Knotty Cat at 1 Month

Read this interview as originally published on Knotty Cat Tales.
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Hans (who has been sailing since he was a teenager) and I (who had never been on a sail boat until I met Hans 7 years ago) bought our Island Packet Cat in January of 2008 and moved her from Massachusetts to Maryland with the intention of eventually moving aboard full time. We moved on board for what we hope is for good in January of this year and finally arrived in Florida a couple of weeks ago.

We both sold our houses so now instead of wondering when we'll have to replace a roof, or the furnace etc... we now spend our time replacing water pumps that break down just before company is due to arrive, leaky hoses that give up the ghost and saturate the contents of our lockers, and "Oh God! that's not the head I smell is it"!?

Of course when I do something I go whole hog and we ended up bringing a pit bull puppy with us.

Wilbur is our rescue project and we couldn't ask for a better companion. He learned to use his potty patch within a week and as you can see here, he also helps navigate.

What (if anything) do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising? 

Actually, I read so many blogs before hand that I think we had a pretty good idea of what to expect. However traveling the ICW has been an eye opener for us both. We didn't realize how much the tides affect the currents and even though we think we've tried to time ourselves perfectly it doesn't always turn out that way and we end up with the current on our nose half the time.

In your first year of cruising, what transitions did you find the most difficult? 

Nothing major but trying to get our mail is a pain. Even in this electronic age I'm surprised by how much paper stuff we still need. Right now my daughter sends it on when we finally know we'll be somewhere to actually receive it.

I also don't like not being able to wash my hair more often, but when we're at anchor I can't use a hair dryer. If the weather is warm it's not a big deal but if it's cold out, my hair, which is really thick, won't dry. Hans doesn't have that problem!

What mistakes did you make in your first year of cruising? 

Trying to keep a schedule and biting off way more than we could chew. This summer we bought a new dinghy and motor, picked up our newly repaired sail, a new bimini, brought a dog and cat with us, and then tried to fully provision our boat. All of this in one weekend!

It was a nightmare and of course since the marina wanted us out of there we took off towing our dinghy complete with huge motor attached and ended up sailing in horrible seas!

What do you enjoy about cruising that you didn't expect to enjoy?
I'm surprised that I don't miss TV. We do have one on board but we only use it when we're at marinas. We have a digital converter and a good antenna so it's free and we can always pick up something if we want to. And not that it had a good ending (we're from Pittsburgh!) but we were able to watch the Superbowl in the comfort of our boat and the beer was cheap.
At first when things broke down it would drive Hans crazy but he's really learning a lot. He's done oil and impeller changes, replaced our water pump when it quit on us one too many times, and he loves to come up with too many ideas on how to get our dinghy up on the stern sans dinghy davits!
What do you dislike about cruising that surprised you?
Being at the mercy of Mother Nature. In the old days if the weather was nice, we went sailing. if it wasn't, we didn't. Now it doesn't matter whether we like it or not, we're in it. Period. Getting up in the middle of the night when a 40 knot storm blows through because we want to be prepared for the anchor to drag. Having thunder hit overhead so hard the fillings in my teeth rattle. Trying to stay warm. Trying to stay cool!!!
What is something that you read or heard about cruising, that you didn't find to be true?
We were both laughing the other day about how everyone perceives our sailing life. Everyone thinks our life is like the covers of all the sailing and boating magazines. The weather is always nice, the sun is always shining, the ladies don't have filthy hair, and we lie around and drink Margaritas all day long. If the magazines showed how glamorous sailing really is; bruises, dirty fingernails, no makeup; I have a feeling boat sales would be lower than they already are!
What is something that you read or heard about cruising, that you found particularly accurate?
I'd read (via Windtravelers blog) that your working systems are usually going to be 80/20. 80% working and 20% not. Very true and there have been times when 80% would have been heaven!
Is there something you wish you had bought or installed before starting cruising?
Dinghy davits for sure!!!! There have been a lot of times I would have loved going ashore but messing with the dinghy and its motor both before and after an excursion just wasn't worth it to me. We also don't have a generator and we'd love to get a diesel one but we hate to spend money on a gasoline one right now. We have gas on board for the dinghy motor but Hans hates to have to have large quantities of gas and diesel if we can get by with just one fuel.
What piece(s) of gear would you leave on the dock next time? Why?
Right now we think we're okay. We learned last summer that we really don't need tons of clothes and I don't really need five pairs of sandals.
I also ditched the microwave since I don't use it. I did buy a portable ice maker for $150.00 and it's already paid for itself. It starts making ice within ten minutes and if it gets left at the dock, I'm going with it!
What are your plans now? If they do not include cruising, tell us why.
For now we'll continue on South and hopefully head to the Bahamas. After that we'll probably come back over and sail back up the Atlantic coast. Having a dog on board limits your destinations a bit as they are not allowed in the BVI because of rabies. But that's okay, we found out last summer when we were in the Chesapeake and Potomac that there are tons of places to see and go and I have no problem with limiting myself to this hemisphere!
What has been the scariest event you've experienced so far?
We've gone through some heavy seas that probably weren't dangerous but certainly weren't fun and a couple of times our anchor dragged but the scariest event for me was when Hans fell off the boat at 4 AM while we were at a marina. He wanted to adjust our dock lines due to the strong currents and because of the frosty surface he slipped and fell in between the boat and the dock. He also broke our rule that no one goes aboveboard at night without notifying anyone and the huge bang he made when he went in is what woke me up. I had to lower our swim ladder (we've rigged it now so that it can be lowered by someone in the water) and he was able to get out. He did end up with seven stitches in the palm of his hand and I think he got off very lucky!

