Have Wind Will Travel

New Anchor: Sarca Excel No. 4 (37-lbs) – Research and Selection

April 11, 2019April 11, 2019anniedike

Ask 10 sailboat owners what is the best anchor and you will get 20 opinions. One, because we are opinionated (because this is important stuff!) and two, because—as is the case with almost everything in boating, it’s a compromise—it’s hard to say which single anchor is “the best” for any purpose, all of the time. But, after extensive research, talking with fellow sailors, and watching videos on holding power, Phillip and I have decided to swap out our primary bow anchor, a 35-lb CQR, with a galvanized 37-lb Sarca Excel No. 4. I wanted to share with you all our extensive research and selection criteria so you could benefit from what we uncovered and share your experience as well with the different anchors you all have used and your experience with them. Here is what we learned and what influenced our decision to go with the Excel.

First, why were we in the market for a new anchor? Age was the only factor. When Phillip and I bought our 1985 Niagara 35, she came with the 35-lb CQR we’ve been hooking on for six years now with never an issue.

April, 2013, Phillip and I on our first voyage bringing *s/v Plaintiff’s Rest* home from Punta Gorda,
with her CQR on the bow

In six years of cruising, we have never dragged (that we know of or that was noticeable) and we have never had our CQR fail to set or re-set. We’ve always felt 35 lbs was a good size for our boat and its weight. And, our CQR actually got the test of a lifetime when we dropped it (unknowingly, but quite luckily) just before the wall of wind that hit the Dauphin Island Regatta back in April, 2015. The severity of that storm was unpredicted and instant. While, thankfully, Phillip and I did not get hit with the 70-mph winds that knocked several boats down near Dauphin Island, we did get an unexpected 55-mph on our anchor, with only 125 feet out at the time in Ft. McRee, and our CQR held fast. I captured some footage of that event, well after the worst had passed (we were too consumed with preparing to crank and fight the winds if we did drag to film during the incident). I can assure you, the video does not do it justice, but it’s eerie to watch that footage now and realize 6 people died in those winds that day.

Footage from Ft. Mcree right after 55 mph winds from the Dauphin Island Regatta storm

For what she did for us that day and every other day we dropped and lived the good life on our CQR, I felt a reminder of that event and a tribute to her was in order. We are big fans of the CQR model and have no complaints about its performance. It has simply rusted a good deal over time and is showing its age as we did not re-galvanize it over the years. In addition, our CQR pre-dated the newer lead-tip technology that dominates the market these days, so we wanted to take advantage of the technological advances while we were in the market for a new anchor. With that, our research began.

First, Phillip and I made a list of what was important to us in an anchor:

Holding power (obviously)
Fast, easy setting
Reliable re-setting
Weight

With 200 lbs of chain already in our bow, we are always trying to reduce weight at the front of the boat, so we wanted an anchor that was, naturally, heavy and strong enough to hold us in all types of terrain and conditions, but one that would do that at the lightest weight possible. While those four items were our core criteria, now, having reviewed many articles and videos on this topic, I imagine we may add three more items to that list: 1) whether the anchor “looks good” on the boat. There is an undeniable aesthetic element to anything you mount on your boat. While we want them to sail across oceans and stand strong in the face of a storm, selfishly, we all still want them to look pretty while they do it.

Don’t all men expect that out of a gal? I distinctly remember in a blog post from yonder, when Phillip and I were preparing for our very first voyage just the two of us on our boat, I wrote:

I was going to throw lines, raise sails and hold the helm with the best of them. Eat salt for breakfast, lunch a dinner. I imagined myself a real sailor.

Of course, I was going to look like this:

While doing all of that. … Totally do-able.

Ahhh … Annie from back in the day. Little Sailor Who Could.

I mention the aesthetics because one of the primary resources we considered when deciding on the Sarca were videos and insight from a fellow sailor who concluded while the Excel “could be the best anchor on the table” he chose not to mount it as his primary bow anchor merely as a result of aesthetics. Many thanks to the Captain Steve Goodwin at s/v Panope for putting together his numerous underwater anchor-performance videos and other helpful content for fellow sailors.

Steve created an ingenious underwater cradle that films the anchors he tests
as they drop, dig, re-set, and drag at various speeds and scopes.

After doing a compilation review of eight anchors (Danforth, Bruce, Super Sarca, Manson, Rocna, Spade, Excel, and Mantus) Steve declined to choose the Excel merely because he did not feel the angular design would look good on his (as he put it) “curvy boat.” Personally Phillip and I were very fond of the angular design of the Excel, so that worked well for us. But, in all of Steve’s underwater testing, he found the Excel performed true-to-form time and time again.

In addition, during his underwater testing, Steve with Sanope also considered and documented whether the anchor pulled up a lot of bottom gunk, dirt, and debris. I don’t believe that crossed mine and Phillip’s minds initially, but the more I watched the videos, I feel that could be a quality of life consideration, as anchors that came up clean would make weighing anchor much easier. And, anchors that shake bottom gunk likely re-set easier.

