The Best Laid Plans

"The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men often go Awry"  

John Steinback

If there is one lesson we have learned from all our reading from forums, articles, books and blogs, it's never plan to be somewhere on a specific date.  This is a downright no-no for sailors and will most certainly get you in a whole heap of trouble.  Sailors must go when the weather is good, when the wind is blowing from the right direction, for how ever many consecutive days necessary.  This is referred to as a "weather window".  Planning is a good thing for all intensive purposes, but they can not dictate your schedule.  You might be stuck in one particular spot for a week or two, just waiting for your window of opportunity.  We must be patient and go with the flow.  How does that saying go? Expect the unexpected.

With that said, we have come up with a PLAN!  Shhhh, say it softly, so it's not heard far and wide.  But I just can't help myself.  Craig is definitely a 'fly by the seat of his pants' kind of guy.  His ADD type personality (I say that in the most kind, loving way) allows him not to care about details until they are absolutely necessary.  I, on the other hand, want to know the 'plan', as far in advance as possible.  It makes me feel better to have a plan, a purpose, a goal shall we say.  I don't fly by the seat of my pants very well (ask Craig).

Well.....here it is....the PLAN for all it's worth - for our east coast jaunt anyway.  We haven't planned past Florida.  You can rest assured that I am working on it.   I feel the need to put a disclaimer here though.  Even though I am a planner at heart, I do realize it will take time to travel from one location to the next.  These are guidelines people, work with me.

June 9 - Craig and Maggie drive to St. Augustine Florida.  

June 11 - Kate, Olivia and I fly to Florida.  

June 12-16 -  Provision, unpack and stow all our personal belongings, food and beverages.  Prepare meals that can be heated up quickly by any member of the crew in case the cook (that's me) is sea sick or hallucinating from the scopolamine patch! 

June 17-26 - Point the bow north to Rhode Island and head out into the Gulf Stream.  Dan, our captain, will be with us for this 5-6 day trip of 24/7 sailing.  This date, of course, is dependent on our weather window.  Remember?  So we have a big cushion of time to get us north just in case the weather does not cooperate.  Once we make it to Rhode Island, we'll drop off Dan (he says he can swim...) and head to Boston on our own.
June 26-July 1 - But first we want to watch the America's Cup in Newport Rhode Island.  

July 2 -Anchor in Boston Harbor, meet up with some Seattle friends, tour some historical sites and revel in the fact that we made it (hopefully unscathed) and our trip has begun!

July 4th - Enjoy the Boston Pops Concert and fireworks on the Charles River (known as one of the top places to see fireworks in the US)

July 5th - Sail up the coast of Maine.  This is still a questionable event for us at this point.  And, where our "plan" could take a major detour.  You see, there are a bazillion (no exaggeration here) lobster pots in the waters off the coast of Maine.  Lobster pots and boat props don't mix well.  And since we have 2 that are 21 feet apart, this makes us really nervous.  If we do make it to Maine, we will stop by and spend a few days with our boat broker Pete and his family (who will be vacationing on land).
July 13 - 25 - Back to Boston, Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard
July 26 - Craig is scheduled to take his recertification test in Warwick Rhode Island.  Anesthesiologists have to take this test (essentially another board exam) every 10 years.  A necessary evil!
July 27 - August 17 - Back to Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard - yeah baby!
August 18 - 25 - New York
August 26 - 30 - Philadelphia
August 31 - September 30 - Chesapeake Bay and Washington DC
October 1 - November 1 - North & South Carolina, Georgia
November 2 - 15 - Florida - Head to the Bahamas with a good weather window!

Phew......how does that sound?

Look at you now!

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be famous?  Well, let me tell you, it's exhausting trying to keep up with all the media. And the paparazzi - don't get me started.  The phone is ringing off the hook for t.v. segments, newspaper articles and now radio interviews!  Geez, can we get some rest around here.  The latest media frenzy happened this morning when Craig was on Good Morning Texas.  Woo Hoo!  He was promoting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Regatta that is being held this weekend (and last).  In fact, he is the honored hero for the LLS Cup Regatta this year.  Click on the link below to see the story.
 Good Morning Texas/LLS Cup Regatta
Below are some photos from last weekends Regatta, held at the Corinthian Sailing Club on White Rock Lake.  By the way, NONE of this media stuff would be happening without Libby from LLS.  She is the one behind all the media and paparazzi (thanks a lot).  Without her, nobody would care about our story.  The real story is LLS!

