Many of you called us as Hurricane Sandy was moving through the Bahamas towards Florida to check where we were and if we were in a safe place for the storm. Unfortunately, we had internet connection and computer problems this last week and were not able to get a post out to let all of you know we were okay and safe at our slip.
The calm before the storm. This is a picture out the back of our boat over our canal, Isle of Venice.
We prepared Truansea for Hurricane Sandy last Wednesday evening. The hurricane’s path was not forecasted to reach us; however, we would be on the edge of the storm with wind gusts possibly reaching 60 MPH. We decided it was not necessary to take down our jib or main but we did take down our new dodger, the bimini, life sling, throwable pfd, lashed down the dingy on deck, tied down the main in the stack pack, removed the propane from the BBQ. Mark also picked up 2X6’s to make a stronger fender system than the 2X4’s we had. The larger fender boards ended up being quieter which was an added bonus when trying to sleep.
Larger fender board.
Extra lines were added from Truansea to the pilings and dock and we are ready.
Truansea stripped down for the storm.
The next evening the wind was picking up. We went down to the beach to check out the surf and the wind. The salt spray and sand quickly coated us requiring a shower for all when we returned to our dock. We could hear the wind through the night and the boat was rocking. We are quite protected where we are at and the winds only gusted into the low 30’s.
The beach along Highway A1A.
The next morning we went down to the beach to see what the coast looked like after a night of high winds. Sand blew across the walkways and roads and debris was scattered along the beach and up the streets. Some streets were flooded.
Along Highway A1A the morning after the storm arrived.
There was flooding in a variety of places near the coast, including our dock. We could not get off our boat without getting wet feet. If you look in the picture, you can just see our wooden finger dock on the starboard side is under water.
Flooding at our dock, a combination of high tide, full moon, and storm surge.
Unfortunately the northeast coast did not get by as easily as we did.
Sandy was a Category 1 hurricane, but it was an immense storm almost 1,000 miles in diameter. A near-record low barometric pressure occurred with Sandy offshore Monday afternoon. The pressure bottomed at 27.76 inches.
This was our first experience close to a hurricane and hopefully this is as close as we’ll ever get.
There are 4 solar vent fans in our boat but only one of them works.
Vent fan photo from inside the boat.
These vents supply a constant flow of air to keep the boat’s interior dry.
Solar vent fan photo from deck of boat.
We took the one apart that works, removed the battery and put it in one that didn’t work to see if they needed new batteries.
Cole taking the solar vent apart.
It started running so we took the NiMH C-Cell to Batteries Plus to get new ones. The new batteries were $5.00 each and we needed 3 of them. We found the battery in a catalog but they cost $27.99 each. We saved $68.99.
This post is really to all of the people out there that may have dreamt, as we did, of buying a boat and sailing off over the horizon. There are plenty of great stories out there about the cruising end of it, but I also wanted to tell the story of preparing the boat as well. For us, the great unknowns were what it would entail to purchase a used boat and fix it up to the point where we could take it cruising. Of course when one shops for a bargain some work is usually implied. I think the best way to give you an idea of what you might encounter when seeking out your diamond in the rough would be to give you a recap of the average workweek, more or less, on our boat.
Saturday 10/6/12
Occasionally, we take a pause just to go see something new Florida and get everyone off the boat. Last week we took a needed break and visited the Museum of Discovery in Ft Lauderdale. We saw horseshoe crabs and learned how Geckos stick to walls. They had great exhibits on just about everything from exploring Mars to the fossils of Florida. We took in a 3D movie about coral reefs at the IMAX Theater and learned a great deal about our new environment in the process.
Horseshoe crab at the Museum of Discovery & Science.
Oddly enough we learned that for all of the water in Florida dealing with drought is an almost annual occurrence in the state. It has been raining almost daily for us since we arrived so that is a little hard to imagine but apparently Florida has taken steps to recharge it’s aquifers thru a program called Acceler8.
Sunday 10/7/12
We attached an outboard engine mount to the aft stern rail where our dingy motor will reside when not in use. We may have to add an extra support bar to take some of the added strain on the rail. One item removed from the list, another added, and so it goes…
This afternoon the boys interviewed Nick and Thea, a couple of live aboards at our docks. Nick had navigated most of the length of the Amazon River working as the captain of a research vessel in South America for a time. He also ran a laundry mat before that called Nick’s Soap Opera where his slogan was “Where you can drop your pants anytime”! Needless to say Nick is a real character with a sense of humor that belies his depth of experience. Thea is a soft-spoken woman with an English accent who grew up in Africa, England and other parts of the world. At the age of 10 she boarded a plane by herself leaving Libya to attend boarding school in England. No adults were allowed to leave the country at the time because Muammar Gaddafi had just come into power. Thea has been living aboard boats since she was 21 years old.
