Our Ship Finally Came In!
If you haven’t been checking our HH55 Ticket to Ride Facebook page, you might not know that after seeing the container ship holding TTR anchored in the harbor for 7 days, our sailboat was finally unloaded! The process of unloading a sailboat and setting it up again has been very interesting! Well, I have found it interesting, but it is my home, so that could add to the appeal.
First, I must tell you that the week Ticket to Ride was delivered, L.A. was experiencing more rain than usual. In fact they received almost as much rain that week as they usually receive in a whole year!!!
This was not perfect weather, but we were so happy that TTR was arriving, it didn’t bother us a bit during the off loading process.
Chris Bailet, Gino Morrelli, Frank, Mary Grace, Mark Womble, Scott Gray
Chris Bailet, HH commissioning skipper, Gino Morrelli and Mark Womble of M&M and Scott Gray of Rigging Projects and Frank and I arrived at the port bright and early wearing our foul weather gear. We were escorted to the container ship immediately. TTR was in the hold of the APL Sentosa which was in the process of being unloaded by cranes.
(Video of a crane unloading a container.)
I was amazed at how huge and fast and organized the process of offloading the containers actually occurs. But when you consider that the APL Sentosa can carry 13,892 containers, they better load and unload quickly.
Midway up the stacked containers – the photo doesn’t really capture it.
We climbed ladders and gangways in the Sentosa until we were about midway up the height of the stacked containers where the ships’ bosun met us and unlocked the doors where TTR was secured.
TTR was snuggly wrapped and strapped down inside a locker all to herself.
Our first step was to unwrap the lower half of the shrink wrap protecting Ticket to Ride so the U.S. Customs officers could board and inspect her. We were not allowed to board TTR until Customs gave us the all clear.
Seeing “Ticket to Ride” written on the stern for the first time.
Once TTR was inspected, the crane operator removed the three sections of roof covering Ticket to Ride. Chris Bailet, commissioning captain for HH Catamarans, had wisely directed us to leave the top of the shrink wrap on the boat until the container tops were lifted. The noise of that process was deafening and dirt and rust rained down on the boat. I was super happy Chris had told us to wait to unwrap the boat!
After the roof was gone, we unwrapped the remainder of the protective plastic and unstrapped TTR from the Sentosa. The crane hooked into the HH shipping cradle and began rising to tighten the straps while Chris verified that TTR was properly balanced before actually lifting her out of the ship.
Shrink wrap off and ready to lift.
Chris had just signaled the ‘go ahead’ to lift TTR when suddenly the electricity to the whole port of L.A. went out!
How could that even happen?
Mort, the foreman from the port, told me that almost anytime it rains they experiences ‘brown outs.’ Seriously?!
We were surprised and disappointed the electricity had gone out but we were really, really glad the outage happened before TTR was lifted!!! Can you imagine the stress of having your boat suspended 100 feet above ground and having the electricity go out?!
About 30 minutes later the electricity was restored, the crane was recalibrated and the lifting process began again. While we waited for the electricity to be restored, the wind and rain settled down which made hoisting Ticket to Ride a good bit safer.
TTR was gently lifted out of the confines of the ship and hoisted over the side of the Sentosa above the concrete loading area of the port.
(Video of TTR being moved sideways above the port loading road.)
The crane move sideways, parallel to the Sentosa until it was aft of the container ship and across from an area of the dock open to the water.
Gino Morrelli, Mary Grace and Frank.
Since TTR was still strapped to the shipping cradle, she had to be lowed to the peer and unstrapped so she could float free when the platform was in the water. Chris removed straps and once more verified the balance of the boat on the cradle while Frank and I took pictures and celebrated that TTR was finally here in the States and almost in the water.
Finally entering the water!
We watched as Ticket to Ride was lifted one last time and moved toward the water, then we scrambled over to the Towboat USA boat which ferried us the few meters over to TTR while she was still slightly suspended in the water on the cradle.
Chris made short work of starting the engines and making sure all was well aboard before asking the crane operator to release TTR to the water.
Chris piloting TTR away from the port of L.A.
Amazingly, after TTR’s 7,035 mile trip on the Sentosa, she was in perfect condition and the engines started up without a hitch.
The rain had included a good bit of wind and kicked up the sea state, even behind the breakwater it was quite rough as we motored to the Alamitos Bay Marina. But HH did an excellent job of securing the mast and boom and they didn’t budge a bit even with the steep waves.