Steve also did a lot of testing with short scope (not recommended for actual anchoring, merely for test purposes only). While Phillip and I try our best to anchor in places where we have plenty of space to lay out our usual 7:1 ratio, I can imagine the more places we cruise, that may not always be possible considering smaller anchorages with more boats, so during our research this seemed to become a more important factor. Having thoroughly reviewed everything now, I would add the following to our list above:

5. The gunk factor (does it bring up a lot of grass/dirt)

6. Sets well with short scope

7. Aesthetics

And, of course the anchor naturally has to FIT on your bow. I don’t see that as a factor to consider, but more of an upfront-necessity before the anchor can even be considered. Case-in-point: as you all know, we are hard-core Mantus fans and use a variety of their equipment—their snubber, their chain hook, their dinghy anchor, and their portable Scuba pack. Unfortunately, however, the roll-bar models simply will not come up through our bow pulpit, so we cannot use Mantus’s impressive roll-bar style anchor as our primary bow anchor. While Mantus advised me they were working on a bar-less model, it is not available yet, or I am positive Phillip and I would have either: 1) gone with a Mantus based on their reputation and performance reports from fellow-cruisers; 2) or at least had Mantus high in the ranking for consideration. You’ll see our bow configuration was one of the biggest hurdles for us on our Niagara 35 as the layout on our bow eliminated some very promising anchors because they simply would not fit.

But, there are other models that would fit on our bow: a Bruce and likely a Spade, among others. So, why did we choose the Sarca Excel? I’ll show you. One of the primary sources for our decision was a fantastic sailor resource that we discovered during this process that Phillip was adamant I share:

Attainable Adventure Cruising: An Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

Yannick, the captain we sailed across the Atlantic with initially, back in 2016, recommended this to us. We’d also heard Andy Schell talk about it on his podcast. It is a paid blog membership (only $24 a year and worth it 100 times over) with hundreds of detailed and researched posts written by experienced sailors on dozens of topics relevant to offshore sailors. Think: anchoring, storm survival, battery care, solar power, what to look for in a boat, navigation, you name it. As Yannick explained it (and this rang very true for us): “You know when you put a question on Facebook, and you get all those comments from people who haven’t even tried it. Then you get the two super long, helpful comments from owners who have actually dealt with exactly what you’re dealing with and they know what they’re talking about? Only those people post on AAC.” Done. With that recommendation and everything else positive we had heard about AAC, Phillip signed us up stat and we have not looked back since. But don’t take our word for it:

AAC is a fantastic resource. And, while we were researching anchors, Phillip and I were thrilled to find a long, super-detailed review of the Sarca Excel anchor on AAC. After 46 nights on the Excel anchor in a variety of bottoms, substrates, currents, and wind-shifts, one of AAC’s European Correspondents, Colin, an experienced cruiser, offshore sailor, and Yachtsmen, found the Excel to be well-made, robust and it performed strongly in a variety of substrates while setting fast and digging in effectively. Colin also concluded the Excel held after big wind shifts and on short scope. He and his crew developed “full confidence” in it as a good, all-around primary bow anchor. If you are interested in the Excel anchor and want to learn more, I highly recommend joining AAC and reading Colin’s full article. I cannot share it here as it is proprietary to AAC and well worth the membership to read.

Mentioned in the AAC article were the videos published by s/v Panope. I’m sure many sailors are very grateful to Steve for his thorough and well-documented video of multiple anchor drops where he lets the anchor set, he motors hard in reverse to test the initial dig and also motors the boat in another direction to mimick wind or current shift. Steve drops with varied amounts of scope and documents the anchor’s performance with commentary underwater. If you are in the market for a new anchor, I highly recommend you watch the entirety of his 40-minute video “Anchor Test Compliation” comparing six different anchors (his Excel underwater footage begins at 19:43 and his Excel re-cap at the end at 37:03).

As far as research (and proof) of the actual performance of anchors goes, this video is the best educational piece I’ve seen out there. It is also enlightening and very interesting to watch. Here are some highlights we found from Steve’s documentation of the Excel’s performance underwater:

The Excel dropped and set firmly and quickly every time, often in only about one anchor length.

To mimick a severe wind or current shift, Steve motored the boat at 3,000 RPM over the anchor in a new direction, the Excel re-set within a few anchor lengths and brought the boat to a complete halt.

Steve found the Excel held in sand, rock/sand, mud, and many other substrates.

Also, when Steve reduced the scope, even drastically, all the way down to 2:1 and put 3,000 RPM on the anchor in reverse, the Excel did not budge:

And, a plus, the Excel usually came up from the seabed rather clean! : ) Interestingly, the “Excel” cutout name on the flukes is believed to be designed to encourage the seabed to release and keep the flukes clean for better setting and cleaner anchor weigh. Genius!

Here is the entirety of the videos Steve with s/v Panopeproduced:

Excel Anchor Setting Test (with deep set)

Aluminum Anchor Re-Setting(Excel does make an impressive lighter-weight aluminum version)

Excel Anchor Setting Test – Sand/Gravel 2.5 to 1

Excel Anchor Setting Test – Sand/Gravel 3.5 to 1

Excel Anchor Setting Test – Reducing Scope

Anchor Test Compilation

Encouraged by the positive AAC review, we also ran into a dock neighbor in Pensacola who is an experienced offshore cruiser who had an Excel anchor on her boat and said she had never had an issue with it. “I drop it; it’s done. It holds every time,” Kim said, which won me over. She told us an “old salt” from Australia first told her about the Excel anchor as they are made in Australia by Anchor Right.