The boys interviewing Nick and Thea.
Monday 10/8/12
This morning I tackled the job of installing a head gasket rebuild kit. It appears to have solved the problem we were having with sewage backing up into the head.
We bought an installed a zinc anode over the side of the boat to help reduce the rate of corrosion we observed on our shaft zinc during our last haul out. With so many boats in the water it is not uncommon to have stray currents of the electrical kind flowing in the canals where our boat is. Adding another anode should help to protect our new prop and shaft from corrosion.
Putting anode in water.
Tuesday 10/9/12
After our last haul out we knew we needed to replace the coolant in the engine. With the help of Cole and Logan we drained the coolant, then removed and inspected the heat exchanger.
Working on heat exchanger.
Rather than using a radiator to dissipate the heat from the engine coolant as in a car, a marine engine has a heat exchanger that passes seawater through a series of tubes that similarly removes the heat from the engine coolant water.
We continued working aft and inspected the mixing elbow where seawater enters the exhaust system after passing through the heat exchanger. Finally, we refilled the heat exchanger and ran the engine to get any air out of the system and checked for leaks.
All hands on engine.
Wednesday 10/10/12
Today is Christine’s Birthday and we are taking a day off to celebrate! This morning we drive to Gumbo Limbo Nature Center and take a tour of a Florida hammock or forest as they are called. We see numerous Banana and Crab spiders on our walk and a shell midden left by native Indians when they inhabited the area. We are in the middle of one of the most developed parts of the Florida coast and the nature center is a welcomed glimpse of what the land used to look like. Gumbo Limbo, which is actually the name of a tree, is also a sea turtle rehabilitation center for baby turtles that have gone astray and adult turtles that have been injured. The center is a good reminder of the impact we have on nature.
Learning about the barrier island at Gumbo Limbo.
Crab spider seen on walk.
Big banana spider!
Apparently when sea turtles hatch they head towards the brightest horizon. The problem is, that with all of the development along the coastline the brightest horizon may now be inland rather than out to sea. Efforts are in place to reduce the amount of light along the coast when turtles are nesting, but one has to wonder how much of an effect it can have, still, it’s an effort to point the little turtles and us I think in the right direction.
Innovations like Turtle Extruder Devices may be helping to account for increases in Turtle counts in recent years. They also help to reduce the by-catch of U.S. fishermen. It’s encouraging to see people continue to make efforts to reduce the impact on non-target species. I mean I truly like sea turtles, but I also like shrimp too, just in another way…
Turtle extruder-turtles swim out of the net but not the shrimp.
Fishing line takes 600 years to decompose, longer than plastic bottles and disposable diapers which take 450 years to decompose.
Thursday 10/11/12
On Tuesday we ran out of compressed natural gas, CNG. Most boats use liquid propane gas, LPG for cooking. CNG is great from a safety point of view because it is lighter than air if there is a leak the gas simply flows up and out of the boat. It is also inexpensive at about $2/gallon. The problem is it’s difficult to find. While natural gas is abundant and many people heat their homes with it, it’s not highly pressurized and there in lies the problem. Finding a station that pressurizes CNG to 2,000psi is difficult in the United States and impossible to find in the Bahamas. We will likely switch to LPG before we go sailing but for now we just want to fill our bottle.
The person who could fill our bottle wasn’t going to be available to do so until today so it meant cooking on the barbeque for a couple of days. We had to call for directions after missing the entrance to the station or should I say pump. We drove down a little industrial alley next to a bunch of busses waiting to be reconditioned or just abandoned, we weren’t sure which. In the corner of the lot was the CNG pump, and the object of our quest. After a few minutes of waiting and watching my mirrors, the purveyor of the pump arrived and began filling our bottle up. We had a great conversation about alternate fuels, electric cars and oil companies in general. He topped off the CNG tanks in his pickup truck and followed us out of the lot shortly after.
Once back at the boat I replaced a couple of marginally working faucets in the V berth and in the head. Last we checked we had any leaks stopped beneath the waterline, which demanded our haul out, and moved to fixing a couple of leaks above the waterline. While they don’t threaten the in the same way as they do below the waterline, they do tend to annoy the heck out of you all the same. I was sealing a leaking port light when Val came out to begin installing our new dodger.
Val does canvas work on all kinds of boats including mega yachts and it’s not uncommon for him to be flown to different countries to work on a yacht so we were glad to be able to catch him to do ours. We had heard that Val had been on the crew of a round the world Whitbread race so we were looking forward to hearing some of his stories. He told us he would bring a book written about the race tomorrow and he would take us to see the boat he currently races and did I mention, built himself!
Friday 10/12/12
Val returned this morning to measure out the fabric for the dodger. He brought us the book “Fazizi” the story of his experience in the Whitbread race. After making measurements we followed him over to his house and shop.