Waves breaking over the breakwater.
If you look beyond the TowBoat, you can see the spray of the waves pounding against the breakwater. The swells were pretty big where there were breaks in the sea walls but even with the slippery shipping rudders, Chris handled TTR without any difficulty.
Needless to say all of us exhaled a sigh of relief after Ticket to Ride was off the ship, back in the water and safely at the dock.
Next up would be swapping out the shipping rudders for our spade rudders, stepping the mast and tuning the rigging. BUT California had another surprise in store for us…. the shipyard won’t operate the cranes in the rain so we actually had to wait four days before we could begin that process. Which I will share in the next blog.
After waiting what felt like a very long time for the delivery of TTR, Frank and I are excited to feel like this dream is really coming to fruition. We couldn’t wait to move on board, so we spent that very first night on Ticket to Ride and have been here every night since.
We are thrilled to be back on a floating home and hear the sounds of water at night as we drift off to sleep.
Once more we must express our sincere gratitude to the many people who have and are helping us with TTR. Hats off to HH Catamarans for building our very special home with excellent quality and high standards. AND for understanding the need for and providing the help of the commissioning team. A huge thank you to Morrelli and Melvin for designing such a great catamaran and incorporating the modifications we wanted so TTR would suit our needs very well. Innumerable thanks to Chris Ballet and Lauren Battaile as they spearhead the commissioning and teach us to make this cat purr – or roar!
Thanks so much for stopping by to read our blog. We welcome your comments. For more regular information, please visit our FB page.
Stiiiil Waiiiiting!
I would love this post to be about the arrival of HH55 Ticket to Ride, but it is about delay instead.
I wish that was the California coast in the background, but…
Unfortunately this photo is not TTR with Los Angeles in the background. This is from our time sailing in Xiamen, China.
We have been tracking the container ship carrying TTR as it crossed the China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. We were excited to see it getting close to LA and knew the ship was arriving around January 7th.
But close is all we are at the moment.
So close and yet so far….
This is a screen shot showing the location of the container ship carrying TTR. The ship arrived on January 7th, but the port is backed up and the vessel is anchored just outside of the unloading docks.
Yesterday we were told “our” container ship would dock on Friday and the contents would be unloaded on Monday, January 14th. About a week later than expected, but we had an expected date.
This morning we received notice that although the contents of the ship had been released, Customs has pulled back on that decision and wants to inspect the ship. I have no idea why this decision has been made. I only know that it means TTR will not be unloaded Monday.
Our agent has assured us that all the paperwork is in order and has been turned into the authorities. We have done all we can to make the delivery go smoothly.
We no longer have an off load date.
So now we just wait. And we wait. And wait.
Thanks for reading our blog. We hope to have better news soon. Please look to our Facebook page for more up to date information.
Foraging For Coconuts
While sailing Florida and the Caribbean, we often saw scads of coconuts just begging to be harvested. This picture is from a successful trip Frank, Clayton and Captain made during the Christmas Holidays in 2016.
Clearly they were all pleased! We sure miss you Cappy girl!
Thanks for revisiting a memory with us. Reviewing pictures is a fun way to spend a little time while we wait for the DELAYED delivery of our new boat, Ticket to Ride! Thank you for stopping by.
Ticket To Ride Is Arriving! Yippee!
Sailing TTR in China
Needless to say we have been impatiently awaiting the delivery of our new HH55 Catamaran. We signed a contract in early September 2017 and waiting for Ticket to Ride to arrive has been a challenge.
Let It Be floating in the Bahamian water.
That isn’t to say we have not enjoyed ourselves while TTR was under construction! We absolutely loved our last sailboat, Let It Be, and the exploring we did on her.
Watson Falls, Oregon
Having a chance to drive around the U.S. and see so much of this country has been really eye opening and we have seen amazingly beautiful places.
Crater Lake, Oregon. And yes, that blue is the actual color of the water in certain light!
However, we do miss living on the water and we are super excited to move on board TTR.
Based on what we heard today, the container ship carrying Ticket to Ride will arrive in Los Angeles on January 8th!
TTR wrapped and ready to be loaded on the container ship.
