Sailing Vessel Quinine
To fend off the crushing despair of being evacuated from the Peace Corps as the world was thrust into a global pandemic, I fixed up a $750 dilapidated sailboat and sailed it to Alaska.
This boat had sat in the Tacoma harbor for a few decades. She needed a lot of work, including a total rewire, new plumbing, and some hefty mechanical work. One of the major engine cooling pipes was severed, and the only thing keeping it afloat was a D-cell battery lodged into the pipe.
I even had to rewire the mast lights; not a simple operation.
I also had to spend a lot of time under the boat, replacing anodes and removing a few thousand pounds of barnacles, mussels, and anemones from the hull while contending with the seals this attracted.
Using the old pieces as templates, we replaced most of the exterior wood components, and some of the interior ones too.
After new wiring and upholstery, and some new finish on the teak interior, it was starting to look pretty good
The exterior began to look nice as well, especially with he addition of some artwork, courtesy of Emma Brooks.
To voyage ashore, we acquired an inflatable Yugoslavian dinghy and were able to buy a little 4-stroke outboard for $50.
The original crew, with our boat pet, Ryan, a Chinese swan goose.
With a new name, and a new-to-us 8hp motor for emergency power and propulsion, we set sail.
A few months later, we were greeted by impressive walls of ice in Glacier Bay, Alaska. Having grown tired of the near constant threat of death, we sold the boat (for much more than $750) in Juneau and returned to a terrestrial lifestyle.
