My other Job!

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Position N 27° 22.225’.

               W 82° 37.075’. 

Longboat Key Club Moorings, FL 

 

September 15^th 2012

 

Many people ask us “how we are doing on the boat?” Well, just fine, in fact we really are passed comparing to our previous land lubber life of house ownership and stuff. Last evening we celebrated a good friend’s birthday and “how we are doing on the boat?” came up “how are you coping with living in a small space?” also came up! Well, again, just fine. The requirements for a comfortable life are actually minimal and we have all those things on our 42’ boat. We have two full bathrooms (heads), a master cabin with very comfortable bed, a guest cabin that doubles as a den and office when guests are not on board (nearly all the time), a small but adequate galley (kitchen) and a salon with sitting for six or seven. The pilot house really doesn’t have a purpose when we are in port but when at sea obviously becomes the most important area. It does have a seat that converts to a large double bed. The boat deck and flying bridge area is our vantage spot, not unlike an elevated deck or terrace area in a house it is also the place to be to catch the breeze and we have a bimini top, sort of like an umbrella on a patio, for shade. The aft covered deck is our ‘back porch’ where we can sit in the shade while experiencing the outdoors watching a sunrise or sunset or just gazing at the wake as we cruise. There is a table that will seat up to six for al fresco dinning and we can enclose the area completely with custom screens for comfort when we are in colder climes. Lastly, the foredeck has a bench seat where we can sit while under way or to have our sundowners’ when at dock. Equipment wise we have more conveniences than a house – we have a reverse osmoses Watermaker which makes up to 500 gallons of great water a day, we have a large generator so are never without the capability of making all the electricity we need. All in all, as you can see, we have more than the basic requirement we humans need for a comfortable life and all without having the grass to cut! Of course there are other tasks to compensate like deck swabbing, engine room maintenance, stainless steel polishing, varnishing the bright work and polishing the hull and super structure to prevent fibreglass oxidation. Plenty of jobs to compensate for not cutting the grass, don't you think? All of them though, can be done with beautiful vistas in view and while visiting exotic places, a definite plus. 
 

This week I ordered a new set of Fiamm air horns, the originals, simply, have had better days. They are ‘tired’ and make a ‘tired’ and embarrassingly pathetic noise.  I have tried to clean and polish the diaphragms but to no avail, so I am looking forward to their arrival soon so that ‘Partners’ can once again hold her head up high when it is necessary to ‘honk’ the horns. Slowly but surely the equipment we must have to cruise in comfort and safety is coming together. 

I also purchased the 10th edition of Bruce van Sant’s book ‘The Thornless path to Windward’. I have read the book, previous editions, several times and it is, in my opinion the bible. Any cruiser or yachtsman considering an extended cruise to the Eastern Caribbean should read and study this book. To travel against the ‘Trades’ and the waves that come with them is hard and uncomfortable. Using the suggestions in Bruce’s book will provide a much more pleasant and relaxing solution to the alternate of arriving dishevelled at ones destinations. Cruising is supposed to be pleasant not a daily battle with the elements Bruce explains how to read the weather and be patient for the right ‘window’, learning the use of weather fronts, he also explains, in detail, the use of the night winds, both nocturnal and katabatic. In addition to how to get there in comfort he gives details on what to do when you get there and how to ‘check in’ with immigration and all the other authorities. Small chartlets illustrate the entrances to the different destinations and I can see the value of them as opposed to entering blind for the first time, essentially learning the hard way all the things that Bruce lays out for you. The authors experience of the numerous towns and villages along the way are written about to assist the cruiser with re-provisioning locations and the sources for repairs etc., unbelievably useful.

 

As you can see from reading this blog drivel to own a boat certainly a cruising boat, is a full time job thus the title of this entry; I’m also a Realtor which makes big demands on my time too. Just keeping ‘Partners’ clean and keeping up with the jobs related to the general weathering of things around the boat is very time consuming. Take the aft deck table for instance, it is a varnished circular drop leaf table and it sits in sun and rain plus a salt laden atmosphere all the time. The time has arrived for it to be refinished. Now remember the aft deck is the main entrance to the accommodations and the boat deck above, it is a high traffic area and yet it is the work area of the boat too. In the house we used to own we had a three car garage and two cars so there was a constantly unoccupied work and storage area. If I was still there and had the table refinishing project to hand I would simply set up the table there and the materials needed and proceed to do the job. Every time a coat of varnish went on about the only thing I would need to do would be to open the garage door to ventilate. On ‘Partners’ however, it is a different story, I lay out a large protective plastic sheet so that the teak decking is protected and fetch the materials needed from their storage place and proceed to work. When finished I pray it doesn’t rain! The materials are put away again and when dry the table is folded and moved aside so we are able to transit the deck area again. So, you can see that working in the elements affects the project and all in all every job takes longer. I plan to put 13 coats of varnish on the table so I will have to repeat the process that many times, all the time hoping a coat is not ruined by an unexpected rain shower. Everything takes longer. Washing the boat is a chore frequently undertaken as like any boat owner knows birds like to roost in rigging and we have some. The birds, especially crows in our marina, like the rigging as their roost. The sailing boats are first choice with their multiple stanchions and spreader bars. Then cometh us! We have three stanchions a mast and boom with block and tackle rigging so we offer similar ‘comforts’ to the birds, just not as tall as the sailing boats! After their ‘visit’ the boat deck needs cleaning which is always a chore. Many of us who live aboard go outside at the time the birds swoop in to roost and try to make sure they land on someone else’s boat by clapping and screeching to scare them away, something a home owner would rarely if never do.

 

I discovered another tip to be passed on to other boat owners who are marina bound and use the services of a diver. As I have mentioned before sitting here in a marina in 90°F water causes much growth on the bottom of ‘Partners’. At the end of last month my diver came round to clean underwater. The tip I am passing on is “don’t leave your A/C on”. I did and when doing my usual engine room check shortly after he had finished to my horror discovered the A/C sea strainer almost completely clogged with mud and slim which had been sucked up into the strainer as soon as it was scrapped off the bottom; another chore! Actually, I shouldn’t complain a bit as I am still able to carry out most of the jobs on ‘Partners’ myself , climb vertical ladders to the flying bridge and the engine room then contort to conform to the ‘yoga like’ positions needed to carry out engine room tasks. The boating life is good for ones physical health, at least if you do your own maintenance and cleaning.

