"Hits and Misses after one year at sea"...

      Our one year anniversary on the boat is tomorrow, I can't believe how fast time has flown by!  So we're not in South America yet, but considering one year ago I didn't even know how to sail I'm not too dissapointed with our progress.  Here are some of our top hit and misses after on year at sea.....

HIT!-  Solar panels.  We live a cushy cruising lifestyle thanks to the forethought and electrician skills of my guy.  Our eight, yes eight, solar panels, have already paid for themselves.   Imagine never having to put gas in your car, or pay an electric bill ever.  We have so much extra juice when we're at anchor that we can power an ice-maker.  Yep we make ice from the sun on a boat!  It's a rarity in the sailing community, and makes us very popular at happy hour.

Miss-  Leaks, Leaks, and more Leaks!  We try to cover our tracks with all the repairs, and remodeling we've been doing but sometimes a little crack or hole gets overlooked.  That's until we discover mold and mildew in our clothes or pancake batter.  I just completed a three day project of drying out, cleaning and hopefully plugging up our spare room.  We'll find out this weekend how good of job I did.

Hit!- No rent!  Usually the first of the months comes and goes without a thought because for the first time in, dare I say, almost 20 years, I don't have to rent due.  No phone, no cable or electric to pay it's nice!

Hit/Miss- Being on the move constantly.  I love traveling and seeing new places, meeting new people, but that also means lots of goodbye.  We also rarely know where things are i.e markets and fresh water at new places.  And having our own two feet as the only form of land transportation,well sometimes just down the road as turned into several miles.  It's nice when you have friends in the area to help point you in the right direction, and sometimes give you rides.  Plus they always know the best places for meat/fresh produce, and we love to cook for guests on our boat! 

Hit/Miss- Electric Motor!  It's so nice not having that loud engine, and stinky diesel smell!  Plus the extra room in the engine room makes working down there cushy compared to other boats.  And it doesn't cost us $1000s of dollars in gas to go back and forth to the Bahamas, in fact it doesn't cost us anything!  But the down side is we don't have the power of a regular engine.  That requires lots of planning, planning, and sailing.  We can't cheat and turn on our motors to outrun a storm.  So we play it safe, even if it means sitting tight for an extra week or two while Ernesto figures out what he wants to do.

Hit/Miss-  Not having internet all the time.  It's a hit not having that distraction when things need to get done around the boat.  Or when we just want to shut out the rest of the world and enjoy a full moon on deck like the other night.  It's a miss at times like now when I'm in the middle of a blog with 20 minutes of power left and no power outlet in sight...

I guess that's all for now folks.....

"Damn Bull Sharks are going to make us late for dinner!!."....

                                                         

              Once again it was time to get the hitch out of our get-a-long, and move, we had places to go and plans with friends.  We couldn't have planned a more perfect sailing day weather wise.  It should have been an easy trip too, just pull up the anchors, and sail ten miles North.  At least that was the plan.....

              Our first hurdle was pulling up the anchors.  Most boats have a motor that does that, not us it's all raw muscle, and I'm glad my man has muscles!  Normally it's no problem, but our big gun, a 75 lb Brittany anchor with 80 feet of 1/2 inch steel chain, was dung in good thanks to some strong storms.  To sum it up, a 14 ton boat in full throttle could not pull that bitch Brit Brit out!  Two hours later, and one sweaty tired man, we finally got her on the deck.  And away we....didn't go.

              We went about 100 feet, and than the motor had a power hiccup.  So we pulled what I like to call a, "Millennium Falcon moment".  I quickly bungied the jib, then ran down into the engine room to switch the motor to the other battery bank.  That it worked for about three minutes than the steering went out, and we lost power.  So we did emergency move number two, throw an anchor. Trouble shooting time; transmission fluid-check, battery power-check.  Technically we could go without power, and just use the sails, but we'd still need the steering.  Just as I volunteered to jump in, to check if there was something blocking our prop or rudder, two large Bull Sharks showed up.

                The average man has a testosterone rate of 60, the average Bull Shark has a rate of 700, jumping in was not an option. "Damn Bull Sharks are going to make us late for dinner!", is a phrase I never thought I'd say.  We looked at each other for a split second before simultaneously saying let's radio Chad.  Chad is a friend who spends his day cruising around with his twin 250 horsepower outboards towing people.  Two hours later we were tying up to Chads boat exchanging shark stories, and a short time later pulled out of the harbor.  My guy went bellow deck for a well deserved nap while I manned the radio, and enjoyed ride.  In a short time I was waking him to drop anchor in our new, temporary, home early for dinner.

          

      

"Lack Motivation paying off..."

                    As stated before, “There's always stuff to do on a boat, just not always the motivation.”.   Lately irony has proven, that's not always a bad thing. Some things, we've been meaning to get around to, that function better broken.

                    We have spent time, and money, building nets and gutters to collect rain. They work, not as well as we hoped, but we can collect a gallon or two in a good down pour. As irony would have it I was cleaning out the kitchen cabinets one day and left our ten gallon garbage can in the cockpit to air out overnight. That night it rained, and to our surprise the garbage can was full of water the next morning. It had been left directly under two little holes drilled in the hard top, but not used, when we installed the solar panels. We've been meaning to plug them up, but now they're our best source for collecting fresh water!