 Craig with Ann Ramsey and Ralph "Red Dog" Jones from The Corinthian Sailing Club

 Craig, Kate and Ann sailing on Red Dog's Flying Scot boat

 Maggie with her friend Kaitlyn racing on a butterfly

  Kaitlyn's dad worked hard to get the girls out there racing - Thank You Mr. Rowland!

Packing and Moving

Boxes in the upstairs hall

Items going on the boat

I apologize for the lack of posts lately.  It seems pretty boring to write about what we are doing especially since it's not all that exciting to us either.  It was great fun writing about the trials and tribulations of buying a boat and living aboard for a week for our shakedown cruise.  Now that we have accomplished that, it seems like somewhat of a let down.  We are still very busy gearing up for our trip as well as the end of school chaos.  I have been busy buying school books and supplies.  Thank goodness for ebay and the used book section on amazon.  We have purchased some chart books and guide/travel books, as well as a new grill and stereo for the boat.
Boxes are starting to be piled in corners of every room.  We have boxes that are going into storage and then we have boxes we are taking on the boat.   The girls have started packing up their rooms and we packed up most of the play room and third floor.  We are making progress and they are eager to help, which is great fun for me
Craig built a floor in the other half of our attic so we can store more stuff up there.  We are trying to make our storage needs as little as possible.  We have sorted out movers and found a home for our trampoline.  I purchased our airline tickets to Florida!  Eeeek, gasp....it's real, it's happening.....
As I am writing this post, our delivery captain, Dan, is sailing our boat up the coast of Florida.  He has a friend and nephew on board and called to say they caught a tuna!  They'll be eating well tonight.  They should arrive at the St. Augustine inlet at 8 am tomorrow morning.  Once they get to the marina, they will haul it out and the rudder repair can start. 
June is quickly approaching and with each passing day I am realizing that the adventure is going to happen whether I am ready or not.  As I was reading a fellow bloggers post the other day about moving aboard their new Manta, she remembered her dad telling her, as a child, that she wasn't really scared but it's just the anticipation and excitement that fools you into thinking you're scared.  I think that is a perfect way of describing how I am feeling.

SOLD! or in our case, Leased

The last (potentially) massive roadblock has been cleared!  We have secured a family to live in our house while we are gone.  It took nearly 2 weeks of negogiating and seemed more complicated than buying a house!  It was all worth it to have peace of mind this far out from our departure date of June 10th.  They have 2 little boys and want to paint our pretty girly rooms!  Oh well, I guess it’s a small price to pay.   Kate thinks it’s great because she wants a change anyway.  What?!  Those beautiful pink stripes took 3 days for Craig and I to do.  I hate the idea of painting over our hard work or worse yet, doing it all over again.  On the other hand, it’s been 5 years, so they’ve had a good life.  I can assure you of one thing, we won’t be doing stripes again! 

Having the house leased is a big deal.  I can’t quite put my finger on the emotions that I have been experiencing.  Frankly there are too many to describe in one, single, solitary word or even a few.  Do you have an hour?  The pragmatic side of me just keeps on moving, one foot in front of the other.  I cross one thing off my list, only to add a dozen more moments later.  Some days I am paralyzed with procrastination, not knowing what to do next but mostly there are not enough hours in the day.  We have a goal, and by golly, we are going to reach that goal!  The emotional side comes alive when I lay my head on my pillow each night.  It keeps me from falling asleep sometimes, even though I am exhausted.  Or worse, I wake up at 4 or 5 am and can’t go back to sleep because my mind starts racing.  Craig says that this will be the hardest part of our trip….all the planning, purchasing, preparing and provisioning.  Once we get on that boat, it will all be done and worth it!  Sort of….I feel like there is so much to be done that I can’t get excited.  Is that normal?  I know I am excited but right now, that is not how I would describe it.