 

Last night Friday we tried out the refinished table...six friends came onboard for hors d'oeuvres and a drinks evening. The four ladies each contributed and, of course, we ended up with too much food! All eight of us shared a boating interest and the conversation was non-stop throughout, the stories just kept on coming; at some points we were laughing so hard, my face, at least, was aching and all of us had tears running down our cheeks! We had a really splendid evening enjoying the slightly cooler, I should say less humid evenings that mid September has brought enabled us to open the boat up and sit outside comfortably. Somehow or other being on a boat with friends is always a happy time, it was Saturday A.M. before we turned in...

 

I had decided some time ago that I would have the toilet system overhauled before we went cruising and this was the week. George from Delmar arrived this morning, I had been spurred on to call him as the vacuflush toilet system we have in the forward master head had been cycling more frequently than it should. There is a pump that creates a vacuum in a chamber so that when the toilet is flushed it sucks the waste from the bowl to the holding tank. In addition to the over cycling of the vacuum pump we had an odour! Yes, the dreaded sewage odour, HT was not happy! Our vacuflush toilet is forward and the mechanism, tank etcetera are below the master cabin floor in the forward bilge section. George, who I knew, I had used him once before on our GB50 about 10 years ago, he has been in the toilet system maintenance business for about 20 years here in the Sarasota area, arrived and went to work with me watching intently. I wanted to learn as much as I could in case I had to perform maintenance while we are cruising. George asked me when the system was last serviced; I shrugged my shoulders and gave him a blank look. When the odour started I contacted Chet the previous owner to find out if he had had a similar problem and had ever serviced the system, his answer was no to both questions; the deduction from this was that Chet bought the boat in 2003 and here we are now at the end of 2012 so if Chet didn’t work on it the system had been in service for at least 10 years without being touched! George was horrified and exclaimed! “Service should be administered at 3 year intervals”, he said! Within 20 minutes George had the whole Vacuflush tank out and had disassembled the pump which is attached to it. He took it all out onto the dock, thank goodness, and proceeded to dismantle the pump completely, thoroughly clean and service all components. He ended up replacing the bellows inside the vacuum pump and scraped all the crud from inside the vacuum tank about an hour later he was ready to reassemble the parts. He did also replace one piece of hose that was ‘sweating’ and obviously was a source of some of the odour, a hole in the vacuum pump bellows was the main culprit, however. I gave him a hand to hose out the bilge area and give it all a good clean. George still felt that the vent pipe going from the holding tank to the starboard side of the hull would need replacing and was part of the odour problem and more than likely would need a new vent fitting on the outside of the hull. The hull fittings are made from ‘pot’ metal and have a limited life span. When corrosion sets in the vent fitting simply blocks itself with corrosion. The problem was that George did not have time on this visit due to another appointment and ‘to boot’ was going on vacation for three and a half weeks to Europe. He offered for me to have someone else complete the job but I agreed to wait for his return. So, in conclusion the toilets are working fine and the odour is almost nonexistent, not quite though, so I’m hoping the vent pipe replacement will fix that. To warn any of you who own a KK42 that may experience the necessity to replace a vent pipe on your toilet system, it ain't easy and requires major disassembly of the master bed and the storage under to get at the pipe, it, again helps to be proficient in advanced yoga! 

 

That is all for now...

Tropical Storm Isaac.

August 29^th 2012  

Position N 27° 22.225’.

               W 82° 37.075’.  

Longboat Key Club Moorings, FL 

Pre Dawn while drinking a 'Cuppa'

The Hurricane we were threatened with did not materialize! For days everyone was expecting ‘Isaac’ but as each day passed the storm track moved gradually further to the West. The good news, ‘Isaac’ would not affect Florida too badly, yes some moderate wind and in some areas plenty of rain but Florida handles rain pretty well, it’s sandy soil allows the rain to soak in quickly and the water ends up in our aquifer which is the supply of most of our potable water; the bad news, it looked like ‘Isaac’ would make landfall with a direct hit on New Orleans, almost 7 years to the day after ‘Katrina’. Stepping back a few days to Saturday the marina became a hive of activity as owners, crew and marina staff busied themselves putting out extra mooring lines and fenders, much canvas was being removed lest the wind gusts rip it off. We really didn’t know how bad it might be as the weather forecast could not, 4 – 5 days out confirm the path of the storm so we all prepared for the worst. As the weekend passed and we hunkered down aboard each forecast brought a small sigh of relief as the track moved out into the Gulf. When ‘Isaac’, still a tropical storm, was due west of us and getting a little better organized, our thoughts more focused on the misfortunes of the people in and around the New Orleans area as it became very apparent that they were going to feel the full force of this strengthening storm. Although the wind speeds were not as high as ‘Katrina’ the storm was big and the storm force damaging winds extended out 200 miles from the centre. We were seeing a small storm surge with a tide about one foot above normal.  

Some good news! All the work I did on tracing and fixing the sources of the few leaks we had in our decks which manifested themselves in some water ingress around three of the four prisms we have were holding up. The frequent heavy rain events we were experiencing gave the repairs a very good test and we were fine! I got an ‘attaboy’ from the Admiral! 

