anniedike

Bon Buffett Voyage Day Three – Burgers, Bunnies, Balloons … Oh My!

June 17, 2015June 17, 2015anniedike

April 23, 2015:

With a heavy heart, we woke the next morning in Ingram’s Bayou and took down the pyrotechnics, the ukulele amps and the aerial silk rig. Nooooo!!!

But, we were excited to make our way over to The Wharf in Orange Beach to claim our slip for the Jimmy Buffett concert.

Recall when we bought our tickets for the concert and called to reserve a slip, they literally laughed at us and put us as No. 93 on the waiting list. Well, 92 cancellations later and here we were, with a slip of our own. So, we hustled up the anchor early and made our way west. I called when we were close and chatted with a gal named Judy who runs the marina office. She was super friendly and sent two strapping young men out to come help us with our lines.

While I love to see her out sailing, all canvas up, I also love to see her docked as well, all safe and sound! Another no-mishap docking accomplished. Whew!

Judy gave us a tour of the new facilities there at The Wharf. They have moved the marina facilities over from where they were previously located by the fuel docks on the west basin to the center of all the action on the east side of the bridge, and the new bathrooms, shower and laundry facilities are all primo. We were really impressed.

Judy was great, too–super knowledgeable and friendly. I may or may not have let it slip that I’m an author and that a book would soon be coming her way. It would be the first to start their marina book swap at the new facility. I was sure donating my very own book to start the swap would totally revive my piteous book swap mojo. Let us all hope. If I have to face another Fabio cover, his white flapping French shirt agape with some frail yet fully-endowed maiden clinging to him, I’m going to puke. Thankfully, Judy, was in my camp and was proud to welcome a good, salty yarn written by a local female sailor, to start the swap out right.

I put a little log in the book for readers to list their vessel, when they got the book and where they dropped it off to help document the book’s travels. Judy wanted to read it first, and then she’s going to send it on its merry way!

Another little traveling book set free! I hope to hear from some folks who find it some day.

After the “drop,” it was time for some food. We headed over to Ginny Lane‘s for lunch and were thrilled to find your first martini is only $1. Sweet! We’ll take two!

I have to say that’s some smart marketing, though. Because the next round is full price, but by then your whistle’s already wet with the stuff and your pocketbook is a little looser. Nice, Ginny. Real nice. They served us up a fine burger and salad as well, which we had earned with all of our hard work peddling my penmanship around the marina.

Then it was over to the Oasis. Have any of you seen the pool at The Wharf? It’s like something a wealthy oil tycoon would build in his backyard–a wave pool, a slow, curvy lazy river, complete with waterfalls and spouts, slides, hammocks, palm trees, a hot tub, a tiki bar. It’s incredible!

We lounged the afternoon away at the pool (cruising is real hard) then hopped on the free marina bikes and peddled the grounds for a bit before cleaning up for dinner, which apparently at The Wharf, comes with a show!

Every Thursday night, the Wharf hosts a “Sunset Festival” much like the Mallory Square festivities in Key West. Remembering our “sloppy sunset” at Mallory Square during our trip to the Keys last year, we knew we were in for a treat.

While the crafty carnies at Mallory have really perfected the craft, I will say the folks at the Wharf did give them a run for their money. There was cheery knife and flame juggler/tightrope walker, a trained dog, live music and some ladies from the local zoo with their more exotic animals in tow.

“What the heck is that?” asked Phillip.

“That’s a bunny, my friend.”

“A 13-pound bunny.”

WHOA!

But, the real talent at the festival? This balloon guy.

I mean, look at his fancy, flattering balloon apron. That’s some dedication. And anyone who can crank out a pretty much lifelike Mario in under a minute–suspenders, mustache and all–takes the trophy in my book. Sorry flame dude, this man was a genius.

In all, the Sunset Festival was really entertaining and, most importantly, totally FREE! Our favorite kind of fun! Dinner with Phillip’s fantastic family at Jimmy’s sister, Lucy’s, place — Lulu’s at Homeport Marina — rounded out the pre-birthday festivities. Tomorrow was the big day for the Captain. His birthday, yes, but more importantly … BUFFETT!

Thanks as always, to the many patrons who help make these posts just a little more possible through PATREON.

Bon Buffett Voyage – Day Two: Sheer Entertainment

June 10, 2015June 10, 2015anniedike

April 22, 2015:

I don’t know if you guys can handle this–a dolphin display, an aerial acrobatics show, and a ukulele concert. Light the flame-throwers, blow the pyrotechnics, it’s time to get RAW!

Yeeaaaaahhhhh!

Alright, there were no pyrotechnics, but everything else I mentioned is right here baby! Day two of the Bon Buffett Voyage we woke to dolphin’s breath on the starboard stern.

They were swirling and stirring and (well, probably doing what we know dolphins love to do) for a good ten minutes while Phillip and I sipped our coffee in the cockpit.

It was a surprisingly cool morning in Ft. McRae with the cloud cover. Nice for lounging, but we were hoping to see some more input into the solar panels. We knew, though, that we would be putting some juice in during our motor that day, so a cool morning to read and write topside was welcome. Our next stop on the trip? Ingram’s Bayou:

We weighed anchor and threw up the sails pretty early so we could spend the majority of the day making the fun three-hour jaunt to the Bayou. The wind filled in nicely and we ended up having a pretty sporty little sail over.

The last time we had dropped the hook in Ingram’s was during our Thanksgiving trip 2013 and she appeared to be just as we remembered her–pristine and serene. We nestled in and Phillip set off to paddle our perimeter, check depths and poke around back in the bayou.

What did I do? Pretended to write until he left …

“You go right on ahead, babe. I’ve got plenty of blogging to get to here.”

Apparently those are my hangover eyes!

But, the minute he was gone, I set up the camera so I could video myself practicing his birthday present. Was it this?

No, that came later. That’s just everyday Annie stuff hanging around all upside-down-like. He’s used to that. No, for the Captain, I had to go all out. Do something he would know took time, effort and energy. I spent the better part of the week before we left trying to learn a new song to play him on the uke!

He had been pretty keen on Riptide by Vance Joy, so I got all disciplined with it and made myself practice, practice, practice until I had it … well, had it at least recognizable. At least I hoped. I decided to film one version all the way through while he was gone in case I got all fumbly and bumbly while playing it for him and goobered the whole thing up (happens all the time). And, don’t worry, I royally goobered this one pretty good, but I’ll share it anyway for your entertainment. I have such a hard time singing at a different beat than I’m playing. It’s like rubbing your stomach and patting your head. I can only do it if I can find a match on the down beat-slash-rub. Anyway, for what it’s worth — enjoy!

And, just for fun, here’s a gal actually doing this song justice on the uke. She seems a little off when the video starts (I thought she was about to play while high on pain meds as some ice bucket dare or something) but then she nailed it. This is what it was supposed to sound like:

[And, as an aside, if you’re in any way thinking about picking up the uke, I highly recommend it. You can get one at pretty much any little music store for around $50, it’s small and travels well, and it’s really pretty easy to start learning basic songs during your first lesson yet still challenging enough to push yourself on harder ones. Great, free entertainment and mental stimulation. I mean, why not?]