Val working on the dodger template.
When one imagines a homemade boat, the vessel that Val built is not usually what comes to mind. Where most amateur boat builders use plywood as their material of choice Val has used carbon fiber for an ultra light mast and keel support. The sailsare Kevlar and that’s a good thing too, because with a hull design that can plane off waves like a sled he enjoys reaching speeds around 17 knots in a fresh breeze. Not exactly what I would call sailing for the faint of heart! I couldn’t imagine a better way to expose our boys to engineering and material science than sitting inside the hull of that boat and seeing it first hand.
Val’s boat Breeze.
On the way back to our boat we stopped at “E marine” to get some ideas for alternative ways to supply the amps we will need to charge our batteries when we are cruising. It is already evident that we will need to balance power, cost and convenience, but there are many exciting options available. See them at http://www.emarineinc.com.
Back at the dock our neighbor Burt was in the progress of reinstalling a bracket for his outboard engine. When it became apparent that the only person able to fit inside the lazarette needed to be small, Logan found his first job as a boat sub-contractor. He replaced the bolts needed to readjust the bracket while Cole found employment swabbing the decks and washing down the boat, skills I hope he will apply to our boat as well!
Logan turned 11 today, and a surprise birthday party ended our day. Ross came down to help celebrate on his way to the airport to pick up Astrid, and we all shared cake and ice cream. Who knew there was even a candle app out there! Logan received gifts from several of our new friends and opened a present he received in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa too.
Logan’s 11th birthday party.
Saturday 10/13/12
Every boat is different and so are the repairs but after a quarter of a century one can expect to be making at least a few repairs or replacing parts that have reached the end of their expected lifetime. We have been making great progress with the boat, every day we chisel away a bit more at our to do list, but I now see why people say, work on a boat is never done.
Today I opened up the overhead to discover why the lights on the starboard side of the boat were not working. Even though we won’t use them when we are sailing to conserve power, I really wanted to find the source of the problem. On the way I found more abandoned speaker wires from the stereo and pulled them out as I went. I made good progress when our neighbor Randy stopped by and found one end of a wire that had slipped out of its connector. The setting sun brought a close to the day.
This is a Curlytail Lizard I caught for a friend. Curlytail’s mainly live in the Bahamas but then they were introduced to Florida in the 1940s to eat bugs off of sugar cane. Now they are just eating all the other lizards. They are easy to catch because when they try to turn or stop, they just spin out so you can catch them while they are spinning out.
Curlytail lizard
This gecko we found climbing on a wall while we were camping in Georgia. Geckos can lose their tail and lose their skin to get away from predators. It is a Common House Gecko and they only come out at night.
Gecko
Iguana’s are an invasive species that the locals call green dogs. There are 3 different kinds of iguanas in Florida, the Common Green Iguana, Mexican Spiny Tailed and Black Spiny Tailed. Their bites can make you very sick so do not try and catch one. They can be territorial so if they get on your boat, you are going to have a very hard time getting them off. There is one that lives on a catamaran near us. They can grow up to 6 feet!
Common Green Iguana
I catch lots of Brown Anoles which I called lizards until I looked it up. They can puff up their necks into a big red air sack. The locals use them as earrings.
It has been a busy 3 weeks since leaving Nashville! Every day I was hoping to get caught up on journal entries but today I decided I need to post what I have written so far.
09/12/12
One of the great things about taking this trip has been planning out only a couple days at a time; therefore, we are not bound to deadlines and can easily change where we go or what we do. When we decided to go through Nashville, I called my cousin Jackie who lives south of Nashville in Franklin. We have not really spent time together since we were kids, outside of an occasional busy family get together which was about 8 years ago. Her schedule was open and we enjoyed their southern hospitality! Her husband Brad was out of town so we did not get to see him, but her teenage daughters Maddie and Sara were home from school in the evenings and we enjoyed getting to know them.
Christine, Logan, Cole, Sarah, Maddi, and Jackie
They had a number of fun games, but the big hit was a garage game called carpetball. If you have kids, check out making one of these. http://www.carpetball.net. The boys loved it and really hated to leave. We promised to make one when we return to Idaho.
Cole & Logan playing carpetball.
We saw the local sites with our own personal tour guide (Jackie). The day started by seeing the battlefield of Winstead Hill, then on to the Battle of Franklin grounds and Carnton Plantation. Moving on off the subject of war, we went to drive on part of the Natchez Trace Parkway.
Carnton Plantation Slave Quarters
On several occasions while hiking around we ran into a unique tree we identified as the Osage Orange. We found it so interesting that it deserves a couple pictures.
