Just a quick post before we leave the US.
It's looking like we are crossing over to the Abacos on Wednesday morning and working our way to Marsh Harbor, where we will sit out some bad weather before continuing south. This route was not in our original plans but we knew the weather might dictate where we go so we will take it and run.
For those that have not been following us on Facebook there are some links that might be useful in finding out where we are. First off, I tweet. This is different from I toot. I will use Twitter more often when we are out there because its one of the functions the Iridium Go still has that actually works. The tweets are sent to Facebook so if you don't have a Twitter account you can see them there.
We also have a Spot device that gives our location when we want it to which is usually when we are at anchor or crossing big water.
http://www.findmespot.com/mylocation/?id=SOaXN
I will most likely be emailing the blog posts so they will not include too many photos. That will have to wait until we have Wifi. I tend to get too caught up in the scenery to be bothered with taking photos and writing blog posts but Debra loves to take photos so there will be plenty to share at some point. I also promise to take more photos and write more. However, there is a perfectly good Fender Stratocaster waiting for me to strum some tunes and I WILL be learning guitar along the way. My brain needs the exercise.
This should be a fun and interesting trip. Notice I didn't say stressful? Trying to be more positive here. Travelling is always stressful for me but there is also a ton of fun mixed in so it's all good. I'm sure there will be times when I go full Woody Allen (minus the creepy part) and Debra will eye roll me to death but lets hope it's minimal. We have eliminated some points of anxiety on this ship. New rudder and rigging helps immensely. A backup depth sounder is way cool too. Happy voyage ahead.
We met some old friends and new friends while at Vero Beach. We are totally sick of the place now but it is a convenient place to stop. Meeting people who have followed the blog was kind of interesting. Maybe a bit creepy. They were so nice that I found it hard to believe they followed the blog. I imagine for them it was like seeing a movie of a book you read. "He's nothing like I imagined. Thought he'd be taller. What does she see in him? What a knob! He's kind of quiet actually. How many beers did he have?"
We enjoyed Velcro Beach...again. Now it's time to say goodbye. Unless the weather changes we will head south on the ICW to Fort Pierce and make a left. I'm sure we will post to FB as we head out. We appear to be in good company for the crossing. Many boats are ready to go at the same time. Marsh harbor may be a bit crowded. See, there I go again with the negative. I guess it's unstoppable.
Cheers!
PJJB
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Mack Snails
The summer we had in Brunswick was total fun and we met some very nice people. We made friends. We saw family. We had a good time. Maybe we had too good a time because there was plenty of work to get done that didn't, but that's OK. We are retired after all. The people we met at Brunswick Landing Marina are the best. There were some who will bust your balls for a good laugh but are there in a flash to help you out when you need it. My kind of peeps. The social hours were some of the best around and the marina made sure you were as happy as can be with the free wine and beer. If we come back to the states again next year I can't imagine there will be any slips available now that word has got out about the place. Good for them. Hopefully the old man gives the staff a good raise as well. They deserve it.
We did have a list of items that we really needed to happen before we took off for the Bahamas and beyond. Free beer and wine slowed some of the progress on that list but we managed to knock off a few items while we were there.
We did have a list of items that we really needed to happen before we took off for the Bahamas and beyond. Free beer and wine slowed some of the progress on that list but we managed to knock off a few items while we were there.
- Bottom Paint
- Rigging inspected
- New head plumbing
- Provision
- Re-bed ports
We looked at several places to get the bottom painted including the marina we were at. We got some pricing and decided on Titusville. We figured we would get it done on our way south. We installed two new toilets and re-plumbed the aft head. This was not something I enjoyed but I think it worked out fairly well as we no longer have any odor. I also reinstalled some of our ports with Butyl tape and they are now leak free. So the only thing left to deal with was the rigging.
We found a guy to inspect the old stays and install the new rigging if needed and he came highly recommended. He was also highly expensive. He had a slight British accent even though when asked he came from Alabama. All Americans love that accent when getting lectured or sold something don't they? American Idol or Dancing with the stars - British accent guy declares you unfit to even sing a bedtime song to your child, or dance at your wedding. It must be true, he’s a smart British guy. Then there’s the Dyson vacuum that must be better than anything else because that British guy says so. So when our rigger came down and said in a Brit accent, “This is the part of my job I don’t like”, I knew we were fucked. It was like the British guy on that talent show on TV telling me my singing sounds like pulling a cat through a chain link fence. “I condemn your rigging. My report will be emailed. Don’t sail in any wind stronger then a gentle breeze. Pleasant day. Carry on then.” The Jolly Good Rigger then charged me $250 and said he didn’t have time to do the actual rigging. Off he went down the dock. Cheerio old salt!
We found a guy to inspect the old stays and install the new rigging if needed and he came highly recommended. He was also highly expensive. He had a slight British accent even though when asked he came from Alabama. All Americans love that accent when getting lectured or sold something don't they? American Idol or Dancing with the stars - British accent guy declares you unfit to even sing a bedtime song to your child, or dance at your wedding. It must be true, he’s a smart British guy. Then there’s the Dyson vacuum that must be better than anything else because that British guy says so. So when our rigger came down and said in a Brit accent, “This is the part of my job I don’t like”, I knew we were fucked. It was like the British guy on that talent show on TV telling me my singing sounds like pulling a cat through a chain link fence. “I condemn your rigging. My report will be emailed. Don’t sail in any wind stronger then a gentle breeze. Pleasant day. Carry on then.” The Jolly Good Rigger then charged me $250 and said he didn’t have time to do the actual rigging. Off he went down the dock. Cheerio old salt!