So, when the captain made his way back to the boat, I set us up on the foredeck with two deck chairs, two glasses of champagne and proceeded with the live version. I actually didn’t do half bad so the video wasn’t necessary. I even inspired Captain himself to give it a little go. (Minus the wailing pelican in the background … aka me!) his show wasn’t half bad either.

Needless to say, we had fun with it. But, post-concert was the real treat. The last time I had hung the silks on the sailboat for an aerials session was November of last year (far too long!). The conditions were perfect that evening in Ingram’s Bayou–calm, cool and still–for a sunset session. Captain helped me rig it up and I set to it. It was even more fun now that I had learned so many new tricks!

We totally need to install some pyrotechnics on the boat for this. Get all New World Order with it. BOOM!

In all, it was an incredibly fun day. It makes me think back on all the times people have asked me — “Don’t you get bored just sitting around on the boat all day?” Rather than enlighten them, it makes me want to say — “Yeah, it’s just awful. I’d much rather be working.” Best to keep the secret. We don’t want these anchorages to get too crowded. Ha! We like the serenity.

We cheersed the sunset and set to grilling up two killer salmon filets for dinner.

Oh, and definitely give this a try – a super-easy, super-flavorful (and light) sauce for fish, veggies, white meat, etc. Make it to taste, but it’s roughly 1/4 cup Greek yogurt, 1 tbsp dijon mustard, and dried dill weed. Perhaps Day Two dinner deserves some pyrotechnics too. BOOM!

Thanks as always, to the many patrons who help make these posts just a little more possible through PATREON.

Bon Buffett Voyage – Day One: A Shoddy Shifter

June 3, 2015June 10, 2015anniedike

April 21, 2015:

Last year, we spent the Captain’s birthday pillaging the shops of Duval Street, searching for “zee best key lime pie on zee island!” We were smack-dab, mid-way through our 2014 trip to the Florida Keys and celebrating both the journey and Phillip’s momentous event on the colorful streets of Key West.

This year, when we learned Buffett was putting on a concert in Orange Beach, fortuitously on the very day of our dear Captain’s birth (April 24, 2015), we knew exactly how we would be spending it — on a Bon Buffett Voyage baby!

Oh yeah. Our sentiments as well Mr. Buffett.

As soon as the tickets went up for sale, we had three laptops open refreshing, clicking and ready to buy. Thankfully, we were able to snag two tickets without much trouble in this general vicinity:

(Yes, I do wear my hair in a high pony with a blue bow … sometimes.)

We planned to head out a couple of days before the 24th and stop at some of our favorite local anchorages along the way — Red Fish Point right outside of Ft. McRae, where we drop the hook often, and Ingram’s Bayou, where we holed up last winter during our Thanksgiving Voyage — before we made our way over to The Wharf for the Buffett concert.

Very un-fortuitously, though, when we called The Wharf on the day we bought the tickets to reserve a slip the night of the concert, the lady on the phone just laughed at me, actually, it was more of a guffaw. “You’re funny,” she said. Apparently, the day the concert was simply announced, their slips filled up and a waiting list was started for us Johnny Come-Latelies. But, we signed up, figuring we had nothing to lose. As Number 93 on the Wharf Waiting List, though, it didn’t look like we had much to gain, either. So, we made a back-up reservation at the Homeport Marina with a plan to either dinghy to the concert (which would be quite a dinghy haul) or just cab it. That would also let us check out Jimmy’s sister, Lucy Buffett’s, place, Lulu’s at Homeport Marina. Either way, we were sailing our boat west for the Captain’s b’day, and we were going to that concert. “You’re Funny” Fran wasn’t going to stop us!

We also planned to finally install and sport our shiny new shifter arms for the trip! We’ve had these flaking-away old rubber-coated ones for a while,

And, it just so happened, the shiny new engraved set Phillip had ordered arrived in the mail day before we were set to head off on our voyage!

We couldn’t wait. We slapped those puppies on while we were provisioning and readying the boat for shove-off the next morning. They slipped right on perfectly and sure spruced up the helm. We were pimping now!

Unfortunately, we weren’t pimping for very long. The next morning we shoved off from the dock, smooth as silk, the Captain executing a perfect exit, but when the bow swung out and he tried to go forward, there was nothing perfect about it. I was tying up the docklines at the bow, but I could tell something was definitely wrong when the boat started to loop around to do another circle. I looked back at Phillip, and saw he was shifting and fidgeting with the new shifter arm for the transmission.

“I can’t … it’s … it won’t engage!” he shouted as I scrambled back to the cockpit. The problem was clear. Because of the unique location of the poles on our helm, we couldn’t push the shifter arm forward enough to actually engage the transmission into forward.

I won’t share the expletives we did in that moment. We tried to take the shifter arm off quickly, hoping we could adjust it but there was no adjusting to be done. It fit in only one position only–the no-forward-for-you position. There we were, out there, moving, with only neutral and reverse as options. Thankfully, the wind was on our side and she was pushing the boat forward enough to allow Phillip to steer and slow us down as needed with reverse. And, thankfully again (trust me, I realize how incredibly lucky we were that this worked out the way that it did), there was an open dock available just up the way. Phillip said he could pull up next to it so we could dock and he could run back up to our apartment to grab the old shifter arms which he had also thankfully (yes, a third) saved in case we needed them as spares.

I ran back up to the bow as we trudged forward with only neutral and reverse and re-tied the bow lines so we could use them to re-dock. And, I know I’ve said it a hundred times, but docking is just not my favorite thing, particularly when it’s somewhere we’ve never docked before and the winds are pushing us unfavorably (not to mention when we’re in a bit of a panic because our freaking shifter arm won’t work and we, you know, can’t go forward). I know the Captain is doing a lot (okay, pretty much everything) back there at the helm, but I can’t help but feel like a lone soldier up there on the deck, lines in hand, jumping off, scrambling to a cleat, strategically tying at just the right length and in just the right order, making sure our 15,000 pound boat neither touches the dock where there is no fender nor blows off out of line-tossing distance. It’s just stressful, that’s all I can say. My heart beats a thousand times a minute and I jump around like leprechaun on LSD. Thankfully, though (for the fourth and final time) we were able to ease up to the dock and secure her safely while we swapped the shifter arms out. Now — lesson of this little story? Always jump around like a lit-up leprechaun when docking? No (but good guess). To the extent possible, always check newly-installed equipment to make sure it does what it’s supposed to do before you leave the dock. You probably already knew that, but I’m happy to share our minor follies in case it helps some other poor sailor out there one day.

So, with our old very un-pimp shifter arms back in place and our first heart-pumping adventure of the trip under our belts (although it would be nowhere close to the last), we finally headed out into the bay to begin our Bon Buffett Voyage. It was a pretty sporty sail that day, but our boat romped and played in the waves like it was just good elementary school fun. “Tag, you’re it!” she’ll shout at the waves and romp away. She loves the salty spray!

Now, this might have been with a little help from the tide going out, but I don’t care. At one point, we were making 8.3!!

We made it to Red Fish Point in record time and prepared to drop the hook.

Those gloves help me grip both the anchor chain AND my rum drink! Both equally important.

The sun started to dip down just as we got her nice and secure for our first night of the voyage.

We cheers-ed to the first night of the voyage and let some soft Buffett play in the background while we kept a look-out for a green flash on the horizon.

Thanks as always, to the many patrons who help make these posts just a little more possible through PATREON.

Lingerie on the Boat?

