doing the little things

Doing the little things…

Well I said I would blog dec 1 so to those of you that actually read this here you are…

Time passes so quickly! First a quick mention of Karen and Dan wellumson visiting last week.  We have a great time exploring the area. Cumberland island is fun to romp around. Pauly’s has excellent food! St. Augustine FL is such a cute little town. Much fun and fellowship has had been by all.

Back to checking things off our list. Today I was feeling brave in the wood area. Our helm seat is coming apart at the corner so I thought… easy job I can do this.  Once I opened up the teak top to get some glue in there I noticed inside is all rotten! Once again an easy job turning into a pain.  So I have it sitting in the sun to dry out. Tomorrow if it is dry I will continue fixing it.

Ben has been continuing on working to get our ground plane set so our SSB can work. He seems to be making headway!

Oh today was a day of checking off 2 things! The harken furling was put back together and Ben help Bob with that job! Yahoo! Check! And we reseated our safety bar to the floor.  In Deltaville they forgot to turn the foot to the right spot on the bar so as to make it line up with the screw hole that keeps the bar tight and in place.  (details) Everytime someone new comes on the boat and grabs the safety bar Ben and I look at each other hoping it does not get pulled out! Now it is secure.  Fixes that use the word “safety” are always good to pay attention to.  Not to mention it leaked so hopefully we fixed the leaks too!  Check!

We are waiting on new solar panels to come. (Ben found not big and bulky ones but semi flexible that will fit on the dodger.)  He also bought a reverse osmosis hand pump for emergencies.  Normally they are about 2k – 5k! yes they get you with the word “survival”… that word is probably better to notice than the word “safety”. But anyway we are trying to be simple! We don’t want a water system that will need a lot of attend and where do we put it.  So Ben googled many sites to find hand emergency pumps that take out the salt and other things we don’t want to drink.  There on ebay was a hand pump for a total of 700.  Don’t we feel special! It should make 1.2 gallons an hour by continuously pumping it.  I guess in the middle of the ocean if we need that we will be so bored it will be a lifesaver for our boredom. Ha ha ha

We are ending out day with computer silly games, blogging, scrabble with friends and just relaxing.  It is getting cold and yesterday was 37 at night.  I have been happy to note we turned on our heater to make me happy… happy wife happy life… as they say. Getting up in the morning is hard as it is still cold in here… I throw my clothes under the covers to warm them up… then I embark into the cold morning cabin to make coffee.

I hope all the rest of our days are this happy! Check!

Welp, I’ve made you all sleepy I’m sure… so good night from Cricket and her crew.

Back on Cricket

Back from MN. Ben's Brother and sister-in-law are with us for 6 days as we tour around St. Mary's. We are having a great time. (and me being the practical one is a bit nervous about our departure date... but Ben will say, "We'll make it and if we don't. what is the worst that can happen? we stay in the Caribbean."

Our electrical chartplotter, radar units have been sent back under warranty! they all came back to us "new"! our batteries we will be shipping back next thursday.  That means we have replaced our full electronic... chart plotter, radar unit, inverter/charger, and batteries.  Wow I'm so glad they were under warranty other wise I would be sooo sad!

Now we are looking at possible having more solar and or wind-mill generator. We are not sure what to get... or get both? we don't want over kill. We are such a cute boat wthout all that stuff on it... on the other hand it would be nice to be totally self sufficient on wind or sun! Imagine??? not having to use fuel diesel or gas for our gas generator.

well tomorrow we run off to cumberland island. Sunday we are going to hoist Dan or Ben up the mast to put together our radar unit! fun!

peace to you all
Pam

sailing the high seas again

Sailing the high seas again!

Not on our boat but Ben and I helped Ron from DawnTrader sail his boat from GA to west Palm Beach FL. This will be a memorable trip... The head overflowed a little but never pleasant to take care of (poor Ron,), he cut his arm - not bad-, the French press coffee pot fell and shattered and I had a ten minute rough go of my midnight shift.

There were many factors that lead us to going with Ron as opposed to working on the boat. He is an experienced sailor. He knows single side band and weather and sail mail email system from the SSB. It would be a good learning experience for both of us. I was torn... To stay and keep working or to go with and learn.

I did not want to be left behind so away 3 of us went for a short 60 hour sail.

It's amazing how rusty a person gets when you haven't been sailing in a while.

The first day is always exciting as you head "out" to sea.  Leaving the land behind and wondering if the weather report is close or way off.

It was good to sail with someone else being the captain. I could just be told what to do. There was never a time I disagreed with his decision... A few times I might have made a different decision but it was all good.

He set our watches (not the kind on your wrist) but the kind that is also called "taking shifts" every 4hours. Sweet. Imagine what it would be like  to go have 4 hrs on and 8 hrs off! I could not wait. To my surprise I think I was just as tired as when it was just me and Ben but that is because what sleep can one get after three days?

The first night when we go to sleep there is too much noise and movement to actually sleep. One would think you would be lulled to sleep. Not in my case or in either of our situations. We all said the same thing. The first time off our watch we could not sleep! Then you are a zombie for a day, the next night watch you sleep way better when you are off.

My first night I had thoughts of... Oh my how will we make it on long crossings. The wind was normal 10-15k but on our nose and since we had a plane to catch we had to make time so we motor sailed. That means the waves were quite rocking and rolling. Up and down. So on my first night from 8-midnight I was tired from the night before where we packed and got up early. I looked out into the gray sky, dark water, moon full, and a head ache to beat all head aches and pondered... Wow.... Or why?

The second night my watch again from 8-midnight. Was more easterly winds just off the nose! It was a comfortable tack! The auto pilot finally settled down into working! I had the most blissful night sail for two hours! I stood up to stretch, look for boats, and breath deep as the waves smoothly and calmly rolled by our beam. I thought, "how fun is this, what a great night of sailing, the moon is perfectly full, I can move around the deck cuz the auto pilot is working! It will be so fun to sail to New Zealand! I'm ready for the adventure!

Then all of a sudden a boat blipped on the screen. One I had not noticed because I know it was not there. I can see AIS warnings 50 miles out but for some reason this boat waited to show up until It was directly infront of us about 9 miles out. A tug towing a huge barge. He was not going to budge away from his heading it seemed. I yelled down for Ben to just let me know his ideas but he did not hear me. I said out loud.... I can do this on my own... The Tug is 9nm away going at 11 knots I am going at 6 knots we will crash in... Oh I should hail him... But first I made a drastic course change I went 90 degrees to port. At this rate I will be out of his way and cross over his path. I stayed off course for 1 mile then turned back on course we passed each other 1.8 miles from side to side.