With Mack doing the rigging in Fort Pierce at Cracker Boy Boat Works we decided to let Cracker Boy do the bottom paint as well. We even got a better price than the others. So here’s how the procedure was going to go.
- Leave Vero for haul out at Cracker Boy
- Haul, drop mast, paint bottom
- Launch and go back to Vero
- Two weeks later go back to Cracker Boy and get the mast installed and celebrate. Cheers!
What actually happened.
- Leave Vero for Haul out at Cracker Boy
- Hauled. Dropped Mast.
- “Hey Cap! Look at your rudder!” WTF.
- Get quotes on rudder repair.
- Order new rudder
- Remove old rudder
- Deliver old rudder to Foss Foam
- Sit in yard
- Sit in yard
- Curse everyone in the yard
- Get new rudder. Drink Beer. Cheers!
- Mast arrives and placed next to the boat. Incomplete. WTF.
- Curse Mack Sails!
- Install new rudder. Drink beer. Cheers!
- Sit in yard
- Curse Mack Sails.
- Bottom Painted. Drink Beer. Cheers!
- Launch boat without mast. WTF
- Curse Mack Sails.
- Sit in Vero without mast. “We’re not a derelict boat!”
- Curse Mack Sails.
- Mack Sails finishes the mast. Drink Beer. Cheers!
- Leave Vero for Cracker Boy
- Install Mast. Radar not centered. Pin holes on chainplates too small. Hole for wires too small and the best for last…. NO BACKSTAY! They forgot.
- Shoot Mack no better not, Curse Mack Sails!
- Leave Cracker Boy for Vero with halyards for backstays.
- Curse Mack Sails!
- Mack sails installs backstay and two of the spreader boots. All they had.
- Drink beer. Curse Mack sails!
- Waiting on spreader boots.
- Drinking beer. Cursing Mack Sails.
The mast was quoted as taking about two weeks. It's been five. Four of those weeks were spent in a dusty noisy boat yard where we had to climb a ladder to get home. They charged us an additional $10 as a liveaboard fee for use of the amenities. The amenities consisted of a one hole bathroom and shower. The shower had no curtain but if you opened the stall door all the way it would block anyone from seeing your bright white ass.
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| Sitting and cursing with our incomplete mast |
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| We are not vagabonds! We have sails! |
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| Our finished rudder at Foss Foam |
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| Barrier coat on the rudder |
We thoroughly enjoyed this posh resort we were dropped into. The best moment was having the shower nozzle pop off and shoot out into the room sending a stream of water all over the chair holding my once dry clothes. Imagine walking in on a soapy naked fifty something gray hair bent over in the middle of the bathroom. “Oh holy Geezus! Man I’m sorry! I'll come back later.” No worries. Just grabbing my nozzle!
Dog in the stall comes in second best. I was doing some waste management when a guy walks in with his dog on a leash. He’s at the urinal and the dog decided I was pretty interesting so he crawls under the stall and wants me to pet him. Talk about ruining the moment. “Nice dog pal, but could you reel him in please!” No apologies either. Asshole. I should have strung some toilet paper under the dog’s collar.
So there you have it for amenities. We did use the water and some of the power so I guess the ten dollars is warranted. No, it’s not. We hardly used any of it. Bastards.
Four weeks in a busy boatyard is not fun but we endured. The crew at Cracker Boy was good. They knew what they were doing but they are not cheap. Neither was the rudder but it could have been worse. Al at Foss Foam really came through for us. Good people there.
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| I look like I'm leaning with the mast |
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| Hands on hips does not mean I'm about to do the river dance. It means... somethings fucked up |
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| Yep. Somethings definitely fucked up. |
There was a moment in the yard when they were pulling the old rudder. I mentioned that a sling might be a good idea when dropping the rudder into the hole you just dug. "Nah, we’ll just hold it. This isn't our first day on the job you know." As they finally got the gudgeon plate removed the rudder slipped through their hands and fell into the hole. All three just looked over at me and I just shook my head. Good thing that's the old rudder boys.
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| Some of the new chainplates |
The mast sat beside our boat for a week with nobody doing anything to it. I had to call Mack about every other day to get things moving. A crew finally showed up to re-wire the mast. They mentioned us getting a new tri color masthead light. No. I didn't ask for that. I asked for a deck light, a new sheave, radar mounted and all wiring replaced. I checked on them later and they said they didn't have a deck light and the sheave was OK. No its not! "Yes it is. We put some oil on it and it is fine." Um, no. Come with me junior. We looked at it and I asked them to remove it. I showed them how to remove the pin and then showed them the bushing pushed out of the sheave. "Oh! That's not good." No shit. You really have to watch the people working on your boat. If we weren't there I would have a non functioning oily sheave.
