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.
Highly recommended product: The Pro-Fill system from Jan Watercraft Products.
I saw the video. Discovery recommended it highly as a great simplification in topping off the water for large battery banks. We have four Trojan T105 Plus batteries, and the two in the back of the area are almost …
Beyond boat jobs, CA has a day job.
She's working at the marina part-time. Up early to work in the office, handle retail sales, pumping gas, fixing broken things, cleaning things, answering the phone and radio. Whew. I'm tired just thinking about it.
With Inspiration gone, the screen porch doesn't …
Back to boat jobs. And waiting for parts for pending boat jobs. We're not working at a blistering pace. During the years of refit, we had only the weekends, so we hustled to get jobs done and checked off in our 48 hours of boat time. Now, we're just easing …
We're back on Red Ranger; done vacationing in New York and Texas. No more blogging from my mother's basement.
How do we feel about leaving friends and family? How do we feel about returning to the boat?
It's mixed. We can talk about space and organization. We can talk about …
We're off Red Ranger, vacationing in New York and Texas.
I'm blogging from my mother's basement. How appropriate.
I've been left alone to tackle two major waves of purchasing: Solar Panels and Engine Parts. This is proving far, far more difficult than I would have thought.
I should also be …
Each time we think we're getting more skilled at running up and down the Bay, we learn that the Chesapeake is a tough old bitch and doesn't suffer fools gladly.
The dodger is done. So we're headed south to Deltaville so we can turn around and make a trip up …
Friends First.
We're going to rendezvous with some other Whitby folks here in St. Augustine.
Last winter we had five Whitby's in St. Augustine. This week, we're expecting to have four Whitby's in St. A.
Meanwhile, we'll do some chores and plan our big maintenance tasks for the summer:
Dodger …
Bahamas!
Bound for the US of A. We're working our way back to Nassau to get provisions. Then across the Great Bahama Bank as weather permits, then across to the US. Ideally, we'd like to hit Beaufort and save a lot of ICW folderol. But. Maybe we'll hit St. Augustine …
We can hear it now: "What is wrong with you people? You said you were going south to exotic locations. Sunny beaches, the tropics. All you seem to be doing is sitting in the river at St. Augustine, going to Yoga or just hanging out."
Yep. Cruising appears to be …
Not a bad place to celebrate another holiday.
We're in the same waiting mode. Once our daughter is settled in her new home in Las Vegas, we can visit her, and then start moving south again.
We need to get water, diesel and propane before we go. We're waiting for …
Not a bad place to celebrate the holiday.
The weather is often in the 60's and 70's. Some nights, though, are cold.
Once our daughter is settled in her new home in Las Vegas, we can visit her, and then start moving south again.
Moored at 29°53 …
Periodontal recovery for the next few weeks. St. Augustine seems like a pretty nice place for that kind of thing.
The Commodore Says: "It's St. Augustine; everyone seems to stop here."
The weather will continue to hold in the 60's and 70's. Except for a few cold days.
This week we're hanging around in Charleston, South Carolina.
The Commodore Says: "We Can Haz Visitorz?"
The Commodore's aunt, Venerable Great Aunt (VGA) Diane may visit next week. So, for this week, we're just hanging out.
Docked at 32°49.93′N 079°56.03′W
Cleaned out …
This week we're starting south from Beaufort, North Carolina.
The Commodore Says: "I think we're ready to jump outside."
The Ditch has been very, very good to us. We sheltered from Hurricane Sandy. We got our sea legs. We worked out some of the kinks in the boat and our …
This week we're vacationing in Norfolk. Partly to visit friends, but also to fix what we've broken. We're planning to leave Monday, after sobering up from the weekend.
The Commodore Says: "We need to learn a little patience."
The list of things we've broken includes (1) and (2) the way …
This week we're returning to Norfolk. Mostly to visit friends, but also to fix what we've broken.
The Commodore Says: "The Regiment Votes To Repair". However, that isn't always the best approach.
The Dinghy Issue is challenging. A hard dinghy is very rowable, but doesn't hold much weight, and limits …
Location: Docked at Deltaville Marina. Jackson Creek. 37°33'21"N 076°23'0"W.
This week continues the refit of the past years, but now that we live aboard, it's done at a more accelerated tempo. Just reviewing my notes to write this is tiring.
The Commodore Says: "I don't want to depend on pump-outs, since they're an America-only requirement; and I don't like the head flushing directly into a bay or creek."
Enter the Air Head and the Nature's Head composting toilets. These are very similar products that separate solid from liquid waste. Liquids …
Next up: radio replacement. The old radios both work nicely. However.
The radio that's accessible from the helm is inside the aft cabin. That means that the aft cabin hatch cover must be left open. What do you do when it rains? It also means that anyone off watch who's …
The Standard Horizon product line includes the CP300i chart plotter and the Matrix GX2150 AIS+ radio. We've had the CP300i chart plotter since 2010. The GX2150 radio is in a box in the V-Berth.
The point of these products is the integration. The chart plotter provides GPS data to the …