May 27, 2015May 26, 2015anniedike

I’ll bet you’re curious now, as I get ready to divulge my secret negligee habits. Do I always keep a few lacy numbers stowed away in the v-berth? Or just pack a pretty pair for special occasions? Truth is, I keep one key piece of lingerie on the boat at all times and use it every night we sleep in the v-berth. What piece you might ask? We’ll get there!

First, we have to talk about the sheets. While the Captain and I don’t like to readily admit this, it’s sad but true. Since we bought the boat back in 2013, we had been using the same tired out v-berth sheet the previous owners had used. It was a regular flat cotton sheet, threadbare from years of wash and wear, that was simply cut in a few places to help it “fit” around our oddly-shaped v-berth mattress.

That’s it. Isn’t she a beauty?

This nice ratty slit here was where we tucked it on either side to fit around the indention at the head of our mattress.

Real fancy-like. And, I hate to say, as long as we used that thing on the boat, letting it stare Phillip and I straight in the eye the second we stepped down the companionway stairs and scream to any newcomer aboard–“Hey! Check out our old, ratty sheets!”–I never really captured a good picture of it. I guess if you don’t really like the way something looks, you’re not really inclined to photograph it. This was the best I could find.

Notice how it’s all bunched up in places and how that ratty tear sits right in blaring view? No matter how many times I would pull and tuck and pull and tuck, the sheet would always work itself back into bunches and split at that tear, revealing a big hunk of bright, yellow memory foam and our old grandma’s couch upholstery (which you can see on the settee cushions in the picture above). When we had the upholstery on the boat re-done back in 2013, we only did the saloon settees and the aft-berth, not the v-berth, figuring it’s always covered with the sheet, so why bother?

Well, bother we didn’t. For years. We just kept washing and tucking and pulling and cursing that tired blue sheet until we decided enough was enough. It was time to get some new sheets. And, having gone several years with the low-rent slit-and-tuck routine, we wanted to have a set expertly fitted to our v-berth mattress. I got a few recommendations for boat bed tailors from friends and finally got a drapery gal on the phone who claimed to have some experience tailoring fitted sheets for v-berths. We took some measurements of our mattress and I sketched out a pretty good mockup of our mattress for her.

After review, she said we should buy two king flat sheets (just in case one wasn’t enough) and she would create one fitted sheet out of those that would fit our v-berth mattress to a tee. The drapery gal said she would need the mattresses to do it, though, to be sure the fit was right, and she expected it would cost around $50.00 in labor. Not bad, we thought, other than the somewhat tedious mattress haul-out, but, aside from trying to do the sheet tailoring ourselves, it seemed to be the only option. So, our next mission was to find some sheets.

Now, I would like to say that we did some research, poked around on some other cruising blogs and forums to find out which sheets really perform best in a marine environment. But, we didn’t. We just went to Bed, Bath & Beyond one day and started meandering around. Phillip at least knew he wanted to try to find a high performance, synthetic blend as opposed to 100% cotton, to reduce moisture and odor retention, in other words, the wet and stinky factor. Knowing very little about their reputation in the boating realm, we stumbled upon this Sheex brand that peaked our curiosity. They were synthetic, durable and felt like cool silk. We zipped open a package and couldn’t stop fondling them. The product insert also showed they were engineered to meet all of the Captain’s high performance points.

And, with a marketing pitch like this, they were hitting all of my high performance points, too.

I was really starting to wonder about the power of these sheets …

Most importantly, though, for whatever reason, on the day that we decided to pop into Bed, Bath & Beyond, the Sheex sets were 40% off. How fortuitous! We snagged a complete king set (flat and fitted sheets and two pillow cases) which typically would have been over $200 for around $130. And, I was pleased to find after our purchase that the Sheex brand seems to be a pretty proven bedding product among boaters — Cruising World Sheex article HERE. Score! The stars were really lining up for us on this sheets project. I couldn’t wait to get them to the boat to try them out. My head was filled with visions of Phillip and I drifting away on cool, silky dreams.

“How do you like the new sheets, Annie?”

Why they’re just dreamy, Captain. Positively dreamy.”

I decided I couldn’t wait on drapery gal to see just how heavenly the new sheets would feel on the boat. I had to whip them out for a test run, and I’m glad I did. When I pulled out the fitted sheet on the boat, I noticed the elastic fitted rim went all the way around the entire sheet, not just at the four corners. I started to think it might just fit on its own without any need for an involved and costly tailor job. Even better! I tucked and pulled and stretched the fitted sheet around, hoping for a small miracle, and I have to say, I got real close.

The sheet stretched out smoothly everywhere except for the one oddly-placed indention at the head. This one nagging little setback was ruining my whole dreamy vision. I just needed something to pull the excess flap taut at this point to make it work.

Of all the things we have troubleshooted and repaired on the boat, surely this was going to be an easy fix–just one little cinch point. I went back to my old bag of tricks and started running through various hot-glue and staple options in my mind. I kept thinking if I could just attach an elastic strap to the flappy part that would pull underneath and fasten to a button or hook or something, that would do the trick. I was confident I could do this! I didn’t need drapery gal or her magic sewing contraption. I could do this! I mulled over it, stewed on it, even dreamed about it, and then it came to me — lingerie! The minute the idea struck me, I couldn’t wait to get back to the boat to try it out. I took my one little key “piece” with me and set to it.

Shhhh … don’t tell Captain! I’m going to surprise him with lingerie on the boat!

So, what was the key piece? The stretchy little clip-fasten device that I was sure was going to save our dreamy day?

A garter clip!

Yep, this little guy. I mean, he’s designed on one end to attach to hosiery without damaging it. I figured that he would probably be able to do the same with Sheex. Why not, right? Plus, he’s stretchy and even has a hook already built in on the other end. The grandma’s couch upholstery on the underside of our v-berth mattress has a lot of thick threading that I was sure a little bra hook could latch onto. If not, there was the plastic webbed mold-prevention underlining that I could try to hook to as well. All things that were already there on the boat, just waiting to be utilized. So, I gave it a shot —

Just cinch and pull,

then hook underneath, and

Voila!

A little bit of expert ruching and bunching and I thought it looked just about intentional. Better than drapery gal could do I was sure of it! I mean, look at that custom Sheex bedding!

And, it all was made possible with a little piece of lingerie! Thank you Monica Midnight for your vixen-like and versatile lingerie line!

How about you all? Any of you out there a fan of the Sheex? Or, have come up with some fancy bedding fixtures of your own? Do tell!

And, thanks as always, to the many patrons who help make these posts just a little more possible through PATREON.

Stranded Naked in the Bahamas??

May 20, 2015May 21, 2015anniedike

I will be! Soon! Big announcement folks (cue that ratta-tatta news room sound) — this Little Sailor-that-Could is going to the Bahamas! Not on our boat, not with the Captain and apparently (at times) not with clothes. Say what?!? That’s right. Times are a-changin’!

To make a long story short (I know, I know, I’m not so good at that, but I’m really going to try!), around November of last year, the Captain and I, having just finished our pretty-involved solar panel project and chased down our baffling alternator aftermath, were itching to get our boat out for an extended stay on the hook to really enjoy our new solar input and make sure we wouldn’t have any trouble this time with the starting battery. Thanksgiving was coming up, so we decided to use the holiday time to do what we do best–enjoy a nice, serene anchorage on our beautiful boat.