So here we sit in Vero waiting on Spreader booties. You believe this shit? I’m not going to lie and say this was all just a bit of fun and adventure. The truly positive people out there would turn this post into a delightful romp through the trials and tribulations of the cruising life. No, it sucked. It truly did. We were pissed off and angry and depressed at times but I have to say we mostly handled it well and with some laughter. A tear or two has been shed over our accounts but what can you do? It’s all part of this life we are chasing in a twenty five year old boat. Shits just gonna happen.
We have had some fun moments while sitting on the dirt.
- Walking to the bar too far. It was just across the creek!
- Having the train blow the whistle for us as we walked the 10 miles to the pub.
- Getting to the bar only to find zero craft brews and only grilled cheese for veg heads.
- Visiting with Deb's Mom and Chuck. Miss you Mom!
- Seeing old friends from Western NY. You guys have not changed! Good times.
- Laughing as the train rocked the boat on the jack stands.
- Playing tunes and enjoying some brews in the boatyard.
While we were sulking in Vero some friends showed up on SV Odin. Bonnie and not Clyde (Craig) pulled in for some laughs. Thanks guys! You really eased the pain. I should probably stop saying “not Clyde” but it amuses me.
If I could describe Mack Sails I would say they are skilled at what they do, they just do it slow and disorganized. It really only takes a bit of communication with the customer and your personnel. You assign a customer a job number and a worksheet is entered into your database. The worksheet has the tasks and the materials required. Your people sign off when completed. Each job has a due date. This date may change due to material availability, staffing, etc. But you have the info for your customer and you can track your work. Its not that freaking hard these days. C'Mon Mack get with it!
If I could describe Mack Sails I would say they are skilled at what they do, they just do it slow and disorganized. It really only takes a bit of communication with the customer and your personnel. You assign a customer a job number and a worksheet is entered into your database. The worksheet has the tasks and the materials required. Your people sign off when completed. Each job has a due date. This date may change due to material availability, staffing, etc. But you have the info for your customer and you can track your work. Its not that freaking hard these days. C'Mon Mack get with it!
So we were thinking this little string of bad luck was finally getting behind us and then don’t I lose my wallet overboard on the dinghy ride back to the boat one night! Son of a bitch.
What the hell will I do without my AARP card!
Cheers!
PJ
So I got this new keyboard for my 7 inch tablet. I squint to see the screen and my hands are close together while I'm hunched over the whole thing. I pretty much look like vermin. But hey, blog posts.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Coming home?
Way back in May we were sitting at anchor in Green Turtle Cay and reading Chris Parker's emails. We were wondering when we could cross to the States. We had a wedding to attend and we needed to get the boat settled in Brunswick GA. We were looking to make it all the way to Fernandina Beach if the conditions were right. They were, sort of. Our window popped open and we took off. At some point in the night we reflected on a little note Mister Parker had in his email that said, "Even a light north wind will add several feet to the waves". You were very correct sir.
We enjoyed a nice sail over the banks in amazingly blue water. The wind would pick up a bit, then die off a bit, but we were moving along. Ahead of us, before Great Sale Cay there appeared what looked like a bright blue hole. A perfectly circular hole of bright light blue water in the middle of a darker blue. "Is that a shoal?" I asked. Our charts indicated there was nothing but relatively deep water all around us. We pressed on. As we sailed into the blue hole we did not see the depth change. It was just a color change and it was most awesome. We still can't figure out why the round pool of bright blue water existed. My first thought was an alien ship was surfacing from under the sand. Maybe it was a wormhole into a parallel universe that we would pop into, where we were cool and popular people, sailing a new Hinckley in our tanned Hollywood bodies and spending gobs of cash from our bloated Swiss bank accounts. Nope. Still here. Still flabby. Still poor. It was just a blue circle of water.
We left the bank as night fell. I turned on the radar and got a look around. There were a few big boys out there. I counted at least four freighters. Deb looks behind us and said, "Can you see that guy?". I turn to barely make out a sailboat with no lights except some cheap ass garden solar lights hanging on his lifelines. If it weren't for the moonlight we would never have seen the jerk offs. What the hell! No radar signature either, but then most sailboats can't be seen. They were not very far behind us and were heading north along the bank. I wanted to call them on the radio and ask them if they were running drugs, because that would be the ONLY reason to be running dark! I refrained and let them go along their merrily moronic adventure in peace. I guess you would never ask a possible drug runner if they were running drugs. Might be unhealthy.
We encountered large ships throughout the night. Some cargo. Some cruise. Nothing too close. I was having fun with the radar, playing with settings and alarms when I noticed a large blob behind us. Whoa! What is that? Rain is what it was. A big old rain cloud that just squeaked by and we only got a few drops. Unfortunately there was no wind associated with it and we plodded along. This was very cool seeing rain on the radar while we were out there. That little white dome is becoming quite handy.
As the evening continued and we got further from the banks, the wind shifted to the north slightly and the waves picked up. Eventually the waves were hissing at us and we were surfing. I knew they were good sized and for now we were taking them in the butt, but I prayed that they didn't shift. My prayers never get answered. We started getting hit abeam a bit as the waves continued to grow. Ugh. Hate that rolling motion. We continued like this for the rest of the night. The rolling motion made it slightly uncomfortable and we made a bee line towards Ft Pierce instead of Fernandina. Life is too short to be pukey all night in big waves.