Phew! To me it was hard because I don't like his cockpit. No offense Ron. It is not made for someone 5' 1" ! The VHF radio to hail boats is on the starboard. The chart plotter is on the port, the auto pilot is near your feet, he has splash guards up so when I'm standing on the floor of the cockpit (which is full of water a weird quirk of the boat.) I in no way can see right or left unless I stand straddle the opposite seats! When standing in the cockpit I can reach the auto pitot but of course at this exact moment the winds picked up and the auto pilot was swinging 20 degrees port thne swing back to starboard... I'm sure I was confusing the tug watching me zig zag. To make me frustrated even more when walking from the helm to the chart plotter 6feet forward I tripped on 2 lines that span across the seat and then my tether got stuck under the cushion. (note to self , I don't like cushions too easy to trip and I feel bad to step on them with wet boots so just move them below next time.)

Ok imagine the tug looking at me zig zagging... I'm trying to set the auto pilot so I can run up to the chart plotter cuz it keeps beeping, "warning warning dangerously close vessel..." I disengage the auto pilot and think I'll hand steer... I soon find out I can't hand steer his boat backward cuz it is too hard to move with the auto pilot belt on his wheel. I shut off the chart plotter warning so as to not wake people below and so I can see the screen. I put my cursor on the AIS vessel to get the name... A wind blows us off course again. I pull hard on the sluggish wheel finally I get the name of the tug "sea horse" cute name. Now I hustle back to the starboard to grab the radio to hail him... But first grab the wheel again... Shoot... I hop in the water again ... get us on course, try the auto pilot settings again, now grab the radio... "Sssss" beep beep. Arggg that alarm is so loud... Ok turn off the warning but this time I had also changed the chart plotter to head up... (digress .... You can have the view of the chart to always be north facing up so if we are moving south the view is opposite. So if I want to turn right the chart plotter will look like I need to go left. But if I have the view of head up that means whatever I see ahead of me that will be mirrored on the chart plotter. Things on the right will be on the right. Ron likes north up...he is a navy man... It is an easy view switch on the chart... So with all this commotion I changed the view for my watch and was much more calm.) so now I could see his angle better knowing that we will pass each other.

No need to hail him.  All is good. I did the right thing. It was a good drill for me. I know I could have yelled for Ben to wake up but I didn't feel like I was " that close". Still it woke me up. After that the auto pilot did not like much of anything until finally it settled down an hour later.  I like our boat. When I pop the auto pilot I have easy controls for turning the wheel. I can see on both sides. I can reach the chart plotter without leaving the helm, I can use the radio with ease.

It was fun to be on someone's boat. I do have to say I covet his "lazy jacks". The company was good, the food was good, the sailing was good. All in all a good trip. I'd do it again.

We came in to the intercostal waterway ICW. That was fun to see again.  Ben piloted through all that low water excellently we never got stuck on a sand bar!

That night we were all exhausted after getting only 4 hours of solid sleep. I was out at 9pm but at 2am I woke up wide awake ready for my 4 hour watch. Ha ha even the second night I slept hard but woke up after 4 hours feeling refreshed ready for a shift. Funny.

Back home for a week for a funeral. Ben's dad funeral. It will have hard parts and good parts. It will be good to see the family and hard to say goodbye.

No blog till Dec first. 

Blessings

Pam

Chilly in Georgia

Last night it hit 34 degrees. I would not trade my down sleeping bag for anything! I was warm allll night long.  the only problem is getting out of the sleeping bag. brrrr luckily I had a hot flash and I quick jumped up to get dressed during the hot flash. ha ha

this past week we have diligently been working on our list that keeps getting longer not shorter. The electrician is baffled to our "drain" on the batteries. But he is getting closer... we can feel it.  Actually we were thinking of laying hands on the hull to dispel all the electrical gremlins! It can't hurt. ha ha  Our chart plotter stopped working and the radar would not connect.  so we sent both back to the manufacture. it is under warranty! phew

Ben has been working hard on the grounding of our Single Side Band.  our communication that we will use while off shore.  SSB will also allow us for email and for weather faxes.  It is essential that it work!

Not that I am pessimistic but maybe a realist.  Sometimes I think, " we will never get our essential list done in time" and then Ben will say "We will get it done and the worst that can happen is we just sail to the Caribbean and hang out there for most of the year and leave next year." So it will be what it will be.  we are on "sailing" time.

Ben's father passed away and we will be home for a week, then back for thanksgiving when his brother and wife will visit us.  So that is 2 weeks of not working on the boat. we will be in MN for christmas for 2 weeks.  So we have about 15 days to get our list done.  Although we could leave as late as January 20th and we think we could still hit Panama in March but that is cutting it close.  we also could hang out in Panama for a while too.  We have heard it is a great and cheap place to hang out. And fresh fruit and veggies a plenty.

This past week has been days of to-do list after to-do list.  I have finished the painting of the bow sprit! finally I get to check it off my list.  the sea cocks need to be worked but I'm too weak. Ben got them all checked except 2.  so what do we do with that? we will continue to oil them and see if they come loose. One of our surprise was Mabelle, noticed water weeping from the rudder.  She said that means water is getting in the rudder.  Hummm people would walk by and say... just drill a few holes in the rudder.  Easy for them to say.  Sounds like a lot of work to patch the holes if you ask me.  Well Ben got enough gumption to drill.... and it was a good thing cuz he hit one place and out gushed a lot of water! so now that needs to dry and then we need to fill the holes but why was there water in their in the first place? we don't want to put a bandaid on a problem and that is the moment I thought, "ummm maybe we won't make the deadline this year?"

that is the update.  Lila update... she came into our bunk soaking wet again! AND MUDDY! silly girl!

Oh this weekend we will be helping a fellow sailor sail off shore to West Palm.  he is a single handler and wanted someone to help him sail 3 days on the outside.  We thought it be good to sail with an experienced captain.  The seas are 6-8 NW winds... that is fine with me but the temperature is going to be 40 at night BRRRRR! with wind!! Not looking forward to my 4 hour shift.

so will be off shore till Tuesday. no blog... then to MN

miss you all!
Pam

another day in the boatyard

Another day in the boat yard…

I’ll blog about my day and then I might not blog everyday if it is the same kind of thing but different project. So here was my boring day as a news worthy blog. They are all like this – blah-bloggably-boring for most of you but exciting full of learning for me and Ben.

Well today was not typical cuz we were a bit more lazy than normal. I woke up my usual way… thinking about work and how to improve it or what kind of a webinar I want to teach.  I have my full Deaf mentor webinar finished in my head now I just have to video it.

It is cold here so getting out from a warm down sleeping bag is tough… very tough! Especially when your hubby is snoring away in slumber. He stays up later than me and I get up earlier than him.

I got out easier than normal cuz I got a hot flash and then it is easy to get dressed in a cold place. (48 degrees this morning)

I made coffee as usual. Now it is essential to make something warm to drink. Then I perused through the sailing maintenance handbook. Thought I would learn something… seacock’s came to me since they need to be lubed and exercised.  I read 3 pages of how it is important to make sure your seacock’s are in good working order. Blah blah blah but never once did it say what to use? WD40? Grease? Silicone? Vegtable oil? Nothing? But I can tell you it is important.  So I asked the local boatyard guru everyday boater, Ken, and he said just work them and if you need use vegetable oil. All that reading for nothing.

