Norfolk, VA
To see as much of the world as we can,
Using the smallest carbon footprint we can,
Spending the least amount of money we can,
Making as many friends we can.
"So, where did you go on your 2025 cruise?"
The boatyard. Some hotels.
Here's the obligatory beach photo:
Here's the bullet list of days waiting for a repair.
"So far," you say, "your 2025 cruise is boring."
My response is that it's quite exciting, in a boatyard-maintenance-breaking-fixing kind of way. In a pretty-anchorages-cool-waterfront-bars way, it's not great.
Here's the obligatory sunset photo.
A few days before solstice, 19 December 2025 at 18:17.
All the planning. All the preparation. And. Oof.
Here's the ladder. It's under this.
The range light (fitting is a Perko 0170BMD) was out. The bulb was not connecting solidly. While hanging in my rock clumbing harness at the first spreader, I touched the bulb …
At the dock.
End stay at rental. Finish stowing some personal things and moving aboard. CA has a complete plan for this, making it easy for me to move the heavy things where and when she tells me.
Start provisioning for the first month or so. When the …
Launched. Here's the recap...
Ascend mast and reattach wind instrument. Test instruments. They seem to work. Here's a picture of the strip-chart recorder on the left showing a few minutes of wind direction and speet. On the right is the wind rose that shows the boat "direction" arrow …
Today. The jobs are getting bigger, actually. They take several days to complete.
Tighten the bolts on the stays'l track. They're accessible in the main cabin -- they come right through the deck and the top of the cabin. The track on the caprail has bolts that are almost inaccessible behind …
Yesterday, we took a little break in the morning. We've been working steadily, but, we're old.
However, we did get a lot done yesterday.
Where are we in the TODO list?
Well... It's complicated.
Last year, I cracked the bowsprit platform when I hit a dock piling.
The platform has stringers. Two were broken and lifted out.
I used some glue and screws to reassemble the two pieces …
Where are we in the TODO list?
Pretty far, actually. TK suggested I provide pictures. Hearing that from a professional photographer is encouraging.
Yes. I know it's really the tail end of 2024.
Years ago -- in the Chesapeake -- our boat year started mid-May, so we could get out and sail on Memorial Day weekend.
Now. In Florida, we're escaping Hurricane Season; the boat year is December to April or May. So. I'm calling …
We survived Hurricane Ian back in 2022.
We survived Hurrican Milton in 2024.
We still have a lot of work to do. But we should have several months in which to do it. We're thinking about launching in November, 2024. We can then potter about the SW coast of FL …
We started with a big task list. This was based on a great deal of optimism. Optimism that started to look like empty hubris. Optimism that — when it’s gone — leads to some reflection.
The bulk of the tasks were simple: undo hurricane prep. This means putting equipment back on …
This was an emotional two week cruise.
We went approximately nowhere. We fixed a lot of things. I learned some lessons along the way.
Our preparation week had to be extended again. Ideally, we'd like to shove off on Sunday, the 21st.
Launch. The rest of …
There have been times when they put us in the sling and dropped us in the creek.
This was not one of those times.
This is -- in a way -- an After Action Review. Let's start with Intent.
There was a longish list of …
Mr. Lehman's feeling poorly.
To tell the whole story, let's roll back the clock. There are two kinds of end-of-season layup:
Wet Slip Winterizing. Put in antifreeze, take in the sails. Take in the running rigging. Maybe rearrange the stuff on deck so it doesn't collect puddles of water and …
My little heart is going pit-a-pat as we start preparing for our (very short 2024 cruising season.
We have three objectives. First, this is essentially sea trials after Hurricane Ian and a year living in Texas.
I'm confident the solar panels work. The semi-flexible panels on deck are a mess …
The (short) 2024 season is almost here.
We're moving out of Texas, after nine months.
We have some restowing and rearranging at our base in North Carolina. And then we'll have a month or so on Red Ranger.
Stand by.
For now, some pictures of packing the truck.
This is …
We're focusing on April 10th, 2024.
If all goes well, we're bound to arrive Safe Cove Marina on that day.
We've got about three intensive days of commissioning before launch. (I'll share the list, don't worry.)
Then we'll need to spend a some time at their dock, where the potable …
As noted in Looking at the future, it's time to start dreaming again.
For this year, the Gulf Coast of Florida is our aspiration.
Getting out of Charlotte Harbor would be pleasant, if we can do that.
I've updated my planning charts to include the Bahamas (for next year) and …
It's time to start arm-chair sailing again.
Our stay in Texas is drawing to a close.
The sailing season is slipping away from us. It's December to June, more-or-less.
We think it shapes up like this...
Drive from NC to Florida.
Clean and launch Red Ranger. Safe Cove …
Page 1 / 43 »