The Taxi - A lockdown project and a vessel for inspiration & learning

Life is by chance.

I first heard those words many years ago while I was still in university and, since then, life has shown me the truth within this statement, many times over.

I guess that is how I have ended up living in a floating home on Lake Union in Seattle, Washington (USA) - half way around the world from the place where I started my life journey (Portugal). If you are not familiar with the concept, a floating home is like a normal house, but it is built on a platform which is floating on the water. Instead of a back garden, when I open my kitchen door, or look out of the living room windows, I see a beautiful lake that I can enjoy all year round. That in itself makes for a very unique lifestyle, and I feel extremely fortunate to live in one of these houses and experience the joys of lake life.

Lockdown fever

As I saw the world heading towards a complete lockdown at the end of the first quarter of 2020, I took a moment to consider my personal circumstances. At that time I was renting a beautiful floating home on the West side of lake Union. I had a small dinghy which I used to explore my surroundings and visit friends by water. I had put this little boat together for fun using a trolling motor and a 12v battery.

It was a simple thing, but it gave me a sense of freedom and access to (many) moments of joy. It also ignited the spark that got me dreaming about eventually owning a sailboat. I didn’t have any sailing knowledge or experience, but I am infinitely curious and know how to fix things. I decided that if I was going to be under lockdown, I needed a project! I decided that this was the time for me to buy a cheap sailboat in which I could do some work during the uncertain times ahead. Eventually the time would come for me to learn how to sail it too!?

I find that the best way to achieve long term ambitious goals is to break the journey down into smaller, more manageable challenges. A big ambitious goal is nothing but a sequence of many smaller challenges that have to be overcome (often) one at a time.?

Persistence and perseverance can achieve just about anything. All you need is a little faith, mostly in yourself.?

I had plotted a course of action in my mind. I knew what I wanted to achieve:

1. Buy boat
2. Fix boat
3. Put boat on water
4. Get the boat home & learn how to sail it.

After a few days searching online, an ad on Craigslist caught my eye. The boat on the ad was an American built Catalina Capri 25. This yellow sailboat from the 1980s, was 25 feet long, had a clean look and a very reasonable price tag. The previous owner had used this boat to race around the area for a few years, and he was ready to move on to his next boat. He was selling the sailboat along with a rusty trailer, various spare sails and other boat related items that he had accumulated over the years.

Step 1 was easy enough. Jennifer, a good friend of mine from another floating home was in with me on this plan. We were both interested in learning how to sail and this seemed like a great way to make that happen. This yellow sailboat had character and a cool name (Taxi), so we decided to split the initial cost and bought it!

Step 2 is definitely a longer story… But like any other long story, it can only advance one chapter at a time.

Since the boat was purchased on a trailer that was on land, we had to prioritize actions accordingly. First we had to figure out the logistics of how to tow the boat and find a place to park it temporarily so that we could start doing some work on it.

During the first few weekends we cleaned up the boat, we fixed and painted the trailer, and finally we sanded and painted the entire bottom of the boat with VC17 (VC 17 is a high-performance, friction-reducing paint that produces a super-smooth racing finish).

Eventually the underside was painted and the sailboat was ready to be rigged and put on the water. I didn't know anything about stepping up the mast or rigging a sailboat, therefore those final steps were done at a nearby Boatyard.?

Fail fast!

The big day finally arrived, the mast was up, and the boat was finally on the water. I was excited about the journey ahead, but the outboard motor which had worked flawlessly in all previous tests suddenly decided not to work. Heartbroken I tied up the boat, drove home and returned the next day with a few tools to fix the motor. Half way through my journey home, this gasoline outboard motor failed again.

Having anticipated this possibility, on that day I had also brought with me the (small) electric motor and the battery that I normally used to power my small dinghy. While the boat drifted, I quickly improvised a solution and replaced one motor with the other.

In those final moments of my inaugural journey, while that small trolling motor pushed me slowly and quietly back home, assisted by the front sail, I saw a glimpse of the future and made a decision. There would be a 5th step in my plan:

1. Buy boat
2. Fix boat
3. Put boat on water
4. Get the boat home & learn how to sail.
5. Learn electricity and design an electric sailboat

The boat was put on the water by mid-April 2020. Since the incident with the Gasoline Outboard motor, I had removed the fuel tank and hoses, and I was able to use the small trolling motor to maneuver the Taxi in and out of the slip where it was docked.

I started learning how to sail, once again with the help of a friend as well as through YouTube videos. Sailing was exciting and immediately fueled my dreams of using the boat to go back through the locks, into the Puget Sound, and on my way to the Orcas Islands. I wanted to get out there to have adventures in the open water. Go crabbing with friends, or make weekend plans to explore nearby islands, sleep under the stars and wake up anchored on some cute little bay, blessed with one of those beautiful views that the Pacific Northwest is known for.

I set myself the ambitious target to complete Step 5 before the end of the summer, after all, winter is always coming. I needed a stronger motor, with greater battery range, and I had to make it happen at a reasonable cost.?

That is just the beginning of the story for The Taxi! If you are curious to learn more about how I pulled this of and built the first version of my electric sailboat prototype, click the link below and read my next article.

Chapter 2: "Learn electricity and design an Electric Sailboat"