Osage Orange tree. Note the big, green balls hanging on the tree. We thought they looked like brains. One man we talked to told us they used to cut them in half on Halloween and smear them on windows as a prank. We cut one in half to see what it was like. What a horrible sticky mess. He was definitely a juvenile delinquent in his day.
Logan with fruit from Osage Orange.
We were told that a trip to Nashville would not be complete without stopping at the Loveless Café. I embraced the southern food, trying sweet tea, fried chicken, deep fried okra, turnip greens, caramel sweet potatoes and biscuits. I liked the tea and biscuits… With our southern foods quota met, we headed into Nashville to see the capital, Broadway Street and the Parthenon. Yes, there is really a Parthenon in Nashville. It is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens. Leaving the Parthenon we met a glowing woman (I forgot to ask her name!) that was due in 2 weeks and having maternity pictures taken. She and her photographer were having a great time and were full of spark.
Radiantly beautiful pregnant woman we met at the Parthenon.
09/13/12
The next day took us to Georgia. We stopped at a cotton field and picked some cotton. What amazing plants. The cotton feels just like a cotton ball from a package in the store, except with a few seeds in it.
Logan picking cotton in Georgia.
Right next to the field was a pecan orchard with signs warning not to trespass and pick pecans. People must poach pecans in Georgia. It reminded of me when I was young and used to tie my pony up to a fence post and poach carrots out of the neighbors garden. No, I did not poach pecans. I didn’t want to end up on a chain gang in Georgia.
The boys have been asking when they will see their first palm tree and today they started to appear. We camped for the night at a state campground and were fortunate enough to find a gopher tortoise. What fun.
When it got dark, we found big cockroaches, black widow spiders and wolf spiders. The wolf spider had all of her babies on her back and when we shined the flashlight on her, all of the babies eyes sparkled like diamonds. Not the kind of diamond I want sitting on my finger but it was fascinating! Miles traveled 476.
Wolf spider with babies on her back. The babies eyes sparkle like diamonds at night with a flashlight shining on them.
09/14/12
The next morning we looked for alligators at the lake but found a water moccasin instead. Beautiful snake but not one to drape around your neck. When we were packing up camp, we found out that there was a home school program starting in an hour so we changed plans, joining the group. They meet every Friday at the park for the program. This week was about herbivores, omnivores and carnivores. Miss Kitty, the park ranger that teaches the group was fantastic. It was fun to hear the local kids with their southern accent, “Excuse me maam…”
Home school program at state park in Georgia.
Logan climbing tree at state park in Georgia.
Across the Florida line, we cut over to the ocean to make the last leg of the journey along the coast. We stopped and played in the ocean at the first beach we found.
We reached the Atlantic Ocean.
The campground on the beach was full for the night so we went to one inland a few miles. It was extremely lush, full of palm trees, enormous live oak trees and all kinds of other beautiful vegitation which was home to many animals.
Beautiful trees in northern Florida.
Logan with gecko.
There were lots of geckos and clever raccoons that challenged us as soon as it got dark but the really cool creatures we encountered were the armadillos. These crazy critters are extremely noisy moving through the undergrowth. They are a uniquely designed animal and we watched them with amazement. It was a hot, muggy night camping but worth the sweat. Being immersed in the flora and fauna was completely different than anything we have experienced. Logan came down with the stomach flu in the middle of the night. Nothing like tossing your cookies a bunch of times in a hot tent. Poor kid. What a trooper. Miles traveled 245.
09/15/12
This afternoon brought us to the end of our cross country roadtrip. We arrived in Fort Lauderdale about 4pm. The heat has been intensifying as we travel south and it is now the hottest part of the day. Mark spent some time on the boat on his second trip to Florida in May for the survey and sea trial. This was the first time for the rest of us.
Truansea looking aft from companionway at Banyan slip.
Truansea looking forward from cockpit.
We are all anxious to see it, but are also very tired, Logan is still sick and I am starting to come down with whatever Logan has. Heat, nausea and a boat that has been sitting locked up for months is not a good combination. Our friends Astrid & Ross just got back to their slip after sailing in a regatta for the day and called us to ask us over to their boat for dinner and an evening sail. It sounds wonderful so Logan and I will ourselves to feel better and give it a try. We only made it a couple of markers down the intercostal waterway before we had to ask to turn around. Astrid & Ross had told us we could stay at their house for a few days or weeks, whatever we needed. It was comforting beyond belief to get to their air conditioned house and collapse into bed. Logan started feeling better the next day but I was still down and out so we spent the day recouperating and our spirits were much better by that evening. Miles traveled 253.
The next day we headed out to our boat to start the cleaning process. Our friends recommended not moving aboard until we had cleaned everything. They had been on the boat earlier in the summer to generously install a battery for us and get the bilge working and knew what lie in wait for us. Boats do not like to be left unattended and ours was no exception. We spent a while getting the AC , etc running, then most of the day getting everything off the boat the previous owner left so we could start cleaning. I took some time home schooling the boys as well.