Before we bought our boat, before we rented the house, way back when we decided to make this trip a reality, our list was very vague and broad.  Go ahead, take a look back to what our list looked like.   With each step toward our departure, our list becomes more precise with minute details.  Our list has gone from “buy a boat, rent house, research school options”, to the following (in no particular order):

·      Cancel homeowners insurance (June 9^th – the day we have to be out!)

·      Get new rental property home insurance

·      Secure movers and storage

·      Make a “book” of house information for tenants (where and how everything works)

·      Repair outside refrigerator (of course, the compressor decided to stop working last week!)

·      Hire chimney sweep

·      Hire carpet cleaners

·      Find a home for our trampoline

·      Have garage sale (actually, we have had 2 in the last 6 months and have made over $1000!!  Impressive right?!)

·      Research and purchase medical kit and prescription drugs

·      Get our necessary shots

·      Make copies of our passports and boat documents

·      Move our boat to St. Augustine, Florida

·      Purchase plywood for the attic (to store more stuff up there)

·      Purchase school supplies (finally!)

·      Meet with teachers and get supplies from school (finally!)

·   Get bike boxes (to store all 8 of our bikes!)

·      Review our will

·      Get life raft re-certified

·      Send EBIRB to get new battery

·      Sign up for DAN insurance (emergency life flight any where any time)

·      Cancel YMCA family membership

·      Cancel dental insurance

·      Finish ‘refinishing’ our patio furniture (why I started this, no one knows for sure.  But now I have to finish it)

·      Meet with our ‘house manager’ and go over details

·      Secure storage location for Craig’s car

·      PACK THE HOUSE!  (yikes, this is a biggie!)

·      Get the rudder repaired

·      Get the boat buffed and waxed

·      Replace the seacocks (these are valves between the inside and outside of the boat – these need to be in good working order so water doesn’t get in)

·      Buy fabric for the cushions we will have recovered while we are in Columbia

·      Buy sarongs and make “sarong blankets” for the girls (got this idea from Windtraveler – she said the tropics are too hot for regular bedding and this worked well.  I can do that!)

·      Buy charts for our cruising areas

·      Buy courtesy flags for countries we plan to visit

·      Buy cruising guides/travel guides

·      Sign up for SSCA (Seven Seas Cruising Association)

·      Get Maggie’s braces off

·      Go to final doctor and dentist appointments

That should give you a rough idea, there is actually more.  Stay tuned because there are many more nights before we leave.  Nobody said it would be easy!  

Front Page News

We made the local newspaper and the front page to boot!  The Park Cities People placed our family photo tagged with the headline that reads “UP (stands for University Park) Family to Set Sail for a Year”.  While this is really cool and sort of makes us feel special, I must say that this was not our doing.  Let me tell you how this came to be. 

Craig and I have been long time Leukemia & Lymphoma Society supporters for obvious reasons.  After completing the Half Ironman triathlon last spring, with Team in Training, (might I mention that he placed 12^th in his age group!) Craig was approached by our local Dallas chapter to be the ‘honored hero’ for this years triathlon team.  Naturally he said yes.  As the word got around the LLS office of our upcoming trip, Craig was again asked to be an honored hero, this time for the Leukemia Cup Regatta.  Which is also a fundraiser for LLS, much like Team in Training.

A honored hero is a child or adult that is undergoing treatment, in remission or a survivor of a blood related cancer.  They represent the very “individual” that the athletes are raising money for.  The honored hero symbolizes a mascot of sorts and provides inspiration to the athletes. 

The gal in charge of the regatta asked if she could pitch our story to some news organizations at the same time advertising the Leukemia Cup Regatta.  Of course, we said yes, and the rest is history…….