To be a cruiser, is to be travelling to wherever you want, is being focused on the now not concerned about the past, is looking forward to the adventure ahead, the unknown! It is easy to complicate one’s life and to grow ones belongings, we all do that over a lifetime, it is far more difficult to scale down to unshackle one’s self and set yourself free. Getting back to the now, this day, immersing in this day not waiting for the weekend or a specific day in the future but this day, this hour, this minute…I’m telling you it is a discovery. I think that throughout the brainwashing of life one becomes programmed and totally unequipped to cope with the raw material of life, in fact life totally. I was reminded while watching a documentary film that if we all lived next door to a power plant, a coal mine, an oil refinery, I could go on, we would all have a much better handle on the necessity to conserve and to protect, to become much more green. I certainly will be paying penance and doing my bit to help; throughout life I just haven’t thought enough about the over indulgence that I have exhibited and the total disregard I have had for the destruction of our planet which is continually being done. Instead we live far removed from the man made scars on our planet. Imagine being a farmer and being told that the river that flowed through your land was going to be dammed as a new hydro electric plant was needed to supply electricity to the expanding metropolis some hundreds of miles away and that the government was to compulsorily purchase his farm, a farm that possibly may have been in his family for many generations which the farmer had visions of remaining in his family for many future generations. We never see the effects of these scars and the destruction to life that it causes, often in the most beautiful rural areas of our planet. As we cruise one cannot help but think about these things…we are participating in and have reconnected with what we think are the more important thing in and to life. The power of corporate greed, their money that can buy the destruction of nature, it is a pitiful crime. So much of this takes place in under populated parts of the globe where the people, land dwellers, simple people living off the land cannot defend themselves and their land from the agreements that have been made by greedy prosperous corporations and in some cases corrupt governments. Material things are the clutter of your life, discard some of them and free yourself to the joy of a life of freedom and days of exploration and amazement…long range cruisers in general, sail boaters or power tend to seek out the quieter unpopulated parts of the world, the self sufficiency skills which come with this lifestyle encourage most of us to find the deserted cove, the empty bay, the small village at the end of the creek, the places that are definitely off the beaten path, the places that are simply a name on the map and would most certainly not be in the tourist guide. Just a thought for you…I know it is a bit ‘heavy’ but this my latest awareness and I guess it really grabbed me… 

September 7^th  

Guess what…if you have been listening to the weather broadcasts lately you’ll know, the storm ‘Isaac’ that travelled from the Gulf of Mexico and up the Mississippi to the Midwest has come back down to the Gulf of Mexico and now may form back into an organized storm! It is going to sit in the NE corner of the Gulf for a few day just like ‘Debby’ did and then follow the same course as ‘Debby’ across North Florida and out into the Atlantic. North Florida does not need more rain but it looks like there is some on the way for the weekend. On the Sun Coast here, where we are, we will feel the effects with some rain and wind and heightened surf. The Tropics are active with two full blown hurricanes in the Atlantic, ‘Leslie’ and ‘Michael’ both, fortunately, east of Bermuda and traveling north harmlessly to their extinction.  

‘Partners’ last had her bottom painted with antifouling last October and we are now having to have a diver go down once a month to clean off the growth and any barnacles which have started to grow. Our water temperature is 90° F (32° C) so everything is growing like mad. It is also important to ensure that the through hull orifices are clear too. I am hoping that I can keep the bottom in a satisfactory condition with the diver until late spring next year and then have her re-painted just before summer when we leave to begin our cruising adventure. I want the paint fresh as summer is the growth time when the water is warmest and to have the paint fresh and at its most active is desirable.  

Our new Viking life Raft arrived yesterday at our friends John & Carols house it is in a weather proof canister with an automatic hydrostatic release. It will sit on our boat deck in the starboard aft corner. FOJ has agreed to give me a hand to install it. The installation is easy, however, the canister itself is both awkward and heavy to manhandle around the boat as it is too wide to be brought aboard so will have to be passed up onto the boat deck from the foredeck. In other words it is a two man job. Slowly but surely we are getting our cruising essentials together. I say ours as each person may put a priority on a different piece of equipment; for example some owners insist on redundant radar considering it to be very important to their navigation needs. I in contrast value the radar immensely and have one but I value, as a long distance cruiser, my autopilot more so will be having a second fully independent unit installed soon. My worst fear it to have to steer ‘Partners’ for any length of time plus ‘George’ (see glossary) can do a better job than any human and he can do it non-stop day after day indefinitely without complaining! So, you see everyone has a slightly different approach to equipping their boats with what they consider ‘the essentials’.  

Until next time…

One of our favourite spots.

August 21^st 2012

Position N 27° 34.535’,

               W 82° 45.280’.

Egmont Key, Tampa Bay, FL

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Last weekend we decided to travel up to Tampa Bay and spend the night at Egmont Key. It was Friday evening and I had prepared Partners to go to sea, the weather forecast was perfect with light breezes and only a 30% chance of a thunderstorm. All we needed was for Lavinia (HT) to get home from work after a brief shopping detour for the weekends supplies. She arrived at 17:15 and as soon as she had her work clothes off and her comfy boating clothes on we set sail. It is a slow business leaving the dock as we don’t have acres of room behind us before the next dock and its occupants become too close! ‘Partners’ has a single engine and an electric bow thruster. The significance of the ‘electric’ is that unlike a hydraulic bow thruster an electric one is not continuous duty which in layman’s term means one can’t just ‘lean’ on it indefinitely, in fact not more than 30 seconds at a time. The operation therefore is best carried out slowly, occasionally, if the wind is blowing, a little ‘goose’ of the main engine is necessary in order to correct a drift in the direction of the sterns travel, the bow thruster takes care of the bow. We reverse out slowly and bring the bow round to starboard in the direction of the main channel which is in the centre of the marina. Depth is not a problem, we have 16’ feet at our dock and no less than 10’ until we get to the entrance channel leading out to Sarasota Bay; at low tide there is about 7’, we draw 5’. Dredging is done about every two years which has caused sand banks to build each side of the marked channel which become exposed at low tide. Once clear of the marked channel we were finally free, on went the auto pilot and Partners was steaming towards the ICW channel in the centre of Sarasota Bay. From the ICW we head north and eventually, just a few miles, arrive at Longboat Key pass and bridge. One could continue on north up the ICW straight into Tampa Bay but we usually choose to enter the Gulf of Mexico through Longboat Pass; it is so much nicer getting to deeper water and not having to worry about the two bridges at Cortez and Manatee, both of which have to open for us. Once adjacent to Tampa Bay we turn to enter using Southwest Channel and head for the marker buoy G “3”. When the southern tip of Egmont Key is bearing approx 355° we turn, staying in about 20’ of water, and approach the half moon bay at the southern end of Egmont Key. This is where we like to anchor; the bay provides good protection from winds and seas from South through North. The anchorage is open to the East and would be uncomfortable in winds from that direction. Egmont Key is a National Park and bird sanctuary. If you find the tweeting and squawking of bird offensive this is not a place for you, it can be loud at times although one does become oblivious to it and we frequently eat dinner on our back deck without any ‘visitors’ and without having to raise our voices to communicate. On the Island is the Tampa Bay Pilots station, where they have supplied service to the shipping traffic of the busy port of Tampa for over 70 years, a lighthouse and the ruins of the Spanish-American War era Fort Dade.