When daylight broke we were shocked at the size of the waves. Big ones! We sailed in this all night? Damn. You do not get a feel for the size of the waves at night. Had we known it was going to be like this we would have waited for better conditions. But hey, we were only about fifty miles out now and everything was cool.
Then the wind died.
C'mon man! Can't we catch a little break here? We fired up the motor and cut a groove through the surf. This seemed to take forever. Something about motoring at sea that just gets to your brain. The constant drone of the engine and the worry that tank sludge is going to choke your engine any minute might be part of my problem. I should think more positive thoughts.
When we got to the Fort pierce inlet we had to drop the sails but shit was it rough. I didn't feel like getting on the rolling and pitching deck and getting tossed into the sea so we kept the main up and entered the channel. We had the wind against the current and the channel was raging. Deb loves the rage. We motor sailed up the channel at about 1.5 knots. Eventually we gained enough ground to get out of the raging portion and were doing at least 3 knots. There were people having lunch on the shore watching us. At this speed they got bored with us and turned to watch birds eat french fries.
We dropped the sail in the turning basin and went for our anchorage behind a condo complex. Unfortunately we were at about low tide and it took two attempts to find deep enough water to get to the anchorage. Deb gets a tad frustrated when the water gets thin. It's amazing how relaxed you are when not at the wheel in these moments. I was like a cowboy out on the range, "Well, maybe we ought a mosey on over that way a bit and try her again." We backed out of the trouble spot and tried another approach. It worked and we were in deep water and the hook was down. Couple quick beers, some tidying up and boom, down we go. Sleepville.
We hung out for a bit and relaxed. We had a week of motoring up the ICW that we were not looking forward to but hey, it's Florida. The ICW is pretty much a non issue in this state. We took off for Georgia and a fantastic wedding with friends and family. More on that later.
Approaching the US coast should have brought on feelings of coming home to the land of plenty. The home of the brave. The land of the free. When we got to Fort Pierce I didn't get that feeling of coming home. When we got to Fernandina, a very familiar place, I did not get it either. Brunswick was totally new so no feeling of a homecoming there as well. Strange. We were sitting in the cockpit at Brunswick landing Marina waiting for our daughter Nicole and family to arrive. We heard the car door and ran up the ramp to greet them. When we saw Nicole, Jon and Aiden all standing there with smiles and waiting for hugs, the feeling of coming home washed over us. Now we were home. When we got to the wedding and saw Kelly, Eric and Mason we got that feeling again. Home. All of our friends being greeted in front of the hotel in Providence - home.
It's true. Home is where your heart is.
Cheers!
PJ
I'm playing catch up with this blog. I'm never really in sync with our travels and every post is kind of independent I guess. Debra is the time and logbook keeper. She has a blog at Boathippies.tumblr.com. It is a fairly detailed account with dates and mileage and stupid things I did. All that stuff I really don't care about. I pretty much just drift through life with occasional bouts of high anxiety that I write about.
Microsoft can suck it!
We encountered large ships throughout the night. Some cargo. Some cruise. Nothing too close. I was having fun with the radar, playing with settings and alarms when I noticed a large blob behind us. Whoa! What is that? Rain is what it was. A big old rain cloud that just squeaked by and we only got a few drops. Unfortunately there was no wind associated with it and we plodded along. This was very cool seeing rain on the radar while we were out there. That little white dome is becoming quite handy.
When daylight broke we were shocked at the size of the waves. Big ones! We sailed in this all night? Damn. You do not get a feel for the size of the waves at night. Had we known it was going to be like this we would have waited for better conditions. But hey, we were only about fifty miles out now and everything was cool.
Then the wind died.
C'mon man! Can't we catch a little break here? We fired up the motor and cut a groove through the surf. This seemed to take forever. Something about motoring at sea that just gets to your brain. The constant drone of the engine and the worry that tank sludge is going to choke your engine any minute might be part of my problem. I should think more positive thoughts.
When we got to the Fort pierce inlet we had to drop the sails but shit was it rough. I didn't feel like getting on the rolling and pitching deck and getting tossed into the sea so we kept the main up and entered the channel. We had the wind against the current and the channel was raging. Deb loves the rage. We motor sailed up the channel at about 1.5 knots. Eventually we gained enough ground to get out of the raging portion and were doing at least 3 knots. There were people having lunch on the shore watching us. At this speed they got bored with us and turned to watch birds eat french fries.
We dropped the sail in the turning basin and went for our anchorage behind a condo complex. Unfortunately we were at about low tide and it took two attempts to find deep enough water to get to the anchorage. Deb gets a tad frustrated when the water gets thin. It's amazing how relaxed you are when not at the wheel in these moments. I was like a cowboy out on the range, "Well, maybe we ought a mosey on over that way a bit and try her again." We backed out of the trouble spot and tried another approach. It worked and we were in deep water and the hook was down. Couple quick beers, some tidying up and boom, down we go. Sleepville.
