New fabric on interior cushions

We were never really crazy about the interior fabric on the cushions. We took the plunge and redid them ourselves. Sandy and I tore them apart and used the pieces for the pattern. We reused the bottoms which is a gray sunbrella and the zippers. Sandy then cut the new fabric and I did the sewing machine work. It took about 10 yards of fabric and 60 hours of labor. Cost was about $200. A lot better than the $4500 that a shop would have charged.

New equipment

I have added a Garmin network. It includes the 5212 chartplotter, XM weather and a fishfinder sounder. The sounder transducer also has speed and temperature. I will add the GMR18 HD radar next year. A Kato radar mount is mounted on the mast. I have also added Kato davits and engine lift. The engine will mount on an Edson motor mount.

New Dinghy

S/V Xperience has a new dinghy. It is an AB 9VL rigid inflatable boat (RIB). This is the light version which is only 106 pounds and 9'6" long. I added a Mercury 9.9 HP 4 stroke engine with a power thruster attachment. The engine weighs in at about 90 pounds. It will easily fit on my davits. It gets up on plane quick with two persons aboard. I haven't checked the speed with a GPS just yet but it should be able to hit about 22 MPH. That's flying in such a small boat.

Click image to see a larger photo.

Exterior wood refinishing

After 6 and a half years our exterior wood needed to be completely stripped to bare wood and refinished. We had regular Cetol and Cetol gloss covering the wood. We decided to switch to a new Cetol product, Cetol Natural Teak. It is much lighter in color and has a UV inhibitor to protect the wook. It looks great, just like wet natural bare teak. The job was painful in that we had to get into all kinds of strange positions to reach every inch of wood. Sure glad it is done though.

Pirate Night on the boat

We had dress and talk like a pirate night on the boat while anchored in Sandy Cove, Arrrrg ye scoundrel!

Niagara Falls Canada

We traveled to Niagara Falls Canada for a long weekend. Here are a couple of video clips from the falls and the class 6 rapids down river from the falls. I also posted a photo album. Click on the My Photos link down on the right side of the page to see them.

Spinaker Run

Here is a short video clip of us sailing with the spinaker sail. The wind was very light but we were sailing as fast as the wind speed. Great Fun!!

Photos of awning

Here are a couple of photos of the shade awning I made for the boat. It keeps the temperature about 10 degrees cooler inside. You can walk on the deck under the awning in your bare feet also. Really needed for those 100 degree days here in Texas.

Click on a photo to enlarge it.

S/V Xperience at the dock

A short video of the boat at the dock.

Flooded Lake Texoma

With all of the rain we have had in Texas and Oklahoma the lake has filled up very quickly. The normal pool level is 619 feet. The lake is now at the top of the flood pool and has started to go over the spillway at 640.5 feet. Here are some pictures taken around the marina. Some of the pictures were taken from the deck of the Cedar Mills Yacht Club. The floor of the yacht club is 742.63 feet.

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To get across the flooded road we had to pull are selves over in a small dinghy.







Water is up to the roof of the restaurant.








The water is up to the marina office steps.








These two photos were taken from the patio of the Cedar Mills Yacht Club. Water is up to the first step.