Some Place In Between....

We did manage a little together time to go for a walk in the woods....

Let me tell you a little secret about life once the cruise count down move to under one year. It is HARD. Not hard in a "oh my there are so many things to do" kind of hard. That can be daunting, but every completed project ticked off the list comes with a satisfying sense of accomplishment. Its not hard in an "oh my we are going to be leaving bay and forth sailing and heading out into the ocean and it kinda freaks me out" way. Anytime I start to feel a little nervous about sailing far from land, I have the assurances of friends who have done it remind me that you are safer far from the coast than closer to it. Being a little nervous and therefore respectful of the power of the ocean is a good thing and that respect is what is going to keep Ceol Mor safely sailing. No, its hard existing in this bizarre half life of waiting.

Mark just finished is official last day of work. He might have a few days of consult work here and there, but the next 10 months or so are going to be dedicated to finishing up projects and getting the boat ready to go. Its more than a little scary to be looking at a year with no income but its part of the plan. I think perhaps it was not the brightest idea to end full time employment the month of Christmas. We do not go crazy at all, but any kind of Christmas is going to be an outlay of cash and now its time to remember fun today means less fun tomorrow. Because Murphy lives in our house, of course this was the month Kitty decided to clean my laptop thoroughly with Mrs Meyers. I will say that Mrs. Meyers makes the smoke pouring forth from a dying laptop smell all lemony fresh. Not exactly a great month for the budget, but we will be okay its just a little nerve racking.

Then there are the kids and this is one of the really tough things. I want them to really enjoy all that land life has to offer them for these last 10 months. With Mark pouring his heart and soul into Ceol Mor and me running kids to and fro, this means we have a lot of "divide and conquer" going on. I keep telling myself that we are counting down to possibly more togetherness than either of us want (ha!) but it can be a little lonely trying to play Mighty Mom Of Suburbia on your own.

Mark gets to feel chuffed when he redoes, say the plumbing on the boat. Anyone who has owned a boat applauds his Herculean efforts on the boat and every project he completes is met with a  "WOW! Awesome work!" from the folks who see his work. Any mom trying to be full on Super Mom knows that no matter how good a job you do, nobody gives you high fives. I know the girls are doing well so that is thanks enough but it does contribute to making this final countdown feel a bit tough at times.The kids are doing great and are engaged, busy and happy but I have this weird 'in flux ' feeling going on. I am not really connected with everything going on in suburbia because we are leaving. Its this really bizarre feeling of being here, but at the same time NOT being here. It is existing some place in between,

Its not a place of sadness. Nor is it a place of disappointment or anxiety. Its just this really strange place to be. In all of the writings I have read, I've never seen anyone discuss how weird it is to be neither here nor there in the last year. In one on one conversation, it seems that EVERYONE has this feeling. They just never talk about it. Not certain exactly why, but there it is.

So we are rolling into 2014. 2014, the year that we will no longer be living in the in between but will be actively cruising. I am looking forward to it more than I can say. Not just because we have been actively pursuing this for over 4 years now but because it will mean that I will be living a little more in the here and now. And that is the whole point of this adventure.

We got this....

We finally loaded everything into the boat, checked the weather and headed out for a quick sail to Redfish Island where we planned to anchor for the night. We made decent enough time even though we were under canvassed. Our thought was that this first day was more about getting the kids comfortable on the boat, seeing how our anchor bridle worked for us and what we thought about the new lighting and fans than about trimming the sails spectacularly and clipping along at a nice speed.

Sunset at Redfish Island

Redfish Island is not actually an island at all as Maura discovered to her utter disappointment. Visions of frolicking on a lovely beach, splashing in the surf were quickly put away as we made our approach. (from the NW for those taking notes, the S end is very, very VERY shallow) "That's it?!?! Its just a bunch of dirt and rocks." she said as we entered the anchorage. Yes, its just a bunch of remnants from the channel dredging which makes a nice little sheltered are so that the huge commercial ships do not run over you at night. Not being run over at night is a really good thing. We put out plenty of scope which thanks to Mark's super specific anchor marking technique was easy to count (it hurt me to write that.), got the bridle and snubber on without much fuss even though it started to rain as we came in. The rain cleared and Kitty danced and sang on deck. we had a lovely unburned dinner and Maura declared that she loved this. This was even better than camping and she really loves camping. We settled in, watched the stars from the open hatch above our v berth and thought, yes this is good.