We hung out for a bit and relaxed. We had a week of motoring up the ICW that we were not looking forward to but hey, it's Florida. The ICW is pretty much a non issue in this state. We took off for Georgia and a fantastic wedding with friends and family. More on that later.
Approaching the US coast should have brought on feelings of coming home to the land of plenty. The home of the brave. The land of the free. When we got to Fort Pierce I didn't get that feeling of coming home. When we got to Fernandina, a very familiar place, I did not get it either. Brunswick was totally new so no feeling of a homecoming there as well. Strange. We were sitting in the cockpit at Brunswick landing Marina waiting for our daughter Nicole and family to arrive. We heard the car door and ran up the ramp to greet them. When we saw Nicole, Jon and Aiden all standing there with smiles and waiting for hugs, the feeling of coming home washed over us. Now we were home. When we got to the wedding and saw Kelly, Eric and Mason we got that feeling again. Home. All of our friends being greeted in front of the hotel in Providence - home.
It's true. Home is where your heart is.
Cheers!
PJ
I'm playing catch up with this blog. I'm never really in sync with our travels and every post is kind of independent I guess. Debra is the time and logbook keeper. She has a blog at Boathippies.tumblr.com. It is a fairly detailed account with dates and mileage and stupid things I did. All that stuff I really don't care about. I pretty much just drift through life with occasional bouts of high anxiety that I write about.
Microsoft can suck it!
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Morning Tea, on the hard. Fort Pierce FL
Morning Tea, on the hard.
The morning tea posts are just my ramblings about what's on my mind at the time. When I do not have a blog post of any interest to myself I just dump my brain all over this page and see what happens.
We're a long way from the islands.
We are cars, trucks. buses, trains and assholes away from the islands.
Enjoy your stay. Here's a ladder.
Grandma and Grandpa have to pass basic training to get home. This limits the amount of alcohol you would want in your system.
No one ever said, "this is the life" in regards to cruising. Wait. Yes they did.
When you are approaching a bridge did you ever think this is a bad time to run out of fuel? We did.
Having an engine die before a bridge will either make you panic, or freeze. We did neither. How did that happen?
Cool as a cucumber is a good way to be. Actually I'm more like a pickle. Short, seasoned, and briny.
This is "the life", at times. This is not the time.
On the hard is my least favorite position. Bet inmates feel the same way.
"Sure. Yep. OK. We can do that. Won't take long at all. We'll get right on it. You'll be in and out in no time at all." These are sweet nothings whispered in your ear while you are on the hard.
A boat yard is similar to an elderly care facility. They keep you here with just enough attention to think you are being cared for and then when the money's gone they kick you out.
"I'm Elmer J Fudd. I own a mansion and a yacht."
Something about sailboats that make people think whoever owns one is filthy rich. Except Florida, where they think you are just filthy.
Walking along the railroad tracks and taking a shortcut through a construction site to get to a bar probably enhanced our dirty boat hippie image.
When did walking get associated with being poor and destitute?
You don't have a car? OMG!!
Where are all the people driving to?
Florida. The strip mall state.
We visited The Villages in Florida. Captive Consumers.
Beans Beans the magical fruit...
There is a lack of protein in our diet and we are not supplement people. Deb is not fond of pressure cookers so I might get the dehydrated beans for our journey. No, we are not going to start eating cow parts.
Maybe I don't blog enough because I lack protein.
I'm terrible at meal planning.
Deb is an Irish girl who could eat potatoes for the rest of her life and not complain.
I think the chef can dictate what the galley provides. I could always cook a potato as a side.
Microsoft can suck it. This will be repeated every time I have to use this laptop.
No one told me there would be trains following us all along the ICW.
No one told me that most ICW marinas are near bridges. Noisy, heavily traveled bridges.
No one told me about a lot of things.
Dogs in bathrooms. No! Stop with that! I love dogs but I do not want to be petting one while on the throne.
Annual physicals. Mine was completed in 15 minutes. Nothing like a quickie.
ACA. Without it we'd be screwed.
I realize I'm not a marine mechanic, but then I see what they do all week and I start thinking, hell I can do that!
Cold at 70. I used to wear shorts when it reached sixty degrees in the spring. Now I put long pants on when it drops to seventy.
Debra can sew! Our dinghy chaps look excellent.
We have a leak in the dinghy.
I would not have high blood pressure if i worked in a boat yard.
Why do they take a break from work under our boat.
Sitting and watching money bleed form your accounts is not healthy.
In this age of climate change do insurance boundaries really matter anymore?
Liveaboard fees. Really? I'm solar powered and the only thing I take from you is your water. But now that you are charging me ten dollars a day I'm using the power as well.
When provided electricity at a dock you would think we would go crazy and play tunes, watch TV, make smoothies in our blender and run the vacuum cleaner. We actually forget to turn the power on.
In this whole yard there is only one bathroom with one toilet for each gender. Enough said.
When dropping the rudder I suggested a sling to lower it. "Nah, We dig a hole and lower it by hand."
It's amazing how fast 130 pounds can fall in such little space.
It's amazing how big eyeballs can get when surprised.
Its amazing how red your face gets when the boat owner is glaring at your empty hands above a hole with his rudder sticking out of it.
Our new rigging is so shiny and smooth.
