Sailing Through the Fear

So this month’s Raft Up topic (which I'm totally behind on posting - sorry!) is fear – which I think is a pretty interesting topic right now as I’ve experienced more of it lately than I think I was expecting….

So of course my biggest fear is exactly what you would expect – fear of big seas.  I have been amazed at how different it is to sail in Puget Sound versus sailing out on the ocean.  Over the years in Seattle we had been out in 25-35 knots more times than I can count.  Often enough that we even got a bit cavalier about it – at least until we got caught in 45-50 knots off of Rosario Straights – that made us a little less cocky for sure!  But now that I’ve spent the last month doing a LOT of sailing – all out on the ocean, my perspective has changed dramatically.  Now 25-30 knots is a BIG DEAL.  And 30-35 knots is just out of the question if I can help it.  If you’ve been reading our blog, you know we experienced about 30 hours of 30-40 knots with some pretty big waves coming down the coast and I have definitely become very friendly with fear in that situation.  More recently we did an overnight and while it only got into the 25-30 knot range, it’s amazing how scary that can be in the dark.  It also takes a lot out of you physically as you are tenser; worrying about the effect the winds will have on your home – what damage may occur that will have to be fixed.  There is a whole new set of noises that come into play when you are in that kind of wind – and they are not good noises!  And so we get better and better at reading the weather and try to be as prepared as possible whenever we leave the anchorage for our next destination.

Another fear we both feel, but Brett more so than me, is the fear of leaving our careers behind and being able to still make a living when we are done with this adventure.  Brett left at the height of his career, where he had developed a completely new way to help doctors track tumor growth in cancer patients.  He doesn’t talk much about it, but it was a pretty big deal and he helped multitudes of patients.  Not only is it very hard to walk away from something like that, but the medical field changes so fast that the chance of him being able to go back years later is fairly slim.  That’s a scary thing to face when you’ve just arrived at your 50’s and are wondering how you will support yourself if you live to be 90!  And so we wonder how we will support ourselves as we get older – telling most people that after taking this trip we’ll just have to “work until we die!” – which we say in jest, but may very well be true!

My last big fear is a little harder to define, but it basically comes down to being forgotten by the people you’ve left behind.  When you are getting ready to leave, it’s a very intense time and we made a point to spend as much time as possible with the people we care about as we didn’t know when we would see many of them again.  We have made so many dear, dear friends over the years and I already miss some of them terribly.  I know that as we travel farther away, they will continue on with their lives and we will be a smaller and smaller part of their life.  We’ll miss the many things that happen to them, just as they will not be here for the things that happen to us.  We’ll also miss seeing our nieces and nephews grow up and it’s tough to accept that the relationships we have with them will not be as strong over time.  I love my family and we are all very close, so it’s tough to say goodbye and to not be an close part of their lives anymore.  I don’t want to lose them – which I know is crazy to think – because family is always there, right?  That’s what makes them family – but that’s a fear nonetheless.

But this is the path that we have picked – so I can only hope that the bonds we have forged with our friends and family will be stronger than distance.  That when we come back to visit or when we return at the end of the trip, that we’ll be able to pick back up where we left off.  Perhaps those relationships will not be exactly the same, but maybe they will be even stronger from having survived the distance.  

For other posts on this topic - check out the other blogs in the Raft Up:

Dana:  svnorthfork.blogspot.com
Behan:  sv-totem.blogspot.com
Steph:  www.sailblogs.com/member/nornabiron 
Tammy:  ploddingINparadise.blogspot.com 
Ean:  morejoyeverywhere.com 
Lynn:  sailcelebration.blogspot.com 
Diane:  www.maiaaboard.blogspot.com 
Jaye:  lifeafloatarchives.blogspot.com 
Verena:  pacificsailors.com 
Toast:  Toastblog.toastfloats.com

Finally Under the Golden Gate Bridge

After arriving under the Golden Gate Bridge, our first job was to figure out where we could go to get some repairs.  Since we had no idea, we decided to anchor in Clipper Cove on Treasure Island to do a little bit of research.  Before leaving, my folks had leant me their Verizon wireless hotspot and I can’t tell you how amazing that thing has been.  We plugged in and got online and shortly had phone numbers and reviews for people that could meet our repair needs.  We also had a place to stay!

