You might have thought it was the rigging, or the bottom job, or the (oh yeah) falling-off keel but you’d be wrong. It was the horrendous job of popping our our windows, scraping away the mess, replacing the crackled lexan, then painting and putting them back in. Particularly when one was 5,200’ed (that’s a word) in. Subscribe. Share. Don’t use 5200. Ever. And enjoy!
Why would you sign up for the passage then?
While I have received approximately 93.8 questions since I shared the exciting news that I will be crossing the Atlantic on a non-stop voyage this June, many ranging from the comical to concerned, the well-founded to the what-in-the-world?, but this one─“Why would you go if you can’t share it on YouTube?”─really frustrated me. I think it’s important I take a moment to make sure my platform and message here is clear.
I love to write and film and share my journey, but first and foremost in that is my desire to embark on journeys. The experience is primary. The ability to share the experience with the masses is secondary. What I hope I have conveyed and achieved here is my goal to document and share my journey so that it inspires others to follow their dreams, including the desire to go cruising. Is it my goal to share the story and experience of a friend who has asked that I not? No. Never. Any time a fellow cruiser has asked me and any time one may ask me in the future: “Please don’t film this” (or “Please don’t blast this on YouTube”), I will gladly honor that request, not unfriend him, stomp away in a huff and lose the experience of his company.
Okay, rant over. But that had to be said. If any of YOU out there are struggling to start and grow your own sailing blog or YouTube channel and have ever found it, at any point in time, frustrating, please remember cruising is about the experience. If something in your life is hindering that experience, take a step back and assess its importance to you and your attitude about it. Do and create things you love and don’t worry about those who cast hate on it.
I am excited about this Atlantic-crossing trip, exuberant really. The Captain’s request is well-founded, legitimate and I am grateful he honored my request to share my content about the Atlantic-crossing on Patreon. If you feel a couple dollars a week is worth it for the experience? Wonderful. If you don’t? Wonderful. It will not deter me in any way from continuing to share my Atlantic content on Patreon and my as-always free content on YouTube and here on the blog.
As a treat, here is a fun little snippet of the video I’m working hard on for Friday about our “work project of the re-fit.” Also, because I knew I would soon be doing some serious traveling (“What? Where to?” France people! Try to keep up!), I finally had to roll over and upgrade my long-time friend and two-year running $115 Chromebook and exclusive use of online video editing software to a computer that would allow me to create videos and write offline. This is the first little mini movie I made on the new MacBook using iMovie and (and!) I got a new mic for Voiceover Annie. *applause* Enjoy!
I’m also very excited about where things are going with the Nonsuch book. Phillip, as it seems he always does (he’s kind of annoyingly awesome that way), came up with a fantastic idea for an overall theme and fun spin on the book and I’m typing away fervently every day trying to work it in. I will send out a request soon for advanced readers so some of you (you’ll have to jump on it quick!) can get a free glimpse of the book in exchange for an honest Amazon review. Plenty of HaveWind goodness to come!
On Patreon this week, I will be sharing more details about the Atlantic trip and will try to answer some of the many (far more legitimate … that’s the last time I will say it) questions I have received about the trip:
1) When are you leaving?
2) Why Non-Stop?
3) Are You Paid Crew?
If you’re interested and inclined …
If you’re not? No worries! ; ) I’ll catch you here on Wednesday.
How will we do it? With a sump box. The sump box rocks. But, we had to seal up the anchor chain locker first (quite the chore) and run all the hoses. Thanks to Brandon with http://www.perdidosailor.com/ also for devising a cool way to re-purpose an old pump to move the water overboard. Enjoy the show!
I have some big news to share soon but I am waiting for a few variables to be determined and other chips to fall into place before I can announce it. Please be patient and know that I am working hard over here to bring you all something very BIG. A once in a lifetime adventure that I will share with you. This whole HaveWind lallapalooza is a labor of love, for sure, but I do love it and it feels amazing when so many people write me and tell me I’ve inspired them to start dreaming, start boat shopping, buy a boat (*gulp*) or even quit their job to go cruising (*double gulp*). If you have enjoyed the show, please support our cause knowing amazing things are in the works!