Our new rigging will look even better when it's on the boat.
Two weeks ago: Here's a list of things I want done to the mast besides the rigging. Yesterday: "Mr Bryan did you want anything else done to the mast?"
For some reason I never get tired of talking to myself.
Boatyards are dusty.
"Did you put protein powder in this sauce? It's kind of gritty."
We made some new and fun friends in GA.
Some marinas are nicer than others.
I think a marina has an impact on the attitude and friendliness of it's occupants.
Sometimes nothing can help a miserable person. They just enjoy being miserable.
By far, the best marina we have stayed at is Brunswick Landing.
No see um's. Hate those biting little aliens from hell.
Not a fan of eight foot tides.
Mold.
Vinegar.
Our new toilet system works well. Knock knock on wood.
We also have a fully manual head.
New rudder. New rigging. Anxiety relief.
The engine still gives me bad vibes.
Our prop was incredibly coated with biology. Still is.
I paid extra for the diver to clean our hull.
Unless you are a diver yourself, how do you know what they are doing under there?
Spending so much time in a marina really dulled our seamanship. Now we're in the yard.
It's like riding a bike. Right. You heard how good I have become at that.
Bikes and alcohol. No. Don't do it.
Wish we had bikes right now.
There's a really nice bar across the creek.
Across the creek is a long way to walk.
A train that raced by honked the horn for us. It's still fun no matter what your age.
When transiting a cut in the Bahamas, Deb liked nothing better than a good rage as we entered. Kind of a yahoo moment for her.
When transiting the nations highways Deb is not a fan of the rage.
A middle finger can get you killed in the good ole US of A.
I have such a varied taste in music that I keep it to myself. Lets just say I'm not a top forty hits kind of guy.
Some people like to share their taste in music with everyone in earshot of their thumping speakers.
I like it, so you must to. Kind of like some people with religion.
Religion and politics never get discussed much with cruisers. This is good.
We DO NOT miss TV. At all.
While seated in the doc's waiting room I caught an hour of CNN. See previous line.
We will miss most of the election. Happy dance.
Tablets are way better than laptops unless you lose a file. Where did it go? Where was it saved? I had no wifi connection so it vaporized.
From now on I write out all my blog posts on actual paper.
I always wondered why logbooks and such were written out in pencil and not pen. Ballpoint pens apparently get rusty balls.
I had an awesome post on the Bahamas. It was vaporized. This put me in a severe slump when it came to writing. Hopefully I'm over it now. My seven followers will now have something to do at work.
That's all folks. I promise I will write some more. I had to drag out the old laptop to do this (Microsoft can suck it!) as my bluetooth keyboards keep failing. (ZAGG can suck it!) This also puts a damper on my blog posts. I'm ordering three bluetooth keyboards from amazon. This should get me through to the islands.
Cheerz!
P
Please do not get the impression that this life is not what we imagined. It is. Not all the time, but it is. Going back to land life would be really depressing at this point so let us count our lucky stars.
I tend to write how I feel and right now we are feeling a wee bit depressed because of the money bleed and the delays in getting things done. This does not mean we are not smiling! We know better than to think the alternative to this life would be much better. We are very happy to be out of the rat race and we find humor in most of our daily lives, even if we're sitting in a dusty boat yard.
We're a long way from the islands.
We are cars, trucks. buses, trains and assholes away from the islands.
Enjoy your stay. Here's a ladder.
Grandma and Grandpa have to pass basic training to get home. This limits the amount of alcohol you would want in your system.
No one ever said, "this is the life" in regards to cruising. Wait. Yes they did.
When you are approaching a bridge did you ever think this is a bad time to run out of fuel? We did.
Having an engine die before a bridge will either make you panic, or freeze. We did neither. How did that happen?
Cool as a cucumber is a good way to be. Actually I'm more like a pickle. Short, seasoned, and briny.
This is "the life", at times. This is not the time.
On the hard is my least favorite position. Bet inmates feel the same way.
"Sure. Yep. OK. We can do that. Won't take long at all. We'll get right on it. You'll be in and out in no time at all." These are sweet nothings whispered in your ear while you are on the hard.
A boat yard is similar to an elderly care facility. They keep you here with just enough attention to think you are being cared for and then when the money's gone they kick you out.
"I'm Elmer J Fudd. I own a mansion and a yacht."
Something about sailboats that make people think whoever owns one is filthy rich. Except Florida, where they think you are just filthy.
Walking along the railroad tracks and taking a shortcut through a construction site to get to a bar probably enhanced our dirty boat hippie image.
When did walking get associated with being poor and destitute?
You don't have a car? OMG!!
Where are all the people driving to?
Florida. The strip mall state.
We visited The Villages in Florida. Captive Consumers.
Beans Beans the magical fruit...
There is a lack of protein in our diet and we are not supplement people. Deb is not fond of pressure cookers so I might get the dehydrated beans for our journey. No, we are not going to start eating cow parts.
Maybe I don't blog enough because I lack protein.
I'm terrible at meal planning.
Deb is an Irish girl who could eat potatoes for the rest of her life and not complain.
I think the chef can dictate what the galley provides. I could always cook a potato as a side.