Alameda Marina is located exactly where you would expect – in the heart of the marine district on Alameda Island.  It is part of a huge complex of buildings that covers about 5 city blocks, all owned by the Svendsen family.  This is also where (surprise!) the Svendsen chandlery is, along with the Svendsen boat yard, which can pretty much do anything under the sun that you need done.  Also on the property is every marine business you can think of, plus a few more – a perfect spot for us to get our repairs! 

The marina harbormaster is Brock de Lappe and what an absolute delight he was!  When he found out we were newly arrived from Seattle and needed some repairs and groceries, he promptly gave us a tour in his car of all of the businesses that might be able to help.  He then told us to come back at 5pm (when he would be off work) and that he would drive us to the grocery store.  Not only did he take us there, he insisted on waiting for us to take us back so we wouldn’t have to walk the 2 miles with all of our stuff.  Now that is service!  Thank you very much Brock – it’s service like this that keeps people coming back.

And so you may ask, what repairs did we need?  Well, first off we had a 16” tear in our main sail on the luff, just below the 2^nd reef point.  This was a critical repair and we chose Doyle Sailmakers to do it.  They were excellent to work with – coming to the boat to pick up and drop off the sail so that we didn’t have to figure out a way to haul the heavy thing across about 4 blocks of blacktop.  The repair they did was excellent plus they only charged us $85 and turned it around in TWO days!  How great is that???

The next repair was to our dodger, which had a bunch of seems blow out during the trip down.  Some I can repair myself, but the two front windows needed to be done by an expert as there was too much material to fit in my machine.  To the rescue was Jeff from Alameda Canvas.  Jeff also came right down to the boat and since we were just passing through, he put aside his other jobs and got ours done in ONE DAY!  Jeff did the repairs and re-stitched the entire dodger with Teflon thread that is basically bullet proof.  He convinced me it was the only way to go as all other threads (even UV protected) will only last about 2 years in the heat and sun of Mexico and beyond.  I’ve ordered some myself (that stuff is EXPENSIVE – you’d think it was gold!) from Sailrite.com to reinforce the rest of our dodger/bimini and for all other upcoming canvas projects.  Big thanks to Jeff for doing such a great job in a quick timeframe!

Shuttle Endeavor Flyover

While staying at Alameda Marina something unexpected happened.  We were coming back from our morning showers when we noticed that a crowd had gathered nearby, holding cameras and all looking expectantly in the same direction.  What could this be we asked ourselves (having not read a paper or watched any news for a VERY long time).  Turns out it was a flyover by the shuttle Endeavor, which was on its way to its final home at the Exposition Park museum in Los Angeles.  We were amazed and delighted when it flew DIRECTLY overhead, likely to pass over the Coast Guard boats which were moored right across the way from us with all hands on deck saluting.  Now I’m not exactly super patriotic (just an average American), but I have to admit it brought a tear to my eye and made my skin go all goose bumpy to see the CG salute a piece of American history going by.

The final repair was kind of two-fold.  Our alternator belt had virtually exploded on the way down, leaving bits and pieces all over the engine room.  When Brett installed a new belt he noticed it got really hot, way to quick.  Something was not right.  He also noticed we had a new, very small oil leak at the head of the main engine shaft, which is behind the main engine pulley.  His (and Pat’s) theory was that engine shaft seal developed a leak when a piece of the belt got lodged into it.  So now we needed a new gasket and we needed to figure out why the alternator had gotten so hot…

After doing more research, Brett discovered the most highly recommended alternator guy in California actually had his shop in the same complex we were in – about 3 blocks down!  Liem Dao of L.T.D. Marine came right over after a phone call and figured out that the bearing s were starting to go on our alternator.  Really?  It’s only like 17 years old!  We had bought a spare, but if we used that spare, there would be no more spare!  No worries, Liem had an identical replacement in stock, so we were good to go!  Liem was excellent to work with and I would highly recommend him if you need any electrical help in the area.