Once the ship arrives in Los Angeles, TTR will be unloaded onto a dock where we will dispense with the shrink wrap currently protecting her. After the shrink wrap is removed, TTR will be lowered into the water and we will motor away to our temporary marina in Long Beach.
The mast will remain on the coach roof while we motor to the marina. Stepping the mast requires a crane which we were able to schedule for Friday.
HYM employs the services of a young captain, Chris, who will help us commission TTR and make her ready for sailing and life aboard. Chris has been involved with the commissioning of all of the HH55 cats and has experience commissioning and racing the HH66. So in addition to making sure everything is functioning properly on TTR, we are counting on Chris to teach us a few tricks and secrets about handling the HH55.
Racing the HH66 Nala. (Photo from HH Catamarans)
Although the HH55 is built to fly a hull like in the picture above, that is not of interest to me, and I will not be asking Chris for advice on this maneuver! (Yet.)
In addition to Chris’s proficiency, experts from Rigging Projects and Pochon Electronics will be on hand to set the rigging properly and get all the systems up and running.
Fortunately for us, Morrelli and Melvin office in Newport Beach which is only a stones throw away from Long Beach. That means we will have additional support and knowledge from M&M, who designed the HH catamarans.
We will certainly offer greater detail about what is happening on TTR as things progress and I have time to write about the experience of taking delivery of our HH55. But for now, getting TTR ready will keep us busy for the next little while!
What a fun way to begin 2019!
Check out our FB page if you would like to see more frequent posts about TTR.
Thanks for reading our blog. And thank you for hanging out on land with us while we were between boats. We look forward to getting our sea legs back and sharing our cruising lifestyle once again!
Buy Our RV! Temporary Digs Is For Sale.
After months of traveling on land and enjoying the RV life as we anxiously anticipate the arrival of our HH55 catamaran, the time is upon us to prepare to leave our RV, Temporary Digs.
Traveling by RV has been a great way for us to enjoy our own space while biking miles and miles of the U.S. We are extremely thankful for this opportunity, but we are antsy to see s/v Ticket to Ride delivered and to make her our home…. TTR is on the delivery ship which is making its way across the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean toward California.
Today I have initiated the sale process of our RV ~ I have posted the RV for sale on both RV Trader and Craigs List. We hope to find a buyer quickly!
The whole time we have been in the RV, we have kept an eye on the fact that we will be selling her, so we have done all we can to make certain she remains in excellent condition.
Someone is going to get an RV that is in excellent shape and priced well!
If you or someone you know is thinking about buying a 5th wheel RV, please be sure to have them contact us.
This floor plan was perfect for us! (Our kitchen seating is L-shape and can be a bed too.)
FYI, our RV is a 2018 Jayco Eagle HT 30.5 MBOK. We had no real idea what that meant when we started looking at RVs, but now we can tell you: our RV is 36′ long and has a bunk room in the middle. The great thing about this set up is that you have an enclosed room in the middle for sleeping or storage but you still have great views from the sitting room of the RV. The master bed is a queen size and there is also a pull out sofa in the main room. You could easily sleep 8 in this RV!
Recliners for those who love to watch TV when away from home.
We chose to give our bikes and kiteboard gear the primo location of the bunk room – easy access and they were safe from the elements and theft.
Here are a couple of pics…. feel free to share them if you know someone who would like a gently used, well maintained and appreciated RV!
Having our own space for cooking was great!!
A comfy queen sized bed.
We removed the bottom bunk for bike storage, but will replace it unused for the buyer.
For additional information, you can find our RV via RV Trader or Craig’s List.
Thanks so much for reading our blog…. we appreciate your time and would love it you could help us spread the word that our RV is for sale near Newport Beach, CA!
Merry Christmas!
“It isn’t the size of the tree that matters, it’s the love in your heart that counts!”
Quotes made up by me. 🙂
Our Christmas tree this year is 20″ tall!
We hope you have a Merry Christmas this year and we especially hope it is a blessed one.
Surprise! We will be mountain biking in Santa Cruz!
Our Christmas be spent in the RV in Santa Cruz, CA and will include our kids this year. Since we consider them, and our families, our greatest blessing, we know Christmas will be wonderful.
Just one of the amazing things we saw traveling the U.S. (Arizona)
Needless to say, 2018 has been a year of change for us, but thankfully they have been good changes and changes of choice. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time exploring the U.S. since selling Let It Be back in May.
