Ever look at life and think 'How the heck did I end up here'?

I have been neglecting the blog, I admit this fully. I had a choice to make- either neglect the blog or neglect the kids. The kids won. They will always win, which I hope they keep in mind when it comes time to select my nursing home. Psst, Kids! I want a beautiful view and lots of light and cabana boy named Alejandro. Oh and a steady supply of Maker's Mark Manhattans. That is all.

This next bit is mostly about kids with a little bit about our new departure schedule and the decisions we've made to make cruising with a teen work. If you just read the blog to see the boat refit, now is your chance to go read something else although there will be a scintillating post quickly following this one all about plumbing. Yay for plumbing.

People often ask us how we are going to make cruising with a teenager work. The theory seems to be that teens don't want to cruise with their family seeing the world, but would rather have handy access to school, friends, internet, trendy clothes and the mall. This might be true in some cases but for us, we have made the idea of taking off to cruise work for Maura by ensuring that she gets to experience as much American teen stuff as is reasonable. Kind of like a bucket list but hopefully just the first of many in her hopefully very long life. So she has thrown herself full force into the things that interest her- choir, track, singing lessons, volunteering, summer camp, Starbucks after school on Fridays with friends and similar typical American teen activities. And then, there is the BIG compromise we made.

Maura has always been a bit of a drama queen. The negative of this has been her tendency to indulge in hyperbole and to wail and bemoan the fact that she is the ONLY person she knows who is regularly given chores to complete before she can move on to the fun stuff and to loudly exclaim that it is patently unfair that SHE has to weed the garden when we have a veritable NATURE RESERVE as a back yard. (for the record, we have a very tiny back garden). The upside is she is a very entertaining kid with a vivid imagination and a real love of putting on a show.

She has always been a big ole' ham bone within whose chest beats the heart of a drag queen. So it would come to no surprise to anyone who knows her that she began her long campaign to be allowed to participate in beauty pageants at age 7. I always answered her pleas with a resounding "NO!" My list of reasons why were good ones: 1. It rewards what you look like, not who you are. 2. I've seen the photos of what some girls wear and no way are you dressing up like a 7 year old stripper. 3. My Feminist side recoils in horror JUST BECAUSE. I mean, when I was pregnant with her I was adamant that no one purchase anything for her that was pink or was in anyway shape or form stereotypical  princess fluff. The Universe having a sense of humor therefore sent me the girliest girl ever. 4. All pageant moms are crazy. And many other valid reasons.

She kept on asking and every year I said no. Then one day when were talking about the cool things we would get to do when we go sailing, she once again lamented the fact that she would never get to do pageants because while they are a big deal in the Southern US, the rest of the world is pretty much pageant free. Except for Latin America. Man do they love some sparkly dresses and big hair down there. Since I love nothing better than to throw her an unexpected curve ball, I said yes.

I said yes because I knew she would be giving up a lot for us to pursue our dream so it only seemed fair that I allow her to pursue her dream, even if its not something I would have chosen for her. We gave her some ground rules. 1. She would have to earn her entry fees through doing chores. 2. She would not be allowed to dress or behave in a Hoochie manner. (when she asked what I meant by Hoochie I told her I would know it when I see it) 3. She must keep a positive attitude and 4. She must not drink the Kool Aid (And by drinking the Kool Aid I mean thinking that her worth as a person is based on what some random judge thinks of her.) Maura kept her end of the bargain and we let her do a few pageants here and there. And she won. A lot. Pageants gave her an outlet for her talent (she is a serious classical singer) and she made friends. Her self confidence soared. I had to admit that I was prejudiced in my opinion of these things. She did well, had a lot of fun, made friends and I saw her really start to mature and she seemed to be much more positive about cruising as a family.

When Maura turned 13 she said she wanted to compete in the Miss America Outstanding Teen organization. Yes, THAT Miss America. Since due to our cruising plans, she would only get to compete this spring, I let her. Even though she wouldn't win as she was soooo young compared to the other girls (most are 15-16 and she had only been a teen for a month) I thought it would be a good experience for her to learn to work really hard for something that she knew she couldn't win. The reward for her efforts would come from within, knowing that even though the judges didn't choose her she worked hard and grew as a person. This would be a great life lesson. You may not always win, but you can always give it 100%.