After we ordered the needed gasket from Svendsen’s it was time to journey on while we waited for it to arrive.  It turns out that just down the way was the Oakland Yacht Club, where we could stay one night for free and then just $10 a night after that. So there we stayed for the next 5 nights.  The club is great and the members are super friendly.  After walking the docks, pet-starved Stacey insisted on talking to a couple with a beautiful green parrot.  Dan and Carol (owners of the parrot) quickly invited us on board and after chatting for about 30 minutes, invited us to be their guests to dine at the club that night – wow!   The food at the club was fantastic and the company was great too.  We met several other couples while there, including one that also had a Hylas on the docks, so of course tours of our boats were undertaken and much discussed before we called it a night.

While staying at OYC, we had a nice visit with our friend Patty, who drove a good 40 minutes to spend time with us in Alameda.  She took us into the heart of Alameda where we found a wonderfully quaint little place for breakfast and also happened upon a great farmers market – one where everything was actually reasonably priced instead of 3 times the rate in the super market.  It was great to see Patty and to stock up on some excellent vegies for a good price.

Wine Tasting with Sophia

Wine and cheese with Ted

The following day we decided to take a major foray into the local transit system to get ourselves out to Livermore to visit with my mom’s oldest and dearest friend.  After doing more research (there sure seems to be a lot of research going on!), we found a bus stop within walking distance, with a bus that would take us to a Bart station that would take us to Livermore, where Sophia and Ted live.  After successfully transiting all of that (over 2 hours), we arrived and were immediately whisked away to do some excellent wine tasting for the afternoon.  Then it was back to their house for a lovely steak dinner – what a treat!  After spending a fabulous day and night at their very nice house, we reversed our original transit and successfully arrived back at OYC.  A fun excursion and we really enjoyed spending the time with Sophia and Ted!

On Monday we were (happily) informed that the gasket came in, so back to the Alameda Marina we went.  We had contracted with Svensen’s Boat Yard to do the work, which they said would likely be a maximum of 2 hours at about $100/hr.  Their mechanic showed up on time and was clearly very knowledgeable, however he was back and forth to the boat so many times that Brett started keeping track of how long the mechanic was actually on the boat actively working – which came to just under 2.5 hours.  So imagine our shock when the yard tried to bill us for 5 hours of work!  While I can understand them wanting to bill some of his “walking back and forth time”, charging double what he actually worked?  I don’t think so.  After some major arguing with the “manager”, Brett got them down to just 3.4 hours.  Still not great in our books but I guess not getting a quote in writing was our fault.  Suffice it to say that I would recommend all of the folks I’ve mentioned, except for the yard.  If you choose to use the yard, I would do so with extreme caution and get a quote in writing up front.

The bar at the San Francisco Yacht Club

After getting those repairs done, we left for the Sausalito area and had a very nice stay at the San Francisco Yacht Club – which was is the oldest club on the entire West Coast.  We were allowed to stay a night for free – thanks to Jay Hooker – who claimed anyone who came under the GG Bridge for the first time was entitled to one free night.  I think Jay was making that up to be nice after I admitted we wouldn’t be able to afford to stay on our small budget, so thank you Jay for that!  The club was beautiful in that old fashioned club way – lots of dark wood and brass – plus more trophies that you could imagine.  We sat at the bar for one drink and had some of the best fries we’ve had in ages (which might have something to do with the french fry withdrawal I was suffering from) and a wonderful wedge salad that we split.  Great staff and beautiful accommodations – thank you Jay for letting us stay!

Lovely Tiberon

Corinthian Yacht Club

While at SFYC, we took the opportunity to wonder in the very quaint small area known as Tiberon – what a sweet little place.  We also wondered through the Corinthian Yacht Club, located in the same town.  What a grand old building that was!  I’ve included pictures of both as it was all very scenic. 

Fog rolling in over Sausilito

After a particularly rock’n and roll’n night in neighboring Richardson Bay we decided it was time to continue our journey southward.  While this bay was pretty awful considering the swell and the pitching and rolling, one amazing thing was to watch the fog roll in over downtown San Francisco.  I guess I’ve never really had the chance to really watch fog come in and I must say it is AMAZING!  It was like a huge wall, eating the city up.  And rolling over the town of Sausilito it looked like a huge wave cresting over the top of the land – just like a tsunami, but one that doesn’t do any damage.  Can you say speechless?