Photo taken on a bike ride in the Dolomites, Italy
Another pretty view from our VBT bike tour.
In addition to traveling the U.S., we had the opportunity to go to Italy for an excellent bike trip through Vermont Bike Tours. A special thank you to Terrie and Brad for inviting us to join them and their friends. The people were really fun and the places we visited were great.
Frank at the helm of TTR.
We also traveled to China to oversee the progress of TTR and to sail our boat. We expended a LOT of energy in the building process of Ticket to Ride throughout 2018 and we can hardly wait for her delivery to the West Coast which is expected just days into the new year!
TTR being hoisted to the shipping dock.
TTR is the culmination of the vision of Morrelli and Melvin being brought to life by HH Catamarans, with slight changes to accommodate our specific preferences. There are far too many individuals who contributed to this project to name them all, but we are very grateful to every single person who has helped us along the way.
Ticket to Ride wrapped and ready to load on a container ship.
As we conclude 2018, we are thankful for our many blessings and for the opportunities we have to see so much and meet people from all over the world. We are thankful for prayers answered, especially those for friends who have battled illnesses or who have lost homes to natural disasters. We are conscious of our losses this year, especially of our sweet dog, Captain.
As we transition into 2019, we do so with thanks and great excitement. We can hardly wait to move onto Ticket to Ride! For us, there is something magical about living on the water and we look forward to doing so again.
Thank you to those who have traveled with us through our blog this year, especially since our focus was temporarily directed away from cruising which is the basis for our journaling. We look forward to learning about our new boat and resuming the cruising lifestyle and we hope you enjoy our musings as we move forward.
Once again, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate the birth of Christ and blessings to those who celebrate differently. We hope 2019 is filled with joy and contentment for you.
As always, thank you for visiting our blog. If you would like to hear from us more often, please check our FB page: HH55 Ticket to Ride. We look forward to returning to the water in 2019!
Hoodoos, Hikes and Petrified Wood
After leaving China, we arrived in Salt Lake City and settled back into RV life pretty easily. It was really nice to be able to cook our own meals after being away for a month. However, the weather was cold, especially after being in Xiamen where the temperatures were in the 70s.
Snow – an added incentive to leave Salt Lake City.
We spent several days trying to resolve the question of what really happened to our dog, Captain, but we were unsuccessful. After visiting the vet, animal control and the pet sitter, we had to accept that we will never know the truth. We shed many tears as we left Salt Lake City without our sweet Cappy. We were very happy to leave SLC as it is the place we will always remember with sadness, anger and regret.
This photo gives you a glimpse into the size of Bryce Canyon.
Our destination was Bryce Canyon and it was beautiful! We still felt the chill of late fall, but there wasn’t any snow and the cold weather brought beautiful clear skies.
Layers of color are revealed as the mudstone and sandstone erode.
Bryce is known for its’ “Hoodoos” which are formed through a weathering process primarily of freezing and melting of water within the walls plus the erosion of rain. Bryce experiences around 200 freezing and melting cycles each year and these cycles create cracks that rainwater seeps into and begins to erode.
Off season and cool weather meant very few hikers.
Walking the trails in Bryce and driving around the Canyon, we found the colors and light-play beautiful. Initially we thought the cold temperatures would deter us from hiking, but actually down in the canyon we were protected from the wind and were quite comfortable.
That’s I walking down to the gateway in a hoodoo.
One benefit of the cooler weather was a lack of crowds. Being delayed in arriving at Bryce allowed us to see it with fewer people around. We enjoyed the quiet we could find without crowds and often had minutes at a time without running into other hikers.
The canyon floor felt more lush.
This bright orange area seemed to have formed in a spiral.
The switchbacks coming out of the canyon were the most crowded area we saw.
Sunset was coming as we were driving the rim road.
Bryce Canyon was absolutely beautiful and interesting. Visiting on such a quiet day with a slight bite in the air and a crisp clear sky as well as having the opportunity to hike through the canyon for a couple of hours made this a truly delightful day.
The next focal point on our tour was the Petrified Forest. I wasn’t sure what I would think of this but Frank was charged to see these old fossils. Turns out he was right – the Petrified Forest was amazing!
Don’t be fooled…. that log is a rock.
We stopped in the town of Tropic, UT at the town center to see the museum. Although the museum was only one room, it had a good amount of information and seeing the samples of petrified trees alone was worth the stop.
