it had been very badly neglected.  We kept checking with the office and were told they could not reach the owner.  So we waited.... and waited.... until finally, one day we saw Ben Miller working on it and said that she had been foreclosed on and she had been sold to someone up in Washington and he had been commissioned to move her. He said he did not know the new owner, but that he had bought it 'as is' and for us not to worry about the light.  Well, we did TRY to take care of the damage.  The original owners obviously were not too concerned about it either.

We did improve our docking skills!

Well, We have a Boat.... Now what do we do with it?

Well, now that we have purchased her, We had to move her from Seabrok Marina to her new home in Kemah Boardwalk Marina.  The weather was too cold for us to sail but we did take her in and out of the slip a few times.   Curtis and Diane Eddington helped us bring her "home".

                                                            
                                              Al and Curtis bringing her up the KBM Channel.

Our First Night on our New Boat

December 16, 2008.  The first night we spent on our Cambria.  We actually stayed 2 nights.  We have not yet found a place to keep her, but Seabrook Marina has given us a couple of weeks to figure it out.  Carolyn promised they would not kick us out. We are looking at Portafino and Kemah Boardwalk Marina and Watergate.  There just are not any slips available!  Meanwhile, we decided we at least could spend the night on the boat.

Closing Day

Well, we did it.  Today we signed the closing papers for our purchase of S/V Cambria.  We decided to keep the name as we did not want to anger the sea gods... Besides, we really liked the name.  It just seemed to be the right thing to do.

We take the boat out for the first time

Well, the time came for us to un-cover the binacle and start this baby up.  

Al started her for the1st time, pulled her out of the slip, turned her around and pulled back in.  

All went well but we felt it was best to wait until we had a crew to take her out.  Just not ready yet to do it by ourselves.we are not confident enough to sail her yet.  But soon.

Decisions! Decisions!

    We are looking for just the right boat!  Is this the one?   Decisions! Decisions

She looks pretty good sailing down the Clear Lake Channel (Photo taken from the 146 Bridge by the previous owner).

 She looks good out of the water too!

Now for the inside.... Looking down into the boat from the companionway stairs.
What a beautiful cabin!

The Shower and Head look good.

                      
                The Navigation Station works too.






Now lets see how she sails!  Carolyn Lexa, our Broker, and her husband Dan took us out for our sea trials.

                              

Kay is pretty comfortable at the Helm... as Carolyn explains the intricacies of sailing and assures her that she will do just fine.

Finally, Al is certain that this will be a suitable new "office" and that he will be able to sell lots of steel here.

So! Here we go..........  

We are now the proud owners of a 

SAILBOAT!!!!!

The Commitment

After returning from St. Maarten, we talked about taking sailing lessons, but time went by and the thought was beginning to fade.... Until, Al and Kay decide to go to the boat show and check things out.  While we were their, we saw a man "Captain Lewis" with Let's Go Sailing school.  Kay convinced Al that it was now or never... either we took lessons and learned to sail now... or we never did.  So made the commitment, paid our money, and called Curtis and Diane and told them what we did and asked them to join us.  And they did!

So a few weeks later and we are taking lessons. Kristin, their daughter took lessons with us.