Where and when are we going?

Departure time

By Scott Buckley (Captain)

I know to some it looks like we are going on a long vacation, however it is much more than that.  We are changing one life style with another.  From a work a day lifestyle to a cruising lifestyle that more resembles a Gypsy's than anything else.  From a lifestyle of comfortable means with tightly packed events to a frugal, slower and simpler lifestyle that is rich with experiences.

Today is 12-Sept-14 and in about 3 weeks the 1st mate and I will quit our jobs and will be ready to "untie the lines".  The thought simultaneously exhilarates and terrifies me but I am sure once we get started I think the butterflies will settle down.  I feel like we are sufficiently ready this time and have been living on the boat for the last 10 months and thus our confidence is much higher than it was last November when we were scrambling to sell the house, cars and everything else we owned and finish all the projects on the boat before the winter closed in on us.

Because we had tried to leave last year and aborted to wait 10 months we have had to eat a great deal of crow, but what we are discovering that few people really understand what we are doing.  We get a lot of questions about what we are doing and they can be difficult answer because the question comes from a different frame of reference than what this endeavor of ours is.

The questions:

When are you leaving?  Sounds like a simple question but for cruising is dependent primarily on the weather, and a few other factors.  We have no plane tickets with a date on it.  No reservation at a resort.  No time off from work scheduled.  We are leaving when conditions are favorable.
 When will you be back? This is the most difficult question because it lays bare the fact there is no plan to return by some date.  We are making a decision to leave and not be a part of their life and their daily routine and the likelihood of meeting again may be remote.  The realization that our fun lunchtime conversations will no longer be something to look forward to.
Where are you going? Again a difficult question to answer because there are so many destinations.  The real answer is: we are headed out there to see what we will see, to experience what we will do and to feel what we will endure.

The rub:

It often feels like we are betraying our friends because the answer to the question of when are we coming back feels like abandonment.  We will miss them as much as they will miss us and perhaps we will miss them more without all the distractions of a land based life that diverts your attention away from the more thoughtful things. 
I get disbelief from the people that I work with questions like:  How can I just quit?  Who will do the things I do?  Who will check their work? Who will they brain storm with?   I will miss it of that I am sure.

As difficult as all of these things are the 1st mate and I have worked all of our lives for this adventure and it is time.  It is time before it is too late.  I often tell the people that are trying to wrap their heads around what Tamera and I are doing, that we may end up old and poor but we will have some good stories to tell.

The answers:

When are you leaving?  When conditions are favorable for passage making.
When will you be back? When the wind and fortune bring  us back. 
Where are you going? Someplace new to us.  I hope we like it.

Cockpit Enclosure

Partial or Full Enclosure?

By First Mate Tamera

We have been discussing if we should make a partial or full enclosure for the cockpit of our Caliber 40 LRC.  So we have decided to make a partial enclosure NOW and if we get time we will complete to enclosure before we leave.

Here is a few photos of our project:

Here is Scott putting up the scrim to make a pattern of the port side enclosure.

Here is the port side finished...

We did the same thing on the starboard side and here is that side panel

Now I hope we get time to complete this project......

Now it's only small projects to complete until our departure in 30 days !!!!

Storage Solutions Sailing Vessel Kooky Dance

Pockets, Pockets, Pockets

By

Tamera (First Mate)

Since Sailing Vessel Kooky Dance is our home we HAD to adopt storage solutions that worked for us and that solution is pockets.

Captain Scott is a wonderful engineer and his brain functions different from my nursing brain.  He is able to visualize and design the different pockets and create a pattern so I can sew the pockets.

His designs have worked out very well and we are using the pockets in many different applications.  Here are a few photos of the applications that work for us:

Any FLAT surface that is NOT used on Kooky Dance is wasted space - therefore the space between the windows was an excellent place for pockets.

Galley Before

Galley After

Salon Before

Salon After

Notice the Red and Green - We are nautical folks !!

The Garage After - I was too embarrassed to take a before :)

 

This is the pockets in the master stateroom behind the door is the printer and more pockets by the window.

This is the best part - the main pocket display.....This is at the bottom on the companion way steps....lots of great storage here.

Pockets, Pockets, Pockets

One step closer to the dream !!!

Things are getting serious

By First Mate Tamera

There are times when two months seem so far away AND at the same time seems so freaking close I want to panic - this is one of those times.