Then I went to bilge pumps a full chapter was on where to put it, how to hook it up but no where is there how to service your “manual” bilge pump. Crazy again! My philosophy in life is… if someone can teach you why read about it!

I next read about diesel fuel polishing. Diesel fuel gets micro bacterial stuff in the fuel and makes it gunky.  So I perused the internet and found a youtube video.

Ben then woke up and I said we can do this. He asked where do we rent a polishing unit? No clue.

I went to the boatyard bathroom which by the way is one shower and one toilet for about 25-30 people! The toilet is often plugged and 50% of the time there is no toilet paper! Annoying! There was Mabel the best character ever! She’s got your back. She is the sister of the person that owns the place. I asked her where to rent a diesel polisher and she points to the shed and says, ‘Oh Rocky (that is her nephew that runs the boatyard) he rents a polisher” SWEET!

So all my researching was for naught! Ben says I could have stayed in bed!

Ben and I biked to Woody’s house, a local sailor that we meet at the st mary’s yacht club. He and his wife are very sweet and made us lunch.

Then Ben worked really hard at hooking up our shore power as we popped the circuit breaker last night. We networked in the yard with people about various items on our list that we don’t know what to do. 

Then it was time to go to the st marys yacht club meeting. Which is on a houseboat on the river. You walk to the public dock and wave your hands and they will come and dinghy you out to the boat.  There we ate brats, and hamburgers and the reason why we went was so Ben could have a brownie. But while there we networked and got a name of a woman who just was at the Galapagos! We will give her a call when we have time or an email. Exciting and we have gathered more important information for our journey. People are our biggest resource! The boating community is so amazing! They are welcoming and knowledgeable, caring and sweet!

Im Back

I’m back! It is good to be here and hard to be away from all the excitement at work.  Kinda weird.

First a Lila story.  Ben and I came back from a short visit with my sister, Nola and hubby, Ed.  Lila was no where to be found in the boat yard and no one had seen her.  Then the next boat said he lost his cat but then found her stuck in a boat that she had crawled into. So that made Ben and I walk through the boatyard yelling, “Lila, kitty kitty, Lila kitty where are you?”  we walked out on a small tug/barge that the boatyard has.  I heard her jingle. I said, “shhh, I hear her”  Then all of a sudden we heard her meow cry meow cry loudly.  We got closer and closer to the sound.  Here was Lila soaked to the bone. (she is so skinny!)

I picked her up and she was shaking.  We think she walked over to the neighbor’s house past this fence.  On low tide you can walk over but high tide you can’t get across without getting wet. So we think she walked over and got stuck.  If only cats could talk.  Since then she has been so happy to be in the cabin with us! She is prrrr-y and cuddly!

Boat stuff…. Well our list keeps getting longer and longer not shorter! I feel good by our accomplishments. Ben is amazing at keep on going with project after project and each project is something he or I has never done before.  All new to us. Like the picture I am showing is Ben successfully hooking up our modem.  This modem will receive emails (fun for us to communicate with you-all AND weather faxes to help us with the weather forecasting.) Well that is if we can get our SSB to work. )which we found out our ground is wrong.  So hopefully that will get fixed too!

He and I were so excited to see the lights turn on the modem! It was like Christmas! Then he finished putting in the natures head today. (you know a composting toilet.) I have to admit I’m a little nervous about the whole composting toilet… like all the normal questions… where do you bring the dirt/poop? Out at sea it can go over board. What if you can’t find peat moss to make it compost? What if it stinks? What if what if…?  All good questions and answers I only know what the advertisement says. But we do know we had so much trouble last year with out head that this has to be an improvement!

We chose a natures head cuz Ben has been reading the book called Humanure and interesting read about our poop and how it should be put back in the soil.  Once it is in the soil the micro organism will “eat” up the poop and make it into the best dirt for growing and putting nutrients back into the dirt – a win-win for all.  So here we go.  Plus you all have heard our awful stories of our head not working over and over again.  I’ll keep you informed.

Our electrical is still bad… we sent out inverter (DC to AC) and it was bad. So they will send us a new one. But who wants a new one if the last one did not work. What will keep us from not having the same problem.  We just can’t get to the root of the electrical gremlin.  I hope Phil in this boat yard will be able to do it!

What have I been doing? Well working some at ASLIS work and I have been categorizing the inventory on the boat.  It is amazing what the previous owner has put on the boat. We had no idea it was all here… well we knew it was but did not know what something were for but now we are smarter and know what most things are. There are a few mysteries.  I’ll have to take pictures and you all can tell me what you think it is used for. Ha ha

I have also been doing stripping and teaking the wood.  I love teak oil instead of varnish.  Is there something I am missing? Teak oil is easy to do, no running, no mess to clean up, drys fast and is no fuss.  So I’d rather teak once a month that strip everything every 2 years. What a pain!

That is all for now.  No excitement.

Oh here is a picture of a pampered cat back home working with Anne at her desk.  How cute is Kiko the house cat. Everyone should have animals at work! Thanks Anne for taking great care of Kiko while I am gone.

No blogs until Nov 1 from me

Hi all, I'll be in MN for 10 days for work. So look at Bens blog for pictures and fun.
I hope to see a few of you while in town.
Smile
Pam

Whole foods makes me happy

Lazy day Friday

We started out our traditional Friday morning ritual with the St. mary's yacht club meeting at the cedar oak cafe. Dad got to meet some more sailors and then play on wifi. Ben gave him a little lesson about iTunes and amazon mp3s while I did emails.

Then we piled in the car to Bens eye dr appt. He is all good.

We went to the west marine store for primer and paint for the bow sprit.

Here was the highlight!!! I love whole food! I can get kombucha, dark yummy chocolate and raw nuts not to mention bunch o other stuff!
So happy! No MSF, no high fructose corn syrup and no caffeine!

Ended the night with taco salads!

See Ben for pictures. 

Much blessings abound

same o same o

no pictures to show so no blog... same o same o
and you guessed it...
I'm tired can you tell?
thanks for the comment Kris!
Pam

Winches to Windlasses

This morning I wrote out a list for the men to pick from.  I looked at the schematics for the windlass and thought... it looks way easier than a winch so that should take about 1 hour or so...

I had to go to town to use wifi. I was gone from 10 - 2pm.  When I came back they were still working on the windlass.  (A windlass is the mechanism/machine that we hand crank to pull up the anchor. Many a times Ben is doing this... it is a lot of work!)

In the pictures...Those guys faces look happy but... i'm not so sure... i've heard a few swear words come out of my dad.

There was one screw that would not come out!  I stood around thinking with them... I was so hot and thirsty... i actually had a pop from the boatyards pop machine... normally water will do it but i'm not so hep on the water here.  I'm sure Ben can explain the details....

