Sailing Fix

Since our boat sold, Bruce and I have found ourselves with more free time than that to which we are normally accustomed.  Part of our Master Plan included cutting out many of the encumbrances on our time, I'm not Bowsprit Editor, Bruce is no longer on the Board of Governors for our Townhome community... etc.  This left us time to do the fun things!  But now... no boat... not enough fun things to fill the void.  Now keep in mind, all of that is about to change. 

But for the past several weekends, we have found ourselves rattling around with nothing to do and noplace to go.  We are just not used to that and it feels wrong! 

But this weekend, Chris and Sarah, the young couple who bought our boat, took us out sailing.  It was a glorious perfect sailing day and it felt so good to be out on the water.  Chris and Sarah are good company too. 

I've often marveled at people who can just take some lessons and then buy a boat and sail away.  Well, they aren't sailing away just yet (although they ask us questions like "could this boat take us to the BVI's?)... but obviously they're thinking about it.  Knowing them, we get to watch this process first hand.  Chris took the lessons and has been reading and studying up about sailing.  Now he's bitten off quite an impressive vessel for his first boat.  Lucky for him, we are still around to take him from theory to practice.

And that is just what we did today.  Sarah has absolutely no sailing experience and has now become a full time liveaboard.  She, along with their cat Lucy, complete this trio and it's going to be a steep learning curve for them all.  Chris took Sarah (and Lucy) out sailing in the Gulf last week and it was probably a mistake on his part.  The winds weren't bad but they had been and there were confused seas making the experience an unpleasant one for Sarah.  I think Chris learned his lesson however, and will try not to repeat it. 

Today was a 180 degree turn from that experience for Sarah.  She was able to take short periods of time on the helm while Bruce went through some of the boatwork with Chris.  I stayed beside her and talked her through it all, explaining what to do, what to expect, and why we did what we did.  She is a quick learner and already feels better about the whole thing.  I think she's going to be a natural. 

We had a bit of an "event" while heading back to the slip.  We went out into the Bay, which was quite benign.  Chris was at the helm as we approached the entrance to the Ship Channel, we pointed him in the right direction, told him what he was looking for and let him go.  When he got too close to the shallows, Bruce sprung into action.  We needed to be downwind several boatlengths to enter at marker 43 and we were missing it. 

Bruce pointed Chris in the right direction while he and I took care of the sails.  Chris did an accidental jibe, which I saw coming but said nothing.  I thought it wasn't going to be too bad, so I took the mainsheet in as it began and no sweat.  We trimmed the jib and settled down for the short downwind run.  Then we trimmed sails as Chris eased us around Marker 43 and we were set. 

One look at Chris and Sarah and we started to laugh.  They both looked as if we'd had a near death experience.  It really wasn't that bad...  just a flurry of activity.  As we talked through it and explained what had happened, I think they both had a realization of just how much they had to learn.  But from my perspective, it was a good thing to have an "event" and get through it.  Lessons learned:  Watch where you're going, have the boat ready for action, and accidental gibes aren't a death sentence. 

The rest of the sail was pleasant and uneventful.  We had dolphins at our side most of the way.  We talked Chris through his nervousness about how and when to drop the sails and prepare to go into Piper Channel.  We got it done while he was at the helm.  Next time, I'll talk Sarah through it while Chris does the work.  He still took the channel at a faster rate than we would have.  We still have that residual distrust of the channel depths from the old days. 

We ended up having dinner with Chris and Sarah at the Cancun, our favorite Mexican food place.  The day was a much needed sailing fix for us both.

Boat Computer

This morning when I woke up, Bruce was already hard at work in the office on the computer making a list of the things he needs to do to make Ariel ready for the voyage home.  Yes, we close on Wednesday, but that's just a formality.  The wire transfer is set up and the paperwork is in the mail for signatures.  It's (all but) a done deal. 

I wake up and he comes in and slaps me with "We need a boat computer".  OK, so I clutch my coffee cup and start looking for the articles I've read in recent months about buying a computer for your boat.

I've read that laptops have an issue with an internal shock sensor which will basically lock your computer if excessive movement is encountered, to protect the hard drive.  I would think that just being on a boat would constitute "excessive movement", being offshore could send it into orbit!  Coincidentally, the day I read the article, the IT guy at my office was called to fix one of my Dr.'s laptops which had "frozen up".  It turned out to be the shock sensor.  It was set at the factory recommended level and over the year of use, had become "more sensitive"... long story short, the guy reduced the sensitivity level and she's back in business. 