                    The front stateroom has a ceiling hatch allows a cool breeze through the entire cabin, and makes a nice escape route if needed. Originally it had to be propped up creating a problem when sailing, it would catch on the jib, or if it's windy, than it's bye bye door. As irony would have it one calm day a huge gust blew up from out of no where, and pulled the door right off it's hinges. This is not an easy fix, since it means replacing the fiberglass to reattach it to the frame. (That requires a week of no rain in the rainy season.) While waiting for a sunny week we found it's actually a lot more convenient this way. Now we just slide it back without worry that it blowing away, or get caught in the jib. Also we hangout on the bow a lot more.. It makes a nice little table for eating meals, and doing projects, while still getting a breeze through the cabins.

Now if only there were benefits to not cleaning barnacles off the bottom of the boat....

"We're not just crashing our boat, but we're crashing our home."."

                  If only every morning could start out like this!  When getting ready to sail into the unknown I like to check all weather/wind sights multiple times a day, and watch the local weather forecast if possible.  Also we look at our charts, GPS, and I like to use Google street maps if possible to get a visual of where we're going. But, as often happens in life, all the preparation in the world won't help a bit if your heads not in the game. 

                 It's like you pull the anchor up, and put it's weight on your shoulders.  Once the boat's loose you, and your mates are the only thing preventing disaster.  On one trip we had perfect weather, sunny with the wind in our favor, only to have our Mainsail tear, furling line tangled, and wench handle go over board.  On the flip side we've been caught in a downpour, with 30 mph winds, and sailed into a slip beautifully with just the Storm Jib out. 

                  The best thing we've learned is to listen to ourselves and no one else. Sailing is a lot of teamwork, and when ones down it affects the other, a perfect day can turn stormy fast.  We know each others moods well enough to tell before breakfast is over if it's going to be a good day at sea, and have passed up perfect weather windows if one of us doesn't have their head in the game.  After all if disaster strikes, we're not just crashing our boat, but we're crashing our home.

                   

                   

                  

"The only cop I'm use to seeing in the morning is Inspector Gadget."

 

                

                 Recently the unmistakable sounds of twin super horsepower diesel outboards came to an idle next to us.  I had just poured the last of the coffee, and wasn't ready for visitors just yet.  The sight that greeted me jolted me awake more than the Java.  A large bald Patrol man, wearing police issue aviator sunglasses, was tying his boat off on our port side.  "Great", I thought, "The only cop I like to see in the morning is Inspector Gadget."

                   I know my second thought should have been check the four F's; Floatation devices, flares, fire extinguishers, and feces (a.k.a Poop Tank).  What I really was thinking was, "Damn he's going to come on board, and I haven't had a chance to clean up yet ."  My guy was thinking of all the horror stories we've heard about boats being ransacked by patrols on power trips.

                   His fist action was to call in our tag numbers, then ask for registration and ID.  We gave him the proper papers, he radio it in, and looked us up and down like he was trying to be intimidating.  The call came back that our papers checked out.  I think he was a little disappointed because he never left his boat, just asked to see a couple life jackets and fire extinguishers.  I could tell he wasn't really paying attention at that point, the life jacket I held up was for a little kid!  He gave  us back our papers and an inspection slip, then instructed us to tell any patrols in the future that we were cleared by the "...Big Bald Man."  After he left we just looked at each other quizzically for a minute, and went back to our coffee without worry cause we  cleared by,"..THE BIG BALD MAN!"

"If I'm not snoring, and you're not snoring than who's snoring?"

                                                 
            
            There are moments when the outside world gives us a reminder we're not alone in strange ways.  Recently we've been so wrapped up in interior projects that some strangers from shore came to check on us, since they hadn't seen anyone on deck for a week.  Sound travels far over water, so usually we don't see other people, but hear them.

             One night I was trying to sleep when there was a load obnoxious snoring resulting in the following, "Hey you're snoring.", "No I'm not, you are!".  We rolled over, but soon enough heard the snoring again.  After two more attempts to fall asleep just laid there, "I'm not snoring, and you're not snoring, than who's snoring?"  The following night we were invited to dinner, at a new boat anchored about 100 yards away, with a pet pug named Enzo.  After dinner Enzo curled up on the bench next to us, quickly fell asleep, and started snoring.  It was the mysterious snoring we heard the night before.  His owners just shrugged and said, "Yeah that's be Enzo happens every night."  For the next few weeks, no matter what we did during the day, every night Enzo reminded us other people were out there.


             

"Then, 'Don't eat yellow snow', Now, 'Don't swim in brown water.'"....

                                                

                  One of the nice things about snow in Minnesota is you can see your yard clearly.  It's like the special CSI flashlights, everything shows up.  We frequently had; deer, rabbit, fox, and sometimes even bear tracks around the yard every morning.  In college, thankfully, it helped you avoid the spots outside the dorm where someone, "tossed their cookies", the night before, and everyone knows, "Don't eat the yellow snow." 

                  Down in the Tropics we have clear blue-green waters that, much like snow, shows everything.  It's amazing that you can see clearly down 20 feet to the shells and grass on the bottom.  Of course it's also great for viewing sea life, and watching out for sharks.

                   A few weeks ago we were relaxing on deck thinking about jumping in, when off in the distance we noticed a large brown cloud floating towards us.  All morning we wondered what the heck it was as it slowly made it's way closer, and closer to the boat.  I think the smell hit us first, calcified poo has a very distinct, and no more pleasant, smell than regular sewer poo.  That was bad enough, but we didn't realise just how big the cloud really was!  It was like the brown Blob engulfing the entire boat, and surrounding area, in smelly, slow moving, floating sewage! I don't know if it was a cruise ship dumping, or a local sewage line breaking, but it was definitely not from a small boat.  Ever since that day we have been extra thankful for the clear waters, and very picky about where we swim, it's safe to say we don't swim in brown water.