Fort Dade

The Skyway Bridge in the background

Egmont key was surveyed by Spanish explorers in 1757. In 1761, the English named the island Egmont Key for the Earl of Egmont. With the rest of Florida, it passed back and forth between Spain and England and finally to the United States in 1827. In 1847, concerns with hazardous navigation at the mouth of Tampa Bay led to the construction of the first lighthouse. The Great Gale of 1848 swamped the island and all but destroyed the lighthouse. The lighthouse keeper reportedly rode out the storm in a rowboat tied to a palmetto. After the storm had passed, he rowed to nearby Fort Brooke and tendered his resignation. In 1858, the lighthouse was replaced with the one we all see today.

We spent Friday night anchored in Sarasota Bay staging ourselves for an early cruise up to Egmont. We arrive at Egmont late morning and immediately lowered the dinghy and proceeded to motor round to the west side of the island where the Saturday merrymakers’ gather and anchor their boats for the afternoon. We had packed some snacks and cold beverages and proceeded to enjoy the music and party atmosphere that prevailed through 5 o’clock; we returned to ‘Partners’ hoisted the dinghy and spent the rest of Saturday just relaxing onboard. We ate a wonderful poached haddock dinner with a lemon sauce, rice and fresh carrots accompanied by a nice pinot grigio to wash it down. The birds had all found their roost and the quiet of the evening was complimented with coffee and a little tipple of Patron XO Café…we slept well! On Sunday after a full, yes you guessed it, English breakfast we weighed anchor and cruised back to Sarasota Bay. We were tied up in our slip by mid afternoon. A great weekend, healthy, simple pleasures and a time spent in a different world…I wonder where we will cruise to next.

Lavinia has been practicing chart work and course plotting and appears to be gaining a good understanding. As she becomes more comfortable with the process her knowledge is now enabling her to ask more relevant questions as she continues to hone her skills and her competence is exponential. For someone to go from no knowledge of navigation and the use of all the instruments and electronics is an awesome task and is not accomplished quickly, things I do ‘in automatic pilot’ such as calling on the VHF radio for a bridge opening is frightening to someone who has never done it before. I have also found out that I am not the greatest teacher, I am told I am not ‘global’ enough and get into the details before HT has a concept of what we are trying to achieve…I’m trying to remember that and change!

That is enough drivel for this episode…

Steamy days of Summer.

August 10^th 2012

Position N 27° 22.225’,

               W 82° 37.075’.

Longboat Key Club Moorings, FL 

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This is where we are! Longboat Key Moorings is a wonderful marina with most facilities available; it does not have a travel lift however.

This weekend we are having our first overnight visitors...my favourite youngest daughter (FYD) and her significant other David. A word on my reference to FYD, I have four Children, two daughters and two sons and from the time they could all talk and understand I have used the ‘Favourite’ description when appropriate; it has always got me through. I truly do not have any favourites; I do have the moments of pride that any parent has which will focus me on one particular child but only because of that event or achievement etc. As a group they are all special, there is the independent self sufficient one, there is the kind energetic fun loving one, there is the clever lazy one who since a baby everyone has loved and there is the warm hearted academic achiever with the great sense of humour. It has always amazed me that four children could be so different. Wow, what a tough job being a parent that is. I think that if all young couples knew how much work and heartache they would be experiencing they would not have children, but wait the joy that comes later is all worth it. I must admit, to have a large family (we think four is a large number of children, especially nowadays) has its rewards, my children range 28 – 37 and amazingly they seem to like me! I like them too; we talk frequently although they are all busy with their own lives. My eldest daughter (FED) is married to a Norwegian and lives just south of Oslo and has three children, my eldest son (FES) is an engineer, single and lives in Jacksonville, FL. (FYS) Lives just 30 minutes north of us in Parrish, FL, is married with two children and is a helicopter mechanic/technician and finally there is FYD who lives in Miami and is single and a newly qualified perfusionist.

HT (Honky Tonk) has been busy preparing for the visit, vacuuming and dusting and buying too much food, we parents always seem to want to feed the offspring for some reason! They are arriving this evening, Friday and will stay until Sunday afternoon. When we moved from our large home I have mentioned before that we either sold or donated much ‘stuff’ one of the items was a painting that depicted an idyllic cove. Well, it was sold with many others and we didn’t know that FYD was really attached to it! He boyfriend of 2½ years is Spanish and comes from Majorca an island in the Balearics. Apparently his family home looks over a cove just like the painting! So, when for some reason, I don’t recall why, the subject of the painting no longer being in our possession came up, FYD had a ‘sad moment’, she wanted it! A day later Lavinia and I were talking and Lavinia said “I wonder if the man she sold it to, he was a dealer, still had it. Off she went and a little later I received a phone call saying he did! “How much” was my question, the answer $75? I agreed we should buy it back and give it to Georgina (FYD) as a surprise. After a bit of negotiation HT bought it for $65. I telephoned David (boyfriend) and explained what we had done. We conspired to get FYD to come up from Miami for the weekend where he could give it to her, we are letting him have the gloryJ, and this is the weekend. The other thing is that it has pride of place in the pilothouse and renders the seat unusable, it is a big picture and the pilothouse seat is the only place where it would fit, so we will be happy when it is gone and we can ‘use’ the boat again!

