I am no longer living on water. I have stepped off the decks of Altair for the last time, and onto the terra firma, with only a truck to transport my toys. Lord Nelson is in great shape and i'm happy with the decision about this, but it is still a sad day to be no longer afloat.
Let's take a short trip through the last 11 years of Altair ownership! When I bought the boat, I began adding things, and here is my friend Danny with the first build of a dodger, the black cloth thing behind him that keeps the wind out of your face. This is from my trip up to Alaska in 2009.
An overview of Altair sitting in Glacier bay (in Berg bay to be specific, a place I have never been back to since this time). You can see I've got a dodger and a roller furling already, and a bit of a bowsprit. Its exciting voyaging times.
Then in 2010, I began my first trip down the west coast, and I added Lafawnduh, the steering system on the back in this next photo. This shot is from Bahia Maria, on the west coast of the Baja Penninsula. Also with Danny, we had a great two week trip from San Diego to Cabo, and this is when I learned about how to fly a camera with a kite.
In 2011, I came to Bandaras Bay, which is the bay of Puerto Vallarta, for the first time. I met a surfer named Stefan, who had a small sailboat like mine, and we raced against each other and surfed together a lot. He took this picture during a race. I've rebuilt the roller furling a few times, but it is still my own invention, Lafawnduh was working great, and the main sail is looking quite tired in this shot.
I did a trip that fall up into the sea of Cortez, and picked up my dad for a trip. We took this shot in San Evaristo, one of my favorite little towns up there. By now I've added the white hard dodger and a few more solar panels.
In the spring of 2012, I set out for Hawaii, and after arriving, I promptly tore the mainsail in half, and this picture shows the new mainsail I got shipped out to me, and some new Lafawnduh re-designs. I've also got a tire on deck, because that's an important piece of ocean crossing equipment, you never know when you'll get a flat. Actually its a cheap and easy thing to drag behind that helps keep the boat going straight while sailing downwind.
Back in Bellingham bay, in the winter of 2013, I've added a Profurl roller furling system to the bowsprit, got a brand new jib for it, added a kayak rack on the side, added another big solar panel, and then (with Lafanduh's help) put up FOUR sails and scampered to the top for a photo of the whole shebang. A mighty fine Altair you might say.
I returned down the coast to Puerto Vallarta again in 2014-15 and this time I perfected my kite flying skills, and here I am anchored out in the Marietas Islands. Turns out, I sailed Altair 27,700 miles over the time I've had her. I've got many memories, and though it was a happy day to sell the boat, it was also a sad one.