... as I went to the pop machine to "think"... Ken said, "How are you Pam?"... I frowned and said... we can't get a screw out of the windlass... we have it half stripped... bob sitting next to him said he knew what to do.

When bob got there he asked, "have you tried this?" yes yes "have you tried that?" yes yes "have you dont this?"  the guys proudly continued, "we have tried all the tricks to getting out a tight screw"  Bob ran away and came back with the funniest tool... Both Ben and Dad had seen them before but not me.

It worked!  Now it was getting to 6ish.  The three-some (dad, Ben and me) cleaned the differential (gear thingies) and put it all back together except that - well - it didn't work so I said, "Let's go out to dinner to cheer you guys up for working so hard on a project all day!" And so we did.... plus I did not feel like cooking!

tomorrow we will take it apart and put it back together.  It was really good we did this so if the windlass falls apart we know how to put it back together.  I love things like that.  I don't like electrical  -  don't get me started on that!  i'll cry my more woes on a different day.

here are pictures.  I love pictures. I'm sure Ben can explain better the day than I can.
peace Pam

Papa Jerry Arrived!

Papa Jerry at Cricket

My dad arrived Sunday late afternoon. We just chatted sunday night and no blog was written.

It has been raining and last night the winds were up to about 50 knot winds or so they say from the river. I believe it.  Our boat on the hard was trembling with the winds and we had one bad-boy halyard clanging which is a naughty thing in the boating etiquette world. It only clanged when the winds piped up and by the time I thought, “Ok ok I’ll go and figure out which one it is.” Then it stopped only to return again. So I did not get enough sleep.

Today we started out with our “Dad” list.  We all had fun cleaning the last 4 winches. We packed bearing and talked about the proper way to pack them.  My dad’s dad taught him one way and Ken in the boat yard taught me a different way.  Then Mabel (the owner’ sister) came up and agreed with my dad… she said her daddy taught her the same way my dad was taught.  With all this pressure to conform to the old ways to pack bearing, I still liked the way Ken backs bearing best.

Not much to talk about really… I made lasagna from the propane oven… I pulled the treasure chests from the deck so I can strip them… I did some work accounting…

So any questions from the viewers? It helps when people ask me what they are interested in me blogging about.  Being on the hard is just like everyday living except that I have to use a go-girl at night to pee standing up to put in a bottle and then empty the cup in the bathroom the next day.  We don’t have a toilet working when we are on the hard.  No one does. I wonder what other women do in the middle of the night?

The bugs are driving me crazy! There are no-see-ems, tiny black flies AND tiny misquitos that are so small that you can’t feel them land on you but you can feel them bit you!!! Grrrr  2 nights ago we were getting eaten alive while in bed by misquitos! Only to find out the next morning it was cuz we left the screen open.

You know anyone should be able to comment on the blog now!  There was a setting that I clicked wrong so now I have allowed anyone to comment. Oh and it should send me an alert in my email that there was a comment.  So try again to comment. Even if it is to say HI.

Oh, I'll try to talk about the Life and times of Lila next time.

That’s all for now,

Peace and love

Pam

storm tactics handbook study

Storm Tactics Handbook

Yelp today was predicted to be rainy and windy.  We got up and went to the farmers market for fresh food.  There was only one stand for produce and one lady that sold cookies and pies. We did not get skunked, no sirrie.  WE got all our produce from this vendor AND we got fresh shrimp.  This guy, Rick was so funny… he said, “This shrimp does not get any fresher! Look behind me… there is the boat… we go and pull up the shrimp… shovel them in the hole where the ice is…. They wiggle for 2 minutes and they are frozen.”  Who could say no to that?

We bought our produce, shrimp and cookies. We drove back to the boat where rain influenced my decision to do indoor preparations.  I surfed for manual bilge pumps online. They cost from 28 to 1000 dollars – no kidding! All depends on how much you want to pump and how fast the water comes out.  I’m still deciding on which brand.

Then I read a little of “Storm Tactics” which Ben has pretty much read the full book and has highlighted important areas for me to know.  It was time for me to crack open the book.  The couple, Lin and Larry have sailed 189,000 miles in 30 years!  They have lived through 2% of storms.  They are very comforting sounding when Ben reads the book to me outloud at night.  I wonder if Ben has been softening the book and picking certain places to read.

He has read all about hove-to a maneuver that we will be so skilled at once we get out and practice more. There have been some big storms that have blown over the years where there have been significant people out sailing.  The people that hoved-to all lived, the people that did not do that didn’t have such a 100% happy ending.

I opened the book to read a bit about our drogue anchor. (A sea anchor that keeps you from sliding down big waves and turtling or tumbling or rolling over.) Ben has been researching which anchor to get and how to use them.  So I like lists, I went right to the list area…

With pen and paper in hand I wrote what they wrote in big letters on my paper…

            “Everything WILL get wet!” then proceeded to read on.

This exercise is to prepare us for a roll over or a rogue wave hitting us unexpectedly. Let me say that if we follow the hove-to we will not roll! But we might get a wave to slap us and pour down the hatch.  We want to be prepared as possible. 1 % is not that big of an amount but it could be a longggg 1% while in the mix of it all.

So I made more of a list of things to batten and prepare.  Things like keep your batteries in a waterproof case (easy I can do that), put one set of clothes in a double Ziploc (easy again), prepare for no electronics and engine failure (not so easy). I need to download all the celestrial navigation charts for a sextant (which we do have, and both Ben and I have sighted stars, moon, land, sun but need the chart and the mathematical equation for success.)

Enough of that for now. I went out on deck to continue stripping wood. That will be a full time 3 month project.  The rain just never poured like it was supposed to do so out I went to get in a few hours stripping wood.

Back in the boat now in the dark to study more things to do. I am trying to bake banana bread for the second time… no promises. The oven is weird! It has no temperature control so now I know you have to watch it closely.

After one full week being here I feel like we are on schedule. I’m not holding my breath.

I love Winches!

There is a quiz once it is apart.  Looks easy until you have to put it back together again.

It is like doing a craft,  a Mensa puzzle and getting my hands dirty.  Reminds me of my father and fun times in the garage.  I call cleaning winches, Man-Knitting. Packing Bearings is always fun.

Now you can call me the Winch Lady.  I have a few more to do.  Ben has a picture of the winches totally apart.

Back to girl-knitting after I finish balancing my work checkbook. argh.

Peace Pam

Rain and Chai

today was a network day which is just as important as our to-do list.  We went to the local St. Mary's Yacht Club that is once a week to greet and meet at a coffee shop all the locals and transients like us.  We learned so much about anchors put in series.  I wish we would have known that while in Bahamas.  We did put an anchor in series but it was too close to the working anchor.  I get it now! Invaluable!