Microsoft can suck it. This will be repeated every time I have to use this laptop.
No one told me there would be trains following us all along the ICW.
No one told me that most ICW marinas are near bridges. Noisy, heavily traveled bridges.
No one told me about a lot of things.
Dogs in bathrooms. No! Stop with that! I love dogs but I do not want to be petting one while on the throne.
Annual physicals. Mine was completed in 15 minutes. Nothing like a quickie.
ACA. Without it we'd be screwed.
I realize I'm not a marine mechanic, but then I see what they do all week and I start thinking, hell I can do that!
Cold at 70. I used to wear shorts when it reached sixty degrees in the spring. Now I put long pants on when it drops to seventy.
Debra can sew! Our dinghy chaps look excellent.
We have a leak in the dinghy.
I would not have high blood pressure if i worked in a boat yard.
Why do they take a break from work under our boat.
Sitting and watching money bleed form your accounts is not healthy.
In this age of climate change do insurance boundaries really matter anymore?
Liveaboard fees. Really? I'm solar powered and the only thing I take from you is your water. But now that you are charging me ten dollars a day I'm using the power as well.
When provided electricity at a dock you would think we would go crazy and play tunes, watch TV, make smoothies in our blender and run the vacuum cleaner. We actually forget to turn the power on.
In this whole yard there is only one bathroom with one toilet for each gender. Enough said.
When dropping the rudder I suggested a sling to lower it. "Nah, We dig a hole and lower it by hand."
It's amazing how fast 130 pounds can fall in such little space.
It's amazing how big eyeballs can get when surprised.
Its amazing how red your face gets when the boat owner is glaring at your empty hands above a hole with his rudder sticking out of it.
Our new rigging is so shiny and smooth.
Our new rigging will look even better when it's on the boat.
Two weeks ago: Here's a list of things I want done to the mast besides the rigging. Yesterday: "Mr Bryan did you want anything else done to the mast?"
For some reason I never get tired of talking to myself.
Boatyards are dusty.
"Did you put protein powder in this sauce? It's kind of gritty."
We made some new and fun friends in GA.
Some marinas are nicer than others.
I think a marina has an impact on the attitude and friendliness of it's occupants.
Sometimes nothing can help a miserable person. They just enjoy being miserable.
By far, the best marina we have stayed at is Brunswick Landing.
No see um's. Hate those biting little aliens from hell.
Not a fan of eight foot tides.
Mold.
Vinegar.
Our new toilet system works well. Knock knock on wood.
We also have a fully manual head.
New rudder. New rigging. Anxiety relief.
The engine still gives me bad vibes.
Our prop was incredibly coated with biology. Still is.
I paid extra for the diver to clean our hull.
Unless you are a diver yourself, how do you know what they are doing under there?
Spending so much time in a marina really dulled our seamanship. Now we're in the yard.
It's like riding a bike. Right. You heard how good I have become at that.
Bikes and alcohol. No. Don't do it.
Wish we had bikes right now.
There's a really nice bar across the creek.
Across the creek is a long way to walk.
A train that raced by honked the horn for us. It's still fun no matter what your age.
When transiting a cut in the Bahamas, Deb liked nothing better than a good rage as we entered. Kind of a yahoo moment for her.
When transiting the nations highways Deb is not a fan of the rage.
A middle finger can get you killed in the good ole US of A.
I have such a varied taste in music that I keep it to myself. Lets just say I'm not a top forty hits kind of guy.
Some people like to share their taste in music with everyone in earshot of their thumping speakers.
I like it, so you must to. Kind of like some people with religion.
Religion and politics never get discussed much with cruisers. This is good.
We DO NOT miss TV. At all.
While seated in the doc's waiting room I caught an hour of CNN. See previous line.
We will miss most of the election. Happy dance.
Tablets are way better than laptops unless you lose a file. Where did it go? Where was it saved? I had no wifi connection so it vaporized.
From now on I write out all my blog posts on actual paper.
I always wondered why logbooks and such were written out in pencil and not pen. Ballpoint pens apparently get rusty balls.
I had an awesome post on the Bahamas. It was vaporized. This put me in a severe slump when it came to writing. Hopefully I'm over it now. My seven followers will now have something to do at work.
That's all folks. I promise I will write some more. I had to drag out the old laptop to do this (Microsoft can suck it!) as my bluetooth keyboards keep failing. (ZAGG can suck it!) This also puts a damper on my blog posts. I'm ordering three bluetooth keyboards from amazon. This should get me through to the islands.
Cheerz!
P
Please do not get the impression that this life is not what we imagined. It is. Not all the time, but it is. Going back to land life would be really depressing at this point so let us count our lucky stars.
I tend to write how I feel and right now we are feeling a wee bit depressed because of the money bleed and the delays in getting things done. This does not mean we are not smiling! We know better than to think the alternative to this life would be much better. We are very happy to be out of the rat race and we find humor in most of our daily lives, even if we're sitting in a dusty boat yard.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Avoiding the Blob
Avoiding the blob
Daytona Beach Floriduh
One of the worst things to have while cruising are appointments A date you have to meet while travelling by boat can bring trouble. Instead of casually saling along you tend to push it a bit. Say the weather is looking a tad horrible where you are going and your first thought is to sit tight and wait it out a day. Well, you have an appointment! Press on or you'll miss your date! Suppose you wait a day and the weather gets worse? It's just rain! You are on a boat for Gods sake. Get moving!