When all is said and done though, living on a boat is different. It's not for the weak at heart or those who live for the Midnight Buffet (not when you're asleep by 9 PM!). Showers (and I'm not talking rain) are sometimes few and far between, and thank God I've never had a manicure so I don't have to worry about missing them. But nothing beats watching a sunset or a full moon rising... sitting in the cockpit and being surrounded by the lights of a new city...grilling a steak in a secluded anchorage and then enjoying a Bloody Mary the next morning... need I say more?
Posted on Monday, February 21, 2011 by  and tagged   |  

Vicarious at 10 months

Read this interview as originally published on Sail Vicarious.
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We (Kathleen & Spencer) have been cruising since April 2010 and first went up the coast to Maine, as far as Somes Sound and then we sailed back down taking the ICW at Norfolk, through the beautiful Dismal Swamp, grounded a couple of times in NC, and SC, jumped from Miami to Gun Cay, checking in at Chubb Cay, Christmas at Georgetown, NYE at Rum Cay, sailing to Caicos then onto Luperon DR, bashed our brains out along the north coast and then through the Mona to Boqueron. Now we are in Salinas provisioning until Panama. We are reading Jimmy Cornell's books to make sure we will be going at the right time, taking the right route from Panama to the Marquesas. From there we don't know yet...

Here are the questions and very brief answers from Kathleen.

What (if anything) do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising? That is is as difficult as an outward bound course and it will test the bonds of love in a relationship, even the strongest!!

Is there a place you visited wish you could have stayed longer? Big Sand Key, Turks and Caicos.

Tell me your favorite thing about your boat. It is verrrrrrrry tough. Much tougher than I!

Tell me your least favorite thing about your boat. Not enough storage space for a year of provisioning!

How often have you faced bad weather in your cruising? How bad? In the Gulf of Maine skirting hurricanes and then going to windward through the Bahamas, the DR, Mona Passage and PR we faced a lot of uncomfortable seas, BUT it was all under a schedule!!! It is like everyone says, a schedule is the only dangerous thing when cruising! 10-12 ft seas, confused with 20 knot winds were the worst and I hope that is as bad as it gets. I know people face 25 ft seas, but I'm not ready for that!

What do you dislike about cruising that surprised you? The bug bites!

What is something that you were dreading about cruising when you were dreaming, that is as bad or worse than imagined? The bugs!

Is there something from your land life that you weren't sure about bringing and are very happy about having brought now? I am so glad I kept some nice clothes, I like to look nice and not look like a cruiser. It makes me look less like a tourist!

When have you felt most in danger and what was the source? During rough passages, but now that I am safely out of them and have more experience I think it was just in my own mind!