We sat and soaked up the many stories and antidotes from accumulative years of all the Salts (seaman) that were there.  We found out that 2 other boats will be traveling to the Panama around the same time we will be going. This is good in that we can gleam from their past experiences!  You can not get these kinds of lessons in a classroom but only from those that have experienced it! loverly! Oh Great Teacher we are your students ready to learn.

After sitting at the coffee shop from 9 am - 2pm enjoying the conversation and wifi with a bit of work, we set back to the boat.  The rains were big enough for us to tuck in our ship.  I made Chai! Amazing! Chai from scratch with all the spices! I can't wait to make it again. this will be a big treat on the boat while sailing! I'm just so happy with that recipe! If you want it I can post it.  I got it from Ben's nephew Ivan from Oregon.  Ben's sister Ann made it for us while on our last visit and it was too yummy!

Well I baked for the first time but I don't want to report the results... let's just say I am married to the most kind man who loves all my mishaps in cooking expeditions.

So today one more thing on our list was accomplished... learn to cook with the stove and learn to make Chai.  Check off my list!

Keep reading I have yesterday to blog about I'll post that next.  well you don't have to read it if you don't want to but the pictures will be fun... if you  like winches.

Peace Pam

I'm such a Yankee.

I'm such a Yankee.

Accomplished 3 out of 8 winches complete

Give me grease and sprockets with little pins to set in place and I am happy. I love puzzles. Ben n I hired a winch lady but it came out that she has never done our kind before and she is self taught. Ben and I think we had her just to give us the nerve to do it even though we might have done it faster than her "teaching" us. All-in-all it was good to have her and we would hire her again for projects we are unsure of. 

I also stripped the top of one hand rail - 3 more to go.  More sun tomorrow then rain. I'm getting as much done outside and in rainy days we will go inside.

The most amazing thing today was the boatyard people here are so loving. Today Ken on a boat "Sparrow" made us all crab cake sandwiches from crabs he caught in the river!!! But first Bob our rigger guy walked by and asked if we wanted shrimp! He caught the shrimp from his boat up stream ohhhh 50 pounds or so I think he said. I was amazed at the food right here in the river! How do they do it? I'm such a Yankee. We only know fresh water fish and that I don't even do but once every 10 years.

Tonight not sure what we will learn, more storm tactics? Weather online course? SSB equipment? So little time. Or just knit.
Peace Pam

10/4/11 sanding - stripping - winches

10/4/11

I was so tired last night that I think my eyes were closed at 9:30pm and out in 2 minutes.

Why was I so tired you ask? Physical labor is great for ones sleeping – don’t you think?

Yesterday we adventured in our skills. Taking things off is one thing but we all know that it is the putting them back that is important. How many times have you taken something apart only to find you can’t remember how to put them back… well unless you are Paul Nygren who has a photographic memory for things like that… which I don’t.  BUT I do have a camera!

So Ben took off our stern pulpit (we are gradually doing wood stripping and sanding as we gain more confidence.) Well if you talk “wood” – then I am all there! Wood and I are happy together unlike machines and me. (more on that a little later)

Ben and I went through the boat yesterday and pointed out what wood we are going to strip to it bare-ness and leave it (or possibly only teak oil it).  This varnish stuff is for the birds. Yes we knew that when be bought the boat.  We still love our beautiful wood look.  We will just have 2 looks – natural and varnished.  Teak stands up in any weather as long as it does not sit in water… well then it could rot. Left to its own nature it will last for a super long time – How does God do it?

We pulled out the heat gun and bubbled the varnish then stripped it with a knife. Easy and fun for the first hour… actually we had fun all day. It was Ben’s first time with the heat gun so he was so happy.

We bought a Fein tool.  An amazing sander and tool to strip the black strips they have in teak decking.  I can’t wait until we use that a few time.  The sander is none like I have used!!! Why don’t they make them all that way? Germans – they know their tools.

At 1:00pm we had this cute lady come (the Winch lady, Gina) to show us how to maintenance our winches. BUT none of us could get off the break band. Well to our credit we did not have the right tool. She could not find her tool.  She went to town and there was no tool to be found. Her brother, Rocky, manager of the boatyard said he was going to make a tool today for us. Sweet.  If not we drive to Jacksonville about 40 minutes or so away. (seems not far when you have to drive that just to go to church like we do in mpls.)

So for most of the afternoon we went back and forth from trying to get off the break-band to stripping and sanding.  By 3:30pm I had enough of manual labor for my first day back after being a desk jockey for so many months this summer.

Sooooo I looked on the master list and thought… “what can I learn about now?”… Bilge pumps are important and seem like they should be easy. So google here I come.

I read about why you need them… how many one should have aboard… what size… but I was looking for repair.  I searched and searched… So I stopped my search until after I open up some lockers and look below to see what we have then I’ll better get a grip.  I went back to something easy and needed… started balancing my business checkbook which is no small affair!  Each month the bank has mistakes (I never thought they made mistakes but for some reason Quickbooks software and Usbank don’t talk to each other in how they process deposits. When I accept visa the bank puts them in funny batches so I’m not sure which deposit from which person is in that amount.)  Blah blah blah…

I made egg cheese sandwiches – a favorite of mine. We went to a coffee house for wifi to see if the signal is strong enough for a web meeting with the staff for today.  It was.  I’m trying to get skype to work… well gmail webcam works.  So if you want to chat with me on skype or gmail or webcam just let me know.

Oh yesterday Ben was working on pulling off our Stanchions which many are bent.  Those are the short poles that hold the safety lines around the boat so we don’t accidently fall off.  He had a funny joke but too embarrassed to write it so I will, “My stanchions are kept straight while watching my wife strip.”  Or something like that…Ha ha I was stripping wood and he was straightening stanchions. Ha ha ha

Ben just woke up and he said he blogged last night so I'm sure he has the pictures. He is the night owl and I'm the morning dove.

I'm ready to start my day!

smile

Pam

Bens blog

I'm tired! Ben now has a blog so read his tonight. Ha ha. No seriously. I don't know what it says but it's about today I guess.
Www.sailblogs.com/member/cricket/

That was so cheap of me. I know. Isn't it his turn to do a few blogs?
Blessings
Pam

A day of lists

Remember yesterday I told you about my drawers and lockers.  Well here is proof it is neat... or so for a week or two.  I can also shove more clothes all the way up on the inside.  where the panels go about 6-8 inches is pack sweatshirts that you can't see and neither can I.  If I want a winter shirt I have to dig until I find it.

One way to get to know people of the area is to go to church. So we biked six miles to church. Then hung out for wifi at a new coffee shop most of the day. While there we created the master list. When I look at it I get a little overwhelmed as there is also Pam-office work as a first priority.

So for those that love lists .... Here it is... And I know I have forgotten things and some things I did not put Down each step but the end results...