Why is there always a part of the rigging that does not fit? Why?! Watch as we battle more custom machining woes on the tie rod rigging, finish up the bottom job after a minor Annie meltdown, and reveal how we plan to fix the clogged weep hole in the mast step that started this whole mess!
And … we’ve got BIG news coming soon kids. I am going on a once-in-a-lifetime passage! I’m working on an awesome announcement video about it which will publish soon, but a sneak peak awaits in a “Patrons Only” post up on Patreon now. Join Patreon to join me on this awesome adventure!
Okay, let’s go with wire. 5/16 all around. Now what? A thousand necessary modifications and little pieces that must all fit together is what. Not to mention the almighty Angle of the Dangle! Fun stuff re-engineering the rigging here kids. I get to try my hand at being a mathematician, a physician and, oh, a coal miner’s daughter. Enjoy!
In other news, we had a fan-TAS-tic time out on the hook for the first time. We didn’t our main sail on and a few other things not quite put back together, but she was ready enough to camp out on for the night, so we had to go! It felt incredible to be back on our boat in the water!
Now that we won’t be spending as much time in the shipyard, I will have more time to focus on putting together more awesome HaveWindWillTravel content for you all. I need to get an interview done this week to include in my next Gift of Cruising announcement video so that will come out soon! Very exciting. And, I’m planning to do another boat tour for you on Friday. The goal is to publish content that entertains, educates, inspires and helps bring more people to the water. If we’re hitting the mark, let us know!
I almost forgot how it feels. I was standing in our saloon yesterday afternoon, looking out through the cockpit, and I saw the backdrop move. The water, the buildings, a bird squatting on a piling─they all moved about an inch to the right and it caught me off-guard. Imagine if you looked out the window of your house and everything you saw shifted over a few inches. It would make you pause, right? I had to do a double take.
Then I realized the backdrop didn’t move. The boat did! In the water, she moves! Three months on the hard in the shipyard and I had forgot how that feels. While she seems so unwieldy, so monstrous up on the jacks, in the water our boat is fluid. She glides and bobs and sways, and I love that she does. The fact that my future home is an agile sea traveler excites me. Because she moves, she can take us to so many places. I knew that this entire time we’ve been at the yard, but it was like I needed the boat to remind me. And, she did. With just a swift glide in the water. It was like a playful nudge. Look what I can do. I stopped what I was doing and smiled. Standing there (on our floorboards!) in the saloon, looking out on the water behind her stern, I let it all soak in. Our boat is back in the water kids. Oh the places we’ll go!
And, she’s got new rigging.
Oh, oh AND floorboards! (What are those?) No more bilge!
We’re kind of (a little too) excited about it.
Sooooo much more to come!
Thanks to all my Patrons who help me share this journey and help more people realize this awesome dream─to live, travel and be on the water.
Not if it’s hidden behind the rigging. Lesson learned here: If you’re going to re-rig, pull and inspect all of the pieces. You’ll be shocked at what we found. Bonus lesson: Lookout for that hammer. He packs a mean punch. Thanks to the boys at Perdido Sailor, Inc. as always, for sharing their time, tools and boat repair smarts. Enjoy!
All goes well (knock on teak) we are set to splash tomorrow. That’s right. “Tomorrow, tomorrow!” Sing it with me … you know you want to.
My next goal after that is to get my next Gift of Cruising prize lined up and announced on the website. You can be a part of it! If you’re enjoying the show, please give a little. It helps us keep sharing our journey and help more people who want to cruise. Thank you!
At least that’s the decision we made after we broke the torque wrench hammering these guys down. It was a bit of a project all told but we got ‘er done and were glad we did because we ended up discovering and righting some hardware wrongs once we’d dug into the project. Note to viewers: Check your keel bolts every 3-5 years. Thanks to the boys at Perdido Sailor, Inc. for coaching us DIY’ers along. Enjoy!
Hope everyone has been enjoying the content. I’m excited to get the next Gift of Cruising posted. It’s been a crazy busy week at the yard. But, look what I got some badassery footage of for you yesterday …
Yep, our stick is back in the air. I’m so happy I could just about get my own erection! Ha. I had to. (You’re welcome Brandon.) If you’re enjoying the show, get inspired and get on board and I’ll get my next Gift up soon. Thank you!!