Starting the cleaning process on Truansea.
We arrived back at our friends in the evening. They welcomed us in, “Hey, it’s the boat people”. We look like we just washed ashore. They generously offered up garage space for us to unload all the stuff off the boat. We ran kitchen stuff and storage shelves through their dishwasher and did loads of laundry from bedding and towels left on the boat. We all spent a little relaxation time in their pool as well. Astrid and Ross are truly a gift. There is no way to repay their generousity of their home and their knowledge.
Logan sorting through our clean galley gear at Astrid & Ross’s house.
A reoccurring theme is going to happen here. We spent the day cleaning the boat.
The next day, we spent the day cleaning the boat.
The next day, we spent the day cleaning the boat.
Who knew a 37 foot sailboat could take so long to clean? Absolutely everything needs cleaning. Head liners, walls, floors, remove every cabinet door and wash the walls, backing, flooring and ceiling inside every cabinet. Clean every track for every cabinet, port light, hatch cover, etc. Remove all bilge covers, suck out the bilges and clean them. Rent an appolstery cleaner for all of the carpet walls. Clean woodwork with wood cleaner, then use Old English.
9/22/12 Ross came to the boat with us today and we took it down the inter costal waterway and to help us move her to our new live aboard slip. It was wonderful to have a person knowledgeable about the area to guide us through our first outing.
Ross guiding us through the inter costal waterway for the first time.
No trip would be complete on the waterway without seeing Santa.
Santa on inter costal waterway.
Every slip is different and we are learning how to adjust lines and fenders. The live aboard boat people at Isle of Venice are incredibly helpful and welcoming. We feel fortunate to have found a spot here with them.
Our new live aboard slip at Isle of Venice.
09/24/12
Did I mention that it is hot and humid here all the time? Day and night? We take time every day to cool off, exercise and enjoy the beach down the road or one of the two pools where we live at least once a day. Some days call for visiting the water 4 times!
Logan at the Fort Lauderdale beach down the road from us.
Cole at the beach.
One of the pools at our Isle of Venice slip.
09/25/12
Part of boat ownership is getting to know your boat. Everyone on board needs to know where the thru hulls are. When a system malfunctions, you need to know (or at least have an idea) of where to start trouble shooting. Today we spent the entire day mapping out the thru hulls and hoses. We think we have every leak identified and need to schedule another haul out to replace the rest of the thru hulls that we did not replace on the haul out when we had the bottom painted before we came to Florida.
9/30/12 Today was to be our maiden solo voyage to Lake Silvia. It is not far away, but we were going out alone for the first time and going to anchor overnight then proceed to Playboy Marine in the morning for a haul out to get 3 thru-hulls replaced. The day was full of last minute preparations. The bumper holder on the stern rail had to be taken off to put on the lifesling and outboard engine bracket. We needed to make sure the windlass worked so we turned on the breaker, flipped the switch…nothing. A while later we found one terminal was not connected to the battery so we hooked it up and it works again. The windlass is mounted on the anchor locker cover with no brackets holding it down and we have been pondering over solutions to this issue for a couple weeks. Today moved up the urgency to get this addressed so Mark decided to cut the anchor locker cover just in front of the windlass to mount that portion down in the future, leaving the front part of the hatch to open so we can get to the rode. He cut the cover today and someone can stand on the locker so we can use the windlass until we get the rest of the fix completed. We borrowed some charts of the area (thanks Thea and Nick!) since we do not have any yet and were ready to start the engine. It fired right up but started to smell hot quickly so we shut it down. As soon as Mark opened the front engine access panel, he remembered that he had pulled the hot water heater hose in front of a pully wheel when he was replacing an impeller and had not put the hose back. It was nearly cut through. Several boat neighbors offered up spare hoses, clamps, etc. In the end, he cut off the return hose from the water heater and used it to do a continuous loop from the output to input, bypassing the water heater. By now it is too late to head out to Lake Sylvia, so we made order of the cabin again, putting all the tools away, plugged back in the shore power, and turned the AC switches on. Shortly after starting the AC aft and forward, the forward stops working. I shut it down, restarted it, and it shut down again. I tried the programming buttons on the control panel and it still would not work. Next plan, the manual. First, check the raw water strainer which the book says should be cleaned regularly. It is full of debri. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this is the issue since it now feels like 110 degrees in the cabin. I clean the filter and reattach it. I start up the forward AC, it shuts off. Try it again, it shuts off. Next the manual says it could be air in the line after the discharge pump. There is only one pump on the system so we shut off the thru-hull, loosen the clamps and try taking the hose off. The fitting below the hose clamp snaps off in Mark’s hand. We do not have any spare fittings.