Reflections on the polished surface aside, this is pretty amazing.
Three rings of petrified trees are on display and each has been polished to a high gloss so the colors are bright and clear. I had no idea these fossils were so colorful and pretty.
From the museum, we headed to the actual Petrified Forest for a two mile hike that would thread us through the remains. The Forest has over 5.2 million tons of exposed tree-rocks that are strewn about the Petrified Forest. We were in awe of these trees-cum-stones.
Fourteen pieces of “wood” lining this path are stones.
Looking at many of the stones, you could imagine they were really pieces of a tree that a child had left crayons on and the crayons had melted leaving a rainbow of colors.
Love this array of color!
However, once you touched the tree, you realized it was indeed stone and a much more dense and solid one than the rocks around it. Petrified wood measures 7.8 on the Mohs hardness scale…. diamonds are a 10 on the same scale. One cubic foot of lava rock weighs about 50 pounds. One cubic foot of petrified wood weighs between 160-200 pounds. Yep, that is solid!
Frank agrees; these fossils are solid!
Also, these trees are over 200 million years old! That is dinosaur time frame…. so chances are, these stone-trees were once living trees munched upon by brontosauri! That’s pretty crazy to think about.
It looks like bark but it feels like stone.
Once again, the Petrified Forest was empty. We saw only three people on our hike and they were in a big hurry. Pretty quickly we were the only people walking the paths and we explored a very long time. I wasn’t sure I would get Frank away before sunset!
The sun was setting as we descended the last hill to the parking lot.
Our final park visit was Zion National Park. Zion is as pretty as Bryce Canyon is but in a different way. Capturing Zion’s beauty was more difficult because it is difficult to portray the sheer magnitude of the walls.
Silly observation ~ I love the color coordinated red of the pavement.
Plus lighting is bright and shadowed in the same frame. Our eyes can adjust for this, but I don’t have sophisticated photo software that will adjust separate areas of a photograph. My pictures are minimally adjusted, so the photos of Zion do not do it justice.
This ravine is deeper and taller than it seems in this photo.
We only had one day in Zion, but we used our time well. We hiked the Overlook Trail for the grand scheme of the park and here are some of the sights from that trail.
Desert Bighorn Sheep. Pretty cute!
The swirls were very interesting.
Yep, soon I heard, “Oh it bit me!” Hope she is ok.
Frank enjoying the summit.
Our view at the top of the Overlook.
This looks like Frank might be having an amazing moment!
Next we walked the River Walk, which although touted as “easy” (so something we would usually skip) was well worth the walk since the scenery is different from other parts of the park.
This is prettier in person where your eyes adjust for the shadows and light.
You can certainly understand this artist’s inspiration.
This heron was slowly stalking something in the water.
How is that for camouflage?
Did you see them before the zoom in?
Finally we walked as much of Angel’s Landing as we could, but the sun was setting and we weren’t about to get caught in the dark!
This walk was a bit strenuous but the sights were great.
The squiggly walk….look how plants grow everywhere.
We only made it as far as The Wiggles, but it was good exercise and there were more great views.
I am sure we will catch flack for this, but we have decided to wait and visit the Grand Canyon on another trip. We want to make some family visits before TTR is delivered to California and we don’t want to rush through the Grand Canyon. Our thought is that another year we will make reservations to stay in the Park and spend several days there. We think optimal visiting time at the Grand Canyon would be late September when the crowds have thinned a bit and the temps have cooled but are not cold.
Additionally, there is only so much sightseeing we can do in a limited amount of time before it feels like we are just checking off boxes instead of really enjoying the destinations. I would rather delay seeing the Grand Canyon to a time when I will not feel rushed and we will have time to appreciate its splendor.
~HH55 Catamaran Update~
Ticket to Ride at the HH facility in Xiamen
We impatiently await the delivery of TTR to Long Beach, California. She should arrive early in January. Once Ticket to Ride is unloaded from the cargo ship, the mast will be re-stepped, rigging will be tensioned and TTR will be put through her paces to make sure all is well. To say we an excited about our new home is an understatement.
!!!!!!Five or six weeks until delivery!!!!!!
Our Final Visit to HH in Xiamen, China
We anxiously await the delivery of our new home.