The entirety of our research and considerations led us to believe the Excel would be a great all-around anchor for us on our Niagara 35, the next step was to see if it would even fit on our bow. Ground Tackle Marine, the vendor that carries Sarca Excels and ships to the U.S. included detailed specs on their website for the 37-lb Excel No. 4, which was the one we were considering as it was the closest to our 35-lb CQR. Boat Project Annie got a little crafty with some cardboard and made—to the best of my ability—a cardboard mock-up of the Excel No. 4, so Phillip and I could test it out on the boat.

I’m not sure how well cardboard will hold in winds and current, but we’ll have to try it out someday. ; ) This mock-up proved very helpful, though, as it led us to believe an Excel would pull up nicely through our bow pulpit and ride very well on the bow. I spoke at length with Nick over at Ground Tackle, who was incredibly helpful and patient with my many questions. One of which was his recommendation for the No. 4 for our boat (which weighs approximately 15,000 pounds, 7.5 tons dry, likely closer to 18,000 or 9 tons fully loaded, let’s just guess) when the specs indicated the No. 4 only held up to 7 tons. Nick advised the numbers were intended to be “super conservative” and that if we had been happy on a 35-lb CQR previously, the 37-lb Excel would “set faster and hold stronger every time over a CQR.” Knowing the No. 5 would add an additional unwanted 10 lbs to our bow, that did it for me. “No. 4, please.”

Although Nick did not have a record of selling an Excel to a Niagara 35 owner, after sending him photos of our bow pulpit, Nick was confident the Excel would ride nicely there, but he offered to cover the shipping back if it did not. Nice guy, that Nick. With a price we felt was very fair in light of the performance reviews, Phillip and I pulled the trigger.

And, full disclosure, while Nick kindly offered free shipping, we paid full price for this anchor. It was not given to us for free in exchange for an endorsement.

In just a few business days, our Excel arrived snuggled in carpet, foam, and tape! Our little bundle of joy! : )

I was pleased to see it appeared my cardboard mock-up had been pretty close to-scale

We were excited to see if she would pull up through the bow pulpit so we tested her out (being very careful not to drop our shiny new anchor to the bottom of the marina – doh!) on the port side while our CQR was still in its home on the starboard side of the bow, and we were thrilled to find IT FIT!! *Voila* We knew we were about to have a new anchor on Plaintiff’s Rest!

Getting her up on the starboard side, however, Phillip and I knew would be a small chore as the shackle on our old CQR was toast. After twenty however-many years of holding, the shackle and pin had fused together and would not budge. This actually turned out to be a good thing, however, as Phillip and I had been waffling on whether or not to buy a battery-operated portable grinder to make cuts like this, as needed, while cruising. Yannick had one for our Atlantic-crossing and, while the availability of it to cut a fallen rig off to save the boat is comforting, it actually proved handy on several projects we had to undertake during that voyage.

I wouldn’t recommend you use it exactly as Yannick is here – that crazy brilliant Frenchman!

So, now, facing a project that required a grinder, Phillip and I were encouraged to bite the bullet and buy one so we will now have one on-board s/v Plaintiff’s Restduring our future travels in case we ever need it for, let’s just hope, some underway projects, but also for the necessary rigging cut if needed to save the boat. Plus, I had a lot of fun watching the sparks fly as we cut off the old shackle so we could re-attach our 200-feet of chain to the new Excel anchor.

Ain’t she a beauty? I love the way it looks on the bow. A sexy anchor after all!

Or as Phillip said: “The anchor looks good, too.” ; )

The angular design looks good on our boat and the Excel cut-out gives it some pizazz! Phillip did some research on shackles and we opted to get two _________ to make the 90-degree turn to connect our chain to the anchor then we were ready to …

We were able to give the Excel one test so far out on the hook recently at Ft. McRee. We put about 100 feet of chain out in ~ 10 feet of water (with our freeboard of roughly 5 feet, that equates to an approximate 7:1 ratio) and revved back harder than we ever had to yank down on the new Excel.

I will say I’ve never felt the boat stop so suddenly. The Excel definitely dug right on in and held fast the entire weekend. Granted, we didn’t have any strong winds, but we did have current shifts, and we never budged on the Excel and enjoyed a stunning weekend on the hook thanks to Sarca.

And, as we saw in the many Sanope videos, the Excel came up nice and clean when we weighed anchor. So far, we are incredibly pleased with our decision to go with the Excel! If any of you have experience with an Excel or would like to share some of your own anchor research, please do so in a comment below! Knowledge is power people. And, sharing is caring. If any of you are considering a new anchor, we hope you found this article helpful.

In the meantime, Phillip and I are excited to start dropping our new Excel in warmer climates. Know that we will be bringing our old CQR with us as a back-up/additional anchor if we need it. We just have to figure out where to put it. I’m thinking the port lazarette, which is a wonderful deep bin of treasures, housing many spares, lines, two anchors, the auto pilot, all the fishing gear, paddles, oars, AND the life raft. I know, right? I love that locker. I’m thinking it will fit there, in the bottom, but that’s on my to-do list! Seeeee? : )

This is our “short list” if you can believe it. Phillip and I are getting pumped about getting back offshore! We will start watching weather windows next week for a good opportunity to start our voyage back south to the Bahamas and beyond.

Stay tuned!