San Francisco is gone in  a wall of fog...

  

All in all I would say San Francisco was a great stop and we enjoyed our stay.

Sailing the Dreaded Washington/Oregon Coast

After purchasing our spare parts, stowing all the last minute provisions and going up the mast to replace our wind meter (which chose that week to crap out wouldn’t you know!), we were finally ready to make our way out to Neah Bay.  One last night of rest and then we  “turned left” on the 13^th of September – ready and geared up to make our first official long passage together on Bella Vita. 

Heading Out

After we motored our way out of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the wind was conveniently coming from WNW at between 15-20 knots for the next 48 hours.  We made GREAT time, getting down to about Eugene, Oregon in very short order.  Many friends have asked us if we were seasick at all.  Not knowing if we would be, but knowing for sure how hard it would be if one (or both!) of us was, we decided to play it safe and take medication.  Big thanks here to Brett’s mom Bibi who brought us down some medicine that they sell over the counter in Canada.  We used it the first 3 days to make sure we had our sea legs and both felt 100% fine for the entire trip – a wonderful blessing. 

Since our family was VERY interested in our progress and safety, prior to departure I had figured out how to send email via SSB – which is very easy once you get it set up and working.  Thanks to this, we were able to let our loved ones know we were doing good and our exact coordinates every single day of the trip down.  Knowing THEY knew we were okay made ME feel much better – funny, huh?

We ran a watch schedule that allowed us both to get 7 hours of sleep.  From 8pm to 6am, we did 2 hours on/off, 3 hours on/off, and then 2 hours on/off.  Even with 7 hours total, you get pretty tired over time.  But I’m happy to report you also get into a rhythm of sorts after the first couple of days, so it’s not so miserable after that.  All other hours we just kind of took turns depending on what needed to be done, which happily allowed for more naps!

Beautiful Sunset

Sleep becomes a LOT more important when you are not getting it.  The best part about coming off watch is knowing you are only minutes away from glorious sleep!  I remember Brett waking up as I came off watch one night and groggily saying how jealous he was that I was going to be going to sleep – even though he had just been sleeping!   I don’t think I have ever appreciated sleep as much as I did on this trip.

The first couple of days we had beautiful wind and stars at night. During the day you can spend hours looking at the sea.  Waves are pretty amazing to watch and seeing how your boat travels in them is a never ending source of fascination.  Sitting on watch in the dark under the stars is amazingly serene.  The amount of stars you can see is absolutely breathtaking when there are no lights around to make them hard to see.  Just the stars and the sound of the water against the hull as you make your way through the waves.  The slow ride up and down as the waves travel under the boat is very peaceful.  Too bad it didn’t last!

Accidental inflation while
reefing the main - oops!

After the first 48 hours we received a weather report that things were going to pick up a bit.  We debated on heading in somewhere, but our weather router assured us we should be fine – that it wasn’t supposed to get over 25 knots.  Unfortunately he was wrong and while we still had wind from the right direction, it ended up picking up a little more than anticipated.  Soon we were triple reefed (soooo glad we had that done prior to departing!) and had the headsail completely furled in.  The winds stayed between 25 to 35 knots with gusts into the 40’s for about the next 30 hours. 

It’s amazing how 35 knots in Puget Sound differs from 35 knots at sea – what a wakeup call!  The waves are bigger and the combination of the waves and the swell make the situation much more difficult than in the straights.  It feels quite similar to what I imagine it would be like inside a really big washing machine. I admit to being slightly terrified when on watch during that period.  It’s hard to describe what it feels like to be sailing in the dead of night in the pitch black, under a triple reefed main, wondering just how big the waves have gotten because you can hear the noise, but you can’t see anything at all.   At that point, you just have to trust that the boat knows what to do and that it will handle the wind and the waves as it’s supposed to do.  Not much else you can do!