During the night we had 2 little blips to disturb our rest. The rains came, necessitating that we close up the hatches. Fortunately, due to the fact that our boat now has more Caframo fans than any other boat on the planet, we were able to maintain a somewhat reasonable amount of comfort. Point to Mark for that one. The other blip? While Kitty is the happiest kid on the planet while sailing or playing at anchor she will not sleep on the boat. AT ALL. After the 3rd time of Kitty calling for me, me going in and comforting her and trying to get her back to sleep, Maura opted to bunk on the settee and I moved in to the girls bunk to try to get Kitty to sleep. It worked for about 15 minutes at a stretch. It was a very long, long night.

And then the rains came. Good thing Maura loves to read.

The next morning we took our time getting breakfast, tidying the boat, more deck dancing until the rains came. Then it was time to hang out on the boat, coloring, reading, playing with Legos until the weather cleared. Once we had blue skies again, we hoisted the anchor and set sail for Galveston. We were on a beam reach and as we approached Galveston, the dolphins made their first appearance. Maura was at the helm as 2 big dolphins came within 3 feet of the boat to check us out. "MOM! MOM! LOOK!" Maura exclaimed. The smile on her face was absolutely magical. I still get excited by the appearance of dolphins and I love that the girls share my joy at the beauty of these creatures. We taught Kitty how to squeak at the dolphins and now every sighting means we get an excited stream of joyful exclamations punctuated by toddler dolphin squeaks.

Beauty is where you find it. Industrialized busy port not beautiful to you? Look up...

The area just as you come into Galveston is known as Bolivar roads. It would be better to be called Bolivar sphincter check. Bolivar roads is where the Houston ship channel crosses the ICW and oh, there are a few other various channels full of commercial ships following other channels here and there. You've got lots of really HUGE container ships, barges, pilot boats, fishing trawlers, a cruise ship or two, Coast Guard cutters and skiffs and ferries running to and fro, this way and that and one little sailboat with a squall approaching, sails up because Mark did not heed my warning that the rain was going to hit us and there were too many huge ships going in every which way to sail elegantly into Galveston. As I manned the helm trying to keep clear of impending doom, Mark and Maura finally struggled to get the sails down in the rain. Mark later admitted that he would never again ignore my request to drop the sails if I was feeling nervous. That I think is a very important lesson learned. Always defer to the Biggest Chicken Baby on board. Kitty sat with me in the cockpit shouting "LOOK! Pirate ship!" at every tanker that passed. Who knew my 2 year old was up on current Somali events?

We headed into the same anchorage by the Bolivar ferry we used last year. This year, there are work barges moored in a large portion of the anchorage. Seems they are reconstructing a jetty near the ferry landing. Fortunately, we were the only boat there so we had plenty of swing room.

At this point, Maura was ready for a bit of land adventuring so we inflated the dinghy and headed for shore. Since we are trying to wait until the last minute to buy our dinghy (one less thing to maintain until we are ready to use it) we used the small inflatable given to us by a friend. Imagine my surprise to see that the dinghy Mark intended to use was a 6 foot rubber Achilles which the previous owner had christened 'Stinky'. We were rowed ashore in 2 trips by Mark in a bright red inflatable with STINKY emblazoned upon it. We tied the dinghy up but didn't lock it because A: we were not at a dinghy dock, we were docked in a super secret not Kosher location that the security guard said so long as we went to dinner then right back, she would look the other way and B: who the hell is going to steal a little rubber rowing dinghy which is emblazoned with STINKY on it? A friendly power boat captain gave us a ride to the nearest restaurant ; Chili's where we ate an unremarkable dinner as you do at Chili's, then made the trek on foot back to the boat where we enjoyed a beautiful sunset, lots of rolling due to passing commercial traffic and another night where Kitty refused to sleep. Even still, it was a good night and everyone was in great spirits.