It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it.

As you know, I had been piddling around on the aerial silks for a few months by then and when I mentioned our upcoming trip to my instructor, the completely unattractive and untalented, Garrett (this one’s for you ladies):

he says, “Oh yeah, that reminds me, I’ve been meaning to tell you about Hanna.”

“Who?” I ask, wondering what’s so special about this Hanna chick.

“Hanna,” Garrett says.

This chick. Little did I know this fiery little redhead was about to turn my world upside down (literally).

BAM!

At the time, I had been playing around on the silks for a few months and always made my way to the gym any time I wanted to get a silks session in. I mean, you need like 30 feet of height to rig up a pair. Where am I going to hang a set of my own? I hope your gears are starting to turn, because I have to admit, had I not seen it myself, I’m not sure I would have ever thought of it on my own.

Hanna doesn’t just DO silks. She does it … ON A SAILBOAT.

Just when I thought sailboats couldn’t get any cooler … I couldn’t get to her fast enough. I Facebook stalked her, texted her, tracked the poor girl down. I had to know where she got her magic “sailboat silks” and how she rigged them up. Thankfully Hanna was way cool, she forgave the stalking and clued me in. Her husband’s parents own a 47′ Beneteau and they had rigged her silks up on the boat using the whisker pole for the spinnaker. While I didn’t think that would work on our boat (we don’t have our whisker pole mounted on the mast) I started tinkering around on our boat and was pretty sure I had figured out a way. I mean, there’s a 50 foot mast, dozens of lines, rods and standing rigging to utilize. If the boat can hoist and fly sails, surely it could hoist and fly me?!? At least that’s what I told myself when I clicked, clicked, clicked, confirmed and bought my very own set of silks in hopes of hanging and playing on them during our turkey day trip.

They arrived the day before our trip and were the first thing I packed on the boat. I couldn’t believe I was going to be able to combine one of my favorite hobbies (the silks) with one of my favorite pastimes (lounging around on the boat). Could life get any better? Not in my book! With the Captain’s blessing, I rigged my brand new set up for the very first time on our boat on Thanksgiving day and set to it!

Now, did I get blown into the mast about five times? You bet! Did I care? Not a bit! Apparently, you need to have like ZERO wind to be able to do the silks on the boat, but it’s still very doable and easy gear to carry along and rig up. I was happier than Richard Simmons at a fat camp. It was one of my favorite days on the boat in all of 2014, even including our trip to the Keys. It’s just such an incredible feeling to be virtually weightless, dangling, suspended over the anchorage. Ahhhhh … And, Ft. McRae is such a gorgeous place to “hang out” (ha ha).

So, how does this lead to the Bahamas, or better yet being stranded and naked there? Well, having sailed on her husband’s folks’ boat often, Hanna herself has a love for sailing and (I think) a little hankering to Captain her own boat one day. A woman after my own heart!

As such, she soon became a fan, follower and sponsor on the blog (thank you Hanna!), got a signed copy of my Salt of a Sailor book and passed word of it along to her inlaws hoping they, as sailors, would enjoy it as well. (Thank you again, Hanna!)

Surprisingly, even after reading the book and knowing full well all of the incredibly stupid things I said, thought and did in it, Hanna’s inlaws still thought highly enough of my sail abilities, or my sea worthiness at least, to ask me to help crew their boat this July in the Abacos Regatta!

Ben and Sara needed a few extra hands on deck during the July 4th and July 6th races, and they generously offered both Phillip and I a bunk on the boat if we would fly out to the Bahamas to help them with these two legs. Sadly, Phillip had a conflict and could not make it, but after some serious talk, we decided it was an opportunity I could not and should not pass up. So, I’m going to the Bahamas folks!

I will fly into Marsh Harbour from Ft. Lauderdale, cab it up to Treasure Cay and then ferry over to Green Turtle Cay where Ben and Sarah are moored. July 3rd is the famous Stranded Naked, Cheeseburger in Paradise party (although I’ve been advised we do wear clothes — bummer!). I will help crew the July 4th Green Turtle race and the July 6th Treasure Cay to Guana Cay race then fly from Marsh Harbour back to Ft. Lauderdale.

Red = cab. Green = ferry. Blue = sailing.

Thankfully, the room and board will be free on Ben and Sara’s spacious Benetau, the s/v Cheval — French for horse. Perfect for me.

With just a flight to cover for a multi-island sailing experience through the Bahamas with two incredibly traveled, generous sailors, it was an opportunity I simply could not turn down. While Phillip and I plan to sail our boat there in the years to come, this will be a great way to get a flavor and feel of the Abacos and participate in their famous, party-style annual Regatta. The decision was actually pretty easy. Little did I know it would all develop from what I thought was simply a fun acrobatic hobby, which turned into a sailboat side-sport, but that’s the beauty of it all. If you keep your mind and plans open to new places, pastimes and people, amazing opportunities can arise. It’s okay if things get turned upside down. If you just kind of go with it, you may find it was the best thing that ever happened to you.

Thank you again Hanna for setting all of this up! And, Ben and Sara, for your generosity (and bravery!) for inviting this tenacious little sailor aboard your vessel. I … Cant … Wait! I’ve had an empty passport for too long. It’s time to stamp this baby up! Even if I have to go it alone. Life doesn’t wait for you. Live while you can. Bahamas … here I come!

Many thanks to the ~~patrons~~ Hannas! who help make these posts just a little more possible through PATREON.

The $3.49 Fix

May 13, 2015anniedike

November, 2014:

Okay, so it was $3.76 after tax, but the part–the one itsy bitsy, tiny little part that made our whole engine run–was three dollars and forty-nine cents.

How long did it take us to figure that out? I’d like to say it was only three hours and forty-nine minutes. That would have been great, but it wasn’t. It took weeks ….

If you recall, we were having occasional trouble getting our engine to crank after we installed and began using the new flexible solar panels on the bimini.

Our “boat buddy focus group” surmised that perhaps the solar input from the panels was confusing the alternator and causing it not to re-charge the starting battery while we were motoring. For this reason, we installed two handy on/off switches in the aft berth locker to turn the panels off while we were motoring in (HIGH!) hopes it would prevent the alleged “alternator confusion.”

Apparently, though, our alternator isn’t the brightest part on the boat. Sometimes it was confused; sometimes it was not. The frustrating part was that the problem was intermittent. Sometimes the engine would crank fine, other times it would not–inexplicably. Like when you take your car to the shop so the mechanic can hear that ominous “clunking” sound and it won’t make it. Bullocks!

The next time we took the boat out (after the on/off switches were installed and after we had turned them “off” while we were motored), and the engine again would not crank to bring us home, the Captain decided he’d had enough. “We’re going to fix it today,” he said bright and early one Saturday morning, and I knew he wouldn’t stop until we had. We donned some cloaks and pipes and decided to really roll up our sleeves to solve this mystery.

What’s the best way to start troubleshooting?

Start taking crap apart!