Frank and I have just returned from three weeks in China and what is probably our last visit to that country. When our oldest son decided to study in China, I was apprehensive about his being so far away in a country where I could not communicate if he had trouble and whose government is so different from ours in the U.S. But having now visited China several times, I admit I feel very safe there. I have never felt I was in danger of anything other than getting lost.
Our visits to China have been very positive. The people are nice and willing to help, though we have to play charades to ask a question, order food or generally get around. Sometimes the charades, combined with the small amount of English a local might speak will allow us to communicate. But often, our communication doesn’t really work. If you have any interest in visiting China, I strongly recommend a guide if you don’t speak Mandarin.
On the whole, I find the Chinese to be a happy population. I see a lot of laughter and I enjoy how playful and unsophisticated some of their interactions appear. I also enjoy their love of cartoon-like characters. Somehow these things make me feel that the people here are young at heart and it makes me wish I could communicate with them more.
HH has taken excellent care of us during each of our visits, making sure we have transportation and are very well fed! We sincerely appreciate the service and care HH has provided and we will miss seeing the staff who has always been welcoming and accommodating.
This trip, Frank and I spent most of our time in Xiamen at the HH factory. If we weren’t there, we did not venture very far from our hotel but instead spent our down time studying for our next level of captains licensing or working out in the gym or enjoying the scenery from high in the hotel.
I wish I could capture the flavor of China to share with you, but the variety of experiences is broad. Instead, I will share a few photos I took while walking or being driven by the HH driver. (Please excuse the less than excellent quality of the photos.)
Doors are an important feature of buildings.
Although Feng Shui is a concept I learned about only 15 years ago, it is entrenched in Chinese society and beliefs. According to this belief, direction and appearance of the front doorway is especially important because it allows energy to flow freely into the home and throughout the interior. Even on relatively modest homes or places of business, the doorways were often elaborate. I could only catch a couple as we were driving.
Landscape is lush and well maintained.
I don’t know if the soil is exceptionally good or if the Chinese have a special talent for gardening, but so much of the surroundings are beautifully tended and sculptured. The sides of highways were often tiered with a variety of plants, parks are sprinkled among high rises and flowers are often in planters outside of homes or businesses.
Although Xiamen has a ton of tall apartment buildings and buildings in general with the definite feel of a large population, there are also green spaces to relieve the density of the buildings. Admittedly, there are also many buildings with laundry drying from balconies, or tall, new buildings near shorter, older ones that look near collapse, so the city doesn’t feel pristine, but instead feels very much “lived in.”
Older buildings in foreground, newer buildings past the highway and green space mixed in.
But as I’ve said before, China is defined by both the old and new, the modern and the traditional. Daily life is a juxtaposition of repurposing old things and embracing new ones.
A belt driven engine of some kind.
A young woman was pedaling these wooden crates.
I’m not sure how this is steered.
In addition to these unique vehicles, there are plenty of new cars including some extremely expensive ones, but I would not like to navigate any of the roads myself. Lanes seems to be simply suggestions and not a hard and fast rule in China. I have never seen people drive cars SO close together, on purpose, without a bunch of horn honking. I have complete respect for the folks who drive in Xiamen!
More cranes than Dallas!
For a while, when we lived in Texas, we used to say the state bird was the crane because there were so many building cranes being used for construction. But I am certain there were more building cranes in use in Xiamen than I ever saw in Dallas!
Xiamen University is large complex of buildings and they are still adding facilities. I read that there are over 40,000 full time students at Xiamen University, though with such a large campus I never saw it look at all crowded although we passed it ever day on our way to the HH facility.
Xiamen University is huge and brand new.
All of the red roofs in the background are part of Xiamen University.
Interesting architecture on newer buildings.
Zoom in on the necklace, earrings and hat!
I just had to throw in this photo session we saw while visiting Piano Island. I have no idea what the purpose of the ‘shoot’ was, but I found this woman’s whole outfit intriguing. Now I certainly wouldn’t want anyone to assume that my fashion taste was anything like that of most advertisements I see, so I am not assuming that this is representative of the average Chinese consumer. But I did love the mixture of elements in this outfit! The bustier top combined with the socks and high heels, along with the power fist necklace and the giant earrings?! Pretty interesting.
To me, this speaks of the combination of sophistication yet playfulness I tried to allude to concerning the Chinese.