Early morning. Birds overhead as the rain clouds rolled in...

The next morning, absolute crap weather rolled in. Bad visibility and rain, rain and more rain. This was supposed to be our first time to take Ceol Mor out into the Gulf but I nixed that idea. I just don't feel the need to prove anything and while we absolutely could have handled what was out there (just a lot of rain and low clouds, no scary wind) it would have been less than fun. As it is, Mark will still be able to tell people his dream is to get out of Galveston for a while longer. We headed back to Kemah escorted by a tremendous amount of dolphin pods every where we looked. Maura and I got good experience helming the boat in busy shipping lanes and Mark learned to relax a bit when he is off watch. Very good things to have a bit of confidence in.

 We made it back to the marina and as we approached the slip, the rain stopped and the skies returned to blue. We might not have gotten the ocean experience we were hoping for, but we did learn a lot of useful things. We have a better idea of what we want on the boat, what changes we are glad we made and what is now at the top of the refit list (separate short post coming up on this).We gained confidence in anchoring. We got a bit better at trimming the sails. We learned a bit more about how to handle 4 distinct BIG personalities in a small space. The most important thing I learned? We can do this. We really can.

Let the countdown commence

No time to be schmoopy about the fact that we are STILL in refit mode when we had planned to have a year of cruising under our belt at this point in time. Its time to start getting excited because we are heading out in 17 months. 17 months might seem an arbitrary number to get excited about but it is less than a year and a half. As the heat creeps up and the progress slows a bit due to this, the fact that we are less than a year and half from heading out just gives me such a lift.

Mark installed the fore cabin reading lights and fans. I can tell you that while the CCF reading lamps are adequate if not spectacular, those Caframo fans put out some serious windage. This should make me happier when sleeping as I am like a golden retriever in that I like a breeze strong enough to make my face flap- even while sleeping.

Our generator was giving us fits. It was causing consternation by not firing up. Should be easy, right? Just grab the serial numbers off the thing and find the manual. Well since our Onan generator is about 100 years old, we could no longer discern the serial numbers. Mark started plugging in random numbers onto the part of the number we could actually make out and after a bit of time we had success. He was able to down load the manual and figure out that the problem was probably a clogged filter and it was- the second filter to be exact. Which is why our previous attempt at cleaning the first filter resulted in no change. A bit of elbow grease to remove, clean and reinstall and VOILA! The old Onan is running once again. Now we not only have a functional generator we know what to check first when it dies again- check the SECOND filter as well.

We are still in a very heated debate over the galley refit. I'm still firmly in the go with the easy, inexpensive, fast Origo stove option. Mark is still firmly in the meticulous, expensive, time consuming, space eating propane camp. We will have to reach a decision soon but its looking as if my dreams of just dropping in a Origo and calling it done are fading away. *sigh* I'd just like to have one thing on Ceol Mor be easy, fast, inexpensive and straight forward but alas, it seems it might not be meant to be. I'm choosing my battles though. In the end, I will cook badly on whatever we come up with so if going with a new propane system makes Mark happy I can't get excited about it.

We are planning on having the boat hauled next week to change out the zincs, check the bottom and service the prop. Not terribly exciting, but necessary none the less.

We went out for a sail on Sunday. We were just under genoa alone as this was all about me becoming more skilled and we didn't need the extra push from the main (and we got to avoid dealing with the less than adequate main set up). I'm still not able to dock the beast but I can solidly keep the wind at different points of sail, take a bearing to a fixed point and sail to it, trim the gen to a reasonable level, keep a course heading and I've gotten much better at tacking. I can say I've gotten better at tacking smoothly because there was only one way to go and that was up.

While we trudge along, continuing the work on the boat and improving our sailing skills, we get little bits of happy. On our way to the boat, we walk past crepe myrtles in bloom. The sun is shining, Kitty is singing and Maura, Mark and I smile when we think of what's to come- in only 17 months!