Next plan, “Hey boys, do you want to sleep in the V-berth tonight? It’s so comfy up there, you’re going to love it”, I tell them. They are quite aware of what is going on and tell me I’m crazy. They hightail it back into the aft cabin and curl up in their bunks with their AC running nicely. By now it is 9:30pm and they are exhausted. In a matter of minutes they are asleep. I could carry them into the V-berth. They would never know it until morning. Instead, I head up to take the second shower of the day. Falling asleep with wet hair keeps you a little cooler.
At least we have 2 air conditioners. Another boater wanted to trade us an AC unit for some other boat part he had. A little voice inside my head told me we better keep both units. Always listen to the voice!
On the way to Playboy Marina we went to Robo Vault. It’s a place where they store valuable things. We saw a Reventon Lamborghini there. It was 1 of 20 in the world. It could go 221 miles per hour and was made of carbon fiber.
The storage unit was class V hurricane proof. They store valuable metals, gems, wine, antiques, fine furnishings, currency, important documents and artwork. Matt from RoboVault showed us around inside the building. To get into the secure storage area he had to put his thumb on a biometric thumb pad to open the door. You can check out their website robovault.com.
We went to a marina where our boat was getting thru hulls and hoses replaced. They put our boat back in the water, then we went to anchor in Lake Sylvia for the night.
One of the water hoses from the engine to the water heater that was almost worn through.
We moved on to the boat this week after five days of cleaning, scrubbing and disinfecting our boat. Since the time it takes to update our blog has taken a backseat to the necessity of getting our boat ready to move on to, I thought it best to at least update you with our to do list until we get caught up. There is a Columbus Day regatta in Miami we would like to sail our boat to next weekend, but before we go, we need to haul the boat back out of the water, have a leaking depth finder rebedded and two other thru-hulls replaced.
The thru-hull for the forward sink drain has a slight leak when you move the valve handle, but the real problem has been the head. A leaking LectraSan unit was making a smell that just could not be ignored. I removed the unit and the origin of our odors but now we need to replumb the head. The thru-hull pump out for the holding tank had been capped off, and when I tried to open the valve to check it, the handle fell off in my hand. This will be the second thru-hull that we need to replace, or, as I like to call it, thru-hull number 2. There are many items on a boat you can live without, but the head isn’t one of them!
Lectra San job. Note Logan’s creative way to deal with the smell!
A few items we have addressed so far have been mounting new fire extinguishers, burning the ends of any frayed sheets, mounting a new winch handle holder, mapping out and checking all thru hulls, familiarizing ourselves with the battery system, attaching a waterproof boot over our shore power cable. Even hooking up our holding tank pump out required a trip to the hardware store. We started replacing some of the lights on the boat with LEDs, had a canvas maker come out to measure for a new dodger and made bumper boards for our new liveaboard slip.
Logan, Cole and Christine mapping out the thru-hulls. This took a large part of the day and was the boys homeschool project.
Several other items on our ‘to do soon’ list include replacing a leaky hatch over the V berth, a trip up the mast to replace a couple of lights and attach a radar reflector. Attaching the anchor locker and windlass to the boat which would also be a good idea before a breaking wave addresses the issue for us.
Needless to say the list is long and the time is short. The good news is, there are people to help; the only problem is they all require money for their services! But that isn’t exactly true either because there have been so many people already that have helped us with advice and shared information that they acquired over years of boating experience that has been given at no cost to us and has been an invaluable resource as we head up the learning curve. This is part of the attraction of sailing to us. The challenges are not particularly easy but camaraderie between cruisers has been a great experience already and we haven’t even ventured beyond the intercostal waterway!
Christine at the helm for the first time on the intercostal waterway with our friend, Ross giving moral support. Logan is helping to watch for traffic.
The bumblebee picture was at The Indianapolis Children’s Museum. All of the cars are real life replicas of toy Hot Wheel cars. They were at the museum too and the blue car can reach speeds up to 320 mph.
Bumble Bee at The Indianapolis Children’s Museum.
The picture of the six legged walker that looked like it came out of the movie screen of Star Wars is actually a John Deere tractor used to cut the trees down then it shreds the bark off of trees. It walks on legs so it doesn’t kill all the vegetation.
The first picture is of the first Indy 500 race car in the back and the newest car in the front. The next picture is of a salt flat racer. These were at the Hall of Fame Museum-Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Was all of our gear for the next year able to fit in our car? Yes, it all fit – barely. We did not have to leave anything behind, but we do not have room for one more thing. All of you that wanted to stow away on the trip with us, sorry, but there was not one more foot of space left in the car, on top of the car, or on the back of the car. We’re a cross between pioneers and the Beverly Hillbillies.