Deb is a really good planner. I am a really poor planner. Deb decides when we will leave to make an appointment because I am habitually late for everything. Deb is also very conservative with her schedules. This gives us a buffer of time to sit and wait out any bad weather that may occur. Today we are using one of those days. There is a blob of rain and lightning south of us and moving up the coast. After a poor nights sleep, which we can't figure out why as it was totally peaceful, we both felt a day of rest was in order. No one really felt like driving through the blob. I can see Deb looking at the radar now and thinking we could have made it. She hates to modify a schedule.
The problem I see now is that Deb has used one of her "free day" cards and tomorrow will be a travelling come hell or high water type of day. This is when bad shit happens. This is where you are going through the mosquito lagoon in driving rain and thirty knot gusts and your glasses are too wet to notice the green mark they recently moved beacuse of shoaling.
This is where the powerboat coming up behind you doesn't see you because of the rain on his windshield and the fact that his wipers do not work. He's on autopilot, following the magenta line while playing solitare on his iPad and driving way too fast for the conditions. He has an appointment to get his wipers fixed. He sees you at the last second and stops just in time but not enough to keep his undersized and very shiny fortress anchor from snagging the tube of your dinghy hanging from the davits. Like walrus tusks the anchor punctures the tube and shreds your new chaps as he slams it into reverse. He then gestures an apology while yelling in a eastern European language and drives off. You miss the boat name because your glasses are wet and your binoculars are fogged.
This is where you are about to pick up that mooring in the driving thunderstorm. On the third try you snag the pendant and as you smile about your success, lightning strikes the fully extended and jammed boat hook you are struggling with on deck. You are a vegetarian remembered as fried bacon.
What is it with these friggin boat hook poles? Twist lock. My ass. It always fully extends and then jams when I pick up a mooring. Then I have this 20ft pole I have to do something with while cleating a line. A royal pain.
Daytona Beach Floriduh
One of the worst things to have while cruising are appointments A date you have to meet while travelling by boat can bring trouble. Instead of casually saling along you tend to push it a bit. Say the weather is looking a tad horrible where you are going and your first thought is to sit tight and wait it out a day. Well, you have an appointment! Press on or you'll miss your date! Suppose you wait a day and the weather gets worse? It's just rain! You are on a boat for Gods sake. Get moving!
Deb is a really good planner. I am a really poor planner. Deb decides when we will leave to make an appointment because I am habitually late for everything. Deb is also very conservative with her schedules. This gives us a buffer of time to sit and wait out any bad weather that may occur. Today we are using one of those days. There is a blob of rain and lightning south of us and moving up the coast. After a poor nights sleep, which we can't figure out why as it was totally peaceful, we both felt a day of rest was in order. No one really felt like driving through the blob. I can see Deb looking at the radar now and thinking we could have made it. She hates to modify a schedule.
The problem I see now is that Deb has used one of her "free day" cards and tomorrow will be a travelling come hell or high water type of day. This is when bad shit happens. This is where you are going through the mosquito lagoon in driving rain and thirty knot gusts and your glasses are too wet to notice the green mark they recently moved beacuse of shoaling.
This is where the powerboat coming up behind you doesn't see you because of the rain on his windshield and the fact that his wipers do not work. He's on autopilot, following the magenta line while playing solitare on his iPad and driving way too fast for the conditions. He has an appointment to get his wipers fixed. He sees you at the last second and stops just in time but not enough to keep his undersized and very shiny fortress anchor from snagging the tube of your dinghy hanging from the davits. Like walrus tusks the anchor punctures the tube and shreds your new chaps as he slams it into reverse. He then gestures an apology while yelling in a eastern European language and drives off. You miss the boat name because your glasses are wet and your binoculars are fogged.
This is where you are about to pick up that mooring in the driving thunderstorm. On the third try you snag the pendant and as you smile about your success, lightning strikes the fully extended and jammed boat hook you are struggling with on deck. You are a vegetarian remembered as fried bacon.
What is it with these friggin boat hook poles? Twist lock. My ass. It always fully extends and then jams when I pick up a mooring. Then I have this 20ft pole I have to do something with while cleating a line. A royal pain.
Sometimes you even venture out when there are storms brewing with the potential to become tropical storms or even hurricanes. Let's hope Joaquin goes out to sea. Sorry Bermuda.
This is why we sit today and let the blob on the radar bother someone else. We keep our fingers crossed that another blob doesn't come our way anytime soon.
Avoid appointments.
Cheers!
P
"Please. I haz appologize your dingy. Fix, yes? Do svidaniya. Go Yankees!"
This is why we sit today and let the blob on the radar bother someone else. We keep our fingers crossed that another blob doesn't come our way anytime soon.
Avoid appointments.
Cheers!
P
"Please. I haz appologize your dingy. Fix, yes? Do svidaniya. Go Yankees!"
(This was posted via email as a test. It usually screws up the formatting so don't think I'm a boob who can't edit)
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