Our last name is not Huxtable

Waves or even chop pretending to be waves never look as impressive in photos.

I really enjoy reading sailing blogs, especially the blogs of sailing couples. Usually there are photos of idyllic anchorages, calm and peaceful passages and tales of perfect harmony. Sailing couples NEVER disagree or argue. It is amazing how you can have 2 people with strong personalities in a tiny space who never disagree at all. They are like The Huxtables from the Cosby show. While this is a sailing/refitting/family blog our last name is not Huxtable and we don't try for perfect harmony, we embrace our differences of opinions and try to disagree with panache and style and if we can make the other person laugh in the midst of an argument then we consider that a win.

After I made the very wise and prudent decision to not go out in such uncertain and hairy conditions with a toddler, a salon with every comfort item taken out for refitting, Mark began to push for us to go out anyway.  The radar was showing a few hours time before the storms hit, he didn't think it seemed  to be that windy, etc.. I stood my ground. It didn't seem that windy to him because he is from Scotland where the best weather days are grey, cold,drizzly and with 30 mph winds.  I'm from the subtropics where we get used to hot and still and if the wind picks up, its most likely a hurricane or a tropical storm. Mark continued to press his case and in exasperation, I ran through the possible and most likely scenarios and came up with 2 likely outcomes.

 Outcome 1 would be one in which Mark is correct and the conditions are not as bad as NOAA says they are (ha) and we go out for a spirited and lively sail. Everyone is happy and the boat performs perfectly. This would be a good outcome.

 Outcome 2 is where the winds are up, the newly installed engine harness fails, the baby is screaming, the saloon is stripped down so we can't send the girl below to amuse themselves until we get theboat sailing comfortably, docking in the waves and high tides proves stressful and everyone has a miserable time. This would be a GREAT outcome because I would then forever have a reference point to close discussion when ever we disagree on weather conditions. "Oh no Mister, remember the time we went out in the wind storm in Texas in April? We are not going anywhere. I listened to you before and it sucked." This would be a GREAT outcome so I told Mark "If you want to go out, you make the decision. You know my position on it".

We stowed all the tools on the boat, clipped the baby into the cockpit and began to get ready to head out. Mark told me to remove the sail cover to which I replied "you really think we are going to be able to sail in this?" Oh yes, Mark thought we would indeed be sailing albeit with the sails reefed down.  I'm not sure what his plans were for the kids but figures it was better to make sure they were safe and to go with it. As I began to carefully remove and fold the sail cover, I spoke out loud about what I want our new stack pack to look like- just to watch Mark's lip twitch. Mark thinks a stack pack will both be too expensive and create too much windage. I disagree because I am the one always wrestling with our old sail cover and I hate that thing with its cranky zippers and penchant for getting tangled. Another point is if he is getting new 50 winches by golly I can have a stack pack.

After getting the sail cover neatly folded away (no small feet on a blustery day), stowing all the winch and hatch covers and watching just how very high the water level in the marina was we set off. Good news- the engine wiring harness seems to be working perfectly. I smiled to myself as we rounded the corner of the fairway where our slip sits sheltered from the wind behind large buildings because I was greeted by the site of rollers coming in the channel. I commented to Mark how special it was to see actual surge in our usually glass flat channel. I also commented on the lack of other boats heading out...

Maura endured the indignity that is the orange sofa cushion PFD. Girlfriend has really shot up. Time for some PFD shopping.

As we entered the bay, we had a windex reading of  23 knots of wind, puncutuated by gusts of quite a bit more. We only had tiny waves of 2-4 feet but they were about 7 seconds apart and did I mention having waves of any size in the well protected, glass like bay is a bit unsual? The girls thought bashing through the waves was great fun. I smiled and said to Mark "we aren't hoisting the sails are we?". He smiled and replied that given that with me having my hands full with the toddler that he would be satisfied with a wee chug.