Shipyard Vid: Install of Our New Composting Head

March 28, 2019March 2, 2020anniedike

Hello crew! This is the final video from our time in the shipyard with Perdido Sailor in 2018. I know many of you have been very curious about our swap from a manual to a composting head, and I wanted to share with you the install process in detail. The ventilation system turned out to be the trickiest part (mainly because we wanted to utilize old, obsolete systems to hide as much of it as we could for aesthetic results). But, other than removing the … smelly items, this was really a rather simple install, one I was able to handle primarily on my own while Phillip was tackling the rudder post reinforcement and other projects, and one we are very pleased with.

Phillip and I have been weekend cruising for about six months now using the composting head and have found it to be a wonderful new addition to our life goal of keeping things simple. There is no more pumping after each flush, no more pumping-out at the dock, no more head smell in our boat, no more sloshing (could bust a seam any day) turd tank, and we’ve opened up plenty of new, now much more freshly-smelling lockers for storage. Oh, and we closed a thru-hull (the one for the macerator). So, we are down to only four thru-hulls now on our boat and thrilled about it. I told you our motto: K.I.S.S. If any of you are considering changing to a composting head, Phillip and I highly recommend it. I can tell you this: We haven’t heard of a single sailor going from composting BACK TO a manual head. That should tell you something.

As mentioned in the video, here is the link to the detailed blog post I put together laying out all of our research and reasons for swapping to a composting head: https://havewindwilltravel.com/2018/09/15/shipyard-project-no-6-swap-to-a-composting-airhead/. This includes the pros and cons we found and the rationale behind our decision to go with an Airhead, versus the Nature’s Head or C-head, and links to helpful articles, like this one from RV Lifestyle, that helped to educate us and inform our decision. So, feel free to peruse that helpful source before you watch the install if you would like to know more about our decision.

Then dive into this fun shipyard project video! The composting head has been a fantastic live-aboard lifestyle upgrade for us.

If you have any questions about our composting head, feel free to shoot them our way via HaveWindWillTravel. Enjoy the show!

As promised in the video: a link to the Squatty Potty unicorn commercial (hilarious). You’re welcome ; ).

And, a link to buy the Coco Bliss coco pith bricks for the composting head (which is roughly $4/brick and each brick lasts 3-4 weeks, we’re told, for live aboard cruisers).

Also, for my “strictly blog” followers, you actually get TWO videos this week. I realized when I shared our “Six Years Sailing at HaveWindWillTravel” recently on YouTube and Facebook that I forgot to share it as a blog post to my email-only followers. So, HERE YOU GO! A very fun six-year video re-cap in the new “Our Journey” tab on the website for you as well below. Enjoy both shows!

Sailor Up! A Bitchin’ Article in Cruising Outpost

February 26, 2019February 26, 2019anniedike

Dang, who’s that chick at the helm? This is so fun to share followers. Bob Bitchin’ published another one of my articles in the Spring 2019 edition of Cruising Outpost. What a fabulous honor! Please go pick up a copy to read it and tell Bob and the lovely Jody what you thought! I wrote this piece during our voyage back last year from the Bahamas because it felt so empowering to be able to—now, after many voyages of practice—confidently take the helm and know the boat is under my control and that I’m just as capable of steering her as Phillip. That’s such a comforting feeling when it’s just the two of you out there covering many miles. Honestly, ladies—my badass female sailor following—I can’t emphasize enough what a confidence-builder it is to take the helm and maneuver the boat. Sure, it’s horrifically scary at first. There may be some tears, some pee, some shakes, some bumps and scrapes on the boat. But, keep at it! You’ll get better, I promise. You’ll get more accustomed and aware. You’ll get more confident, and (BONUS) your significant other will get wildly turned on. You’re welcome! : ) Ladies, it’s time to …

Photo thumb courtesy of the HaveWind followers who first spotted my article and were kind enough to take and send me the shots for this post. Thanks again David & Mary!

Going to the Miami Boat Show? That’s Very Proper of You!

February 12, 2019anniedike

Ahoy followers! As Phillip and I are here working in Pensacola and checking down our winter boat projects list, I’m getting lots of emails and messages from friends who are going to the Miami Boat Show, which is fantastic news! Phillip and I are huge fans of the show.

As many of you may be headed that way now, I thought I would share a little about our first Miami Boat Show experience back in 2015 when Phillip whisked this wanna-be sailor down to south Florida to board tons of fancy boats we would never buy and get starry-eyed from all of the “sailebrity” sightings! Think Pam Wall, Bob Bitchin, John Kretschmer, Nigel Calder, and the like. All those amazing worldwide sailors who were cruising way before we had auto-pilots and B&Gs and AIS.

And, I can with absolute 100% confidence say the reason Phillip and I are now committed cruisers and ocean voyagers is because we went to the Miami Boat Show in 2015. I’m serious. Ask Phillip and he will be the first to tell you, the reason he first started considering doing an Atlantic Circle was because of a talk John Kretschmer gave on it at the 2015 boat show. The reason I got super pumped about sailing our boat to the Bahamas to cruise the Abacos was because Pam Wall emphatically shouted over and over during her seminar: “You must go to the Bahamas! Go, go! You must! Pam says!” They and my other treasured sailebrities had such a positive impact on Phillip and me and our then just-flickering ambitions to cruise and cross oceans. For any of you headed to Miami for the boat show now, I hope these seasoned, experienced sailors have the same impact on you. Attend every free seminar you can! Soak up all their knowledge!