Please do NOT think I am being derogatory of the Chinese. That is not my intention. I am simply trying to show what I observed and interpreted as a childlike quality retained by the people that I found heartwarming and likable.
One last photo…. what do you notice is missing from our hotel?
Do you see a pattern here?
I had no idea why these floors were missing. Turns out the Chinese believe in avoiding what they consider unlucky. In this case, it is the number 4. Therefore there was not a 4th, 14th or 24th floor in our hotel. I’m not sure how they managed to eliminate three whole floors, but it was very tricky!
In conclusion, my initial concern for my son’s safety while he lived in China changed completely after I visited him there in 2013. Today, after several additional visits to China, I have become quite fond of many aspects of it, although I do not really know much about China because when language and reading are not understood, a culture cannot truly be absorbed. The only judgement I have is based on my interaction with those who could speak to me and my general impressions and intuition, both of which were favorable.
However, even if I could speak Mandarin, I would never trade the U.S. for China. Frank and I thoroughly missed our home country. We prefer the culture and manners of our native land and were happy to return.
Now that our last visit to the HH factory is completed, we are counting the days until Ticket to Ride will be delivered to the U.S. via container ship!
Thank you HH and Morrelli and Melvin for creating our awesome future home!
Sea Trials On HH55 Ticket To Ride
After a 15 hour flight we arrived in Xiamen, China at 6 am. Between a long flight and flying into a whole new day, we could have been tired, but our excitement to see Ticket to Ride in the water and ready to sail precluded any fatigue.
HH has been extremely generous on all of our visits and provides us with transportation so we never have to try to communicate our destination to a driver. A car arrives at our hotel, we say hello (almost the extent of our Mandarin) and we are whisked away to our destination.
This trip was no different and a driver picked us up at the airport. As soon as we dropped our luggage at the hotel and picked up Gino Morrelli, who had arrived the previous day, we headed out to see TTR.
China blends ancient and modern everywhere you look.
It was quite a thrill to see our boat floating in the harbor waiting for us to climb aboard! The culmination of more than a year of planning and monitoring the construction of our future home was incredibly exciting for us.
We have spent hours with Gino and Mark, of Morrelli and Melvin, refining the boat for our cruising needs and for sailing TTR with just Frank and me on board. Frank spent countless hours reviewing drawings HH created as the boat was being constructed. Thomas, Ricardo, Emma, James, Taka, Jessica and so many, many others at HH poured untold numbers of hours into actually fabricating this vessel and we were finally going to sail her!
The weather was a bit overcast, but the winds were perfect for our purposes. The first day we had light breezes, the second day were a little stronger and the third day the winds gusted as high as 23 knots. The progressive increase in the wind was perfect for testing the rigging on Ticket to Ride. Matt, from Rigging Projects, was on board with us the first three days examining and tweaking the rigging to make sure everything was stable and strong.
TTR flying the full main and solent.
Mark, with Doyle Sails, joined us for a bit to review the fit of our new canvas. With the exception of a few minor changes needed on our mainsail, we are extremely pleased with the fit of our new Doyle sails.
Frank, Mark and Matt messing with sails.
After Matt was comfortable with the rigging, and we had spent two days progressively testing the boat, Gino, Thomas, Matt and James took advantage of the winds and pushed TTR a bit to see what she could do.
TTR felt solid and stable even at 19.5 knots!!!
And sail her we did!! As you can see from the screen shot above, we managed to get TTR moving along nicely. This shot was taken while we were sailing the full mainsail and the solent…. imagine if we had had the reacher up?!
David and Frank discussing boats as Gino helms.
The final day of sea trials, Frank and I had a chance to “take the reins” on Ticket to Ride. Thomas walked us through raising the main and furling the solent and reacher. We certainly weren’t race boat crew fast, but we did manage to accomplish the tasks. Fortunately we didn’t have any issues, but I can tell you that TTR is ready to run! She can load up quickly and we will have to be very aware of changing wind conditions as TTR will ramp up much faster than Let It Be did.
HH is very conscientious about caring for our boat. The interior and exterior cushions are still wrapped in plastic, the floors are protected with cardboard, the cabinetry tops are protected, etc. As a result, I don’t have interior shots to share, but we are very pleased with the quality of the workmanship…. and with the colors we have chosen.