Monday...A success, the picture has travelled south! David and Georgina were great; we had a fun weekend doing very little, dinner al fresco on the back deck on Friday night which finished at 1 AM!, some swimming in the pool at the marina, out to FOJ and Carols house for dinner on Saturday night. A drive around on a sightseeing trip and that was about it. Oh! We did watch a few hours of the Olympics on the TV.

Monday 13^th.  A weekend in the engine room, contorting, twisting and dodging sharp hose clamps with my knees, it was time to clean the sea strainers. I hadn’t done the engine, generator and the Watermaker filter for about a month and there has been much news about the excess of Sargasso weed in the area. Over 200 tons of it has been removed from area beaches so far. We have been using the air conditioning quite a bit lately; the dog days of summer have arrived, much less breeze and heavy humidity. The A/C strainer was clear a month ago when I looked at it. Alarm! This time the sight glass was totally obscured with barnacles which were firmly adhered to the inside of the bowl, I do mean totally covered! I proceeded to close the sea cocks for both the generator and main engine and used the key to undo the tops of the strainers, a few minutes later I had the small amount of weed removed and they were back in good order. The A/C strainer was a different story and wouldn’t you know it, it is the one that is least accessible way over on the starboard side of the engine. Once I had myself in the best possible position (one leg behind my head etc.) I began to remove the top of the strainer and take out the actual basket...well it wouldn’t come out, over time the basket handle had broken and putting my fingers in to pull it up from the inside was a mistake as all I did there was cut the tips of my fingers on the barnacles, ouch! It was apparent that the whole bowl assembly had to come off, very easy if it were on a work bench but not easy in its location. Some 30 minutes later the bowl was off and only one of the nuts and bolts fell into the bilge which I was able to retrieve after 5 minutes of repositioning and the use of the ‘grabber’, a must have in the engine room by the way, in fact I have four different sized ones. Once I had the bowl off it was up to the galley sink to begin the clean, if I could! In the bottom of the bowl is a drain hole with a removable threaded stopper which I removed during the cleaning process, once clean, not an easy job, back down into the ‘holy place’ I went to reinstall. After much contortion and manoeuvring everything was back together with only the threaded drain plug remaining. Well, unfortunately I tightened it too much and would you know it split the bowl and a big chunk of the bowl fell off! Here I am now having visions of being without A/C until I could buy another new bowl and having to explain my over zealousness to you know who! My first call was to the local West Marine store where I expected to hear “we can order it for you”, but no “we have one in stock” was the reply, hurrah! I spoke with Tom there and asked him to put it aside for me and that I would be there to pick it up in 30 minutes. Off I went from Longboat Key to Sarasota. Lavinia was already out shopping so I phoned her to explain and say “don’t come home” as all the floor panels were up in the salon for access to the engine room and I didn’t want her there in case of accident. When I arrived at West Marine I suddenly realized I had left my wallet at home, I was in so much of a hurry and was so happy they had the part that in my excitement I had left without it. Not to worry, a call to HT and she drove over and all was well. An hour later the A/C was on and I had jumped in the shower, cleaned up and, feeling pleased with myself, had made a cup of tea and sat down to relax...phew an easy job that turned out to be much harder than it should have been, I learnt something though! From now on cleaning the strainer will be a weekly job!

Get out there, go cruising...

July 31^st 2012

Position N 27° 22.225’.

               W 82° 37.075’.

Longboat Key Club Moorings, FL

The vista from our stern (taken using Photosyth)

I recently read on the Nordhavn Dreamers website where various ‘Dreamers’ were writing their top 5 requirements that would be on their boat...when they bought one! All people who eventually ‘go cruising’ dream. Visions of grandeur are the beginning and over time the reality of actually getting going looms. Some continue to dream striving for the unattainable to fill their minds eye picture of what is needed to realize their goal. Some come down to earth and make the necessary compromises, actually buy a boat and ‘get out there’. My point here is not to cut corners in the important stuff such as all the safety equipment but I am saying that it is not necessary to overload the pilot house with more toys than are necessary for good navigation and have the super duper entertainment system etc. I am suggesting that it is better to only ‘work’ to provide the necessary equipment and not to ‘work’ indefinitely to acquire too many toys to play with. By striving for the ‘perfect’ will delay going cruising and you will miss the wonderful adventures, people and places one meets...get out there and do it earlier rather than later. Money is not everything and working and working for it is the biggest burden standing in the way of becoming a cruiser. Just go! You will make do with what you have and have a great time; cruising does not have to be super expensive, quit work, learn how to maintain your own boat and machinery and be happy! The transition from ‘dreamer’ to ‘doer’ sometimes needs a ‘kick’ and fortunately it is sometimes a friend just giving you a push but unfortunately it is sometimes one’s own health or that of your spouse, sometimes it is letting go of work or a business, whatever... once you have taken the step I don’t think there is one cruiser out there that isn’t happy they took the plunge. Time does run out, cruising is an active lifestyle, just owning a boat, as we do, climbing, twisting crawling and the general activity a boat causes gets you, and more importantly, keeps you fit. I lost 21 lbs in the first year just living on our boat! I should qualify that by explaining that I am 5’11½”, started at 210lbs and am now 189lbs. We made ourselves a promise to outfit the boat from income and not touch our income producing savings. We are extending our leaving due to equipping the boat with some additional essential ‘stuff’, a new life raft, a redundant autopilot and some more batteries and solar panels but we do live aboard fulltime and, although not cruising very far from home port at present, are living our dream. The point here is we bought the boat we liked and could afford, sold the house and all the trappings and moved aboard. We took the first big step. This plan has worked for us and has given the time we needed to get the boat ready for ‘us’ (all owners have their idea of how the boat should be equipped, furnished etc.) and get used to living aboard. Yes, it is a ‘shock’ moving from a 3,000 sq. Ft. home to a small boat but also very freeing.

