Even though we may very well be on land for next Christmas this *felt* like our last land-based Christmas and so I think that made us more into the holidays. I'll post a few of the ways we celebrated.

We started with 24 paper envelopes pinned to a ribbon tied to our grab rail over the salon. Each day was numbered from Dec 1 to 24th.

Examples of the fillings:
- LED lights to hang in the salon
- Many, many chocolates
- Instructions to send ourselves an email in the future using futureme.org
- Trivia Pursuit cards
- A crossword puzzle
- Holiday drinks (Estrellitas, coffee with Baileys)

- Livia

It was a once in a lifetime perhaps opportunity to see the Olympic Flame on its longest journey in a single country to open the Winter Olympics in Vancouver BC.

We had a lovely day of climbing outdoors the weekend before the marathon. Pictures are in this set.

We are insulating all of our lockers with RFOIL (foil-bubble wrap-bubble wrap-foil).

Bleach wash down, followed by methyl hydrate clean up, RFOIL cut in sections and held down with double sided contractor strength carpet tape, insulation tape sealing pieces and sides.

Wish us luck in beating the condensation this winter.

Our first wee crew joined us this summer. She was handy with a winch. Oh, and her parents came too ;)

Already scaled - West Coast of Vancouver Island

Our first organized ditch bag. Kept in a duffel bag, some inside a dry bag in the duffel. The vinegar container is empty and for extra flotation.

Lest this blog become only a list of boat projects I thought I would post a photo of something else we did. This is Carol and I flying in formation in two Chinese Yaks. OK, I'm not flying...

Our spinnaker on a friend's Wauquiez Hood 38.

This is our spacious aft cabin, recently cleared out and scrubbed to a shine. We have our first two sets of out of town visitors* coming this summer. Yay!

Carol is scoping out the installation of our new inverter...FYI ;)

*OK, my parents have stayed over several times so I guess these are our first fly-in, non-family guests.

The white speck on the bow is my Dad waving, originally uploaded by ontogeny.

During my trip in the Puget Sound I sailed South of the Edmonds-Kingston ferry while my Dad was on it. The white speck on the bow is him.

Kingston Marina has an electric car, originally uploaded by ontogeny.

The marina at Kingston, WA has an electric car! You can take it around town and get groceries. My folks were meeting me with a car and I was almost bummed I didn't get to take this for a spin.

Livia's first solo "motoring" - Day 1 was across the Strait of Juan de Fuca (Friday Harbor to Port Townsend).

Rebedding head port, originally uploaded by S/V Estrellita.

The port in the head was leaking. This weekend Carol pulled out the plexiglass and after a long cleaning process, rebed it with Sikki 295 UV.

Manson Supreme, originally uploaded by S/V Estrellita.

We have a brand spanking new anchor - a 45lb Manson Supreme. We tested it out last weekend at the beautiful Sucia Island Marine Park in eel grass and mud and it set so quickly, so well, it was frightening.

We are looking forward to trying it in other bottoms and in less settled conditions. We oversized the anchor two sizes for peace of mind and safety. A 25lb is sized for 25-35 foot boats and two sizes up is the 45lb for 40-45 foot boats.

Pirate band-aid, originally uploaded by S/V Estrellita.

If you have a boo boo and you want to feel tough, there is nothing quite like a pirate band-aid.

ARRR!

We love our inflatable kayak from West Marine so far. We bought the stiffer of the two versions, in a two person and included the backbone. It tracks well for an inflatable. We spent half a day paddling around "together" but with one paddle. Carol took it for a late afternoon paddle the next day.

We are considering adding the new Odyssey batteries as we re-do our battery bank. These batteries have the amazing characteristic of accepting the same full charge rate when they are 80% charged as they do when 50% charged.

We created a cardboard mock up of one of the PC1800s which we will be using to see if we can fit 2 in the place that the current batteries are. We will certainly have to destroy the old box and rebuild but if we measured correctly, might be able to fit two of these.

When we left our house in Colorado, we kept our 8" deep memory foam mattress (a Tempurapedic knock off) which Carol subsequently cut into the correct sizes for the v-berth. It cuts into our headroom but it is so very fantastically comfortable.

To alleviate condensation issues we recently purchased Hypervent which Livia wrestled into place and cut so that it goes under the v-berth and up the sides. At the same time she re-sealed and varnished all of the wood underneath the v-berth which looked good but had been getting consistently wet and she bleached out the mattress to make sure it didn't get funky.

So far this seems to have improved the condensation but not eliminated it. Really, we need to improve the ventilation.

We've ordered special EC Smith and Sons solar vents which fit our existing Ventilite flush vents on the foredeck and we will be installing those soon. One of the few real downsides of the Pretorien design is that ventilation with the stock vents is not enough.

Livia's birthday gift from Carol!