So we chugged out for a bit,  all alone on the water, bashing through the chop, then chugged back exactly as I knew in my heart would happen. We were able to discern that everything was working properly with the exception of our speedo which is dead-o. I was able to smile the satisfied, Chesire smile of the righteous. I was right. So would we go out again in such conditions? Yes but with the caveat of having the salon put back together enough for the girls to be able to be tucked safely out of the way while we deal with the sails etc. That was the single biggest reason for my lack of enthusiasm for a sail. Next time we are anticipating bigger than usual wind we will ensure the cabin is together enough for habitation and next time, I will make Mark refer to me as Claire.

Kitty's favorite thing to do is to hang on, grin at her Daddy and shout "ARRRGH!" I think she is actually trying to take over the helm.

Time in Texas with the Scots

My sister in law, Gillian called to say that she had a bit of time in which to bring her son Laurie from Edinburgh to the US for a little visit. They were planning a trip to Disney World and would we like to join them? Would we? Oh YES! A vacation sounded perfect and believe it or not, I have not made the requisite pilgrimage to see the Mouse with the kids yet.

I'm sure you can see where this is going. We were not able to see the Mouse. The school schedules in the UK are very different from those in the US. Then there is the problem of the ever ongoing work that the boat needs in order for us to leave this year. If we went now, Kitty would be too young to get any enjoyment out of it and I don't plan on seeing the Mouse more than once. Etc, etc for very many good reasons we decided to wait for the Mouse but Gillian and Laurie would join us in Texas after a week in Florida. Even without the Magic of Disney, we had a great time.

We had almost a week together. Gillian and I took the kids to Galveston while Mark slaved away on the chainplates and portlights. Sadly, the Elissa was in dry dock having some electrolysis issues resolved but we did see a presentation on the Great Storm. We had lunch at Gaido's, a restaurant which has been in operation for 99 years. I think that the first customer is probably tucked back somewhere still waiting for his entree. It was completely underwhelming but Gillian did try fried oysters for the first time. Next time I'll take her to Joe Lee's instead. It was too windy and cold for the beach so we happily spent the rest of the afternoon on the Strand. Maura and I took the Scots to the best place in all of Galveston- La King's Confectionary. La King's is an old fashioned sweet shop complete with a real, honest to goodness soda fountain. I was able to introduce Laurie to the wonder that is a Dr. Pepper float and the kids were gobsmacked by the selection of sweets on display.

The next day was a day for sailing. We all went out for a sail on Galveston Bay. Laurie had never been sailing before and as we were coming in just ahead of the fog, he commented that one day he wanted to have his own boat. Another converted! We had a nice, easy sail under jib alone and the big kids were able to daydream while lying under the boom.

All this staycationing was lovely, but the next day was a work day. We all really gave Ceol Mor a solid scrubbing. The new marina is closer to the bay which is good. It is also closer to the heavily traveled Kemah bridge which is not so good for keeping a tidy hull. The kids worked hard to get the boat shining once again. Laurie commented that he still wanted a boat, but he'd also like a big family with lots of kids to wash his boat. The boy is a quick study. The kids were rewarded for their efforts by an evening of fun on the Boardwalk riding every ride they could. The adults were rewarded by happy hour at the Aquarium.

The next few days were a blur of boat projects, a trip to Nasa, more boat work and then a day of utter rest. Our farewell dinner was of course held at a Tex Mex restaurant where I challenged Laurie to a jalapeno eating competition. I won, but he did manage to eat one and act cool by not immediately reaching for water.

 We were sad to say farewell to Gillian and Laurie, but we look forward to seeing them again next year, with Gillian's husband Robert  for some more sailing this time in the Bahamas.




 

Maura sails....

On Saturday, I was feeling pretty despondent over the state of the boat. The boat has plywood and plastic bolted over two of her removed portlights while we wait for the weather to warm up enough to rebed them. Her handrails on deck have been removed for revarnishing and tape covers the old screw holes. The headliner from the entire cabin has been removed to allow for rewiring, etc. She looks a right mess. My uncle came by to visit for the first time and upon seeing the interior of the boat said "When exactly are you guys planning on leaving?"

