Life Today

We have all read about the beginning of Luke, Mike and the Thinwolf's adventure, but how are they now? Well, so far they have traveled down the coast to Mexico, ran across the Pacific Ocean, passed the Marquesas, went through the Tuomatous, traveled amongst the other Pacific Islands and are now in Tahiti. Their total journey so far: 7,000 miles.
LUKE favorite aspect of the voyage so far was snorkeling in the crystal clear waters of the Tuomatous. Hundreds of kinds of different fish, and hundreds of different colors from the vibrant, healthy coral to the skillful sharks. And the lovely 94◦ degrees~ the warmest waters so far~. His paintings have been unfortunately not being produced. Why? He says life on the boat causes his artistic ability to not be in use, for sailing a quarter and eventually half way around the world causes a lot of distractions.
MIKE has enjoyed the sailing most of all. He has found surfing and snorkeling to be his greatest joys. And for this month of June, Mike is alone in Tahiti with the boat as Luke visits Port Townsend, Washington. During this time, he is attempting to fix the broken steering cable and getting angry at Luke because he is not there with him.
THINWOLF has been doing admirably well. Preforming at her high expectations.



I hope to keep you posted as I hear about the Thinwolfs: Mike and Luke~ adventure.



~Reilly

http://lukejtornatzky.net/

Here's a link to my website you can click on - to make it easy.

~Luke

The Thinwolf Quote

Click on the title of this post, to hear Luke's recitation of the Thinwolf Quote by Paul Gauguin as delivered Friday March 14, 2008 aboard ship during Bon Voyage Party #1 (#1 - as we all expect and look forward to more). Thanks to Eric Durfy for the fine on-board recordings.

~Stig

Thinwolf Bon Voyage Party #1

Last night standing in the dewy dark with the moonlit beach Stig & I stood with wet sand under our feet watching the siloutte of ThinWolf as it was in it’s place at last, rocking gently with two mast lights glowing one in the middle and on top.
Luke paddled to shore to find Stig with his guitar and I and my hard wear. We ever so carefully climbed into the small rubber boat, paddles gently pulling us across the black water, away forever timeless..onto a taste, a voyage of freedom..
toasts were made, drums, percussion, bird whistles and beautiful vocal sounds of all kinds reverberated in surround sound through what was the heart of Thin wolf~

~Heather

More Scenes from Thin Wolf's Launching

Our launching was attended by many of Port Townsend's finest citizens and some scalawags. Behind the camera for the following photos (so, unfortunately you don't get to see her) is Julie Knott, 2007 runner-up for Port Townsend citizen of the year. Thanks for the photos, Julie!

In addition to being Thin Wolf's ship's musician, Stig has been the most faithful of Thin Wolf's followers, often helping us out on the boat, particularly around happy hour.

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Stephen helped us out around the boat yard when he wasn't at school, which was pretty much everyday.

For some reason Julie thought this was a good photo, something about showing off our good side? Just looks like a gang of boat yard workers to me.

Determined to launch. The tide waits for no man.

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In addition to having the reputation as a safe, efficient passage maker, the Kelly-Peterson 44 also performs well as a cocktail party barge.

Jeane swung the champagne bottle, with fine form, and actually broke the bottle on the first hit. The 72 pound anchor didn't even flinch when struck -- but Luke and I sure did, worried that the bottle could blow up in Jeane's face or that Thin Wolf could be scratched.

The gang at P.T. Rigging calls us Calvin and Hobbs. I'm thinking we are more reminiscent of Wayne and Garth. Party On!

And here's a health to Thin Wolf.

Jeane the champagne princess.

Justin, rigger extraordinare and future Thin Wolf (?).

Signature colors that are required on any boat that is fit to carry Luke J. Tornatzky (see his flag paintings at http://lukejtornatzky.net/IndexPageLJT/GalleryRoom1/Room1bigs/Colours.html)

Contentment.

Thin Wolf is Launched and Named on February 28, 2008

After nearly 8 1/2 months of hard retrofitting, Luke and I, with the help of many friends and shipwrights, have succeeded in turning a disassembled KP44 hull into a seaworthy cruising vessel. While there are many more boat construction projects yet to do, Thin Wolf is very close to being ready to take us to the South Pacific destinations we've been dreaming about.

Our launching celebration was joyous, complete with offerings to Neptune to keep us and Thin Wolf safe; the chance to thank the many people who have helped us (e.g. a short list in no specific order: the crew at P.T. Rigging, Matt at Mort Systems, Joe at Ocean Systems, Todd and others at the Shipwrights Coop, Sea Marine, Lea, Ellen, Nancy on the canvas work, Doug, Peter, and Adam on the welders, the patient chandlers at Admiral and Henery's, the Port Townsend yard boyz, P.T. Brewery, home of Boat Haven's winter ale sold in the Growler, and the other sailmakers, suppliers, and specialists who’ve helped bring Thin Wolf to life); and the chance to hang-out, sing, and party with our best friends in PT.

The launch was also vital in reminding us that the proper place for a boat to rest is on the water, not in a parking lot on the hard. Even the most subtle swaying of the boat last night in the calm marina contributed to a renewed commitment to carrying out our dream – each rise and fall of the bow, every gentle swing of the flags that Stig and Heather hung from the backstay, every creak of the fenders between the boat and the dock last night after the launch served to recharge our determination to pull of a great adventure.

Here’s to Thin Wolf and all the "thin wolves without collars, who prefer liberty with starvation to servitude with abundance." - MW

Photos from the Launching (LOOK AT OUR SWEET BOAT!!)

It is hard for Luke and I to not see the current state of the boat in relation to how we found her in a vacant lot in Burien, Washington, last June. We've come a long way, baby!

See the following for more pictures of Thin Wolf back at the beginning.

http://gallery.thinwolfadventures.com/v/thinwolf

out of the paint shop

Here is the same boat after way too much paint was applied ( 3 times was the charm)