And, in honor of mine and Phillip’s first time at the show, I share now some fun throwback photos below and one of our most memorable moments from the 2015 Strictly Sail Miami show. I hope you all experience a similar “right and proper” Nigel Calder-esque moment like this during your time at the show. Enjoy!

From: Strictly Sail Miami Finale – Memorable Moments, March 18, 2015

Speaking of free food, after our third day at the show, we found ourselves nearing the evening, wandering the docks yet again and poking around all of the fancy boats we couldn’t afford. Inadvertently, we stumbled into the velvet rope cordoned-corner for Leopard Catamarans. Champagne glasses were clinking. Everyone had dainty little plates in their hands heaped with dainty little saucy bites and bits. It looked delicious, and we were hungry. We had no interest in buying a boat at the show, much less buying a catamaran, but that’s the beauty of the boat show–it doesn’t matter! All they want is your name and an email so they can eHound you later and you’re in! “I’ve got plenty of junk emails. You’re welcome to all of them!”

It didn’t take much and we were soon behind the velvet rope, standing in line at the hot bar filling our own little dainty plates with steaming empanadas, croquettes, meat pies, you name it! And, there we were, two stacked plates between us, and a glass and a half of champagne, and guess who we saw standing not five feet away? The one. The only. Nigel Calder. I nudged Phillip hard, pointed in Nigel’s direction and hissed at him, “Look, it’s Mr. Seized-it-up-Solid!” He was right there, eating the free food right along with us. I wanted to find a suitable bush I could nestle in, pick it up and twinkle-toe over so I could spy on him. Phillip had the better idea to actually walk up to the man and talk to him.

Turns out, he was super approachable and easy to talk to. After a few exchanges, Nigel asked Phillip and I what connection we had to Leopard, to which we replied, “None. We just wanted some free food.”

“Well, that’s very proper of you,” Nigel responded in his thick British accent. “Why d’you think I’m here?” he said with a smile and continued nibbling.

Nigel then told us how he and his family, when they were live-aboard, on-the-hook cruisers, would scope out the big boat shows at the marinas and find out when the roped-off sales tents–like the very one we were standing in–would shut down for the day. The whole brood would then plan to motor up in their dinghy about that time and let the good yachties know they were welcome to donate any food that was going to go to the trash to the Calder clan instead. Nigel said they used to rack up on all sorts of free provisions that way.

The man is a total cruiser to the core. Love that guy.

And, some fun photos from our time at the Miami Boat Show back in 2015. Enjoy!

A Friday Afternoon Special in SAIL Magazine!

February 1, 2019anniedike

That’s what Brandon calls a bad install on a boat … one that must have been done by a lazy worker on a Friday afternoon. This was such a fun treat to come home to! To find one of my articles in SAIL Magazine. Love those guys. If you haven’t picked up a copy of SAIL Magazine’s January, 2019 issue, go snag you one and check out this piece covering the work we did last summer reinforcing the rudder post system on our Niagara 35 under the cockpit floor. Brandon, Shane, and the entire team at Perdido Sailor, as always, did a bang-up job and were a lot of fun to work and learn with (even when we were crammed for hours on end in the engine room!). Our rudder is now stronger than ever! You can read more nitty, gritty details (with photos for my boat project gurus!) here or watch the video here. But, let me know if you’ve seen the article! I don’t care how silly it may seem, I never tire of seeing my name in print! : ) Enjoy the piece! Heck, read it this afternoon!

And, I loved the pretty pink sail they featured on the cover of this issue! With two ladies rocking it out. Way to go Women Sailors! And, nice work with this issue SAIL Magazine!

Shipyard Vid 3: New Coupling & Rot Repair

January 25, 2019anniedike

Calling all boat project fanatics, this one’s for you! Boy, did we have a time trying to get our engine aligned. While Phillip and I knew we had some kind of issue going on with our prop shaft, the key that fits in the shaft (which was always coming out and we were hammering back in, brilliant plan!), and our coupling, we didn’t know it was quite as bad as it was.

Watch along as Brandon, Shane, and the great team at http://www.perdidosailor.com help us diagnose and solve many issues relating to our prop shaft and how it seats in the transmission. We had a machinist re-engineer our old coupling and make us a new one. We also re-bedded the strut and replaced the gutless bearing.

And, just as boat projects always do, the boat had a lot of extra hidden work in store for us in the form of a rotten engine stringer portion (under the raw water pump on starboard, no surprise) that we had to repair along the way. Fun, fun! Misery loves company! Give it a watch! More photos and write-up available at http://www.havewindwilltravel.com.

I hope you all have been enjoying these shipyard videos while Phillip and I were off galavanting across the Atlantic Ocean. We’ll have plenty to share from that adventure once we get our heads back on straight. It can be hard, at times, to transition from offshore sailors back to full-time lawyers/marketing gurus. But, the work is always worth it. In exchange for all of those photos and videos of us out sailing and traveling the globe, enjoy seeing us here all grimy and greasy wedged down in the engine room on our boat! You’re welcome! B.O.A.T., am I right? : )

Our First Atlantic Circle Complete! This Calls for an Annie Seuss Treat!