One of the challenges HH is facing right now is that the marina they used for sea trials is closed due to some financial issues. The result is that TTR is moored in the harbor and two people from HH stay on board at all times. Another example of the level of care taken to protect the HH boats.
Ricardo didn’t want to risk having the mooring ball damage or scratch TTR, so he wrapped the whole mooring ball in padding. I captured this shot of him refining his work.
Ricardo wraps the mooring ball to protect the boat.
The closure of the marina also makes access to the boat more challenging. Almost every time we went to TTR, we met the dinghy at a different spot on land. Frank and I actually find these changes funny and interesting, though I guess some people might be annoyed by it. Still, each time we catch the dinghy at a different location we are driven through a new and interesting part of Xiamen, so we kind of enjoy the adventure of not knowing what to expect each day.
Here is a picture of the steps we had to climb down to get into the bow of the dinghy our first day in Xiamen. Isn’t this a kick?!
That is our driver watching from above to make sure we are safely aboard.
While there are still a few bugs to iron out and finishing touches to complete, we are extremely happy with our HH55. We can hardly wait to actually move on board and resume our life as live aboard sailors.
Thanks so much for reading our page. If you want to hear from us more often, please visit our FB page: HH55 Ticket to Ride.
Captain ~ Much Too Soon To Say Goodbye
Nov. 1, 2009 – October 5, 2018
It is with the heaviest heart that I share the news that our sweet dog, Captain, has passed away. We received a phone call from the pet sitter late last Friday night and since then my world has been a much heavier one. The actual cause of death is still unresolved although we have had a necropsy (pet autopsy) performed. The information we received from the pet sitter and the results of the necropsy do not agree and not knowing the truth of what really happened to our girl has made her loss much more difficult for us.
However, my family and I are doing everything we can to remain positive and keep only good memories of our very special dog. Captain brought so much joy to us and to everyone she met, that we want to use her memory and love to prevent us from becoming bitter about not knowing what happened.
Please indulge me as I inundate this post with pictures of Captain and as we share some of the life lessons we learned from her…
We weren’t sure she would grow into her ears but she did!
Captain was always game to try anything we asked and as a result, we did nearly everything together. Looking back at pictures from her very short life shows the myriad of places she has been and the variety of experiences she had.
Wanna snorkel? Wanna hike? Wanna take a beach pic? YES! Anything!
Snow is fun… oh, but the tropics are great too!
Mom, I’ll help you stretch, then give you kisses.
In addition to helping us meet new people, Captain taught us some important lessons that we will remember and try to put into practice:
- Go to shore every day for a walk, to stroll the beach or just to be on shore.
- Jump and bark and wag your tail when you see your relatives.
- Look up in addition to down – there are things in the trees and sky.
- Stretch when you stand up in the morning and after a nap.
- When you are happy, bark for joy.
- Smell the roses, literally.
- You can’t truly enjoy life without getting dirty once in a while.
- Ask for hugs when you want them.
- Try new things.
- Persistence pays off.
- Let the people you love know you are happy to see them.
- Don’t stay sad or mad; live in the present!
Hey, it’s pretty outside. Wanna play?
See how good I am…. chillin’ at a beach bar.
Resting during a hike. Hitching a ride back from shore.
Protecting mom and dad from wild goats on Antigua.
Please let’s go for another dinghy ride!
Roll in the sand, then dig to the cool sand in the shade of the dinghy.
Getting into the spirit of Christmas.
Reading or helming, Cappy was a big help.
Captain’s blogs were the most popular ones.
It’s really hard to believe that Captain won’t be part of our future on s/v Ticket to Ride. Her loss has left a vacuum in our lives that will become more painful when we are in our usual routine and she isn’t with us.
Cappy smiling for a photo too.
Cap was enthusiastic about everything; and always wanted a front row seat!
We will miss meeting people because of her. We will miss having her bark from shore to alert the person on the boat that we were ready to be picked up after a walk. We will miss her alerting us to dolphins or people or flies or some interesting activity happening around us. We will miss her joy, her energy, her enthusiasm for any and everything.
I will miss those sweet eyes.
People we don’t know personally but read our blog would ask about Captain if we actually met them in person. We will miss our little ambassador who was the most popular being on the boat.
But we will focus on how lucky we were to love her and be loved by her.
We love you pretty girl. And we always will.
Thanks for reading our blog. To those who loved our Cappy-girl ~ thank you!