Warm clothes, lots of layers and cozy socks/slippers are an absolute MUST whether it’s nasty or not!  The temperature really dropped at night and being cold in the dark is NOT FUN!  I highly recommend having a lot of layers so that you are ready for whatever temperature occurs.  Expect it to be much colder than you thought it would be – even if you have an enclosure!  Also good…lots of comfort food and snacks!  We had Chex mix (thank you Lloyd!!!), pretzel crack (those wonderful peanut butter stuffed pretzel bites), candy and brownies!  On night watch it helps to have something to take your mind off how BORING it can be!  ;)

Waiting for wind!

By the time the sun came up on the 16^th we were about even with Eureka, California and decided to make our way closer to land in the hopes of experiencing a little less wind. While I’m happy to report we did indeed get less wind, we unfortunately fell into no wind at all and so spent the next 12 hours motoring.  Talk about zero to 60 and back to zero!  UGH!

Whale sighting!  Unfortunately it surfaced RIGHT NEXT TO OUR BOAT (I’m talking inches!!!).  Whales are much better seen AWAY from your boat so you don’t hurt them and they don’t hurt you.  We’re still not sure what kind of whale it was, but I was down below when Brett shouted “Whale”!!!  Then we were both like, “wow”!  Then,”uh oh”. Then, “oh shit, oh shit, oh shit” (praying the whale didn’t take out our rudder as it passed by the back of our boat).  Thankfully the whale rolled to starboard (right) while we steered the boat to port and as far as we can tell we avoided hitting each other by the slimmest of margins.  The whole thing took about 10 seconds.  Absolutely crazy!  Never did see the whale again…

When you are bored, you take artsy pics!

After about another 12 hours of motoring the wind picked up again and we finally passed Cape Mendocino (near Humbolt, CA).  One thing we discovered on this trip is that while Bella Vita sails great dead downwind in the sound, it is a completely different matter to do so in big waves.  Way to much flogging of sails (which can cause damage), so we basically spent the next several days (yes, DAYS!) jibing back and forth making VERY slow progress south until we finally reached Point Reyes, just outside of San Francisco.

A welcome diversion on the way down was the dolphins/porpoises that love to play with the boat in the waves.  We saw them MANY times, always speeding along the side of the boat and then jumping out of the water after clearing the bow.  Beautiful – absolute power and poetry in motion.  But the highlight BY FAR was when we were almost to SF and there was a ton of phosphorescence in the water at night.  For those of you that don’t know, phosphorescence makes everything sparkle at night – like the dust that tinker bell spreads!  On our last night prior to Pt. Reyes, some dolphins joined us in the dark and they looked like torpedo’s – all lit up – as they swam through the water towards our boat.  Then it looked like something out of a Disney movie as they would explode out of the water and then dive under the boat again.  Fairy dust everywhere!  It’s something I will never forget – nature at its best!

Sunrise with the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance

Since we arrived at Pt. Reyes at about 9pm, we decided to pull into Drakes Bay for a couple of hours.  From what we had read, it’s best to cross the bar into San Francisco at slack tide, since opposing wind and tide can get fairly nasty – especially with all of the commercial traffic transiting a fairly tight seaway.  This was the first time we have ever anchored in an unknown bay in the pitch black and I can tell you it’s a little disconcerting to say the least!  Thankfully anchoring is something we know well so we soon had the hook down and fell into our bed (not our sea berth, which is in the main salon), for the first time in 6 days.  Heaven!  At least until 4am when we were up and at it again to make the bridge in time for slack.

Just before 9am we finally made our way under the Golden Gate Bridge – what an amazing feeling to know that we had successfully made our first big passage, which (from what many say) is one of the hardest lengths of water to cross in the world.  We were exhausted and euphoric at the same time – still loving our boat AND each other!  Phew!

That iconic bridge!

So what else did we feel?  To be completely honest I can’t think of one emotion I DIDN’T experience – joy, fear, elation, despondence, laughter, exhaustion and satisfaction all made an appearance at one point or another.   That moment when you wonder if you are CRAZY to be doing this is offset by the moment when you’ve never been so sure you are doing the right thing. 

