Snorkeling the Jetties

Shrimpboat coming in from offshore from sea level

Growing up in Corpus Christi, I learned to appreciate days when the winds weren't blowing 20 knots non stop.  We have had a couple of really light wind days, and when this happens... you ditch what you're doing and go snorkel the Jetties!

Bruce rubbing spit on his facemask lens

We dug out our gear and found the perfect spot on the rock Jetty that borders the Corpus Christi Ship Channel.  What defines the "perfect spot"?  That is one that has places to tuck your bags and a large flat rock near or just below the water's surface to use when climbing into or out of the water.

There was a bit of channel traffic causing some wave action, but if you time it right, you can enter the water without being dashed upon the barnacle covered rocks.

We had no trouble getting in today and the water... ahhhhh the water felt SO fine!  It felt almost thick and creamy.  This SURE beats working!

Striped fish scurried past  beneath us just out of reach

We snorkeled alongside the rock wall and were a bit disappointed at the unexpected murk.  We could see from above that we had some debris churned up from the passing boat traffic.  It was still a good day for snorkeling here.  I've only been a couple of times in my life when the visibility was exceptional...

Black and Yellow Sargent Majors darted everywhere

There were some vivid colored rock walls

Bruce and I swam our own way until we left the safety of the wall and ventured out along the pier.

We found the water even more murky which caused me to become nervous.  I KNOW there are things lurking underneath this dock... I can't see them, but THEY can see ME!

I began to feel the current moving and motioned for Bruce to follow me back to the Jetty.

We swam back the way we had come seeing not much more than just a different angle of light from the sun.

Every time we popped our heads up to take a look around, we could see turtles coming up for a breath.  Bruce got a glimpse of one as it rose from the depths, but I didn't see it.

We are supposed to be taking our head (toilet) apart right now... But somehow, this seemed more important.  Every so often, I experience these moments when I stop to appreciate the fact that I'm FREE!  I don't have to go to work.  I think about my previous co-workers and compare what I'm doing now, with what they're doing right now.  I really am so lucky to be living this life.

We reluctantly climbed out of the water and spread ourselves upon the granite to sun dry.  I had thought ahead and brought along some cold water and a snack of apples and sharp cheddar cheese.  We lazed in the sunshine and near calm, watching the boats go by and the turtles surface for a breath.  All too soon, that list of chores we left behind began to weigh on our conscience and we headed back to the boat with another special memory tucked away.

Sailing Party

Bruce and I spent Thursday night in Beeville with long time friends and Cruisers, Karl and Jan.  Karl owns the boat that Bruce and I were crewing aboard when we met.  They plan to Cruise again beginning this October as well and we enjoyed the opportunity to catch up and hear some of their Cruising stories.

While we were there, our daughter was planning an impromptu sailing party on our boat!  She and her friends had such a good time during the Navy Regatta, she decided to invite MORE friends out for a day sail.  OK with us, the more the merrier.  So we invited Karl and Jan, partly to pay them back for their stellar hospitality, and partly so that we would have more "boat people" on board for moral support.

Turns out, we need not have worried...  Brittney has become such a sailor girl, she pretty much took care of her guests, leaving us to do some more catching up with Jan and Karl.

I gave the six young ladies a brief orientation about what to expect and how to use the potty down below, while Bruce oriented the lone young man up topside.  Pretty quickly, everyone claimed their spot and we were underway.  Brittney continued on the back deck with some more advice and stories of her own.

We. Love. This. Boat.  Each time we take her out, we find more reasons to be nothing but happy with our choice.  Bruce was a little worried that we wouldn't have room for 11 people to be comfortable.  At the end of the day, he admitted that his fears were unfounded and this boat can handle anything we throw at her with style and grace.

The girls spread themselves over the deck with front row seats for the scenery along the Lydia Ann Channel and the occasional dolphin sighting.

The water was a beautiful blue green and the skies were full of fluffy white clouds and sunshine.
Mud Island was our destination.  The forecast East winds made it perfect for sailing the Lydia Ann channel without motoring.  When we turned to approach the anchorage, we dropped sails and motored straight upwind until I found a spot with sufficiently flat water.  We dropped anchor and Brittney went down below to begin making piles of sandwiches for our hungry crew.