Things to check and do

bildge pump, the old is on its last days
bidlge pump manual does not work
cape horn check lines
Sail mail set up with SSB
weather classes
Rogue wave research it's like a wifi sniffer
Boat cards - to pass out to other boaters
Call Walt & Connie to help with RO Water
new insurance - research world insurance

         Electrician stuff:
check batteries - they again were dead when we came! grrrr!
SSB VHF anntenna check, it does not seem to work all the time
Buy generator - we sold our old one it was not the right kind
Course computer - it makes us stay on course and it is off, of course
Auto pilot make work - it follows the course computer
electrician hours - to help sort this out
Extra solar panels 2 - buy
Make RO water system
Specific charts paper and garmin electronic charts
 have our GSP-garmin to talk with computers, they say it can but we shall see

      Engine/shafts:
1000 hr engine tune up
Stuffing box rudder n engine
Steering system lube n check

       Sails/Anchors:
Sail kit buy,
    with adhesive strips for rubs.      Or get fluff things on the stays
Drogue anchor-parachute for super rough weather
bigger cape horn vane for super light winds
Tri Main Storm sail

      To Sew:
Water proof cover bags for bikes
Crafts yarn to bring along
check all sails for repair
Lee cloths - so we don't fall out of a bunk during our off shift
Fruit hangers, small hammocks

      Dinghy preparation:
Outboard overhaul and maintenance
Out board mount out on stern
find holes in dinghy - an endless job

      Rigger:
Boom vang tap and install - why does it keep bending the anchor plate?
Safety bars and lines redo - they are old and rusty, we would like the safety lines to catch us when we need.
Roller furling replace or fix (from the dragon mishap)
tune rigging
jib cleat redo - it keeps falling off
Jib lines - new

       Things to google and do:
Fuzzy stay to keep sails fresh
how to sprouts seeds while sailing
Bimini - fix and install
Bottom coat
Chain plates - take off and chalk
Water on floor bow cabin - find where from
Lube all sea cocks
Lube all bearings for winches

       Misc To gather & Buy:
extra this and that for back ups
   nuts bolts
   cotter pins
   tape of various sizes
   repair kit for dinghy
   Boathook
   Better handheld VHF

       Wood work
Treasure chests fix
sand teak to raw wood
cockpit cracks
sand varnish
make teak table
make shelves in shower
Kitty litter box
fix door hardware for swingdown doors
Lashing boards for water jugs on railing
Coffee grinder manual to be mounted
Floor under companion way make new
 
       Natures Head:
Put in new toilet
plumbing etc…
electrical fan

So that is an idea. It's not as much as building a house and Paul and I did that in six months.

If any of you want to lend a hand come on out! Anytime!

Miss you all
Pam

Oh ps I will be switching this blog to Bens new blog cuz it is made for sailors so you can see our route and things. Plus we can post from the ocean! I'll let you know the big switch.

just another day on the hard

Ho humm another day - Wrong! Ben and I were so excited yesterday as we pulled into the boat yard! We are home once again with our little Cricket. Lila knew exactly what to do when we got here.  It looked as if she was just as excited as we were. she scurried up the latter and checked the whole boat.  She seems to be content looking down at her world from the edges of the boat as there are 3 dogs and 5 other cats in the boat yard for her to contend with not to mention the alligators that lurk near the dock.   and owls about hooting at night oh Lila better be a little smarter than the average cat - oh I know she is!

so many things to do.... I know many of you love my lists and someday I will look back at them and reuse these list cuz I will have forgot what to pack and prepare the next time.

Since this list is so extensive I thought I would wait to post it until tomorrow when we have split the list into categories.  It is a long list!

So today was a day of putting things in their right places.  I know why in the Army they make you be neat and tidy and even your underwear gets rolled up nice and tight.  (or at least i think i know they do that cuz my sister taught me how to roll my underwear a habit i do only when traveling to get everything to fit into the suit case.)

this next trip will be a bigger and longer trip with weather I have no idea how to pack for so I brought enough clothes or so I hope... Soooo in getting it all to fit - well let me tell you my drawers and lockers look so nice and tidy something that will probably only last until I find other hiding spots for unruly clothes that won't fit anymore into the drawers.  we shall see.

every nook and cranny will be crammed with food or other necessary duplicates of things we think we will need. extra this and thats. I'll send that list when we get there.

so today was grocery shopping. i'm so spoiled at home with food from co-ops and wholefoods. It is so hard to buy crackers without MSG! or real peanut butter. we did look up a farmers market is every saturday... so next week we will try to get farmer john food.

Ben's has been doing most of the lifting since every year we get to the boat and my back is out for 3 weeks.  so i'm trying not to lift everything the first few days.  thanks Ben - he's such a good guy. and oh my what big blue eye he has now that there are no glasses on his face except when to read. (lasik)

so after hunting and gathering at the grocery store we have been working on this and that and writing up our list of things to do and get.

there you have my blog for today... i am tired... the weather here is perfect 75 and sunny and at night 57 or so.

that's all for my first entry. no pictures yet but will try to do more.

smile and tons of blessings,
Pam

We made it to the boat yard

tomorrow will be a blog!

Cricket all snug

We will be home finally! Around Saturday May 28 TH or so. We will see you all soon! Thanks for the prayers for us while we were sailing. It will be good to see all your smiling faces!
Smile
And blessings
Pam

at the boat yard but not in the boat yard

we are rafted to another boat off of the St. Marys Boatyard dock.  We are in line to get hauled.  The challenge is there is a boat in the hauling sling that needed repairs and they had no idea it needed way more repairs than they thought so there sit a big boat in the sling in the middle of it all.  So we wait with everyone else our turn to get hauled in or out. Patiently I might add.
all is good.  today we just checked out possible campsites so when we come back we might campout a few night and drive to the boatyard.  many pluses to camping here: cooler night outside than in a cabin, we can have a campfire if we want, walk trails, lila will be happy to watch the wild life.
smile
Pam

boatyards boatyards boatyards

Welp we are not out of the water yet! The boatyard is so crowded with boats we have no idea how they are going to get us in there anyway. So here we are waiting for us to get hauled out. Then we still have to get her ready to sit in the sun and humidity - and hopefully avoid the mold colony that will want to grow inside.
So that is what we are doing.
cleaning
waiting
cleaning
waiting
then repeat
add a little of desk work in there for me.
Pam

sailing across the gulf stream

Sailing Across the Gulf Stream – Yahoo!

Everytime we make an over night or two or threee nighter I get excited to sail at night.  The noises sound more pronounced when you don’t have your eyes to deceive your ears.  The rigging has more squeaks, the wind-sound has more variations, there is a funny feeling as you go off into the day and even more strange as the sun goes down. This of course is all on a good wind and sailing night.  But on the days where the night is longggg, other thoughts pass through my mind, such as:

            Where is all the glamour of sailing off into the sunset cuz I am cold! I’m super tired! The wind is going right through my clothing.

At times The waves have an eeriness to them, you don’t see them but you hear them.  It can be like ghosts making noise on the starboard and when you turn to look you hear a splash on the port… each time I miss seeing what I am hearing. 