We traced every wire from the:

1. Engine to the alternator,

2. The alternator to the combiner (the device that decides which batteries (the house bank or the starting battery) need and get a charge from the engine),

3. The combiner to the starting battery,

4. The starting battery to the battery switch plate (where we turn on the batteries we want to use — house, starting or both combined, which is what we had been required to do when the starting battery alone wouldn’t allow us to crank),

And finally:

5. The switch plate to the starter.

Everything seemed to look good. None of the wires were corroded, split or compromised and the connections looked solid. We couldn’t understand why our seemingly “good” starting battery was not starting the engine. If it was the battery, that was going to be a couple hundred bucks to replace, which was a better prospect than the alternator. So, we decided to have the battery checked yet again. We disconnected it and hauled it to three different battery-check places (Auto Zone and the like), where every time a highly-qualified battery specialist would come out and hook his or her little gismo machine up to our battery to run the necessary gismo calculations.

I felt like I was watching Al from Quantum Leap bang around on his Ziggy handheld. Beep, bo-dum, boomp.

Each time, though (and three times total), the little Ziggy gismos came back showing our starting battery was good.

And, I’m not sure what “EXP DECISION” means exactly other than “Expert Decision.” I guess if they’re the alleged “experts,” (particularly when the consensus was the same among all of them), there’s really no reason to question it.

So, we hauled our alleged “good” battery back to the boat still stumped by our crank problem. We decided to replace the ring connectors on each end of the positive and negative wires to the battery just for good measure, and that’s when we discovered it.

When Phillip was putting the post terminal connector back on the negative post he noticed it was loose. No matter how hard he tried to tighten down on the nut, the connector couldn’t seem to achieve stable contact with the post.

Apparently, it had been so worn from age, jostling and electric current that the center of the ring had been (for lack of a better word) eroded out so that no matter how tight we cranked the nut down on the bolt, you still couldn’t get a good, solid connection, particularly when it was lowered onto the post one way as opposed to flipped over and put on the other way. By some stroke of luck, Phillip had put it back on the “other way” this time, which revealed the loose connection. That’s when we had our Aha! moment. We dropped everything and headed back to Auto Zone.

“One post terminal connection, please.”

Three dollars and forty-nine cents later, we were mounting a snug new connector on the negative post certain this was going to be the easiest and cheapest fix we could have imagined.

And, what happened next?

Mmmhhh-hmmm. A mighty fine crank indeed! We could tell instantly from the solid *CLICK* of the glow plugs that our starting battery was finally cranking out some solid juice. Our engine roared to life!

Now, why share this? A simple post terminal connector replacement? (Something we likely should have found pretty quickly.) Because sometimes you just can’t see the simple fix initially. With the new solar panels and the MPPT charge controllers, the new on/off switches and suspected alternator confusion, we were thinking the problem had to be more complicated. But, lesson learned. Most of the systems on the boat really are simple when you break them down and dissect them. You just have to remember to “think simply” when troubleshooting. I’ll never forget when we were trying to tell this ten-minute story to our buddy, Bottom-Job Brandon, and not three sentences in, he says:

“D’you check your post connectors?”

Sharp guy, that Brandon (but a total story killer!). Good thing I have a captive audience here! Ha!

In all, we were pleased with the simple $3.49 fix (not counting our “labor” which I felt we earned the “loss” on for having overlooked something so basic — a boat will humble you real quick). And, with the problem solved, the afternoon remaining and the wind picking up, we decided it was high time for a reward. A last-minute run to the beach that day offered up one of our best impromptu kite sessions of the year against one of the most exquisite sunsets I have ever seen.

That’s the thing about sailing, though, living near the water, which can be deadly one minute and overwhelmingly serene the next, and owning a boat. You can start the day out cramped, coated in gunk and sweat and cursing everything about your bleeping boat, but once the project is complete, the accomplishment of it serves as your unparalleled reward and wipes away all of your previous frustration. Suddenly the job is done and the day is still young. Suddenly, nothing can bother you. Life is still, and always will be, good.

Many thanks to the patrons who help make these posts just a little more possible through PATREON.

Solar Panels Bring the Blues

May 6, 2015May 8, 2015anniedike

November 7-9, 2014:

After our racy rendezvous with the Sundowner crew in NOLA we were itching to get back out on our boat. Now that we had our slick solar panels installed and (presumably) working, it was time to take them out for a test run, and what better time than the Pensacola Blue Angels Homecoming Show in November! Several of our boat buddies were planning to get out for it, too, so it was quickly decided we would all get together for a massive raft-up. We were five-deep at the Fort baby!

From left to right:

1. s/v Edelweiss, a well-kept 34′ Sabre, is often packed to the brim with the Armanis — two veterinarians with (now) three little ones in tow. Did anyone call for a doctor?

2. s/v WindWalker, a 38′ Morgan, belongs to our trusted diesel engine mechanic, Johnny Walker (yes, that’s really his name, feel free to make all the associated Jim Bean, Jack Daniels jokes you’d like – he’s used to it), and his beautiful wife, Cindy. (While this is my absolute favorite picture of Johnny and Cindy, don’t doubt it, rain, shine or cold – these two are always smiling!)

3. 5 O’Clock, a 45′ Gulfstar, being the largest boat in the bunch often plays the role of “mothership” and is Captained by the only and only (you know this guy, he’s practically a celebrity in our world), Bottom-Job Brandon! His rocking wife Christine and their (now) two little salty sailors round out the Hall crew.

4. s/v Plaintiff’s Rest and it’s fine-looking crew need no introduction, really. Admit it, it’s only the best-looking boat in the bunch.

5. And, last but certainly not least, s/v Pan Dragon, a classic 36′ Pearson, is the pride and joy of our Broker-turned-Boat Buddy, Kevin, along with his incredibly entertaining wife, Laura, and their (now) two little ones seen here doing what they love to do — just “hang around” on the boat.

I will say Phillip and I are exceptionally lucky to have fallen into such a fine group of sailing comrades when we purchased our boat back in 2013. All of these Captains are sharp, talented sailors, each with a different area of expertise and each having proven their willingness time and again to help us out when we’ve found ourselves faced with a difficult boat project, and vice versa. It’s also great to see the lot of them (which with all of the “nows” you might have recognized has recently grown – three new additions in 2015 alone!) get their boats out just about every weekend they are able with the whole crawling/cradle crew in tow. I wouldn’t trust myself to keep a potted plant alive on the boat and here they bring their actual living, breathing, arms-and-legs munchkins aboard and show us all it can (and should) be done. Families can cruise too. They’re really impressive.

Having all five of us lined up for this phenomenal weekend was a pretty epic feat. But, when the Blue Angels come home, folks in Pensacola tend to get together for the event. And, because the Blue Angels fly over their home base, the Pensacola Naval Air Station, for the homecoming show, we knew we would be right under the flight path anchored out near Ft. McRae.

Here comes one now! Zzzwweeehhhhh!

See? They flew right over us! I kept trying to snap a cool shot of them coming by the boat but they kept breaking up, zipping around, looping and coming out of nowhere. Those suckers are fast! (And loud.)

After about 84 missed shots (give or take), I finally caught them right where I wanted them. Just overhead. Check out the money shot! BOOM.

Hull No. 193, baby! That’s us! It looks like they’re only 20 feet above our mast. While I can assure you, they are much higher, it doesn’t sound or feel like it when you’re watching them zip overhead. Zwweeehhhh!!

(Thank (and like) the Blue Angels Facebook team for the wicked pics!)

The show was jaw-dropping. “Hold on to your drink, Cap’n!”

First Mate rockin’ the rubbers!

