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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.
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!
