She floats !!!

Well after the longest, coldest and snowiest winter I can ever remember we can officially say Spring has sprung !! How do I know this ? Because my boat is floating, in water not ice :)
We installed new batteries, hoisted a new anchor, sanded and painted the bottom.

Then they moved her to the water, we put the sails on and sailed down Lake Ontario from Rochester NY to Hamilton ON.
In 59 days we will leave Hamilton and head South !

House is Sold !

The house has sold ! As of June 24 2014 we will be full-time Liveaboard Cruisers. Now comes time to get rid of "land stuff" and decide what will be going with us. Our youngest daughter is going off to University and will be taking many of the household items. Our son and his wife will also be taking some. Then we need to have a HUGE garage sale.
Over the past few years I have been slowly acquiring and switching out items that are more "boat worthy" and packing up the others for the kids. You do not really give much thought to some of these things when you live in a big house but things are different on a boat.
I started with switching from paper books to Kindle Books  . I love my Kindle and many books are free.

Then I headed to the kitchen. A galley and a kitchen are similar but not the same. I will be cooking with propane not electricity, my cupboard space is much less, things move (insert spill) and my work area is smaller. So I will be giving my daughter the expensive, large pots and pans and taking these nesting pots

The pots all nest inside each other and have a removable handle that can be used with any of them. They take up much less space but still provide me with a good quality pot to cook with.
Boats move..sometimes a lot. Also when in the south you need to contend with humidity and bugs. So having good quality storage containers that will not spill is essential. They should also be square as they nest better and take up less space than round ones. I have found that I really love my Lock & Lock Containers because you know the lids are shut tight. I also still have all my Tupperware Modular Mates that are square or rectangle. My daughter gets all the round ones. So she is happy too.

The next item I gave thought to was the food to go into these pots and containers. Since we plan to anchor  as much as possible because budget living and marinas do not play well together.  Getting groceries onto the boat via dinghy  can be a tricky task. Who wants wet flour ? Experience as a scuba diver told me that dry bags  were about to become my new best friends.

Right to Write Ministry

As we travel we wish to give back a little to those less fortunate than ourselves. In the past when visiting the islands we have brought school supplies to children in need.

We talked to some of our friends at church and have created the Right to Write Ministry. We have placed many donation boxes in different churches. People are donating new school supplies to us for delivery as we travel. As well we donate 10 % to local children in need. Any money donated goes to pay for shipping goods to us as we travel. Our church has signed on board and thus this allows it to be run by the church thru a registered charity number so tax receipts can be issued for cash donations.
  I created a facebook page and blog http://www.righttowriteministry.blogspot.ca/ .
You can also view our history of making this journey in a you tube video my hubby made Right to Write Ministry  Hope you enjoy it ! See you on the water soon !

Galley Talk

If it has not already been painfully obvious, I am a girl..well a woman..sometimes even a lady. Being a little "old fashioned" in our roles, my husband fixes everything ( firstly because he is, well, frugal and secondly because he can... if you have not done so already you can check out the 2 yr re-fit he did to our boat here www.benger.blogspot.com) and I cook, bake, clean etc. I love to cook and try new recipes. They do not always work out but that does not make it any less fun. One of the things I am looking forward to most about living by anchor is having more time to cook, bake and try new foods and spices.
     A few years ago when planning started for the moving aboard a boat process I discovered and read a book called The Embarrassment of Mangoes by Ann Vanderhoof.
Kindle Book Link  It was a wonderful storytelling of their liveaboard adventures injected with recipes made of ingredients they found along their travels. I fell in love with this idea. She subsequently has written another entitled The Spice Necklace which is equally intriguing.

     As space is always a premium while living in a boat we parted ways with many of our beloved paper books and use Kindle ebooks instead. There were a few exceptions .... my husband made space for like his diesel mechanics and World Cruising Routes and I made space for cookbooks. I love my cookbooks and have read them cover to cover like novels. The excitement of being able to try all the different things has me looking forward to that almost as much as eating cookies ! Don't trust someone that will not eat cookies !
     One of my new favourites is written by a couple ladies blogs', Carolyn Shearlock and Jan Irons, that  I follow
www.theboatgalley.com and http://www.commutercruiser.com/ . It is called the Boat Galley Cookbook and is available on Amazon in hardcopy or kindle editions. Highly recommended !Buy Book Here

The "nerd" in me also loves the food science books by Alton Brown, famed for a Food Network Show called Good Eats. We are actually going to see his live tour in February in Syracuse, NY. And at that time we will stop in Rochester and check on our boat. Maybe even get an autograph.see his books here  

     While reading The Boat Galley's entries I came across a very interesting one about solar cooking. I had never really thought about or considered anything of the sort before. But I have also read that obtaining propane in the South Pacific can be difficult and expensive. I took some time out to read her thoughts on solar cooking and then research other websites for more information.
     After some discussions with my husband about the using, making, buying a solar oven, I decided to bite the bullet and just buy one. See Solar Ovens Here The one I chose is a Sport Solar Oven http://www.solarovens.org/ . It is light weight, durable and comes with pots, recipes etc. Oh boy more recipe options ! I figure the $200 I spent should pay for itself in the savings of propane costs. I love my Crockpot at home and this seems to have the same basic principles.  I can put food in, go diving, swimming, hiking or whatever all afternoon and come back to the boat with dinner being ready !