Sometimes the waves roar near your boat. It is dark out if there are no clouds - - - total blackness.  Totally aloneness… Then a wave splashes in the cockpit and I’m soaked – unless I was smart enough to wear my fowl weather gear. Normally it takes a good splash to get me to dry off and be smarter.

Then there is the constant Up-and-Down… upppp the wave…. Down the wave… upp the wave and downnnn the wave – over and over and over again. It’s like a ride at the fair but one you can’t get off even if you wanted to. This however does not seem to bother me the uppppp and downnn. During the day it is like sitting in a ride seat at valleyfair, you can see over your side and look down the wave and watch the next one bring you what seems like straight up in the air. At that point I let out a yahoo!!! Yippy!!!

The winds are strong and I want to stop steering for a while. I hang on the wheel – literally Hang.  I have become quite good at wedging my knee in between the wheel spokes. I am good with lighter winds to steer with my feet. (I sit at the helm and my feet reach the bottom of the wheel.) sometimes I lean on the wheel and lock it inplace with my shoulder.  Good thing I like exercise.  The one thing in this is that you need to constantly be moving the wheel a quarter turn to the left, then straight up , then back to the left, then half way around to the right.  Usually this happens every 1-3 seconds. It’s not like driving a car. The wheel is in constant motion. So, I get a 2 second break to rest my muscles each wave that goes by. If you over correct, you know it right away. The sail will make a loud – very loud luffing sound and correction is due immediately or you might be in fear of the dreaded Jib.

Humm what else goes through my mind at the night time. Oh, I’m hungry… my hands have been in motion for 4 straight hours and I am starving.  I try to gather all my things in the cockpit on my shift… crackers, a granola bar, bottle of water, candy or anything easy to grab-open-n-eat.

This last passage I was way into an ipod full of music and radio labs to listen too.  Normally, I sing, think, steer, dream, chat in my head etc… But it is so fun to sing along with the songs.  I finally got “praise” songs.  I love praise songs.  I try not to sing too loud cuz Ben is sleeping just below in the stern berth.

If the cape horn is working then I can do more fun projects… I can knit… I can read… last night I was reading – it goes like this: read two pages, turn off my head lamp, wait for my eyes to adjust to night time, look 360 around, look on the chart plotter, I might spin up the radar… it is slow reading but I have no where I need to be. On my luxurious shift last night the cape horn broke.  Darn-it-all back to hand steering all night and then back to only ipod and my dreams. In the day I went under the seat and put new lines on. (Ben put the first line on and then felt a little queasy, so it was good for us to share in this task so we both can do it when we need to.)

We started out at Turtle Cay then stopped at Grand Cay to wait for the winds to turn to the East.  Everyone says don’t go up or down on the gulf stream on a North wind. And Sid from CT would say with his one-liner, “Never leave on a Northeaster” That went through my mind. Ben was the one with finding a good place to tuck in.

This place at Grand Cay was all sea grass!  Eeeek! I love the anchor watch. But truly this time it must have been all your-guy’s prayers cuz the winds piped up and we did not drag anchor all night! A miracle! When we woke up the winds kept blowing and we started to drag! But it was time to leave so no harm done. How did we hold anchor during the night? One answer, “Divine help”!

So the first night was the big waves!  One was Really big! The cape horn was working. I love the break  a cap horn gives you! I can eat my baggie full of goodies. Ben and I might have to admit that the cape horn steers better than us. She veers 5-20 degrees or so but stays on course and knows how to glide through the waves and keeps better speed.

The second day the winds were East and Sid from CT would say, “East winds are puffy.”  Yup they can go from 12k to 20 k in two seconds. The winds all day were getting lighter and more puffy. We were in the gulf stream most of the night, with light winds behind us and only our jib we were still sailing at a gps of 7k and a water speed of 3.5k that means the gulf was pushing us at 3.5 knots! Yahoo! That is double what we would normally be making and 7 knots is a good clip! But then around  7am or so we popped out the other end of the gulf stream and down to 3 knots we went. We went at 330 degrees all the time. But now in hind sight I would have stayed in the stream and headed straight north and then taken a 90 degree angle into land.

 Here we were light wind 10k behind us. We tried the main but it only shaded the jib which is a bigger sail. We have a spinnaker but that we don’t know how to use yet. We were trying to get into shore before a bigger blow. So the last 10 hours we motored so as to make land fall before the waves got bigger and the wind picked up.

Tired from not much sleep over the last 4 days Ben and I made it to a marina next to the boat yard and rested. No nap though cuz I wanted to stay awake so as to sleep soundly all night long… which I did!

Lila on our trip was not very happy with us.  She sometimes decides she does not need to eat or drink. When we are swaying back and forth and the waves hit our beam sideways she does not know where to go. She looks up at us like, “why are you doing this to me?” once we hit shore and she can see land – she has already forgiven us.  She pokes her head out in the air when we are close to shore to see if there is land – a – ho!  You can see her get excited to explore a new place! She is just like us that way.  And with that I will end this little tale.

Pam

Weather weather weather

Weather weather weather

Who do you believe? What place do you believe and how do you decide what to do?

 Well there is no answer. I wish there was someone that just tells you what to do.  I wish there was someone who knew. But how do we know???  Eeek

 This winter I set out to understand weather but nope.  I still use my iphone and internet when available.  There is also a community of boaters that are going here and there and they too will give you opposite advice.  Some will scare you and say, “Oh I would’nt do that.” Well they might be a motor boat that is made for calm water and does not have a way big keel like we have.  We like winds 15-20k.

 So here are all the website I have used to give me info:

Wunderground.com

Windfinder.com

Sailflow.com

NOAA you have to google that it is set on my iphone under NOAA

 I like pictures way better than a text narrative.

 What is the difference between a high pressure and warm front? Cold front and low pressure? Etc…

 So here is the Bahamas secret… Chris Parker. Everyone talks about him.  He is on SSB (single side band) I have tried and tried to tune him in to no avail! So last night Barbara from “goosebumps” another sailing vessel.  She said he doesn’t always come on at the exact time. AND you have to get up for the 6:30am.  Well I have never wanted to wake up Ben even though he tells me to just go ahead and do it.  I have waited for his 8:30am report.  But I only listen for 5 minutes and if I hear nothing I think… I must have missed it.  She also said to wait up to 10 minutes.

 So today I woke up at 6:30am. I made coffee and tuned in just like in the olds days listening to the radio.  I had my coffee in one hand my pencil to take notes in my other. He started ten minutes late… But then here came a flood of numbers. Like wind 070 at 20. (Wind ENE – 70 degress and 20 knot winds) You will hear things like a trough is stalling out the high pressure. Etc. oh my … I had my chart infront with the whole bahama birds-eye view so when he says… South of 27 and west of 77… I know where he is talking. 