In order to prevent me from becoming a morose little Eyeore, Mark suggested we go for a sail on Sunday. Even though she looks a state, she is operational and can be sailed- all though you wouldn't want to take her offshore. This was a brilliant move on Mark's part because despite her appearance, it reminded me why we fell in love with her in the first place. She sails so, so beautifully and comfortably. 19 knots of wind, beam reach and a boat speed of 7 knots on main alone. For all of you who hard core salty peeps who want to know how well she points- 25 degrees easy.

I've got lots of pictures of Kitty who was a bit cranky, but that's probably to do with the appearance of her new tooth. I'm opting not to post them just now because this next bit is all about Maura.

Maura is finally able to see over the cabin top and now that she's a bit older, was allowed/asked to do more while preparing the boat to go out. She really liked having more responsibility for the boat but what really made her day was that for the first time she was given complete control of the boat. This was an enormous deal to her, very similar to being allowed to drive the family car for the first time. She did a great job and we are enormously proud of her. Sail on Maura, sail on.

The Navigation Lesson

 

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    One of the things I am most keen to do is to learn celestial navigation. Not out of a desire  to keep a dying art alive but out of my Big Chicken Baby tendency to think of every possible dire scenario and how I would handle it. What will we do if the chart plotter fails and all of our GPS aids are lost because an errant sea gull is attracted to the shiny bits and flies off with them?!?!? My answer- navigate by sextant, watch and charts. Of course at this point in time, I have no idea how to use a sextant but we will get there.

  
  

  Mark is one of those folks who can quickly grasp a concept at face value, examine it and perfect it. I have a capable enough intellectual capacity, but I also possess this wacky brain which thrives on tangential “rabbit chasing”. To his credit, Mark just takes my weirdo thought processes in stride and soldiers onward. Here’s an example.

  
  

  Mark and I were sitting at the dining room table after dinner with the globe. We do this from time to time to think about where we might like to travel. This time, Mark was going to start my navigation lessons. It went something like this:

  
  

  Mark: Ok, there are 360 degrees in a ….

  Me: Circle

  Mark: Right. The Earth is a circle and therefore it has 360 degrees but in navigation parlance, the prime meridian or 0 is at Greenwich England.

  Me: Why did they pick Greenwich? Nobody goes to Greenwich. London makes more sense. They should just say London.

  Mark: Greenwich is home to the Royal Observatory and since the British Admiralty developed all the charts they get to choose the prime meridian.

  Me: I wonder how the Spanish feel about that. They’re probably just a bit bitter.

  Mark:  We aren't concerned with how the Spanish might or might not be feeling, lets move on. With Greenwich being 0 degrees longitude, the Earth is measured in 15 degree increments going to 180 degrees East or 180 degrees West.

  Me: Why do they do that?

  Mark: Why do they do what?

  Me: Reuse the numbers, only going to 180 .Wouldn't’t it make more sense to count all the way to 360 rather than reusing numbers and confusing people by having a 30w and a 30E? That sounds like they were being obstinate just to confuse people.

  Mark: No,  they weren't being obstinate, they were…never mind. You understand, yes?

  Me: Yes.

  Mark: Ok, each degree of longitude is divided into 60 minutes and further divide into 60 seconds.

  Me: Why do they call it minutes and seconds? That makes no sense.

  Mark: Yes, it does. They have to call it something and since early navigation utilized chronometry minutes and seconds it was.

  Me: So really the minutes and seconds mean nothing, just a means of measurement?

  Mark: Yes, you could call it anything so long as the measurement was precise.

  Me: So we could call it degrees, door knobs and doughnuts?

  Mark: Umm..

  Me: Doughnuts would be a good name. That would make me hungry though. Then I’d crave carbs. Carbs are the devil.

  Mark: (places head in hands) What ever, do you understand so far.

  Me: yes, I understand perfectly. I still think the Spanish are probably bitter about the Greenwich thing though.