January 15, 2019anniedike

From the Bay of Biscay across an entire ocean to the BVIs,

Under our belt now a full Atlantic Circle lies!

My mind firing, my knuckles cracked and loose,

I’m certain this event warrants a famous ditty by Annie Seuss!

With our biggest voyage to date behind us (albeit with many more the world to span)

I thought it was time to share with you the night when it all began:

When I met a man with a dream, who was so ablaze, so vivid, so itching to go.

That my words leapt before me in agreement. That was 14,000 nautical miles ago.

“There’s someone I want you to meet,” she said, a line we all immediately dread.

Lord, who now? I thought. A sad co-worker, a weird cousin with cats, probably a red head.

“Trust me,” my well-intentioned friend demanded. “He’s not you standard fare.”

And in my neck of the woods, Polos, Croakies, and Crocs was all they would wear.

When she pointed him out at the end of the bar,

My eyes blinked unbelievingly, my mouth flew ajar.

He was different, regal, commanding attention, demanding my stare.

I can tell you this: he most certainly did not have red hair.

I sauntered over cautiously, cosmopolitan in hand,

My instincts telling me I was stepping into new, wild land

Both of us practical, straightforward, we cut right to the chase,

Telling one another about our goals, our desires, time we did not waste.

“I want to travel,” I said. “Go, see, adventure, explore.”

I’m certain he decided at that moment he needn’t hear any more.

“I’m going to live on a boat,” he countered. “And sail around the world.”

I eyed him curiously, as my thoughts unfurled.

On a boat? I thought. Confused, taken aback, my forehead scored.

Country to country by boat, my mind wandered. “You mean live aboard?”

“Obviously,” he chuckled. “That’s typically how it’s done.”

Typically? I thought. “You mean you’re not the only one?”

Looking back now, this moment makes me laugh with him, too.

Phillip knew neither the vastness of my ignorance, nor my thirst for any experience new.

“Well, you shouldn’t have told me,” I said, simultaneously grasping and craving his irresistible plan

Knowing in that moment he had gained a life-long, utterly-smitten fan.

“Because I’m coming with you now,” I boldly announced,

And promptly flagged down the bartender for another courage ounce.

Phillip stood there, eyeing me slowly, now the one struck with bewilderment.

“I’ll have a martini, filthy,” I told the bartender. “When you have a minute.”

Relishing Phillip’s attention, his curious, piercing stare,

I wondered if he believed I would truly hop on a boat and go with him anywhere.

I did not wander at all myself, as I believe I made my mind up then and there,

And I’m confident our next exchange solidified it for Phillip, as well

For I, too, was not his standard fare.

“A martini to follow your cosmo?” he asked, as he finally settled into his seat.

“Obviously,” I said, mimicking his previous line. “I like things salty and sweet.”

You have my absolute honest word followers: this story is in no way fiction!

I’ve recited mine and Phillip’s first exchange, down to the very diction.

In our first conversation, during our very first meeting,

We spoke of this dream that felt neither imaginary or fleeting,

Of our mutual desire to travel, wander, venture, and explore,

I simply did not know until I met Phillip I would be doing it on a boat, shore to shore.

But, Phillip’s intriguing proposal for world travel only encouraged me further,

And I know now: as friend, companion, and captain, I could not have chosen any worthier.

For all our blue water voyages and the many more adventure seeds we still have to sow,

It still humbles and thrills me to this day to know it all unfolded over a dream and a drink, in a moment when I was immediately willing to go.

With five sailing years, many voyages, and a complete Atlantic Circle now behind us: Behold and lo!

It’s fun to remember how Phillip and I began, only 14,000 miles ago.

Photo taken January 9, 2019, with only 100 more nm to go!

N: 18° 079’ W: 61° 129′

Hope you all enjoyed this little HaveWind ditty.

I’ll be back with more to share from our travels in a jiffy!

Until then, know Phillip and I have made it back, our hearts full and swell,

Thinking: Another ocean crossed under sail!

What a testament to a life lived well!

Shipyard Vid 2: Removing the Quadrant & Replacing the Cables

December 10, 2018anniedike

Maybe they should change that B.O.A.T. saying to “bonded or about to.” The hardest part of our rudder drop was getting the stinking quadrant off! Heat, impact, cheater bars, nothing would work. So, the creative guys at Perdido Sailor had to come up with a different fix, and boy did they!

Ahoy crew! Shipyard Vid #2 coming at you, from Cascias, Portugal nonetheless! I put this video together a while back so you all would have something fun to watch while we were embarking on our second Atlantic-crossing helping deliver a new Lagoon across the pond from France to the USVIs! I know how you all LOVE boat project videos, so here’s another one for you from our interesting work at the shipyard this past summer.

While I wrote about this project several months back here, some of my followers love to see the video! This one’s for you! Phillip and I always enjoy working alongside the guys at the yard because we learn so much. They point out problems we didn’t even know we had and teach us fixes we didn’t even know were possible.

Watch here as we (finally!) get the quadrant off and make the necessary modifications to do that, check on our G-flexed keel seam from 2016, replace the cables for the throttle and shifter (because, according to Video Annie, they sounded like “Grandma’s panties coming down”), and shared some fun lighthearted joshing at the yard!