All of the big projects are done, now just lots of small projects are all that lie between us and our departure.

Some things on the list include:

1)  Buy and find a place for a life raft.
2)  Finish downsizing our small storage unit.
3)  Assemble Fortress anchor and stow it in a quick access spot.
4)  Monthly/Annual Maintenance.
5)  Find a home for everything on the boat and storage.
6) Sew total enclosure (OK so one kinda big project)

And so on, right now I can't think of all the small things we need to do and it gets overwhelming when I try to think of all the small things we need to do.


We are considering sailing straight across the Gulf of Mexico and head straight to Florida and bypass Louisiana, Alabama, & Mississippi.  The trip can take anywhere from 5 - 10 days and will be looking for Experienced sailors interested in going with us.  My fear is we will get out in the Gulf and I will get really seasick and I won't be able to do my share of the watches.  With only two of us on board this can really put a kink in the "sail straight to Florida" plan.  With at least one other person on board we can still cross the Gulf and not put a total burden on the captain.  Still thinking about it....any advise would be most appreciated.

Our survival demands our courage.....

Finally Fun with Dinghy Dance

Dinghy Dogs

By the Captain

Once the dinghy (a Port Townsend PT11)  was put into the water it could feel a little tippy.  In fact I was reluctant to sail Dinghy Dance for fear of flipping her a long way from home and having difficulty righting her and getting her back.  Thus far we had only rowed the dinghy around the marina and it did great.

The PT 11Dinghy Dance rigged for sail in the front yard of the house we use to own.

Dinghy Dance is stored on deck

 

Dinghy Dance assembled on deck about to be lowered into the water.

Dinghy Dance in the water

1st Mate rowing around.

 Then the 1st mate saw a blog post for "Dinghy Dogs"  They are inflatable pontoons you attach to the
 sides of the dinghy for additional stability.  They are an outfit in RI http://dinghydogs.com/ and after some basic research and a little less than $400 a set was on its way.

This is a picture from the Dinghy Dog site.

To mount them on our Dinghy Dance would mean drilling a few holes that would need to be sealed with epoxy.  We decided to install the dinghy dogs in the southeast Texas summer so it was incredibly hot and humid. The standard mounting kit sent with the dinghy dogs would need a slight modification with the supplied fasteners to work with the PT11.

Drilling holes

Dinghy Dogs are attached by a cleat at the forward and aft ends and a slotted bracket in the center of the pontoon.  We temporarily installed the aft cleat first and tied the aft end of the pontoon to the cleat. We pulled the pontoon along the side of the dinghy and marked the placement of the forward cleat.  Did I mention that it was hot and very humid..  Once that cleat was temporarily installed the center slotted bracket was positioned and marked.  The bracket as shipped from Dinghy Dog has double sided tape and two mounting holes. 

Slotted attachment

 I did not think the double sided tape would be reliable long term and removed it.  I then increased the number of mounting holes from 2 to 4.  Did I mention it was also HOT.


Installation with the temporary placement of the cleats and slotted bracket.

 Once the dry fit test was completed the cleats and brackets were then removed.  The holes were sealed with epoxy and the cleats and brackets permanently installed.  So much sweating.

In the water

The total installation added some weight to the dinghy but the additional stability should be worth it. We used the whisker pole mounted to the mast to lift the dinghy into the water.  As it took both of us to operate the lifting apparatus there were no pictures to share.
We plan to sail her in the morning to see how it goes.  It is our intention to use this dinghy for a lot of exploring in water too shallow for SV Kooky Dance.

Dinghy Fun

 By the Captain

We rigged the boat in the morning with oars and sail.  It took all of 5 minutes. There was little wind to be found but I felt it would fill in as the day heated up.  We loaded into the dinghy and started rowing out of the marina.

The wind was almost non-existent.  We rowed out of the slip and around the end of the dock to get in clear water.  Once out there we picked up just a wisp of wind but it appeared to be enough to ghost along.  We sailed up to the marina store to gloat a little to the BoBos hanging out there.  We turned around and headed out of the marina.  The wind picked up and Dinghy Dance moved right along. 

 

We really had a good time.  It was just plane fun to be sailing again and the PT11 was easy to sail.  Unfortunately the camera stopped working so we got no pictures once the wind picked up.  As there were a number of people watching they may have some pictures we can add later.