Share a piece of cruising etiquette. ALWAYS say "hello and how are you" in the language of whatever country you are in. You never know if the guy leaning back in the chair with a tee shirt on is the customs guy who needs to check you in and give you all the days you want! Make it a habit to ask everyone!!

Bright Eyes at 1 month

You can read more about SV Bright Eyes and crew on their blog.
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We were 23 year old office workers when we decided we wanted to live in the Caribbean. We searched online and found cruising. Our first day sailing was at survey to purchase our 1985 Seidelmann 37. After almost 2 years of learning to sail and outfitting the boat we have finally left Maryland! We have two cats, Nomy and Nala. We have been cruising for 4 weeks now and have made it to Florida. Our goal is the Bahamas, after that who knows.

10. What piece of gear seems to break the most often?

Joey: Engine. No doubt.

9. What do you enjoy about cruising that you didn’t expect to enjoy

Joey: Fixing things. There is a sense of accomplishment when it’s fixed.

8. What spares do you wish you had more of? Less of?:

Christine: Less life jackets. We have 5 inflatable ones and about 10 orange puffy ones, in case you know… we have a giant party …. Sike.

Joey: There is a whole section behind one of our couches dedicated to things that we do not know what they are.

7. What do you miss about living on land?

Christine: long showers and the ability to stop by the store to pick up something essential like bread.

Joey: Eating out at restaurants and flushing toilets.

6. What is your watch schedule/ describe a typical day underway on your boat:

Christine: We spend 15 minutes layering up, during which time Nomy, our oldest cat, realizes we are about to start the engine and he starts barking (yes) and jumps into the v berth to hide until we anchor. Joey pulls the anchor up, and from then out its two hours on and off. If it’s a hard day, 8 ish hours, we will spend our off time relaxing to music or warming up inside. I am the designated cook, it’s the least I can do since he does the anchor everyday so I spend some of my offtime cooking. You would not believe how hungry being underway makes you, unless you have been there. SERIOUSLY where does all that energy go?

5. What is the key to making the cruising life enjoyable

Joey: Not getting upset about things that go wrong. It happens.

4. What is the hardest thing about cruising

Joey and Christine: Missing our family, and not being there for important events.

3. What is something you read or heard about cruising that you find to be particularly true

Joey: Its not all easy street, it is just a different lifestyle.

2. What was your scariest moment cruising:

Christine: We hit a shoal, which didn’t particularly worry me, since we have done it plenty of times before. In fact, I started cooking since tow boat was an hour away they said. By the end of the hour my meal was sliding off the pan we were so sideways. Tow boat arrived and yelled and screamed at us and I couldn’t wait to blog about how vicious he was until I realized (after he left) that the tide was quickly and seriously leaving and if we didn’t hurry the heck up we were stuck there all day (we were). The moment he told us there was nothing he could do and to hand him back his line, my fist tightened around it and I looked in terror at Joey. High and dry. Something we didn’t know even existed until it happened.

Joey: The Chesapeake Bay when huge waves were crashing on our boat and everything below was getting tossed and I had to keep steering in the right direction and I was seasick.

1. Tell me your favorite thing about your boat?

Christine: Our V berth is huge. We looked at a lot of boats and they all had us kicking each other at the V, but ours is the most spacious v berth we’ve seen.

Joey: I love how fast our boat is (in the sailing world), our 9 ft wide 11 ft long v berth, and also our drop down living room table.

Arcas at 6 months

Read this interview as originally published on NASailor.
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We’ve featured many of the entries in the interesting “Interview with a Cruiser” series, a web project created by Livia Gilstrap to document the experiences of long-term offshore cruisers. At her readers’ request, Livia has started a new site called “Newly Salted” to showcase interviews with cruisers who have gone on shorter journeys or just started their cruise. She invited us to interview ourselves about the six-month cruise we took in 2009. We were honored to participate and decided to publish our answers here as well to give our readers more insight into the sailing history of NASailor’s founders.

What (if anything) do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising?