We hope you are all enjoying the shipyard videos and having a great time tracking us along while we are sailing back across the Atlantic Ocean. Follow on our facebook page at www.facebook.com/havewindwilltravel for real-time updates and locations via our Delorme!

Life is short. Fill your sails!

Shipyard Vid 1: Reinforcing the Rudder Post

November 29, 2018anniedike

Hey hey crew! As I write from La Rochelle, I have a confession to make. I’ve been saving a treat for you! I was holding this for when I knew we would likely be shoving offshore, so you all would have a fun video to watch as we struck out tomorrow into the notorious Bay of Biscay. We’re planning to head out tomorrow for either a short hop to a new port or a quick shakedown and turn-around. Either way, we’ll get water moving under the hull, learn a lot about the boat and crew’s capabilities and quirks, and hopefully make it to a new port in southern France or even Spain. The adventure begins! And, to celebrate the moment: a gift for you all! Your favorite, a (drumroll please) … SHIPYARD VIDEO! : )

I know how much you guys loooove our boat project/shipyard videos. Misery must love company, although I will say Phillip and I are far from miserable when we’re working on our boat. It beats sitting at a desk any day! While I wrote about this project previously (Shipyard Project #1: Reinforcing Our Rudder), this will be a very fun “catch-up” video for my folks who are strictly YouTube followers as these videos will bring you up to speed on all of the very cool work and upgrades we’ve been doing on our boat this past summer while Phillip and I attempt to complete our first Atlantic Circle this winter by helping some new friends deliver their new Lagoon 42 from La Rochelle, France to the BVIs. You’ll meet Kate and Cyrus with CruiseNautic soon, a very fun, adventurous pair. I guess you have to be to willingly hop on a small boat and sail across the Atlantic, am I right?

When we finish that voyage, Phillip and I will fly home to Pensacola, work for several months and then shove off on our baby girl, the beautiful Plaintiff’s Rest, to sail her as south as possible for hurricane season next year. Likely Grenada. We are not riding out another season in the corner pocket or the Gulf. It is horrendous to see what hurricanes can do.

I’ve got several more Shipyard Videos coming over the next few weeks so you all will have some fun things to watch while we are crossing the pond. Be sure to follow along on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/havewindwilltravel) where we will be posting via satellite through our Delorme. That way you can track us in real time across the Atlantic. Giddyup!

New Friends, New Plans, and a Tour of La Rochelle, France!

November 19, 2018anniedike

It isn’t a bad place to have to wait for the Lagoon, I will say that. La Rochelle is exquisite right now. Mist that fills the harbor every morning. Vivid yellow leaves the fall leisurely from the trees to the cobblestones, always mesmerizing me when they fall right before my eyes.

And the food! Fruits de mer! There are a thousand little restaurants, pubs, bistros, and—my favorite—fromageries! I’m afraid I have knowingly cultivated a full-fledged cheese addiction, and I, in no way, regret the decision. They eat cheese for dessert here. I mean … I love these people. J’aime La Rochelle!

Hello crew! From the stunning Atlantic-coast village of La Rochelle. I wanted to write you all a quick note from France before we shove off next week and begin our Atlantic adventure! I wanted to share a little more about our plans, our new friends, Kate and Cyrus, and why Phillip and I made such a drastic change to our cruising plans this year. When we were working in the shipyard this past summer, we had pretty-set plans to sail our Niagara 35 slowly and intermittently from November through the Spring of 2019 from Pensacola, to the Exumas to explore what we missed last year, then eventually to Grenada for hurricane season. Yet, we decide instead to hop on a new boat, with new crew, and sail back across the Atlantic Ocean?!

We must be crazy right?

We kind of are … : )

Or just in full-fledged pursuit of adventure! So, how did this whole opportunity unfold? How did we meet Kate and Cyrus? As Kate and Cyrus would tell you, all great stories begin with either “Once upon a time,” or “This ain’t no shit.” Well, this, my friends, is no merde!

We actually crossed paths with Kate and Cyrus while cruising but did not know it. Phillip and I were making our way back up the west coast of Florida after our cruising in the Bahamas this past season and we made an unplanned duck into Destin to get out of some not-too-comfortable conditions out in the Gulf: 18 knots on the nose that was set to continue well past midnight, well before we would be able to get to Pensacola Pass to get out of that mess.

So, we navigated the entrance to Destin Harbor for the first time, which was not easy. It’s a bit of a tricky zig-zag, shoaly entrance, but we made it. And it was one of those moments, when you finally get out of the stuff, the boat is settled and in one piece, and you drop the hook and feel your nerves finally start to settle out. Once the hook was set, Phillip and I both promptly made a boat drink (because that’s exactly what you do in that moment) and were kicked back in the cockpit heaving happy alternating sighs of satisfaction, when this large catamaran cruised by.

I saw a gal on the bow filming, which, being a bit of a fellow videographer, caught my eye. I could see she had a remote for the winlass around her neck, and I shouted some comment about how it would be awesome to be able to drop and raise the hook with the push of a button. We shared a lighthearted exchange or two and said “Cheers!” before their catamaran cruised on out of the anchorage. I had no clue at the time that cheery blonde on the catamaran would soon become one of my very good friends, someone I would cross the Atlantic Ocean with, but it was. That was Kate!