I am excited about this little boat and the amount of exploring we will do.  It will be able to go places the big boat can't because of water depth.

Dinghy Dance became part of the crew today and we say; "Welcome to the Crew  Dinghy Dance, you are home".

Well enough for now

Sunsets

I LOVE SUNSETS - By Tamera Buckley


Every chance I get I:

1)  Make a rum enhanced coke zero
2)  Mozy up to the gazebo at the marina
3)  Enjoy a new and exciting view of the marina sunset

I never get tired of doing this and each sunset is awesome.

Here are a few for your enjoyment.

And just for added enjoyment we get storms too !!

This was a doozie from today.

Sometimes the worst stormy days bring the most beautiful sunsets in the evening.

Time to start mixing the coke zero with enhancements !!!

The Nudist and the Bloody Marys

By Scott Buckley (Captain)

Once again It has been a while since posting and it is not for lack of subjects.  I am not really sure where to start.  Some subjects are fun, some frustrating and some are going to be technical rants.  But for this one I think I will stick with fun.  Thus the title.

The live-aboard crowd here at Bayland Marina is a different sort of crowd and you would almost want to call them eclectic but there are some darker reasons for some about why they live on a boat and not like the rest of the world in a conventional land based enclosure. Some are tragic, some are financial and some are just too weird to spend much time on. Perhaps a better word for live-aboards is a group of people all affected by a similar psychosis. In my case the psychosis is a desire to be poor in my old age. My psychosis leads me to believe that regret will trump any comfort I will get out of working until I'm too old for a big old retirement nest egg.

There is a marina store here at Bayland that is run by a very kind lady named Cindy. My 1^st mate calls her Cindy-Lou because my 1^st mate refuses to call anything by its proper name but the 1st mate is adored by all so the name Cindy-Lou has stuck. I have made it a habit of going to the marina store on Sunday morning to read the paper that Mrs. Cindy buys for the advertisements. I really enjoy reading the paper, filling in the crossword puzzle and solving the Cryptograms. A crowd has started to gather at the marina store on Sunday mornings to socialize and hear me read the Dear Abby column using the accent of a dumbass country bumpkin. I may be guilty of embellishing the articles a little but it is always fun.  These gathering by the boat bound psychotics is called the Lab Lounge by the 1st mate.  It means "Live-aboard Lounge".  See adorable right? 

At these morning sessions we trade stories and information and generally gossip about those that did not show up that morning and the history of past boat bound psychotics (AKA BoBo-psychos). One of the couples at the marina are nudists. Actually they are practicing nudists but practice is perhaps the wrong word as they have gotten pretty good at being naked. They are in their 60’s and I believe have earned the right to hangout (so to speak) anyway they see fit. While one guy objects the rest of us are tolerant and maybe a little curious. For some reason the folks at the Lab-Lounge think they can ask me question about subject I have not professed to know anything about and that there is no evidence that I would know the answer yet all eyes will turn towards me while they wait for my answer. One such question was when nudist play volley ball, do they do it totally naked with all there bit flying around. I said I would assume they do but don’t actually know. What do they talk about?  I suggested maybe the price of sunscreen.  Again why would they ask me?

Anyway last Sunday the regular crowd of BoBo-psychos had gathered and the nudist was there.  Let's call him Buck Knotbare.  Anyway Buck was lamenting the fact he had offered to make bloody marys the week before and I and my 1st mate had taken off.  I explained that we had visitors down and  our absence was not a repulsion to him or to the bloody marys.   In fact I pointed out he was one of the most positive people I knew and that I always enjoyed a good bloody mary.  Well he said if I was serious he would go make some AND make some he did.  A whole gallon and they were good. 

So its Sunday morning and bunch of us BoBo's are sitting there at the Lab-Lounge on our second bloody mary with the nudist and I thought it might be a good idea that the group should ask the nudist directly about their curiosities.  Well they were tipsy enough to ask AND Buck was only too pleased to respond with all the required detail about the life style and the rules of naked comportment.  One of the questions was about naked volleyball.  I won't share the answers but it would appear a lot of balls were in play.

 

I share this story because it is one of the primary attraction for me to the cruising life style.  It is my belief that the wide variety of folks we will meet in our travels will be considered psychotic by some but we will all be suffering our madness together and enjoying the absolute crap out of it.