Leaving Home

Bella Vita out of the water

So much has happened the last three weeks.  The same day that we left work we hauled our boat out at Canal Boat Yard.  We’ve been using Canal for many years as we think they have a good staff and the yard is run by a great manager, Ivaylo Minkov.  While there we did many jobs, but the main ones were to replace our cutlass bearing and repaint the bottom.  We had put on Smart Solutions by Seahawk the year prior and it had performed VERY well, but since we were about to put a LOT of miles on the bottom, we wanted something a little harder.  The local Seahawk rep (Tony Bulpin) recommended we go with Tropikote Biocide Plus.  The paint went on well and we did two full coats with an extra coat at waterline.  We’ll report back on how it performed after we get to the South Pacific. 

Brett & Pat re-install the max-prop

While in the yard we also had our prop serviced (thanks for the quick turnaround PYI!) and our thanks go out to our good friend Pat (Pat’s Marine Engines) for helping us remove/re-install the max prop and for replacing some engine mounts.  We’d also like to thank Paul Zigler (Northwest Fiberglass) and his son Henry for the work they did to prep the bottom for painting, waxing the entire boat and lastly – for cutting a big hole so that we could install one more port light for galley ventilation.  Who knew the cockpit would be so damn thick?  J  Paul and Pat have become good friends that we will miss dearly.

Brett, Dad & Greg inside our storage container

After getting back on the water we started the process of closing our short term storage and moving whatever wasn’t going to live on the boat into our long term storage down in Kent.  Big thanks to my dad and brother (Dennis and Greg) for getting up early and providing their big muscles and packing knowledge to make everything fit!  It was a lot of work to pack it all up and a HUGE  relief to get it done.

Final additions - yikes!!!

After that it was on to final parts provisioning and getting everything stowed.  There were definitely those moments when you look around and want to cry as there is just NO WAY all that stuff is going to find a home.  But this boat is amazing and we did eventually find a place for everything. 

Departure Party

On the 2^nd of September we had our big “bon voyage” party.  We saw many of the folks we care about and it was wonderful to see everyone once more before our departure.  My only regret is that we couldn’t spend more time with each of them.  I can’t thank my immediate family enough for helping us put the party together and supplying all of the food, plates, pop, beer, wine, etc.  Having that taken care of while we dealt with the chaos all around us meant more than I can say.

The process of saying goodbye to friends and family members is one of the hardest things we have ever had to do (think buckets of tears).  Even though we know we will see many of them in the coming year through visits and plans already made, it's tough to know that we won't have the casual interactions we have come to take for granted.  Walks with my dear friend Susan, lunches with my Mom, visits with Dad and Linda, adultapoluza (!!!), dinner parties with Dena & Heidi (and their husbands) and beers at Kelly's with good friends.  We were surrounded by so many wonderful people - how can we leave it all behind?  But a dream is a dream and while I'll miss them all, I can't not go just because I'll miss them.   We have to move forward and know that we will see them all again very soon.

So!  As I type we are currently lying in Neah Bay and planning to leave here tomorrow to make our way down to San Francisco.  It’s very strange to think this is our last anchorage in Puget Sound for many years to come.  But the winds are forecast to be good, so it’s time to make that leap of faith and hope for the best.

Goodbye Seattle!

Leaving Work

I have been earning a paycheck since I was about 14 and Brett has been working even longer than that.  While we all joke about “working for the man”, there is a lot of self-satisfaction and pride that comes from a job well done, along with the added bonus of the many friends we makes along the way.  Jobs define a lot of who we are to our friends, family and to ourselves, so making the decision to leave our jobs and take this trip was not something we took lightly.  

Brett with our new mascot - Wilson -
signed from all of his co-workers.

After so many years of working (and a lifetime of conditioning that work is just what you are supposed to do!) it’s pretty tough to give up that steady paycheck and the careers we have worked hard to establish over the years (not to mention losing our healthcare).  There is no guarantee for either of us that we’ll be able to come back in 5-7 years and pick up where we left off – and that can be a tough concept for two highly motivated and responsible people to accept.  For Brett, it meant walking away from a career while in the peak of his money making potential – hard indeed.

