This week has been a pretty frustrating one. We are about T – 10 days to move aboard our boat, and I am desperately trying to get her ready. One thing I am learning is that anything on a boat is two steps forward and one step back, or sometimes three. Things rarely go smoothly.
Why Do a Rally? – The Caribbean 1500
Why do a rally and why the Caribbean 1500? I was recently asked this by the website All At Sea Southeast magazine (www.allatsea.net). Here is what I came up with!
Installing Air-Only Ventilators
The Tartan 41 is known as an offshore racer, and as such, its design doesn’t feature many holes in the deck, to make sure its secure from green water. For most cruisers at anchor however, these holes in the deck are otherwise known as ventilation. Despite her racing heritage, Alchemy will be spending most of her time at anchor, and so we are definitely short of ventilation, with just two hatches and a single cowl that feeds four dorades.
Going Feral
With just a few months to go before we leave, I’ll admit to sometimes lying awake in the middle of the night anxious about some aspect of our year in the Caribbean. In no particular order, things that have caused night time sweats include: going offshore for the first time, being responsible for the safety of my family or being able to keep all of Alchemy’s systems working.
But most of all, what keeps me awake at night is the challenge of taking three boys afloat and trying to stop them going feral. And just to mention, a few gender stereotypes might creep into this blog post, I apologize in advance.
Is a Safety at Sea Seminar Worth it?
A couple of weeks ago, Sarah and I attended a Safety at Sea Seminar. It’s a full day US Sailing Sanctioned Seminar and designed to meet the Safety at Sea requirements for the Newport to Bermuda Race, sponsored by the Storm Trysail Foundation. Coincidentally, the one we attended was also on the same day as our anniversary. So was the seminar worth it, and was it a suitable stand in for more traditional anniversary gifts?
Sailing With Kids 