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