But there comes a time when you just have to look to the future and acknowledge what you really want in life – and for us it was to go cruising and travel extensively.  And a big part of that reality is taking this leap of faith that we’ll have enough money in the bank, that it’s okay to leave.  That there will be a job (even if it’s not the same sort of job) when we get back.  That it’s okay to leave good jobs to realize our dream. 

And so, we took that final step on August 17^th.  There were lunches, parties, beers and wine and lots of cake!  There were more kind words from our coworkers than we ever could have imagined.  The amount of compliments and unexpected thank you’s was overwhelming and wonderfully gratifying.  It’s a pretty amazing thing to know so many people care and appreciate the work we did while we were at our respective jobs.  I know we both highly value the friends we’ve made along the way and greatly appreciate working with so many amazing people over the years.

Last day beers with some great people!

So now, we continue to move forward towards our goal of departing right after Labor Day.  No more paychecks – just the two of us, our savings, and our passion for travel and each other.  While I am completely intimidated and scared, I am also enthralled with this new door opening in front of us.  

Time to step through.

Laundry....Leads to Popcorn?

Ahhhhhhh laundry – it’s one of the most asked questions we get from our friends and family, “How will you clean your clothes?”  Excellent question – and I have no idea!  From what I hear it mostly involves a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and a plunger.  Let your imagination fill in the rest!  Laundry and what clothing to take cruising is this month’s Raft Up topic, so that’s what this post is about.  And since we haven’t left yet, I am definitely looking forward to reading all the other posts as I have a LOT to learn!

Since I know virtually nothing on the laundry part, I will focus on the clothing piece – how we’ve managed work and home life wardrobes in a small space over the last three years of living aboard, and what we will likely take with us….

First off let me say that I’ve always loved my shoes.  When Brett and I first met, he used to think I was crazy when we traveled and I wanted to pack 8 pairs of shoes for a one week trip (how many women are nodding their heads and thinking – that seems reasonable!).   At home I probably had at least 30 pairs of shoes to choose from.  When we moved onto the boat, I quickly realized I was going to have to GREATLY pare down my selection.  So sad!  But you quickly figure out which ones matter when you trip over them constantly.  Amazing how quickly they become less important!  I think at this point I have about 8 pairs on the boat (still way too many according to Brett!).  I know that will need to come down further yet.  It will be tough, but from what I understand, I won’t even need shoes for a good portion of the next few years.  One person I talked to said they didn’t wear socks for almost 2 years.  What a concept!

While we’ve been on board we’ve been lucky enough to have a small storage until located nearby.  Within the unit we have rigged up a couple of long metal pipes to hang up the majority of our clothes.  Plus we have a variety of storage totes to hold the items that don’t hang.  Over the past 3 years, as the seasons change, we swap clothing from the boat to the storage unit – depending on the nature of the weather.  This system has worked very well as you don’t need to have everything on board year round taking up valuable space.  I rotate my shoes this way too!

Now that we are less than a month from our departure date, it’s time to make the big decisions about what stays and what goes!  Just how many pairs of shorts, shoes, shirts and suits are appropriate?  While it’s true that the majority of our time will be in warm and sunny weather, there will still be cooler passages and have I mentioned how much I DESPISE being cold?  But do I really want to bring winter clothing when I might only need it a couple of times in 5 years?

What I think we’ll do is focus on lots of shirts, shorts, bathing suits (which I hear you go through like crazy) and pareus/sarongs (for me).  We’ve just bought an awesome new set of high quality foul weather gear from Gill which should protect us very well on cooler passages.  With some careful layering of lightweight wicking long underwear and a layer of fleece, I’m hoping we’ll be set for those cooler passages.  Add a couple pair of jeans, a turtleneck and some long sleeved shirts and I think we should be covered.  And if that’s not the right selection – there IS other places to buy clothing outside of the United States!

There was one more thing we were supposed to talk about, “what impractical item(s) are you planning to bring that you just couldn’t leave behind?”   Now I know this was supposed to be about clothing, but I have to take this opportunity to bring up the WAR OF THE POPCORN POPPER!!!