They even put on an evening show (which they had not done in years) at the Naval Air Station. We could catch glimpses of it (and hear the roar of the flaming big rig) from our boats.

In all, it was an incredible weekend spent out on the boat with an amazing group of friends.

And, best of all, the solar panels performed beautifully. While we felt good about the Velcro adhesion, just to be safe I had taken some time back at the dock to manually stitch the panels on through their corner grommets with some green sail twine.

You can see it on the corners here:

Those flat little panels were expensive! While it was highly unlikely, I wasn’t going to risk them flying off in some heavy winds. They also proved extremely productive during our weekend out, pumping in (just about as we had expected) approximately 8 amps/hour.

It was truly gratifying to watch our amp hours go DOWN during the day. We were definitely pleased with the input and thrilled with the results of a long and tedious project. Life was good … for a brief moment. I swear that dern boat likes to toy with us sometimes. Right when you think everything is running smoothly and everything about boating is awesome, the boat likes to throw a little wrench in things just to, you know, keep you guessing. After our amazing weekend out on the boat, we woke Sunday to an awe-inspiring sky, sipped on coffee and decided we would ease the anchor up about mid-morning to enjoy a beautiful sail home.

That was the plan anyway, until we tried to crank the engine and ——— Nothing, nada, flat line. We couldn’t even get a click to turn the glow plugs on. Our starting battery was completely dead. The boat seemed to think it was funny.

It’s not funny, boat.

Luckily, on our boat, we can flip a switch to combine the house batteries with the starting battery, in situations like this, to pull from the house bank in order to crank the engine. It’s not really good for the house batteries because they’re intended primarily for deep cycle use, but if you’ve got to crank, you’ve got to crank. So, that’s what we did, and she started right up, which was a good sign. That meant it wasn’t an engine problem just a battery problem, but it was still baffling. What gives, boat?

Thankfully, we had a whole host of boat friends nearby to help us run through some things and troubleshoot. Assuming our starting battery was still good (which, being only a year old, it was pretty safe to assume it was) the primary difference was the solar panels. Once installed, they were essentially “on” all the time. Meaning, any time they panels were in the sunlight, they were pumping in juice. While the MPPT charge controllers regulate the influx of power to make sure the house batteries do not get overwhelmed by the solar input, one option kicked around the group was the possibility that the solar input may have overwhelmed the alternator and caused it not to re-charge the starting battery while we were motoring over to the Fort on Friday.

Back home, we took the starting battery the following week to several different Auto Zone type places to have it tested, and each time it passed with flying colors. The battery was good. That left the panels. We decided to install switches under the aft locker next to the MPPT charge controllers to allow us to turn the panels off when we were running under engine power so as not to confuse the alternator and allow our starting battery to re-charge.

It was a pretty simple job and (we hoped) would be a pretty easy fix to our crank problem. The next couple of times she cranked fine, and we were sure to turn the panels off when we were under motor and turn them back on again once we killed the engine if we wanted solar input. Life was good again. Until …

Yes, again. Such are the joys of owning a boat. Seemingly randomly, after several times cranking without incident, the minute we had some family in town and invited them out on the boat for a beautiful, brisk day sail, she wouldn’t crank. It was clear we

had a serious boat battery mystery to solve. And, I swear the boat thought it was funny.

It’s not funny, boat.

Captain Sherlock and I were hot on the case. It simply had to be “elementary.”

Many thanks to the patrons who help make these posts just a little more possible through PATREON.

Sundowners and Sultry Ladies in N’awlins

April 29, 2015April 30, 2015anniedike

September, 2014:

Ahhh … Dani and Tate. Perhaps I don’t have to introduce them to you all here. You probably already know them. They’ve earned a bit of a celebrity status in the sailing blog world and have certainly been an inspiration to Phillip and I. We started following along on their SundownerSailsAgain blog during the last of the five-year refit of their Westsail 32 for its fourth, but their first, circumnavigation. As Tate so aptly put it, when they stepped on the boat, they “felt its soul.” It seemed, like our Niagara 35, the boat chose them.

Dani and Tate, well into the last leg of their refit when we met them through our mutual blogs in the fall of 2014, were planning to set sail in January, 2015 from their homeport of Metarie, LA to really do it — sail around the entire world. Phillip and I, having planned a trip to NOLA months prior to celebrate the completion of our solar panels project, knew we had to try to meet up with them before they shoved off. So, we set it up, a Sundowner-meets-HaveWind union in the frothy culture hub of the South – New Orleans.

Now, being avid NOLA go’ers already, Phillip and I had already made several reservations at some of our favorite N’awlins eateries and had purchased tickets for a couple of different shows in advance of the trip. What kind of shows you might ask? Only the best — burlesque! While the reason we ended up with tickets to two burlesque shows was through no fault of our own (after the Friday show was seemingly cancelled, we bought tickets to a Saturday show then Friday’s was re-instated — what are you gonna do?), we did hesitate for a moment when Tate asked us if we needed some guidance on finding things to do in the city. Nope, Tate. Unlike the ladies of burlesque, we’ve got it ALL covered! But, knowing we would be meeting up with them on Saturday night, we invited them to Show No. 2 which was actually going to be a Clue-themed murder mystery. I’ll never forget Dani’s response — “Awesome. I’ve never been to one. Can’t wait to solve the mystery! ; )” Love those guys. With everything booked and an exciting meeting in store, we were off.

(And, quick note to the viewers, all photos and videos of the burlesque gals in this post are completely PG 13. I have edited to cover all pretty lady parts (the not-so-pretty ones? Well, it’s just part of the show. Burlesque babes come in all shapes and sizes. Enjoy!)

If you haven’t been to New Orleans, or have only been during Mardi Gras when the city is a chaotic, drunken mess, you should definitely take the time to roam the less-populated streets in the daytime, admire the colorful history and appreciate the true age and culture of the city.

The buildings are almost as colorful as the characters you will meet walking along the cobble streets. The food is eclectic and superb. Just plan to eat and try everything while you’re in the city (NO DIETS ALLOWED). You can work it off when you get back. Trust me, say no to nothing. Our best meal of this trip? The meat pie at Cochon:

Follow that with a worldly trek through W.I.N.O. (the Wine Institute of New Orleans), where you can sample hundreds of wines from regions all over the world,

and you’re ready for a night on the NOLA town.

Street bands seem to emerge around every corner, always playing some jazzy, cajun upbeat number that will force you to put a little dance in your shuffle, smile unknowingly and inhale the energy of the city.

After all of that fun, it was time for Show No. 1 on our list — Cirque d’Licious at the Hi Ho Lounge. Fantastic show. Very talented ladies. And, I do mean that. While pulling your stockings off with your teeth is, yes, entertaining, one gal in particular really impressed me — LadyBeast. (I’ve been called that a time or two). And, you know what her specialty was? Aerial acrobats! But instead of silks, she uses chains! A woman after my own heart!

I have to say, though, I drove Phillip absolutely mad watching her. I was high on the wine and my own inner Cirque-ego came out. I kept saying, “That’s such an easy trick. Super basic. I can totally do that!” To which Phillip, in his infinite wisdom, responded, “Yeah, but you’re not. You’re sitting in the audience. Now hush!”

Hmmmppfff. But, it was really fun to watch LadyBeast do things I did know I could do. I have to admit a little seed planted for my budding burlesque career–after I finish with the sailing perhaps. The real highlight of the show, though, was this little number.