Yo Ho Ho a Pirates Life for Me

Vintage Mega Yacht "Vajoliroja"

Remember those pirates we said we weren’t going to encounter.  Well, we haven’t even left yet and we ran into one.  Yes, I am exaggerating the tale a little.  The story goes like this:  When we were in Florida for our shake down cruise, we took Craig’s mom and stepdad out for an excursion on our boat.  While we were waiting for the drawbridge to open, Craig’s mom snapped a picture of a really cool vintage mega yacht.  It was quite large (measuring 156 feet to be exact) but not one of those super sleek, modern types.  It looked like an old wooden boat in pristine condition.  That was that, but the story doesn’t end there.  On our flight home, the 5 of us were somewhat separated on the plane.  Craig sat by himself across the isle from me.  Next to him sat a couple that had been visiting Florida for the week as well.  They started chatting and as they were comparing notes of sailing and boats, the couple said they saw a cool yacht, different from all the others.  As they described it, Craig said, “Hey, I know that boat.  My mom took a picture of it I think”.   They went on to say that that boat belonged to Captain Jack Sparrow himself, Johnny Depp.  Isn’t that cool.  Sure enough, Craig looked it up and it was Johnny Depp’s boat indeed.   

The name of the boat is Vajoliroja and is available for charter if you happen to have a pirates chest of gold!  It was built in 2001 to look like an early 20^th century classic.  It’s name represents the first letters of the names of his family (long time girlfriend Vanessa, Johnny, daughter Lily Rose and Son Jack).

 While we didn’t get to meet the captain himself, we did see his boat and crew.  Close enough??  Maybe not, but I think it may be the closest we get to pirates, so we’ll take it!

Things we learned from our shake down cruise

Remind the dock master that you are a catamaran when they try to change the slip from what was assigned during the initial reservation.

We made this mistake right out of the gate upon our arrival at Bahia Mar marina. We assumed the dock master knew who we were (a catamaran) by the name of our boat.  Don’t they have that information handy??  Guess not!  They tried to put us in a slip that was too narrow!  DAH!   We played musical slips that day.  Not fun when you are learning how to drive a 42 ft. long and 21 ft. wide boat.

Craig is a quick learner, especially in terms of docking a catamaran.  Being a farm boy and all, he equates driving a catamaran to driving a bulldozer on ice!  He did a stellar job, no question.   

How to use manual toilets on board.  Every one is a little different.  The girls were quick learners on how to “flush” with 10-20 pumps and “dry” with 5+ pumps.  We all remembered the “NO TOILET PAPER IN THE HEAD!” rule (put it in the trash).  It clogs up the boat plumbing.

Having guests on board within the first few days of your (very first ever) shake down cruise is probably not the best idea.  Sorry mom and Paul if we seemed disorganized and a little bit crazed.  We thoroughly enjoyed your visit regardless and wouldn’t have wanted to miss it!

Don’t disregard Mother Nature.  Our first trip out to the Atlantic was an adventure.  This goes with the above-mentioned lesson.  We thought it would be okay!  How bad could it be?

Give seasick medicine an hour before you go for a rough ride.  Do you see a common thread here?  Our bad judgments lead to Olivia throwing up over board and the need for Dramamine in a jiffy.

Getting dinner on the table takes longer than you think.  The stove on the boat is small and is run on propane.  It works great but is much slower than at home.  Just something we have to get used to.

The grill needs to be fixed or replaced.  It’s great to have a grill on board so the galley doesn’t get heated up (or smelly) from using the stove or oven.  This one needs a little TLC or we just need to get a new one.

Glassware and bowls break easily.  This is not unique to a boat.  I broke a glass and the kids broke a bowl.  The previous owners didn’t have kids and while mistakes happen to the best of us, we need to bring our plastic ware on board.

Straps on sunglasses are a good idea.  Kate’s first pair of sunglasses broke on the plane to Florida.  We bought a new (cheap) pair at the souvenir shop.  They proceeded to fall off her head when she was peering down at the water in the dinghy!  She needs a pair of croakies.

Planning ahead when you leave is a good thing.  We were so excited to be taking the boat up the ICW, that we failed to look at the chart and figure out where we were going exactly!  How hard could it be, head north, right!?.  Well there were about 47 drawbridges with all different timing.  We got the hang of it very quickly.  Even the girls got a kick out of saying thank you to the bridge master on the VHF radio as we passed through.