Vehicle packed with all our belongings for the next year.
Originally Saturday, September 1, 2012 was to be our departure date but our good friends, The Reynold’s family, invited us to go on a river rafting trip near Idaho Falls. Passing up a chance for an outdoor trip is not our style and Idaho Falls in on the way to Florida, so we decided to change plans to leave a day earlier, starting our adventure with three days of rafting on the Snake River. We slept less and moved faster to meet the new deadline!
We have heard that starting a voyage on a Friday is bad luck so we warded off that omen by heading out of town Thursday morning to Bonneville Point, the site where Boise received its name, to do some home schooling and declared it the official start of our trip. We were back to our house by noon that day to continue packing. Do we really own this much stuff?!!
08/31/2012 Packing the last of our house and vehicle was a little crazy as we got down to the wire Friday morning. All was going pretty much according to plan until Mark decided he needed to have the oil in the Subaru changed and fill it up with ‘good gas’ before parking it for the year. Mark called me from the oil change shop where the Subaru decided to die. Guess it knew it was being put out to pasture for the next year and was not happy about it. Literally, it is being parked in the neighbor’s horse pasture. They gave the battery a charge and it sputtered along until Mark was backing it into the pasture where it died again. We’ll deal with that when we return next year.
The Subaru begrudgingly being left in our neighbors horse pasture. Thanks Rockie!
We shoved the last boxes (computer and cleaning supplies) into our storage unit, relocated our sleeping pads and bags from the family room floor to the top of the SUV, lashed down the last of our gear and met our friends at the 1pm departure time.
Before we lost cell phone reception heading east out of Boise, I was making last minute phone calls to the insurance company, credit card companies, property management company, etc. I finished making the last of the arrangements with a few miles to spare. We then put our phones and all other electronic devices away and did not use them for the next three days. What a great way to decompress. Miles traveled 320, to rafting near Idaho Falls.
Mark, Logan & Cole on one of the rafts on the Snake River with Brian, Max, Owen & Cassie (dog) Reynolds. Katie-we missed you on this trip!
09/03/2012
After 3 fun filled days on the Snake River rafting trip, we headed to the King Tut exhibit at the museum in Twin Falls. Cole has been into studying the pyramids for a few years and he was able to teach us as we went through the museum.
A pharoah’s sarcophagus at the King Tut exhibit, Twin Falls museum.
There was some great Idaho history in the museum as well. Logan had made a replica of this same keel boat at home last year for a school project, although his was a smaller scale.
Logan made a smaller replica of this Louis & Clark keel boat as a school project last year in Mrs. Tacke’s 4th grade class.
Next we opted to head up toward Jackson, camping overnight in Victor, Idaho just before the Wyoming border. Of course, we stopped at lots of interpretive signs along the way. We always do this on our journeys, but since we are homeschooling this year, they have taken on more significance. We all used to groan when Mark pulled over at an interpretive sign, but we are finding we enjoy them now. Everyone takes turns reading them out loud and we discuss the relevance to the history we have been studying and learned along the way. Miles traveled 122.
Fish and game releasing fish into a lake.
09/04/2012
The following morning we went to Jackson, WY then headed down 191 to Interstate 80. The scenery is as beautiful as mountain scenery gets. On the way down 191, in Pinedale, WY we stopped at The Mountain Man Museum. It was well worth the stop. Logan taught us a great deal here thanks to all the Idaho history and history of the west he learned last year in Mrs. Tacke’s class at The Village Charter School in Boise. We traveled east on I-80 with the wind howling at 35+mph. Our tent probably would have been shredded in the wind so we opted for a hotel in Rawlins, WY for the night. Miles traveled 320.
Cole & Logan at Mountain Man Museum.
Jim Bridger’s rifle at Mountain Man Museum
09/05/2012
The next morning we stopped at the University in Laramie, WY. The Geology Museum was closed for renovation; however, we were able to get a tour of the engineering building where we visited a machine shop and several labs where engineering experiments were in progress.
Tour of engineering lab University of Wyoming, Laramie.
After lunch in the car we continued on and stopped at Vedauwoo Recreation Area in Medicine Bow National Forest. Very cool rock formations here. We could have spent all day hiking and exploring.
Hiking in Medicine Bow National Forest.
The afternoon took us into Nebraska where we stopped for an elective class in wilderness survival. The west side of Nebraska has Yucca plants can be made into a needle and thread. Cole bit a circle about ½” down around the spiky, needle top, then peeled ‘threads’ off. Eventually you end up with 1 thread attached to the needle top which you can use to repair or sew clothes. Camp for the night was at a peaceful reservoir outside of North Platte, NE. Miles traveled 400.
Making a needle and thread from a yucca plant.