Why, you might ask? Because of this and this …

What are they? Great question! We didn’t know until she hooked up the power cord and roared that thing to life. It was a wire brush grinder. Vrrreeeerrrrr!

Yep. Just like that. And, what do you think this dainty little gal did with it? She fired it up and sparked the place out on her custom garter grind plate. I have to tell you, I’ve seen a number of burlesque shows in my life, but THAT was a first. She was phenomenal. Fearless. A total show-stopper. Funniest part was, though, when I was telling Dani about it the next night. Being the crafty, highly mechanically-inclined sailor she is, she thought immediately about the physical repercussions of use of such a tool near one’s … nether parts.

“My God, wouldn’t it get super hot?” Dani asked, to which my inner thoughts immediately responded, “Yeah, it was super hot.” This literally was probably one of the first things Dani and I discussed when we met on Saturday night. I mean, let’s get down to business, am I right?

The much-anticipated meeting with Dani & Tate from SundownerSailsAgain was incredibly inspiring. Those two had been working so hard for years to fulfill a lifelong dream.

They had saved, scrimped, sacrificed and given pretty much everything they had to do it. They had their concerns and a refreshingly honest approach to what life would be like out there, but they were so energetic and enthusiastic about it, you couldn’t help but feel the excitement pulse out of them. I felt like arcs of energy were going to zap and pop between us. We shared such a common goal. Phillip and I were very fortunate to get to meet the Sundowner crew before they left because we can now feel the personality behind their posts. Dani also did a riveting recap of our NOLA union on her blog as well.

It is also with great joy (and a twinge of bitter jealousy), that I let you know Dani and Tate completed their exhaustive-yet-rewarding refit in the winter of 2014 and set sail January, 2015 to bravely make the first passage of their trip, their first overnight passage on the boat and their first Gulf crossing (all in one!) as they braved the winter winds from Rabbit Island down to the Keys. They made it safely to the Keys in five days, subsequently made the jump south to Cuba then decided to go west to Mexico where they fell in the beautiful quagmire that is Isla Mujeres. I encourage you to follow them on their wildly entertaining and inspirational journey.

But, let’s get back to the important stuff. Yes, the burlesque gals. As talented as LadyBeast and the d’Licious bunch were (it is admittedly hard to top metal grinders and chains), I have to say Show No. 2 took the cake. Why? I’ll give you a clue …

The CLUE-themed murder mystery was really such an awesome idea for a show (and a great way to get the audience involved and make more money to boot). Before the show began, you could buy votes ($1 a piece) to take a random stab at WHO DONE IT? (And, of course, in true CLUE fashion, in what room they did it and with what weapon — pictured above — the revolver and the wrench). Then, as each lady took the stage, she was dressed as a certain CLUE character and dancing in a certain CLUE room. At the very end of her dance, she would reveal a weapon, which meant you needed to scratch that suspect, venue and deadly piece off your list. Here is the burlesque CLUE cast – you can likely make out a few key characters — Miss White, Professor Plum, Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard is actually the voluptuous vixen in the middle (well-played):

As the show went on (and you realized your previous guesses were obviously wrong) you could buy more votes to submit. The winning votes were thrown in a hat at the end and one drawn out as the winner of an actual classic CLUE game and the privilege of crawling through a “spank tunnel” (yes, exactly what you would imagine) under the burlesque gals. In all, it was total entertainment, an incredible night with the hilarious Dani & Tate duo and certainly an evening Phillip and I won’t soon forget.

Visiting with the Sundowner crew, who are now well on their way to world travel, only told us what we already knew–the time to go is now. As Tate said recently in an email to us, “My God, it’s everything we expected. You need to get out here. You understand.”

Yes, Tate. We do. You kids have fun out there. Fair winds. We’ll see you soon.

Many thanks to the patrons who help make these posts just a little more possible through PATREON.

Annie’s First Interview – “Get Frugal, Get Friendly”

April 21, 2015April 21, 2015anniedike

April 16, 2015:

This may be the shortest blog post I’ve ever written. Why?? Because you’re about to hear me ramble on for an entire hour, that’s why. Oh wait, I’m sorry, an hour and fifteen minutes, in my first real, live interview as a … well, an author I suppose, but I think the term “authorpreneuer” © is more appropriate. It seems these days I’ve got a lot of plates spinning. But, that’s essentially the message I was trying to convey–get creative with your funding, frugal with your spending and you, too, can get out and spend more time sailing and cruising. I was humbled and honored to be interviewed recently by Teddy J, the creator of Sail Loot, an innovative and informative website, to try and help Teddy answer the question folks want to ask every person who lives on a boat and cruises around the world — How the heck do you pay for it? I hope I gave some insight and some inspiration to other budding cruisers out there.

Here ’tis. Next time you’ve got an hour (and fifteen minutes) to kill. Click to play:

If you’re short on time, I’d particularly recommend the “how to impress a hot guy” tips. It’s basically–try anything adventurous and pretend like you know what you’re doing. Works every time.

Phillip and I have been following Teddy J’s Sail Loot interviews for quite some time. Teddy has interviewed many cruisers, live-aboards and marine innovaters who have traveled the world and launched a diverse range of cruise-funding endeavors. One of the first interviews I heard was of the s/v Delos crew.

Captain Brian’s bio plays out much like my own. “After years in the IT business Brian dreamt of bigger adventures and more meaning in his life. He read the book “3 years on a 12-foot boat” and the dream to create his own odyssey and sail around the world was born. Three boats later and endless days of hard work, Brian’s dream became a reality when he bought Delos in Seattle in 2008 and has lived on board ever since.” You can listen to Teddy’s podcast interviews of the Delos crew here:

Sail Loot Interview of Brian and Karin (Teddy’s podcast numero uno)

Sail Loot Interview of Brady and Josje (pronounced Yaaw-jsuh – beautiful name! – although I prefer her more common alias – Josjerama)

I also found Teddy’s two-part interview of Jeff Siegel, the creator of Active Captain, fascinating.

Jeff’s mind is always buzzing with new ideas and helpful technology. He has a very honest and realistic approach to new business endeavors and speaks openly about his own failures and the lessons he learned in developing what is now the fastest-growing, most interactive marine navigational software on the market.

Sail Loot Interview of Jeff Siegel (Part 1)

Sail Loot Interview of Jeff Siegel (Part 2)

These are just two of the dozens of others Teddy has interviewed, all of whom have provided his listeners with some great insight about transitioning to a more balanced life.

In all, I was incredibly humbled to be added to this eclectic group of creative thinkers. Thank you, Teddy J, for the experience and the platform to share my passion for cruising and my less-is-more philosophy with others.

While I was happy to talk to Teddy about the various, creative ways I have found to make money remotely, as it always seems, when you give you seem to get more in return. Through Sail Loot, I was able to connect with several other cruisers Teddy has interviewed and help support them in their endeavors, which encouraged them to, in turn, help to support me. It was actually the Delos crew who initially turned me on to Patreon.

Patreon is an awesome platform that allows artists of all walks (singers, songwriters, videomakers, bloggers, underwater basket-weavers, whatever!) continue doing what they love by allowing their fans to empower them in a direct and meaningful way. I’m happy to say I am a proud patron of Delos on Patreon and (even on my tight cruiser’s budget) happily fund each of their wicked worldly videos. I would highly encourage others to sign up to support them too. It will be the best two dollars you’ve spent in ages, trust me!