So while I sit and wait for the Solar Oven to arrive, along with the sun. I blissfully dream of endless summers..instead of this

Only 152 more days....do you think I will make it ???

Time to Start Mapping Out A Route

Let me preface this by saying that I refuse to allow fear to dictate where we go. Health, Finances and ultimately Mother Nature will determine where, how and how long we go somewhere.
With 155 days or so left on land we need to start planning a couple different routes South. We read a lot of blogs, cruiser sites, and facebook pages to see who is doing what and what is happening in different parts of the world.
From what we have been reading lately theft, robbery and violence has been increasing quite steadily in the Caribbean Islands. With the economies in North America not being great in the last few years the island economies suffer as well. People get desperate. They see what they perceive to be "rich yacht people" and things don't end well. Dingy and outboard theft are really high. Unfortunately armed robberies are increasing as well. There have been some notable robberies that have ended in death and life threatening injuries.

St. Lucia 62 yr old man killed
Woman attacked with Machete

These stories have made us take a hard look at where we might travel or not travel. When we have travelled by air and stayed on resorts we have always felt safe everywhere. We have built into our boat some security features, a loud alarm, bars on the large hatch openings, etc. But if we can go to an island that has a lower risk or take a route that has a series of "safer" places then why not ? Since we have already travelled extensively in the Caribbean we have no need or "burning desire" to go back to certain places.
One exception for us is Cozumel. We have "family" there. Since it will be our first Christmas away from home other friends and family are going to fly there and spend Christmas 2014 with us. But after that what ?As we stand looking over wind and wave maps we spot San Andres Island.

San Andres
Click this link then Scroll down for the map

We went there a few years back and absolutely loved it. So now we are thinking that instead of going out on east side of the island chain and down to Grenada for hurricane season, maybe we will go from Cozumel to Cayman-Jamaica-Providencia-San Andres-Costa Rica-Panama ??? There are so many choices and decisions. Wonder what Mother Nature will say ? As I prepare for tomorrows forecast snow storm and -30c wind chills I will keep looking at my maps and remember that next January I will be at one of these places. Below are a few pictures of our last trip to San Andres.

168 Days Left on Land

My husband has been playing around and trying to learn how to make movies/videos. The hope is when we leave we can post some for everyone to follow our journey. For "old folks" like us these kinds of things have a steep learning curve. With 168 days left on land I think he is reaching the top of that curve. Take a look for yourself by clicking on the words "preparing to sail the world" below.

Preparing to sail the world

Having Visitors Aboard

We have 175 days before our boat becomes our permanent home. I am starting to get a little worried about missing friends and family. So naturally I have been thinking about how having people visit aboard a boat is different from visiting someone on shore. So like everything else I am unsure about, I "google" it. Wow I was not prepared for the amount of opinions/rules/policies people have made in order to have others visit/vacation with them.
This visit/vacation distinction I think is where arguments on both sides of the equation lie. We will be in our "home", without an income, and living on a strict budget, and you (the visitors) will be on vacation. Some say that if you cannot afford to ( whether mentally or financially) entertain visitors then do not invite them. Others say asking someone to contribute to food/alcohol/mooring expenses while THEY are on vacation should not be offensive as they would have had to pay a lot more for these things on shore.
I say a little middle ground is needed. And besides the sailing, scuba, fishing and bed are free. Many things are different on a boat than they are in someone's house...safety regulations, toilets, garbage etc. So I have decided that having a little blanket list of instructions would probably be a good thing. I mean if you do not live on a boat you may not know how to use the head. Knowing beforehand could save some embarrassment later on.


My husband has two basic rules for visitors-

#1 -You must never put anything in the head that has not been in your body first. And by in your body he means chewed and moved thru your digestive system. So NO toilet paper or tampons.

#2 -You must have a return ticket to where you came from. LOL




In order to keep the peace in a small space where one person is a little OCD ( me) I will add a few more to the list.

- when you pack shoes make sure they are deck shoes or shoes with soft soles that are NOT black

- pack in only soft duffel or carrying bags that can be squished, no large hard shells cases will be allowed as we have no where to put them

- suggested attire (the opportunity for wearing dress clothes, heels, etc., etc, will be extremely limited if not non-existant); bathing suits, light cottons shorts, one pair long pants, etc.

- food items - due to limited refrigeration/storage space, we prefer to shop with you when you arrive and split the grocery bill for the duration accordingly

- the other item we may ask you to contribute to is if we need to moor or dock to pick you up or drop you off, we hope to live by anchor and try to avoid these costs but depending on where you are meeting us it may be necessary for us to "pay to come get you out to the boat"

-forget the hair dryer/straightener etc, we live by solar and wind power and thus things that need to plugged in will be low priority, besides you will be having too much fun outdoors

- water limitations - we do not have "city" water, fresh water is at a premium, so water conservation is practised at all times..thus leave the loofah at home

- privacy limitations - we will try to respect each others right to have a little alone time in the best way we can

- laundry uses water that could best be used elsewhere so we would appreciate if you bring your own towel

- you will receive a short briefing on arrival on how to use certain of the boat's systems - especially the toilet and safety gear, please listen carefully to this, even if you have your own boat ours may have different equipment that may save your life

- last but not least, remember our boat is our home, I would not cover myself in suntan lotion and sand and then go sit in your living room so please do not do that in mine :)

I really hope that no one would be offended by these few simple rules. I look forward to having many friends come sail, dive, fish with us !!!