We devoured the delicious snacks and everyone grabbed a floatie and the beverage of their choice, and we retired to the water for a float.

If you follow this blog, you may begin to see a pattern here.  There are few things we love as much as hanging off the transom with a beverage and some friends.

So many people ask us how we can live on a boat.  Once they attend one of these afternoons, they begin to see more why we love this life.  These are the good times.

The skies began to fill with less fluffy clouds and it looked like we might be in for a deck wash... a quick check of the radar on the iPad showed it to be slipping by above us.  We were left with delightful cloud cover making the afternoon utterly pleasant.

We swam until our fingers were wrinkled and then pulled anchor to head for home.  The girls dripped dry on the deck while A.J. honed his new sailing skills helping Bruce do the manly tasks.

All the while, the girls were hard at work as well on the back deck...

We certainly felt like the "Cool-Aid Boat" today!  Everyone was happy.

The winds actually dropped for a change as we sailed comfortably towards our slip.  I had opted to test my theory that Jezabelle's seasickness was partly nerves, by allowing her to remain in our cabin instead of making her stay in the salon while we were under way.  She found herself a spot and there were no "incidents" the whole day.  Maybe she's just getting used to sailing since we seem to be getting out more.  I will say that she seems to be developing some surliness towards visitors.  I think she's made the connection between people showing up and the boat going out sailing.

Bruce and I sat on the deck in the evening after everyone went home.  We talked over the events of the day and we couldn't be happier with the way the boat handled, the smiles on the faces of our guests, and our pride in our daughter.  We had a GREAT day and will say to Brittney's friends:  You are all welcome again for our next Sailing Party!

Daily Life - Defrosting the Fridge and Freezer

I read a lot of Cruising Blogs and one thing I've learned is that it is different for everyone.  There are people out there Living the Dream from all walks of life and all economic brackets.  There are bare minimalists getting truly "off the grid", and then there are those living in the lap of luxury on Megayachts.  The important thing is to know what things are important to YOU and go from there.

I know that living without refrigeration was not an option for me.  Furthermore, I wanted a freezer onboard, as the thought of living without, or buying bags of ice wasn't something I was ready to do.  The boat had a barely working refrigeration system and a non-working freezer when we took possession.  The fridge was replaced with a SeaFrost unit before she left Rhode Island.  Almost a year later, we installed the  freezer.

Since then, we've been learning to live with these conveniences and it's not as easy as just plugging them in.    The learning curve has been steep but I think we're getting the hang of it.  My original thought would be that I would put defrosting both units on a schedule.  Weekly, Monthly, whatever...  That didn't seem to work.  The time between defrosting seemed to vary with the weather, where we were (dock or anchored out), how full the box was, and how many times we opened the doors.  There is no way to put this on a schedule.

I just defrosted it so it's cooling back down

Our fridge has an external panel which displays the internal temperature.  We began to notice that when the temperature on the readout dropped closer to freezing, it was time to defrost.  This meant that the sensor was near to icing up.  This is a nice feature that not all boats have.

We have noticed that when the fridge is full and airflow is restricted, we have trouble keeping all parts cool.  We have a cute little fan that will be installed as soon as we figure out where we want it.  This should help keep things more consistently cool.

Defrosting with a hair dryer seems fastest

The freezer was my biggest concern.  I couldn't conceptualize how the L-shaped cooling plate in one corner could cool that entire box.  I've since learned that it will not.  But, this is OK.

We have lined the hull side of the box with insulation that has greatly increased the unit's ability to keep things frozen.

We have learned that he way items are placed in relation to the freezing plate is important.  Keep things, like meat, that really need to be solid closer to the plate and low in the box.

Newly defrosted and ready to go again

We store our bread (to keep it from going bad in two days) in the topmost corner on the hull side where it never really freezes.  Sometimes we use that area for overflow if our fridge is too packed.

I'm sure we will continue to refine our method as the need arises, but things seem to be settling into a routine that works.

Leave a comment if you have other ideas that will help us make food storage more efficient.