All of my life, I have been raised on popcorn.  Popcorn at the drive-in movie with Dad, popcorn while reading a book with Mom, popcorn on a weeknight instead of dinner – a HUGE bowl of it!  Popcorn has been a major food group in my life for as long as I can remember!  Knowing my love of the stuff, my BFF Susan long ago bought me an old fashioned popcorn popper with a hand crank.  This thing makes the best popcorn an aficionado could ever hope for.  It is now perfectly “seasoned” and gets used fairly often – but it takes up a large amount of precious space.  You see where I’m going with this, right???  My husband is actually waging a campaign AGAINST THE POPPER!  <gasp!>  Does he not understand that popcorn helps keep his wife sane?  Okay – maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but still!  Stay tuned to see who wins this battle before our departure….

I’m sure I will.  ;)

Sailor or Traveler?

So I’ve joined a group of bloggers called the “Raft-Up”.  It was the brain child of Dana (svnorthfork.blogspot.com) and it’s kind of a chance to sit back and think about a (pre-selected) topic, do a little soul searching, and share it via our blogs.  There are 11 of us posting right now and it’s completely open.  I feel like it’s almost like a long distance book club of sorts – a fun way to get a bunch of different perspectives.   At the end of this post you’ll find the rest of the writers and some other great blogs to follow if you are interested….

Since Brett and I haven’t actually left yet, I am the newbie writing from the “getting ready to go” perspective and this month’s topic – Are you a Sailor or a Traveler? – had me doing some serious thinking.

When Brett and I first started dating, I had done enough traveling to know I wanted more – a LOT MORE. So when he expressed his dream to go cruising on a sailboat, I found myself thinking – people actually do that?  Are you kidding?  Where do I sign up??? 

The bottom line is that I love to travel, but I can’t stand living out of a suitcase and having to pack up and move to a new spot every couple of days.  While it’s wonderful to see all the sights and visit the locations that everyone says you should see, I have always wished I could stay in places for longer periods of time.  I find the idea of making friends with people in a location, meeting their kids, learning about their life and getting to know the land really appealing.  What is their life really like? 

Add the ability to do it from the comfort of my own home, without the constant packing and unpacking or airplanes and it sounds like a dream come true.  Don’t get me wrong, I understand that it’s really all about boat repair in exotic places – but I’m pretty sure I’ll get to do some looking around between repairs.

So yes – initially it was about the travel.  But after almost 10 years of preparation, I have definitely discovered a love for being on the water.  And while boating with your parents as a kid is great, boating with the man you love as an adult is WAY better!  Once you get past the (ahem) “communication issues” that all couples have when they first start boating together (another blog topic???), I can safely say that many of my favorite moments with Brett have happened while we were out on our boat together.

Leaving one’s comfort zone is definitely tough and somewhat overwhelming – that’s why it’s called the comfort zone!  Leaving all our family and friends will be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.  But the travel, the sailing, meeting new people and experiencing things I could never even imagine – I can’t help but feel it will be worth every moment of the fear and uncertainty I will face.  I want MORE.  I want to feel the peace I felt on my one and only “real” passage from New Zealand to Tonga.  That feeling I had while just sitting on the deck, no land in sight, listening to the rhythmic sound of the water against the hull and watching a stray bird perfectly skimming the waves.  I’ve never felt so completely alone, but totally at peace in a moment of time.  I can’t wait to experience it again. 

But for now, prior to our departure, I just want to see, feel and experience everything I can while we are still here in Seattle.  To spend time with the people we care about, to experience all of the things I love here, to sit in our cockpit and watch a King Fisher catch his dinner, to be at anchor with good friends, to live in this moment, while still thinking about the adventures waiting just over the horizon.  And while I originally thought it was more about the travel than sailing, I’m beginning to see it’s really about both.  

Dana  svnorthfork.blogspot.com

Jane  morejoyeverywhere.blogspot.com

Steph  sailblogs.com/member/nornabiron

Behan  ">sv-totem.blogspot.com/

Jessica  mvfelicity.blogspot.com

Tammy  ploddinginparadise.blogspot.com

Jaye  http://lifeafloatarchives.blogspot.com/

Diane  http://maiaaboard.blogspot.com.au/

Lynn  www.sailcelebration.blogspot.com

Dana  svnorthfork.blogspot.com