Now I want to talk about life in general; I have just listened to the news headlines plug from NBC, yes, we still have television on board. While we are at the dock we are ‘plugged in’, what it was advertising were the headlines for the next news programme...the Foreclosure debacle, the Election battle and ‘low blow’ political campaigns we have to put up with. Wow, how interesting. Courtesy of my friends Larry and his lovely wife Jo we have a modest rent to pay (they own our slip), no property taxes, no cable or water, they are included in the rent and a small electricity bill. Very few bills equal no stress and more funds for having fun and doing the things we want. At this stage of my life, I can’t speak for the Admiral totally, she voted the current guy in, I don’t care which president we have, both leading candidates, I think, are borderline and I think for the first time I will be voting for ‘someone else’, how sad! The point here is let it go folks follow your dream and make your own news. It is not hard, just have some confidence in yourself and develop your self preservation skills. Even if you don’t have any now they will come, just remind yourself that every plumber, diesel mechanic and electrician is a human being, you are one too, you can learn as they did especially if you have to, branch out become independent quench your sense of adventure go boating, coastal, off shore anywhere just go, it really is fun and liberating. The experience is like nothing else, the sea offers a freedom that is both attainable and sustainable. Enjoyable would be an understatement.

In October last year, just before we left Oriental, NC, we had the bottom of ‘Partner’ coated with Petit Trinidad antifouling paint, this month is the first month that we have had to get a diver to go down and clean off her bottom. He reported that it wasn’t too bad and that the sacrificial anodes (zincs) were fine. In the warmer waters of Florida and places south from here I find that one year for the paint is about it. One might get lucky and stretch that to 18 months if you are moving around a fair bit. Water passing over the hull bottom does have a cleaning effect especially if the sea is rough and the boat is heaving and doing a little pounding. Obviously sitting in a marina, as we have done primarily, is the worst. I am, with the help of the diver, going to stretch ours to the spring when I will get a fresh coat of paint. This timing will coincide with the beginning of summer when the water is at its warmest and the marine growth is at its worst and ‘Partner’ also leaving the dock to go cruising!

‘Partners’ Anniversary!

July 6^th 2012

Position N 27° 22.225’,

               W 82° 37.075’.

Longboat Key Club Moorings, FL   

Well, tropical storm ‘Debby’ has finally, finally left the State. About time we all say. Funny how life is all a trade off, during Debby’s stay in the Gulf of Mexico rain was the problem lots of it! The storm was located in the NE corner of the Gulf of Mexico and just didn’t move! This meant that the heaviest rain bands, which typically are to the right side of the storm, just kept coming continually drenching the whole State of Florida. Had we still been living in our house I would have been clearing debris, palm fronds and branches from our large oak tree plus emptying the swimming pool constantly for four days! Living on ‘Partners’ the list of chores is quite different, constant adjustment of mooring lines and fenders to ensure that we did not have any collisions with our dock plus allowing for the rising and lowering of the water level. No leaks either, I was quite amazed as all boats leak, don’t they? All the hard work (labour of love) that I put in on the re-caulking of the teak deck seems, mainly on the foredeck, worked! We experienced no leaks and one thing that Debby did provide was plenty of water and a good test for leaks. I actually received a compliment for my efforts from the Admiral...wow! 

Obviously the water level was not quite the problem as on shore, we float! The only realization to me was that if we had a direct hit from a major hurricane then the storm surge would have created a different problem...the height of the pilings in relation to the rubbing strakes on ‘Partners’. I could visualize us sitting on top of a pilling with the mooring lines, which are attached to the pilings, disappearing under water or even worse lifting off the pilings and setting us adrift! This realization will make us consider an alternative location if and when the ‘big’ one comes. Some boats did leave the marina during this event and there may be some merit in anchoring in protected Sarasota Bay. The advantage of anchoring in a sheltered corner of the bay would have been no mooring line or fender adjustments, in fact very little concern. The ‘trick’ would only be to find good holding ground so the anchor would not drag. In retrospect ‘Debby’ was no more than a ‘blow’ and a rain event, I don’t want to play it down callously as I know some dirt dwellers have suffered badly and have lost much due to the flooding in low lying areas, so our heartfelt feelings go out to those people but it can get worse, if this event had been a hurricane, as opposed to a tropical storm, the wind could have reached triple digit speeds which would have exponentially changed the whole picture. In a full hurricane, however, with up to 150 mph winds the whole scenario would be quite different and we would get the boat hauled and chained down on the hard. Our insurance company assists in the cost of hauling the boat in the event of a named storm being forecast to 'hit' in our vacinity.  

Thank you to the many friends who called us to offer us shelter during ‘Debby’. We really appreciate the thoughts and kindness and there may be a time that we will need to take one of you up on an offer, on this occasion we were fine and were totally comfortable on Partners. She is our home so we just have to take the rough with the smooth; it is not all dining on the back deck sampling the tropical breezes and raising a glass to the stars...oh, where was I! For the wannabees out there reading this stuff it is mostly dining on the back deck sampling the tropical breezes and raising a glass to the stars and in exotic places to boot.  

Another bye product of the storm is, as a result of the surge of water pushed ashore, I have noticed that the water in the marina basin is much clearer than it was, so there are other natural benefits as a result of nature’s wrath. I suppose the flushing vitalizes the waterways and bays, brings in fresh nutrients and fauna, that with only the normal small tides experienced in this part of the world (around 2 ft), would not normally happen to the extent it did with this tropical storm.  