Beth: I wish that someone had explained the “you can’t rush mother nature” aspect of cruising. Basically, that you have to give up on the idea of scheduling where you are going to be at any given time. Frankly, I don’t know if that’s something you can learn without experiencing it. The first few weeks of our trip were incredibly stressful because we were in too much of a hurry. After trucking Arcas to Florida and fitting her out for our trip, we went for a two-hour sail as our sole break-in before crossing the Gulf Stream the next day. I paid for that stupidity by spending the entire crossing with my head leaning against the dodger, eyes closed, seasick.

Hill: I wish someone had told us, “Don’t go for less than six months.” It takes at least 2-3 months to adjust to the cruising way of life. We planned our trip for six months, but that was just luck on our part.

In your first year of cruising, what transitions did you find the most difficult?

Beth: The transition to being hyper-aware of the weather and environment and understanding what the potential consequences could be for us and the boat.

Hill: Being a full-time mechanic, having to manage all of the systems on the boat, from the battery to the engine, and knowing that there is no safety net out there. I had to understand how everything worked and how it was wired together. On land, you can just call a professional and you don’t have to know exactly what’s wrong. On the sea, you are responsible for diagnosing and fixing many problems. There is no mechanic, except you, at least for the basic stuff.

What mistakes did you make in your first year of cruising?

Beth: Creating a much more ambitious trip plan than we could realistically accomplish, not only because of timing, but also because of what I was ready to take on as a first-time offshore cruiser in a 29-foot boat.
We also underestimated how expensive the Bahamas would be, even though we’d heard that it would be from some of our cruising friends. The food prices there are ridiculous. We should have stocked up on way more food before we left. We thought we bought a lot, but should have bought at least 4x more than we did before leaving.

Otherwise, we did a good job planning the trip. One of the good things about a 29-foot boat is that you don’t have a lot of room for extra stuff. There wasn’t much we brought that we didn’t use, and there wasn’t much that we didn’t have that we wished we had brought. Most of the credit goes to Hill for planning our systems well.

What do you enjoy about cruising that you didn’t expect to enjoy?

Beth: Watching the sun come up on an overnight watch.

I also really loved planning our routes and destinations. Before this trip, I had only sailed in places like Chicago, where there aren’t many harbors to explore, or Maine, where Hill has been sailing since he was a kid. At first I had no idea how to read a chart to figure out what would be a good anchorage or the best way to navigate from point to point. By the time we got to Eleuthera, I was doing 90% of the trip plotting. I still remember the look on Hill’s face the first time I disagreed with him on where we should go next and then pulled out the charts to explain why I thought my option was better!

I’d pass hours looking at the charts and cruising guides to figure out where we were going to go next. That’s one of the best parts of cruising – having time to do whatever you feel like doing. It’s such an incredible luxury.

Hill: Even though it was stressful at times, I enjoyed the responsibility of being the Captain and managing the boat. It would be hard for me to crew on someone else’s boat now.

What do you dislike about cruising that surprised you?

Beth: To directly contradict the above answer…I hate long offshore sails. More than 36 hours and I want to kill myself. They are either boring or scary, and neither is fun.

Also, doing laundry in a bucket. Hate it.

Hill: To also give the flip side of my previous answer, the constant responsibility of being Captain could be tiring. As the more experienced cruiser of the two of us, I was ultimately responsible for the boat and our safety. Although I had cruised before and also led the crew on Arcas during the racing season, it’s not the same as being Captain 24/7. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it, but sometimes I just wanted a break.

What is something that you read or heard about cruising, that you didn’t find to be true?

Beth: Sometimes there’s the perception that cruising = roughing it. That’s not necessarily true, even for those who don’t have a ton of money. You just have to make choices and prioritize what’s important. For example, we knew we would be using our computers and listening to a lot of music, and in general we didn’t want to worry about power. So we had four solar panels and four house batteries on our little 29-foot boat. It got us some interesting looks in the harbor, but we never had to run the engine to charge up our batteries.

You do have to make tradeoffs on outfitting your boat, unless you have money to burn, but you don’t have to give up everything.

Is there something you wish you had bought or installed before starting cruising?

Beth: A bigger boat.

Cruising on a 29-foot boat (especially one designed as a racer-cruiser) can be challenging. Our euphemism was that she was “lively”. Our friends who did a two-year cruise in a heavy offshore boat needed at least 15-20 knots to really move, whereas our boat started to get hard to handle at 20+ knots.