Also, once I heard fellow boat-bum-turned-author, Ed Robinson’s, interview on writing and self-publishing, I reached out to him as well and asked if he would like to read my Salt book to perhaps provide an endorsement for the back cover. And, look what happened …

Just goes to show you–when you help people, help tends to find its way back. So, to answer Sail Loot’s burning question — How do you pay your way to cruise?

You get creative. You get bold. You get frugal. And, you get friendly.

As Teddy would say, it never hurts to ask. Offer something of value and then ask for support. Worst that can happen is they say no.

Many thanks to all–my loyal followers (believe it or not – it’s been over two years now since I started this blog!), my supporters, patrons and friends. I wouldn’t be here without your encouragement and support. I hope you have found the posts fun, entertaining and inspiring. Trust me, there’s always a way to make it work. Get out there before it’s too late!

Enjoy the interview!

Solar Finale – THE BIG REVEAL

April 15, 2015anniedike

July, 2014:

This is it. The drums beat — Bum-bum. Bum-bum. Brdrdrdrd, bum-bum. (Then the trumpets come in) Duh, duh-nuh-nuh! Okay, that is supposed to mimic the dramatic 20th Century Fox movie intro.

If you heard me sing it (yes, I sing both drum and trumpet), you would recognize it immediately. But, don’t worry, you’ll get the privilege. It’s all waiting for you, in the big REVEAL!

Throughout the solar panel project, we’d spent many an irksome evening at the boat, running wires to check length, holding gizmos in place to make sure they fit and were actually the best place for mounting, etc. We had even invited some boat buddies over to run things through with us before we actually started drilling holes and, you know, making things permanent (oooohhhh … scary). Being the great boat friends they are (and loving any excuse to get to mess around on a boat), Kevin and Brandon gladly pitched in and helped us double-check everything and make sure we didn’t burn the boat down during this whole solar install business.

As I mentioned, we had to install two MPPT charge controllers (which I now understood to be the devices that control the amount of “juice” coming in from the solar panels to make sure they don’t overload the house batteries–kind of like a flow regulator if you will). After pondering several potential locations, we finally decided to mount our MPPT controllers (two – one for the large 100 watt panel and another for the two 50-watt panels combined) in a locker under the aft berth, right by the nav station.

This way, they remained down below, protected from the elements, but were fairly easy to access to check the wires, make sure juice was coming in, etc. Well, fairly easy once mounted …

Those circus skills were still coming in handy. But, we did eventually get them mounted and wired side-by-side in the aft berth locker:

Then, all we had to do was run wires from the panels below deck to these controllers, and then from these controllers to the house battery bank in the bilge. Simple, right? You might be starting to sense a pattern here. Generally, when I say something is going to be “simple,” or “easy,” it turns out to be anything but. I’m sitting here trying to think what would be the opposite of a ‘piece of cake.’ A bowl of barley perhaps? Much harder to process and not near as much fun to do.

We decided to run the wires from the panels flush down a pole on the bimini frame, cut one hole through the deck on the outside of the cockpit coaming for entry, then lead them through the engine room, into the aft berth locker to the charge controllers, then under the floorboards to the house batteries.

You see? Barley. Not cake.

And, everywhere the wires went, Annie was sure to go!

Once we got the panels connected to the charge controllers and the charge controllers connected to the batteries, it was time to see if we had some juice coming in.

And the survey says …

DING! That second little green light on the left tells us everything we need to know. Power is coming in baby! Feels like a shot of B12. BOOM!

Yes, it is that exciting. When you spend weeks on a project, pore over reviews, online forums and product descriptions, cramp yourself in dirty, oily places running wires and fumble with the tiniest of screws in the hardest to reach places, that little green light that comes on and tells you it’s working–all of your hard work is working … you feel about like that. Like you could bust up a hard-core gangster in a fight. Take that!

Once we knew everything was working correctly, it was time to do it for real, i.e., actually cut the wires to length, run and affix them where they would actually go (which meant cutting a hole in the deck) and seal everything into place. You know, really make it final. * Gulp *

We ziptied all of the wires around the panels as neatly as we could and ran them down through the hole in the bimini canvas where the backstay protrudes.

While our boat buddies (being a bit more confident in our rig-it-up skills than we) encouraged us to go at it alone, when it came time to actually drill a hole in the deck, we enlisted our buddy Bottom-Job Brandon to help us make sure it was placed, cut and sealed correctly. Having lived and worked on boats nearly all of his adult life, Brandon through his company, Perdido Sailor, Inc., has the solid reputation of always “over-doing” a job, meaning doing it the right way not the easy way. When you’ve got a friend like that, it just makes sense to have him look over your shoulder on projects like this to make sure you don’t make stupid, can’t-be-undone mistakes.

Brandon made sure the hole was placed in a part of the deck that wouldn’t cause additional crazing or cracking and that the fitting was the right size to ensure a watertight seal to prevent water intrusion.

I supervised.

I had to shut my eyes, though, when Brandon actually fired the drill up. I mean, he was about to put a hole in our boat. Intentionally! Close ’em … Squeeze ’em tight … Whrrreeerrrrr

Thankfully, Brandon was quick and merciful. A few seconds, and then it was done.

Brandon also had the good idea to run the four wires (a positive and negative from each of our “two” panels) through a large heat-shrink wrap to protect them from the elements and make one nice, clean black “wire” to run down the bimini frame and through the hole in the deck.

Voila!

Now, the panels were secure, the wires were run, everything was officially (and permanently) in place, hooked up, mounted and operating. It was actually impressive to see how sleek and slim our installation job turned out to be. The panels and wires were almost unnoticeable.

Looking at the before-and-after, you kind of have to squint and cock your head to the left to actually notice the panels:

Didn’t see them? You have to cock to the left. It doesn’t work when you do it to the right.

In all, we were incredibly pleased with the job. The panels were streamline, virtually unnoticeable, mounted, wired and (most importantly) working! And, not counting our own labor, research and toil (which as the owners is expected but, thankfully, free!), we were in the whole thing for about a grand and a six-pack of well-earned brewskies for our boat buddies for helping us out with it. Not too shabby considering this will give us, likely, another 2 to 2.5 half days on the hook and prolong the life of our hard-working diesel engine. Easily worth it in our book.

So, having slapped ourselves on the back and considered the job well done, it was time to finally peel back the plastic from the panels and film for your viewing pleasure a cheesy yet hard-earned SOLAR PANEL REVEAL!

Cue the intro again. The drums beat — Bum-bum. Bum-bum. Brdrdrdrd, bum-bum. (Then the trumpets come in) Duh, duh-nuh-nuh!

And, it just so happened, around the same time, I finished choreographing my first aerial silks routine for performance and had filmed it for review. Do know my super-talented silks instructor, Garrett, just jumped in for fun to perform it with me and was just following me along (yes, he makes it look that good just “winging it”). So, to wrap up this silks-and-solar bonanza, I give you – MY FIRST SILKS ROUTINE. Enjoy!

Next up, we take this show on the road! A raucous trip to NOLA involving more aerial acrobatics, chains, whips and an unlikely encounter with another blogging couple you may know well … I can’t give it all away! Stay tuned!

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