I once had a good friend tell me this. She was a single mom who had her daughter at a very early age (eighteen) and raised her on her own through college and law school. By the time she and I came to be friends, she was an established, reputable lawyer and her daughter was about to start high school, and she told me this statement over lunch one day.
Sporting our “super serious” lawyer faces. Love you Dottie!
I was actually talking to her about my impending divorce and all the things that entails─moving to a new house, dating, finding someone new and a re-assessment of my life goals─and I disclosed to her that I didn’t think I wanted to have children.
“Oh, I don’t want children either,” she surprised me by saying, “but I want my child.”
It’s a funny thing. Once you bond with someone and they become ‘family,’ you can’t really undo the connection. Why am I telling you all of this? Because I’ve had several folks ask me since Phillip and I began sharing our re-fit with you all whether we wish we had bought a new boat. More specifically, a good friend recently asked me over dinner: “Do you ever think about selling your boat and just buying a new one?” I was actually taken aback by the question because my immediate, knee-jerk reaction was: “Never, absolutely not.”
Honestly, the thought has never crossed neither mine nor Phillip’s mind. And, in trying to explain why that was my long-ago conversation with a wise single mother and her the seemingly-oxymoron statement about children came to mind. Phillip and I can’t just “sell our boat” and buy a new one. She’s family. I had to laugh because the friend I was having dinner with had actually just been telling me about some troubles she was having with her teenage son and his─as she put it─”I have no clue what I want to do with my life, but I know everything and I hate you” phase. So, I put it to her this way: “Do you ever think about trading your child in and just getting a new one?”
Like Phillip and I, she was taken aback. It was a thought she had never possibly considered because you just can’t. That’s how Phillip and I feel about our Niagara. When you find “your boat” that’s exactly what she becomes: your child. No matter how much she may irritate you, worry you, cost you, you never fathom the possibility of just giving up on her. You can’t. She’s family.
It may sound cheesy, but it’s really the best way I feel I can put it. Although much of what we are doing during these “times on the hard” are just necessary, every-so-often major things you have to do to a boat, it seems these projects seem a little frightening to those of you who are new to boat ownership. Even if I were to couch it in those terms, purely for the sake of argument─i.e., that what we’re dealing with is a costly, project boat─if someone were to ask me why we hadn’t considered selling this “problem child” and buying a new one, my answer would be:
We don’t want a costly project boat, but we want our boat.
Does that make sense? Whether you have an old, 1960’s wooden schooner or a brand new Beneteau, she’s going to need maintenance. She’s going to cost you time and money to keep her healthy and safe and she’s going to irritate you at times, make you want to curse and slap her.
But other times she will bring you joy you could have never fathomed was possible without her. Well-behaved or wild child, she is yours. And for that reason, you want her.
I don’t mean to belittle the question of whether we would prefer to hang up the towel and buy a new boat. It is an honest response and inquiry from someone who has not yet found “their boat.” But I thought─as many more of you likely have children as opposed to “your boat”─this could perhaps help you understand. Phillip and I don’t want to spend our days in the shipyard. We don’t want to spend more money than makes us comfortable on boat projects. We don’t want to find a new potential problem area or another repair that needs to be done next month, next season or next year. But, we want our boat.
On a side note, in real time today is STEP DAY. All goes well, we’ll be putting the mast back up this afternoon. Can’t wait to see our little boat with her stick back in the air! Cross your fingers all goes well. “You better get to stepping!” Captain says.
“Why weren’t the rotten stringers uncovered in your survey?” Many of you have asked this question so I thought it would be good to talk about this and pose the question to my followers as I am not sure the rot in our stringers could have been or should have been discovered in our survey, but I pose the question to you all so we can all benefit from the shared experience of fellow cruisers: What should you reasonably expect a surveyor to find? Please let me know your thoughts on this, and I hope you all find the dialogue helpful.
Wow. First Gift of Cruising Goal reached. That’s exciting. A big thanks to all who donated. I will announce the next Gift of Cruising and put it up on the website soon! You never know. The next winner could be YOU! (I’m kind of on a “Santa high” here.) Get on board!