Kate and Cyrus were sailing with a captain to gain sea time towards their RYA licenses, and they were making the overnight run from Destin to Pensacola for bluewater experience. The catamaran they were sailing on, s/v Makarios, actually stays in a slip in Pensacola just a dozen or so boats down from where Phillip and I keep our Niagara 35. While Kate and Cyrus noticed our boat name, s/v Plaintiff’s Rest, as memorable when they were cruising through Destin Harbor, they didn’t think much more of it until they went the next week to Sea School for the necessary credits toward their USCG licenses. Ahhh … STCW Sea School, that was a fun time.

It was their Kate and Cyrus saw the insignia I had left on the Sea School wall, put two and two together (HaveWind with the boat they saw in Destin), and Kate then decided to reach out to me. There were here exact messages!

It’s connections and stories like this that will always make me feel grateful I created this (once very little) traveling sailing blog that has somehow reached so many. Seeing young cruisers like Phillip and I, and many others who are sharing their stories via blogs and videos, Kate and Cyrus decided to similarly sell the house in Minnesota and downsize to life on a boat. It was really neat, as we began to chat further, to learn about their plans to start a crew-chartered boat, CruiseNautic, on their Lagoon 42 in the USVIs as their quote-unquote retirement. Kate and Cyrus had already created their platform and signed up with Dream Yacht Charters to act as the broker for the boat purchase by the time we connected. The boat, a brand new Lagoon 42, was supposed to be completed early- or mid-November and their vague plan was to sail it from France to the Canaries to the USVIs from mid-November to early-January. A very fun plan indeed!

I’ll admit, Phillip and I get offers to crew often at HaveWindWillTravel, which is very cool but most of them do not work with our schedule or our own cruising plans. This one, however, seemed to fit a particular niche for Phillip, the offer of an amazing journey during the holidays when his work is a bit slower. When I told Phillip about the offer—mostly in jest—one evening while cooking dinner, I was surprised by his response:

“We would complete our first Atlantic Circle,” he said.

And, I remember thinking, then and there, there was a real chance this was actually going to happen. Phillip is an avid sailor and lives for offshore sailing and once he was thinking the voyage would fit with his work schedule and offer him something that is a true bucketlist item for him—completing an Atlantic Circle by sailboat—it was very likely he would work hard to make this happen.

That was July. Only three months before Phillip and I had planned to set sail in our own boat headed eventually for Grenada. But, the more we continued to talk about Kate and Cyrus’s offer, the opportunity to cross the Atlantic Ocean again was like this luminous jewel on the horizon. Another epic voyage. Another month of amazing challenges, memories, and bonds between new friends. How do you turn that down if it’s even remotely possible?

Look at these two. The answer is you don’t.

Phillip and I figured we would have plenty of time to sail our boat all over the Caribbean in the coming years, but another Atlantic crossing with a young fun couple felt like an opportunity we could not turn down. And, we are very grateful for the commitment and work we have put toward making our lives, careers, and income as flexible as it is so that we can seize opportunities like this when they come along. Phillip was the man who initially taught me the incredibly important concept of time-value. That is, to make sure I valued experiences and time more than money and things, and it was his support and creativity that helped me begin my online marketing business (which has since grown across many avenues and platforms) that allows me to say, with resounding excitement—“YES!”—to adventures like these.

Once we began emailing, at first, then Skyping, with Kate and Cyrus to both get to know them and to discuss more details about the voyage, their travel plans, etc., Phillip and I started to get that tingly “Holy crap this is really happening” feeling. It’s a prickle beneath our skin that tells us there is one amazing, eye-opening adventure in our future. And, each conversation we had with Kate and Cyrus told us the four of us were very like-minded, in pursuit of the same goals, with a similar approach to challenges and provisioning, and collectively a very knowledgeable and fun crew. While Kate and Cyrus do not have the extent of bluewater experience that Phillip and I do, we all compliment each other in different ways. Cyrus is a mechanical engineer by trade, capable of dissecting and repairing virtually any system, with a good bit of sailing miles under his belt on he and Kate’s Precision 26 on Lake Lanier. Big plus for an offshore voyage.

Kate also grew up sailing with her father on Lake Lanier, and is an adventurous, fun-loving, talented singer and songwriter. Another huge plus for an offshore voyage. Here is Kate jamming out with her Fleetwood Mac cover band!

I can’t wait to sing a duet with her during the passage!

The four of us clicked very easily and we all had a good feeling about crew comraderie for the voyage. The good thing, though, we knew we would be spending several weeks together in France in a tight little Airbnb—a great place to see if we really did mesh well together, before shoving off for good.

Kate, Cyrus, Phillip, and I been here a week now, cooking dinners together, sharing stories, laughs, worries, concerns, and we all get along fabulously and foresee an amazing experience ahead. It’s a goal worth every 12-hour days’ work we put into it. Offshore voyaging is such a reward. And, doing it with friends and fellow sailors who share the same joy and awe of it as Phillip and I do, makes it even more memorable. We cannot wait to share this voyage with you!

Here is a fun video tour of La Rochelle—our haling port for the moment—as well as some very fun photos from Paris and our rendezvous with the infamous Captain Yannick from our first Atlantic-crossing in 2016. We are soaking up every minute of this journey and looking forward to seeing and getting on the new Lagoon 42 next week!