 I was taking notes and getting mixed up.  Then someone called in from Green Turtle Cay (Hey I’m here too!! I thought.) I leaned in, scrunched up my face, held my pen ready for writing… He said, “We are at GTC and are wanting to make it to Florida, can we leave today?” then came back a voice from the heavens as Chris Parker (God of weather) said, “today you will have NE winds 15-20, over night NE winds with squalls and some rain, winds 20-30 in any squall but those are short lived. Then Sunday the NE should clock round to East then to south east. If you can wait for the NE to past then tuck out and you can get up to south Carolina if time permits.”

 Halleluiah… I wrote all those notes down… waited for any others to talk and I ran to Ben, “Ben, Ben, we should leave now while the tide is high enough to get out of this harbor, then we can go slow… batten down once we get out of here.” He woke up in complete support of all the work that I had been doing trying to understand the fine art of weather.  OK I cheated and used Chris Parker but until I know what to do… I’ll use all my resources.

 We tucked out nose out into the shallow bank.  The weather was so perfect! 15-18k NE. We sailed like how Cricket was born to do. We had a nice beam all day.  The only frustrating thing is that… (well you now know boats one is always fixing something) our auto helm (electric) is acting funny.  We use the auto helm to help us like…

 When you need to go up front and tighten the main halyard, you click on the auto helm and it keeps you on the same heading. If you want to pee… just click the auto helm… if you want to take the sail down, put the boat into wind and click on the auto helm.  Some people use the auto helm all the time… like motor boats you can see them coming and they are not wavering at all.  They are on a straight line. That happened to me today, twice! Today I wanted to run and get my long sleeve shirt cuz I had had too much sun. But I could not cuz the auto helm would not stay true. Grrrr

 I waited 2 hours till Ben came up. Then him and I set the non electric cape horn – auto helm.  I love that cape horn! BUT today it was so fussy! To make it work you first make sure the lines under the helm are not fowled or twisted.  Check. Then you put up a wind kite thingie. Then you pull the lines under your seat and it locks the rudder inplace.  The kite thing is connected to an oar that is in the water.  The two work in complete harmony to keep the boat to an angle to the wind. It would not keep us straight.  Grrrrr.  We looked and again the lines were twisted.  Ben crawled under the cockpit. (which is no easy or spacious thing) to untwist for the second time.

 TADA! The cape horn worked! Ahhh then you can get a break from steering! So nice. So sweet!

 That made my day.  Ben sailed most all the day while I fussed here and there to clean up and make dinner.

 We moved so much faster than we thought so we are now anchored waiting for the NE winds to move along this evening.  We don’t want to be in the gulf stream during any NE wind.  So I hope when we wake up they will have moved to East!

 Ok this is long enough! Phew! What A beautiful day!

On our way back to the states

We will have more sailing un-adventure blogs soon. We are headed back on what we think is a good weather window. A few NE winds and a possible squall today and night. Tomorrow winds slowly clocking to the east. Monday SE to S andntueasay SSW at which point winds will pick up. So mostly winds E or SE when we go thru the gulf stream and winds 15-20 and in squalls 20-30 short term. I'll Blog tues or Wednesday I'm sure after a long nap.
Travel safe
God's blessings
Pam

Wifi! and coffee shop! - 2 blogs

Ben and I are at "home" here in Hope Town, Abacos Bahamas. There is ice cream for me and a coffee shop for Ben and we have WIFI! What more could we need.  We have been out for 2 weeks, remotely at islands etc. and now we are in Hope Town.  I like remote and I like towns too.  both have good qualities. They are both fun ... just different fun.
We came from the best island with the best Reef that Ben and I have every snorkeled! it's super structure looked  like beams of architecture jutting up here and there with huge Brain coral of this and that, big coral fans as tall as me. parrot fish everywhere displaying their amazing colors! that was fun!
And now we are having fun in a small town. The small town looks like it is from a house that Disney would have created and it is all painted with colors of easter.
Getting here was a shallow ride! We came in on high tide and it was needed. At one time we were 4 inches from the bottom. We will leave on high tide too!
There is a lot to explore and I will give a report after we have spent a few days here.  Then our ideas are to leave here and go to a northern island to wait for weather.  I'll try to let you know when we make the crossing.  it should be about 3 days? right now we are looking at a low pressure out north west of here.  we will see what it does in the next few days.
Well for knowledge this winter I have hoped to learn weather.  Or start to learn weather and not to be dependent on my iphone and internet.. but nope... i know a little more. It took me a long time to be able to almost read this, here is a sample of what I started to read! normally NOAA in the states says, today will be etc... easy to read but read this for the bahamas:

 .SYNOPSIS...NON-TROPICAL LOW PRES IS CENTERED NEAR 24N64W WITH A
 TROUGH SW TO THE FAR NE CARIBBEAN SEA. THE LOW WILL MOVE SW
 REACHING 23N67W SAT EVENING THEN WEAKEN INTO A TROUGH BY SUN AS
 IT MOVES WWD ACROSS THE SE BAHAMAS. THE TROUGH WILL REACH THE NW
 BAHAMAS MON EVENING AND MOVE ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA MON NIGHT INTO
 TUE. SE RETURN FLOW WILL INCREASE ACROSS AREA TUE AND WED WITH A
 COLD FRONT APPROACHING SE UNITED STATES COAST LATE WED NIGHT.

this is only the half of it, here is for today and tomorrow:

 TODAY AND TONIGHT
 N OF 27N W OF 74W E TO SE WINDS 10 TO 15
 KT. SEAS 4 TO 7 FT IN E SWELL. S OF 27N W OF 74W NE TO E WINDS
 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 6 TO 8 FT EXCEPT 3 TO 5 FT W OF BAHAMAS. N OF
 23N E OF 74W N TO NE WINDS 20 TO 25 KT. SEAS 8 TO 13 FT IN NE
 SWELL. S OF 23N E OF 74W NW TO N WINDS 10 TO 15 KT EXCEPT SW TO
 W WINDS E OF 67W. SEAS 6 TO 8 FT IN N SWELL.

 SUN AND SUN NIGHT
 N OF 27N W OF 75W E TO SE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT.
 SEAS 5 TO 7 FT IN E SWELL. N OF 27N E OF 75W NE TO E WINDS 15 TO
 20 KT. SEAS 7 TO 10 FT IN NE SWELL. S OF 27N W OF BAHAMAS NE TO
 E WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 3 TO 5 FT. S OF 27N E OF BAHAMAS NE TO
 E WINDS 20 KT SHIFTING TO SE WINDS E OF TROUGH. SEAS 7 TO 12 FT
 IN NE SWELL.
Our longitude and Lat I gave you the last email.  so now take that and tell me how the weather is for the next few days. ha ha ha

We have not figured out our weather fax yet either.  Oh well... if any of you sailors know of a course for mariners about waether - then let me know! I'm all ears ready to learn.

have a great few days,

Pam