On the other hand, we could outsail almost any cruising boat under 40 feet, and Arcas’ maneuverability did come in handy at times. Docking, anchoring, etc was much easier. When we bought Arcas, it was for cruising and racing in Lake Michigan – we didn’t intend to do an extended cruise on her. But that’s the boat we had. Next time we’ll go in a real offshore cruiser.

Hill: We should have had all-chain anchor rode instead of chain+line. The chain+line combo was a pain in the Exumas because of the current – it would wrap around the boat and we’d have to undo it. The boat also wagged more at anchor. We replaced it with all-chain once we returned to the U.S.

What piece of gear seems to break the most often?

Beth: Everyone seems to have an autopilot story. We had a Simrad and brought along a backup. Ours never broke, but it did have “issues”. We named it Sinbad and our running joke was that Sinbad had a drinking problem that affected his steering ability. If we didn’t’ treat him properly, he’d pay us back by hitting the sauce.

Hill: The alternator broke before we left and we bought another one. We brought the original one as a spare and ended up switching them back out while trying to diagnose an engine problem. This goes back to my earlier comment about having to be the on-board mechanic.

What piece(s) of gear would you leave on the dock next time? Why?

Hill: We brought the spinnaker and all it did was take up space in the v-berth. It would have required both of us to be on deck all of the time managing it and we couldn’t have used the autopilot with it. It wasn’t worth bringing.

What are your plans now? If they do not include cruising, tell us why.

Beth: We always planned to do a relatively short sabbatical and then return to “normal” life. Because we are on the younger side (30s) we wanted to come back to continue with our careers and start a family.

When we returned, we moved to a new city, and then a few months later we decided to start an online sailing magazine called North American Sailor. It was the perfect way to combine our career backgrounds with our passion for sailing.

We are already planning to take another long-term cruise after we have a family. But at least once a month we discuss taking off again. Now that we’ve done it once, it won’t take us long to get ready to do it again. The biggest obstacle is the boat…we won’t do another long cruise on Arcas.

In the meantime, we’ve been loaning ourselves out to Hill’s parents, who recently retired, and cruising/racing out of Annapolis.

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I’ve asked you and how would you answer it?

What do you miss the most about cruising?

Beth: Having a bathing suit and shorts being my outfit for the day. I also love sailing into a new harbor – especially if it’s a town that was originally built around a harbor. I love seeing it first from the water just as people did hundreds of years ago. Like Charleston – that’s a city that is so much more spectacular when approached from water, not land.

Hill: Just the lifestyle and being off the grid. Being able to have a lot of free time to read, swim, chill out, fool around with systems. I also miss the dinghy rides…motoring in with a bunch of empty bags and exploring a new town.

Island Bound at 3 months

Read this interview as originally published on Sailing SV Island Bound.
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Background: Kevin, along with wife Erin and daughters Hannah (age 8) and Isabel (age 5) are all lifelong boaters, but first began sailing when they purchased and restored a 25 foot sailboat in 2007. They now sail aboard a 28 foot Irwin sloop out of Grand Haven on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. During the summer of 2009, they spent the better part of 3 months and over 1000 nautical miles cruising roundtrip to Lake Huron’s North Channel and nearly every port and island in between. Future cruising ideas include a possible trip out the Erie Canal, down the ICW and into the Bahamas. This interview focuses on their 3 month North Channel cruise experience.

1) What (if anything) do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising?

That cruising is addictive and the hardest part is returning to port when the cruise is finished. There’s really no easy way to re-adjust to life back on land. The pace, distractions, complexity and consumerism of being a landlubber become much more visible after having cruised for an extended period of time.

2) What transitions did you find the most difficult during your first extended cruise?

Living in a small space with 3 other people with just a fraction of the possessions and “stuff” that we were all accustomed to back at home. While the transition can be difficult, it is not without great reward. Learning to live with less, growing together as a family, and relying on each other for companionship and our individual strengths are some of the priceless gems of cruising.

3) What mistakes did you make on your first extended cruise?