It’s so nice to have a catamaran with a shallow draft.  After spending all our time on monohulls worrying about clearance under the keel, it sure was nice to have a shallow draft on a catamaran.  We only draw 3’11” where most monohulls draw 6 feet or more.  This will be great in the shallow parts of the Bahamas.  We will be able to get into places that monohulls wouldn't dare.

We touched bottom regardless.  Even with a shallow draft, we touched bottom (sandy) leaving our anchorage at low tide.  No biggie.   This won’t be the first time.

A big anchor is awesome.  The first time we anchored in Lake Worth, it was blowing pretty hard and we were not in a very protected area.  Craig set the anchor and we literally felt the boat stop.  It was awesome not wondering if we were dragging anchor and worrying all night.  We have a big anchor on our boat.  They say to get the biggest anchor you can afford!

The hammock must be taken down while underway.  The girls asked many times if they could sit in the hammock while we were motoring up the ICW.  As if the answer was going to change!  Taking it down solved that problem.

Never follow a boat on the ICW when you are trying to reach a bridge opening on time.  Especially when you can motor faster than he can.  We took the polite high road and decided not to pass a boat we had been following up the ICW.  We missed a drawbridge opening by 1 minute because of it.  Boy, our captain wasn’t happy about that!  We had to wait 30 minutes for the next opening.  

Don’t go in waves bigger than you.  We don’t spend much time at the beach with surf.  Olivia got tumbled around a bit in the surf thinking she could handle it (dad was close by for the rescue).  All was fine after she spit out the salt water!

Sand removal on the swim platform after a day at the beach is a bit of a challenge.  Trying to avoid sand in the boat might turn out to be futile.  But I will die in the attempt.  Sand is a harsh abrasive on a boat.  We have a fresh water hose on our swim platform that works great for such occasions.  However, hosing off 5 people, flip-flops, life jackets etc. in a tiny space is quite a task!

Make sure the boat first aid kit is current and in working order.  Or rather it has one to start with.  We didn’t come prepared on our shake down cruise with a first aid kit.  There happened to be one but it was pretty decrepit.  When you need a Band-Aid, you just need a Band-Aid.  What can I say?  We didn’t have any.  In addition, we didn't have Benadryl for Maggie when she broke out in a rash of some sort.  We will, however, have a super mega medical kit on board for our trip.  

“Take your posts” when big boat wakes hit at anchor.  Kate quoted Mary Poppins when we were anchored in a nice quiet spot on Peck Lake when a huge yacht passed by at top speed.  Behind it was a ginormous wake that one could surf on!  “HOLD ON!  GRAB THE GLASS!”  Need I say more?

Don’t anchor during construction on the beach.  The nice quiet anchorage I spoke of above was great until it was bedtime and they were still working with heavy machinery on the ocean side of the beach.  Peace and quiet, not so much!

Get fuel and pump out BEFORE you dock for 3 months.  This was a rookie mistake that we won’t make again.  We were so preoccupied trying to get to the boat yard that we didn’t top off our fuel or pump out the heads.   We assumed the boat yard would have this available.  After 3 months of being closed up tight, you don’t want to come back to a stinky boat.  Nor do you want water in your fuel.  Topping off the tanks helps prevent water build up from condensation.  Water and fuel don’t mix and causes poor engine performance.

Cleaning and decommissioning the boat takes longer than expected.  Having never done it before, we didn’t really know how time consuming it was.  In addition, we had to deal with the previous point, which only added to our total time.  This was coupled with:

Don’t arrive at the dock, clean the boat and try to be somewhere on the same day.  Need I say more?

Flip flops don’t work for everyone.  Craig has decided that his feet were not made for flip-flops.  They make his toes hurt and he will not be wearing them on our trip.  The same goes for Olivia.  She dropped a flip-flop, by accident, on her way to the hammock on the back of the boat.  Luckily for her, it floated to the next boat down and he plucked it out of the water.  She also fell down while running in her flip-flops, hence the need for the Band Aids.

Braids are best for Olivia’s hair.  For those that are not familiar with Liv’s hair, her tight curls can turn into a rat’s nest with no effort at all.  I braided her (freshly washed and wet) hair this week and it worked beautifully.  This will be our go-to hair-do from now on!