09/06/2012
We started out just after dawn the next day and stopped in Gothenburg, NE to see a pony express station. We were greeted by a retired teacher who was engaging and enthusiastic. Did you know the pony express only lasted 18 months, and that the youngest rider was just 11 years old! We were all taken in by the storytelling. We met a fascinating man there from Columbia who plans to travel the entire length of the Amazon River. In the same town is a sod house museum where another volunteer drew us in with her knowledge and stories. The late evening landed us at a hotel in Davenport, IA. Miles traveled 640.
Pony Express station.
Cole in the sod house in Nebraska.
09/07/12
The next morning took us to Moline, Illinois to visit some of Mark’s relatives. After lunch we took the kids to an awesome park to burn off some steam. The afternoon was packed with a wealth of history to see; from a huge, paddle wheel steamer, the John Deere museum (there was a 6 legged walking robot there), the old fort at Rock Island arsenal and the Rock Island confederate cemetery. There was also a great display of weaponry including an atomic cannon at the Rock Island arsenal itself where we had to pass through an intimidating security check. Thank you Stan, Judy and Eleanor for a fun filled day of history. We drove to Kickapoo, IL to camp for the night. Miles traveled 146.
Logan & Cole in front of paddle wheel boat in Moline, IL.
John Deere’s 6 legged walking robot.
Cole at fort near Rock Island Arsenal.
Mark, Christine, Logan & Cole in front of an M65 atomic cannon.
09/08/12
Today took us to Carmel, Indiana where we are staying with Mark’s Uncle Bob & Aunt Helen. His cousin Lisa also came over to their house where we all enjoyed a fantastic dinner. We enjoyed swimming in their pool, playing slot machines, pinball and playing pool. Miles traveled 334.
Logan on Great Uncle Bob’s slot machine.
09/09/12
Indianapolis has the largest children’s museum in the world, so that is where we headed today. An amazing 5 1/2 hours later we had seen all we could see. What a fantastic museum. After the museum we enjoyed a swim in their pool and relaxing in the hot tub. Lisa’s son Colton joined us for dinner where we went to Bub’s Burgers. Colton impressed our boys by polishing off The Big Ugly, a 1 pound burger. For his efforts, his picture was added to the Wall of Fame.
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
Captain Kidd’s cannon exhibit.
Water clock
Cole, Colton and Logan. All that is left of Colton’s Big Ugly (1 pound burger) is an empty plate.
09/10/12
We said goodbye to Bob & Helen and took in the Hall of Fame Museum at the Indianapolis 500 track on the way out of town. Now we know why it was called the brick yard and lots of other fascinating history of the track. The night landed us at a campground near Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. We were enthralled with the southern accent the Kentucky people have here. Miles traveled 214.
09/11/12
We took the first tour of the morning at Mammoth Cave, the Historical Tour which is a 2 1/2 mile hike through the cave.
Mark, Christine, Logan & Cole in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky.
We learned that saltpeter was mined out of Mammoth Caves, made into gun powder and probably won the battle and freed us from Britain. Of course, I had to ask if this was the same saltpeter given to sailors to suppress the male libido. According to our guide, saltpeter was used as a food preservative and the translation was mixed up to be soft peter. Evidently it does nothing about the libido.
Saltpeter mine in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky.
Where is the Truansea crew now? Staying at one of Christine’s relatives in Franklin, Tennessee. Miles traveled 116.
There is so much to learn, see and do as we make our way to Florida. All of us have had fun and have been amazed at how much we have learned. There is nothing like making history come alive.
Greetings all and thanks for checking in on our adventure. School has officially begun and the crew of Truansea is putting the final touches on packing up the house and making several piles of supplies for our sailing adventure. How all of those piles of books, bedding and gear are going to fit into our SUV remains to be seen, although I suspect it’s going to be a tight fit!
All the stuff we’re not going to take.
We somehow managed to empty our house into a 12×25 foot storage unit and even filled up the back of our Subaru before parking it in the neighbor’s field. When you go from an 1800 sq ft house to about 180 sq ft of living space on a boat something has to stay behind. In this case it’s about 99% of everything we own.
As we head to Florida we will be backtracking portions of the Oregon Trail and the transcontinental railroad. The opportunity to make history come alive is one we’re not going to miss on this trip and will be a part of our boy’s ongoing year of home or boat schooling.
Knowing that the engine of our SUV and the little diesel engine of our boat will be of great importance in the success of our trip we began teaching the boys early how an engine works by building a working model of a V-8 engine. Revell makes a great visible V-8 that actually performs all of the functions of a working engine when you turn the crank. An accompanying guidebook explains some of the finer points even Dads can learn a thing or two from!
Completed model V-8 engine.
Well the sun is up and there is much to do before we go, please come back to check in with us again.
Truansea 