We wished we had stayed longer in certain anchorages, but felt pressure to move on to see the next great place. In retrospect, slowing down and cruising at your own pace are what it’s all about. Though the North Channel is uniquely stunning, the most beautiful part of the cruise was seeing our family work together to meet the challenge of moving a small boat a very long distance.

4) What is one piece of gear/equipment you have onboard that you couldn’t do without?

Easy answer…our autopilot! We simply can’t imagine putting any serious miles beneath the keel without the help of a good, reliable autopilot. The autopilot (or any self-steering device) not only prevents fatigue but also allows you to do other things while you’re on passage such as cooking, cleaning, repairs, etc. as long as you keep a vigilant eye on your surroundings and position. If money weren’t a factor or if we were on even longer ocean passages, we’d also install wind vane steering to supplement the autopilot and save on battery usage. You can see our Autohelm ST1000 in action in this earlier blog post from the cruise. Additionally, we really enjoyed having a hammock onboard for lazy afternoons on the hook and a small 2-gallon shop vac for easy clean-up on those rare days when we had shorepower.

5) What is one piece of gear/equipment you wish you had onboard?

A bigger solar panel. We carry two very small (2 watt each) trickle-charge solar panels, but they don’t do much. It would be really nice to harvest enough solar energy from the sun to keep our little Norcold refrigerator going instead of relying on block ice. A small (perhaps foldable) bicycle would also be a nice addition for those occasional long treks for provisions while in port.

6) What do you enjoy about cruising that you didn't expect to enjoy?

The food! I was pleasantly surprised that we were usually able to make healthy and delicious meals while cruising. Some of our favorites included fresh caught walleye encrusted with Frosted Flakes cereal, freshly picked wild blueberries in blueberry pancakes, and banana and nut oatmeal. Prior to cruising, I expected that we’d be eating a lot of mac and cheese, ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches, but I’m happy to report we mostly avoided those. All in all, cruising seems to keep you healthy because you tend to eat smaller meals (small galley = small meals) and stay active trimming sails, washing the boat, paddling to shore, hiking to the store, etc.

7) What is something that you read or heard about cruising, that you didn't find to be true?

We thought we’d find lots of other cruising boats with kids onboard, but after nearly 3 months we hardly ever crossed paths with any other cruising kids. This may or may not be something specific to the Great Lakes, but we fully expected that our two daughters would make lots of new friends. Fortunately, they had a great time being each other’s own best friend. They weren’t bored by any stretch, but I’m sure more kids would have made the cruise that much more enjoyable for them.

8) What is something that you read or heard about cruising, that you found particularly accurate?

We had always been told and read how friendly and helpful the cruising community is and are happy to say that our experience backs this up. For example, the crews of the other boats in the many anchorages we stayed in were always stopping by in their dinghies to welcome us and share tips on the current anchorage and suggestions for the next anchorage. Cruisers are a very self-sufficient lot, but that’s not to say they don’t enjoy community and socializing with other cruisers.

9) What piece(s) of gear would you leave on the dock next time? Why?

We have a relatively small boat for a crew of four and therefore spent a lot of pre-cruise time planning what we should take and where we would store it so there really wasn’t anything onboard that we’d leave behind next time. In fact, we’ll probably take more the next time we go. There are pieces of safety gear (climbing harness for mast climbing) and electronic gadgets (WindMate anemometer) that rarely were used, but we’d still bring them along again either because they are essential for safety and/or repairs or simply small enough, in the case of the WindMate, that they didn’t take up unnecessary space.

10) What question do you wish I had asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it?

We always find it interesting to hear how people are able to afford to cruise, both from a temporal and financial perspective. In our case, we have a very modest paid-for boat and only cruised as long as we were able to be away from shore. Erin is a schoolteacher so naturally she can be away from her job for three months in the summer. Kevin is fortunate enough to have a part-time position that allows him to telecommute during a cruise. This of course meant we had to bring along a laptop and printer and find reliable WiFi signals on a regular basis, but it worked out and allowed us to cruise for a summer. If cruising is a priority, you’ll find a way to make it work. There’s definitely trade-offs to cruising, like missing your family back at home, but we’ve the rewards found across large stretches of blue water are not to be missed.
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