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.

Team Red Cruising

  • Gender Equality

    This is a small, fussy thing that hardly counts as a job. But it's what we do while waiting for warmer weather. Boat jobs break down in the "pink" and "blue". Cooking, cleaning, curtains and pillows tend to be pink jobs. Anchor chains, engines, carpentry, plumbing is traditionally blue. Except …


  • Ground Tackle

    Our 2011 Spring Commissioning included using "Cold Galvanizing" on the anchor chain. All 100' of primary chain took 3 cans. We didn't coat the secondary or tertiary chains.

    Our anchor windlass (Gimli, son of Gloín) is for The Heavy Lifting. It's cranked with a long steel bar. We had a …


  • Sight Seeing

    The 2010 USODA Layline Nationals are this weekend (and next weekend) in Deltaville VA. The US Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA) is the national class organization for Optimist sailing in the United States.

    There were boats everywhere in our marina. And we're not the only marina hosting racing.

    Jackson Creek was …


  • Rigging, Phase 1

    There's nothing that induces despair so completely as a job that cannot be done.

    Case in point. The windlass mounting. This was a cause for despair.

    To handle the immense anchors (and attached chain), you need some mechanical advantage. This is what a windlass is for. We have a lovely …


  • The Deck Story

    Part of boat buying is The Survey. Part of the survey is to identify and disclose any "issues" with the boat. One of things our survey disclosed that "Foredeck exhibits excessive moisture and deterioration of core material from bow to aft of windlass and houser, repair and install better backing …


  • What's the Rush?

    We grew up in houses, on land. We've lived in cities as well as the ‘burbs, and we felt pretty well acculturated.

    But marina life is still very new to us. The standards and conventions are not what we're used to. It takes a bit of work to fit in …


  • The Heavy Lifting

    Red Ranger's "ground tackle" (anchor and rode) weighs over a hundred pounds. Our primary anchor is a 44 pound Plow. We have a few hundred feet of BBB chain, at about 1 3/4 pounds per foot. Our secondary anchor is a thirty-pound Danforth. We also have a little 10 …


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