We are approaching ‘Partners’ first anniversary (under our ownership) and my birthday the 6^th of July which quite coincidentally share the same date. We have had a wonderful year and think that we have both adjusted well to a simpler and less materially oriented life. We have transited into becoming excited about planning our future cruising trips and destinations and are excited about the people we will meet and the new places that we will visit and can explore. Preparing and equipping the boat is our main focus plus reading boating books and cruisers blogs digesting all the knowledge we can to prepare ourselves. There are always many subjects of focus, for example we intend to fish but do not yet posses any fishing gear. It is fun researching the subject and making purchase choices decisions to add to the list. I was just reading another cruisers blog last night and he talked about catching a blue fin tuna weighing 25 lbs, his description moved to sautéing slivers of the tuna in olive oil, my mouth was watering as I read further.  They vacuum pack and freeze the fresh fish, can you imagine, that fish probably produced 15 lbs of steaks. One would only have to catch one of these fellows once a month to eat really well. What this cruiser does is run his fillet knife along each side of the fish to take the meat and doesn’t even bother to gut the fish; he calls it fillet and release! A Foodsaver® vacuum sealer is essential in the food department as it allows the maximum amount of food to be stored in the freezer. We ditch all the packaging and vacuum pack everything. 

Today is Sunday July 1^st and a big day in Sarasota with the

annual Offshore Grand Prix being held off Lido Key, thousands of spectators will be lining the beaches to watch this event, including us! It is essential to arrive early and stake ones claim. Some of the super boats reach speeds of 160 mph and the noise, well to say deafening really is not an exaggeration. It is fun and we will be there to feel the thunder! The EUFA Euro 2012 final is today as well so after the race it is back to the boat to watch Spain & Italy battle it out, there is more, after that a friend of ours is having a birthday bash so off we go to that...wow sounds like a busy day.  

Today is my birthday! This picture is how I spent my special day...just look at that water.

July 2^nd...we survived, what a full day; we had a great time yesterday standing in the Gulf of Mexico, chest deep to stay cool, watching the powerboats barrel on by and then watched Spain defeat Italy in the EUFA Euro 2012 final. Our youngest daughter is dating a Spaniard from Majorca so as England was eliminated in the quarter finals my allegiance switched to Spain. Our friend Bill had his birthday ‘bash’ and all went according to plan...a great day! 

In closing this blog entry I am including the following:- 

The words below were written by someone I admire, Scott Flanders of ‘Egret’ a Nordhavn 46’. Since 2004 I have been following Scott’s blog ‘Voyage of Egret’ which documents Scott and his wife Mary’s circumnavigation of the globe. He inspired Lavinia and I and spurred us on to making our dream of a cruising life a reality. I am including some of his “kick you in the butt” writings. When reading this you can substitute the ‘Voyage of Egret’ with ‘Travels of Partners’ our message is the same and is all in the interest of inspiring some of you to make the move... 

“You know, ‘Voyage of Egret’ isn't free. It comes at a price, sorta like a head tax. The price you pay isn't in Pesos, Euros, Dollars, Kroner or anything linked to the gold standard. The price is your peace of mind knowing Out there someone is doing The Deal living The Life and you aren't. So in your competitive type 'A' minds there you sit in your office, at home or where ever you happen to be that isn't Out and you fantasize and wonder what it would be like. For the majority, fantasize and wonder will be all you will ever do because you are stuck in a Rut so deep you think there is no escape, or worse yet.....gasp.....don't care. Yea, I know, you have Reasons. Lame ones, heard them all before. Yea, I know, you are Different. Sure. Well, OK. 

So let's look at a few Reasons if you are a Rut Boy or Rut Girl. 

Pesos. Go brokerage, go smaller, go coastal, go sail; it's all good, just Go. 

Aging parents. TELL them what Your plans are, TELL them you love them and TELL them you will see them as often as you can but these are Your Years and need to Go. They may whine up front but will respect your decision and of course will tell their friends; MY son/daughter the Boater is in xxxxxxxxx. And so on. 

The key word here: TELL, don't Ask. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission. Don't think your parents are different. They are just people like you, only a generation older. They will get over it; just like someday your kids will Tell you their plans and you may not agree. Their/your choices will be: Get Over It and be supportive......Pout. 

Children. When the youngest leaves for university, You are free. Don't think they are any different than you. They have their own minds and can't Wait to escape, just like you at their age. And if you aren't there to hold their hand if they have a hiccup, oh well, I guess they will just have to figure it out instead of mommy and daddy doing it for them. Besides, you're always a phone call away. No problem.

House. What will we do with the house? It is just a House. That's all. Figure out what is best for you. We are talking about Your Lives. A house is just a house. Get it? 

Pets. Take them with you. So what if they scratch the floor of your precious, or shed, or whatever? We're talking about Your Lives and this isn't a rehearsal. Carpet, throw rug, sweep, dinghy them ashore, do whatever because it is no big deal. Pets also open a lot of doors. Pets, like Boat Kids are a magnet for other cruisers. And Boat Kids, Skippy or Fluffy get treated better aboard than they ever did ashore because you don't have shore side distractions and have Time for the first time in your lives. 

However there is Hope. The fall boat shows are just around the corner. Boat shows group boats so you can look at a range of different types of boats but more importantly, check out the boats You are already Dreaming about. Another advantage of fall shows is, well it is fall. In the brokerage market, owners have most likely cruised their last summer season in the boat and are ready to move on. They know winter is coming, sales slow down, dockage doesn't stop and Its Time. So deals can be had. Fall shows still leave a bit of season left for initial shake down cruising before winter, unless you happen to buy on the U.S. east coast then you can head to the Bahamas for the winter. And Bahamas cruising during the winter is great. You can fish, swim, dinghy explore, or anything you wish. You may also have children, parents or guests fly into Nassau or Marsh Harbour and stay a bit. Take the Nassau folks 30nm to Norman's Cay and let them explore the low tide white sand flats and pick up sand dollars to their hearts content. Take the Marsh Harbour guests 12nm to Hope Town and let them wander the 1800's Loyalist's streets and eat conch fritters and drink Kalix (Clicks) beer on the waterfront. It’s wonderful. 

And of course, fall shows groups the builders. They are all (always) hungry so again, deals can be had on new builds, particularly in this market. 