I spoke to the Apple guy at Best Buy and he touted the lack of a hard drive on the Mac Book as a "boat friendly" alternative to a PC.  I'm no techie so don't quote me on any of this, these are just rambling things I've picked up.  I want a MacBook Pro, or maybe the Air, for my boat computer when we go, but several articles seem to agree that it is a good idea to have a "boat computer" and a second computer for processing pictures, blogging, and watching videos, both DVD and streaming, etc.  That's what we've decided to do and I'll buy the Mac closer to our departure date.  Maybe the prices will come down by then. 

Anyway, so I find this article on the Creative Cruising website.  Bruce reads it and compares it to the information he's been able to find and mine.  The IBM Thinkpad T23 Laptop Notebook keeps coming up.  We also like the idea of buying a refurbished one on EBAY for very little money and voila!  We ordered a "boat computer".  It will be waiting for Bruce on the boat when he arrives next week. 

For anyone out there like myself, who is in the information gathering phase of a cruising plan, I'll keep ya posted on how this works out for us, but please do the homework and make your own choices/decisions about spending your money.  I am NO EXPERT!   I'm also still "researching" for the main (my) computer so any advice on the subject from cruisers already "out there" would be noted and appreciated. 

Wanted... Crystal Ball

I was driving to work on Friday and began to think about Crossroads.  Sometimes you don't know you've passed one until you see it in retrospect.  Other times you stand poised before one... In the mind's eye you peer into the future.  You try to envision what lies  ahead down each path, and you make a choice.   Bruce and I are standing at such a crossroad.  Thus the need for the Crystal Ball.  

I guess we aren't really still AT the Crossroads. No, we've already begun our journey down the pathway of choice... But it's not yet too late to turn back.  I can be indecisive but once a decision is made, I tend to blast my way to the goal.  We began down this road once before and I won't say we turned back, but we did take a detour.  We sold our home and purchased our current place.  Instead of it being a small rental to keep as backup while we went cruising, it ended up being a Cruising Kitty eater.  All is well now.   The fix-er-upper is fixed up and paid off and  we're ready to continue on down the path.

So, we put our boat up for sale... no hurry, it's winter and nobody buys a sailboat in the winter, right?  We aren't desperate, we've got plenty of time.  (Just our toes on the path)  We do some (lots of) research and settle on our "dream boat".  Several out there, more than we want to spend but hey, the economy is bad, it's a "buyer's market".  But wait!  The one we want goes off the market!  That's not in my plan... I wanted it! 

No worries, I settle back into my current life and try to pretend I've got patience.  Meanwhile, we show our boat to a few people and hope for an offer.  Suddenly a very sweet young couple appear on our radar.  They want our boat and make an offer.  Now remember we're still not desperate, no boat on the market that we really want.  So we stall and say no. 

But wait... is that our dream boat back on the market?  Emails fly, excitement builds and with it, doubt and uncertainty.  Here is the crossroad.  We crunch some numbers and get encouragement from the Broker that perhaps an offer such as we could afford to make might be acceptable...  now it's up to the sweet young couple.  Are they still interested in our boat?  Will the deal go through?  Oh, the lack of control is killing me!  THEY SAY YES!

Bruce and I sat there in silence... just blinking at one another... each thinking our own thoughts, our minds casting wildly around to find a foothold.  GULP!  Now what!  We've sold our boat.  OUR BOAT!  It's like being nudged from behind further down the path.

Now the doubts really begin to fly.  How can I let go of all of my possessions?   I really like that leather chair...   How can I get my work situated so that I can leave in good conscience? They just aren't thriving with this new system...  What do our daughter's really think about us leaving on a boat?  I'm sure they never thought we'd really do it...  Will the kitties survive life on the boat?  I'll just have to find a place for that litter box on board... What will I do about health insurance?  One word has kept coming up lately... peri-menopause... Will my health hold?  Maybe I'll just get a hysterectomy now.   I've already had my appendix out...  Will Bruce's health hold?  I can't handle a shin snapped in half in a tacking incident (that nearly happened by the way...)  Will there be pirates?  I read the reports...  What about the Kraken?  We will be in some really deep water!!!!

OK thats ENOUGH!  Quiet already.  I've been talking to cruiser friends and reading sailing blogs and I have never once encountered anyone who hates it.  Surely those people can't be illiterate and just not writing about it.  There are no internet censoring, pro-cruising, information police out there.  We're going!  Send that Crystal Ball crashing!  No regrets, what will be-will be.  The thought of squandering this gift by waiting too long is unacceptable.  Each day not spent with my husband, on a boat, doing what we love to do, together is one more day lost to regret.  Time to stop casting about for certainty, nobody ever really has that anyway.  We will take each day as it comes, and continue pressing onward.  Cruising is just a little bit closer now...