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.
What's important is that nothing seriously failed. Stuff broke. We worked around it. Here's the overview. Details follow.
1600 - Move to fuel dock. Take on 54 gallons.
1710 - Anchored in Piakatank River at 37°32.132N 076°19.318W
This is a move of about a mile …
Years and years ago — when we first started taking sailing lessons — one of the old salts who helped us out had some simple daily procedures.
Check the engine oil.
Check the weather.
Check the winds and tides.
He had a piece of paper where we wrote down the …
Winter is over. If we're going to move Red Ranger, she's got to be ready to go.
There's the weather issue, of course. Sunday midnight-ish the wind hit us with a vengeance. Like a tornado. But that's getting ahead of things.
Also. This is handy:
The problem with being weekenders is access. When we lived in Norfolk, Red Ranger was in Deltaville, just an hour and change away. It was a relaxing drive after work every week. When we moved to Richmond, Red Ranger was back in Deltaville, about two hours away.
Now that we're …
Why buy a boat and do this live-aboard cruising?
Once upon a time, this was a common question. Finally, I may have found an answer.
I've noticed that when hanging around with boaters and cruisers, they don't ask this question very often. They might ask it rhetorically as …
If we hadn't dropped the hook ashore to make some bank, we'd be planning our migration. However, since we're not going anywhere, what we have as an alternative is armchair sailing. Here's our armchair trip to Florida.
October is when we have the Whitby Rendezvous. The rendezvous is …
Long, long ago, from a city far, far away…
CA and I enjoyed looking at boats and marinas. In the years BC (Before a Craft), we'd make excuses to visit marinas just because boats were so cool.
There's a basic aesthetic of shape to the hull and topsides. There's the …
We've moved our ground base again. After about 16 months in Richmond, we're off to Tyson's Corner, Virginia.
CA bought about 16 boxes from U-Haul: a mixture of medium and small. She bought some tape, too: the brown paper tape is better than the clear.
We don't have too much …
In no particular order.
The Foldaway. The idea is to replace the transom ladder with a foldaway that hangs from the toe rail between the lifeline gates.
ECH2O Tec Watermaker. We're looking specifically at the belt-driven, modular unit. We can put the pressure vessel in the hanging lockers. The control …
When we're sailing, the prop is left spinning — freewheeling. It appears that either some transmissions say "never let this happen" or sailors have determined through the rumor mill that this is bad. The idea is that the transmission has no pressure to circulate fluid and this causes wear …
CA did it again. Another wonderful rendezvous. Food. Friends. Fellowship. Fascinating Stories.
We had only two Whitby's at the docks. The nor'easter and Hurricane Joaquin intimidated many of us, keeping folks away from the West River Sail Club docks.
Here's a summary of what we did:
Useful resources. Everyone should have them. We would describe them as indispensable. Mandatory. Don't leave home without it.
BTW. Check out the sample page: http://www.onthewaterchartguides.org/icw-anchorguides/#tab-id-11
Yes, that's us in Hampton, Virginia. And yes, it's a truly great anchorage.
We were at the Hampton …
This race is huge. Huge. World-Wide. Organizers said to expect 400,000 people. We were confused by that, but it turned out to be the total number of people attending all of the races. (Not the number of visitors to Richmond looking for hotel rooms.) And apparently, we …
To recap: Saturday was really bad; one of our worst sailing days. See "Dymer Creek: 37°40.281N 076°21.201W" for gory details. Sunday was really good; one of our best sailing days. See "Yopp's Cove: 37°39.070N 076°26.073W" for details.
The forecast for …
Labor Day weekend. The weather on the Chesapeake is (potentially) delightful.
We had — well — a bit of weather. Technically, it was more sea state than we like. The wind was tolerable. The waves? Not so much.
For much of the summer, we've been working (steadily) on refinishing the brightwork. Once …
As long as nothing breaks, today might work out well. After being beaten down by weather yesterday, we find our plans are quite humble.
The forecast was for 13g15 (13 knots gusting to 15). When the tide turns, the seas will drop from over 3' to just 3'. This can …
If you don't really need it, then you work around it when it breaks. The Commodore Says, "If you're not using it, get rid of it."
Here's how my Epifanes finish is coming along.
I'm pleased. You can make out the reflection of the shade cover on the …
"The Kids" (Xan and Han) live way out west. LA and Las Vegas. Once in a while they can structure their vacation to come east and visit mom and dad.
It was a cloudy day with wind out of the E at 17g22. A sporty day in the …
We bought a Wave Stopper Dodger from Canvas Creations. It's quite a bit like having a hard dodger, but it's held on with screws and steel pipe just like a canvas dodger. It's a brilliant hybrid solution that offers many benefits of a hard dodger without the complex installation.
I have no clue about Epifanes. Really. Zilch.
But I have a can. And some "brush thinner." And some foam brushes.
I've got sandpaper in 60, 80, 100, 150, and 220 grit. And a sanding block that grips a ¼ sheet of sand paper nicely.
And I've got woodwork that's …