We only know about the U.S. East Coast fall shows. We will attend two this year. The first show is Newport, Rhode Island around mid September. Second is the Annapolis Powerboat Show, mid October in Annapolis, Maryland, and the third is the Biggie, Ft Lauderdale, the end of October. We will make the Newport and Ft Lauderdale shows. Even after all these years of first being my vocation and now cruising we still can't get enough.”

The learning process.

June 7^th 2012

Position N 27° 22.225’,

               W 82° 37.075’.

Longboat Key Club Moorings, FL 

Tarpon Fishing

Recently we took a three day trip from our

Marina in Sarasota Bay to Charlotte Harbour and in particular Useppa Island and Cabbage Key. We have been there before several times and know the journey well. I am not an ICW boater and the confinement doesn’t suit me so the transit was made on the ‘outside’ in the Gulf of Mexico. Heading South the weather was beautiful and seas were calm we were able to relax into cruising mode and enjoy the journey. We sat for quite some time on the seat in front of the pilothouse spotting dolphins and hoping they would come to our bow and do their thing jumping and weaving occasionally rolling under the water and cruising just in front of the bow upside down. Sitting there is mesmerizing, watching the gentle rise and fall of the bow is transcending to thinking happy thoughts and making us visualize our future more graphically; we can’t wait to enjoy more cruising days in more unfamiliar waters on our way to new exciting destinations. Arriving in late afternoon we proceeded along the channel leading to the Boca Grande inlet we passed all the tarpon fishing boats going around in circles; just on the north side of the channel is a ‘hole’ and all the boats continually go around and around trolling their lines. The tarpon congregate in the ‘hole’ at certain times of the year and now is one of those times. In fact in just over a week the famous Boca Grande tarpon tournament takes place and the venue will be jammed! A sharp turn to starboard took us along the ICW to Useppa Island where we dropped anchor for the weekend. We were among six other boats, three from the ‘dark side’ and three sailing boats, we were the only trawler. We spent Saturday evening relaxing and being happy that we had a great trip and being away from the dock anchored in an idyllic spot that one can only reach by boat...we felt very lucky. We enjoyed a great dinner together all washed down with some inexpensive but good enough wine, of course after the first glass the wine just got better and better!

On Sunday morning I cooked a full English breakfast with fried eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and toast. Lavinia had coffee and orange juice; I had strong English tea and grapefruit juice. With all this on board we figured that we had enough fuel to last until an early dinner...

Cabbage Key Docks

Cheeseburger in Paradise!

Straight across the ICW channel is Cabbage Key, a charming island famous for its claim that it inspired Jimmy Buffet to write ‘Cheesburger in Paradise’. At about 16:00 we lowered our dinghy and made the trip across. It is a fun experience, the place wus hoppin’ with a wait at the bar and a wait for a table. We didn’t care, we were happy just being there, the atmosphere was great and everybody was friendly and of course they were all boaters as that is the only means of transport enabling one to be there! It was again good to see the walls lined with multiple layers of dollar bills most with a personal message written on them by their original owners. We enjoyed a very pleasant meal with great service all washed down with several coronas. The island has a walking path which we decided to explore, it winds its way through completely natural non manicured landscape passing old Indian burial sites and many unusual indigenous plants which had signs erected on pedestals telling all about them for the uninitiated such as the likes of us. After our trek it was time to board the dinghy for the trip back to the boat. Before heading back we detoured for about half an hour to explore the mangroves that line shoreline, all in all what a wonderful day.

Money everywhere!

Sunday started early, we hauled the anchor at 06:00 and began our trip back to Sarasota. What a change from Saturday and our cruise down, the winds were blowing and the sea was building. The strong west winds were being caused by the presence of tropical storm Beryl which was in the Jacksonville, FL area swirling anticlockwise causing the west winds we were experiencing some 300 miles south. As we travelled west exiting Boca Grande we endured the short seas associated with a west wind accelerating the rising tide which was rushing into Charlotte Harbour; our speed at 1350 rpm normally 6 knots was reduced to 3! The induced pitching was bearable but as soon as we turned north towards Longboat Key pass we received the waves and sloppy seas right onto our beam. I turned on the stabilizers which help enormously but the seas were confused so it was still uncomfortable. With at least 9 hours ahead of us, until we would find calm waters on the inside of Longboat Key pass, we settled in. Lavinia was experiencing these conditions for the first time aboard ‘Partners’ and she realized that she had not prepared her well enough to ensure that no items ‘moved’. Well, we lost two wine glasses and a few other items ‘moved’ but fortunately didn’t break or cause any damage. The learning process continues!

The journey home was a long one although the seas were never rough enough for ‘Partners’ to take water over her bow. A couple of faster boats pounded their way through the seas to overtake us. If the seas had been any larger than the 3 – 6 ft waves we were getting, the faster boats would probably be slower than us. We can maintain 6 – 7 knots through almost anything without hull slap or excessive spray. Spray is caused by the spray rails on the bows of most planning or semi displacement boats, and with our wineglass stern we get very little lift from the waves compared to the hard chine on planing and semi-displacement hulls, thus eliminating hull slap. The downside, if it bothers anyone, is the inability to go any faster; our theoretical top speed is approximately 8.4 (Waterline length, 39’ 6” *sqrt*1.34). The big upside is the fuel consumption which at 6 knots is 1 - 1.4 gals per hour depending on sea conditions.

The list of items that we would like to add or do to ‘Partner’ before we start cruising has grown; some new canvas, a new dinghy, a redundant autopilot, AIS and a paint job! The promise that we made to ourselves that any expenditure made on ‘Partners’ would be from income, as opposed to tapping into our retirement funds, is holding and therefore we have decided to delay our departure to places unknown for at least six months. I spoke to our friend Larry whose slip we are renting and received the okay to the extension. Lavinia is going to use the time to take a navigation course which will help her understand the pilot house a little better. Right now she constantly refers to it as ‘your’ pilot house and I keep reminding her that it is all ours! The galley is still hers though, except on Sundays when I cook a full English breakfast.

What are you planning for the weekend?