Would you believe she won the Miss Burnet Outstanding Teen title? Completely shocked us all, but full credit to Maura for the hard work she put into this. So, YAY! Now what?

Photo by Kathy Whittaker- used with kind permission Hair and makeup by Rouchelle Burdick. I am seriously trying to figure out how to bring the photographer and makeup artist with us when we cruise. I think you would see a heck of a lot more photos of me. :)

Now I am driving all over the State of Texas (and Texas is a BIG State) taking Maura to appearances, events and community service/volunteering opportunities. She has only had her title for 2 weeks and already life has just gotten a whole lot crazier. I am trying to juggle all the balls and keep things going because this is such a great opportunity to learn about herself, what she is capable of and to really grow as person. She has a lot more responsibilities but she also receives a whole bunch of opportunities too.

So things are a bit crazy in my world. Maura is working hard to get ready to compete at Miss Texas in June. She knows it is impossible for her win the State title because of her age but she is driven to make the best showing she possibly can. I am driving, driving, driving all over Texas. Life will settle a bit more after July and I will pick up the blogging pace just in time for us to really push through to the end of the refit. Since I believe that you finish what you started, we will be delaying our departure for a few months to March 2014 to allow Maura to fulfill her year of service. I'm not sure how the change in date and proximity of hurricane season will alter our planned route but we have a year to figure it all out.

Yes Maura, cruising will mean no prom photos but think of it this way- you have these gorgeous shots looking all glammed up and no awkward 17 year old boy to mess up your photos. WIN!

Maura is steadfast in her determination to one day win the  big one- Miss America. While I used to scoff at the idea, now I have to say "Okay. Maybe?!?! Who the heck knows and why not?"When her friends who have the same goal try to point out that she will suffer because she won't have had years of experience competing, she points out that sailing around the world is a great advantage. As she says "I'm going off to actually learn something about the world, then I am coming back to win Miss America and a few seasons on the equator means I won't need a fake bake tan." Maura says that you can still crank a winch AND wear lip gloss and you know what? She is correct- the two are not mutually exclusive. This will most likely be the only post on Maura's adventures as a Miss America Outstanding Teen title holder. First of all, this is a blog about the boat but secondly- its her story to tell, not mine. Her dream, her effort, her adventure and it should belong solely to her.

 I thought it right to let you know why you aren't seeing more regular blog updates. Its because life just got a whole lot busier for a while. Don't lose faith. I will be updating you very soon indeed on plumbing and master cabin make overs and deck layouts and a few shake down cruises. We now return you to your regularly scheduled boaty boat type stuff.

Happy Valentine's Day

We here on Ceol Mor are all about going all out for any holiday we can. Valentine's Day is just another excuse to really lay on the lavish gifts and be all Hallmarky and stuff. You didn't buy it, did you? Maybe just for a minute?

Actually Mark gave me the most romantic proof of his love for me ever. He spent Valentine's Day slaving away on the boat to ensure that I have rock solid plumbing on the boat. Nothing says 'I love you' more than upgrading the sanitation hoses and putting in vented loops. That is love I tell ya.

Meanwhile, I reciprocated Mark's generosity by making romantic gestures such as laundry, running Kitty to gymnastics and the playground, getting Maura to school and by generally making sure everything back at the Casa runs smoothly so he doesn't have to worry about it. This weekend, I will further demonstrate my adoration of him by redoing the crooked buttons on the salon cushions and repairing the crap job I did on the salon curtains. Swoon.

Divide and Conquer. Sometimes it is a necessary evil if you want to keep moving forward.
Today it was largely just Kitty and I kicking it while Mark and Maura attended to other aspects of life. So today, its just shots of the wee girl.

Mardi Gras and the Master Cabin

Work is slowly progressing on the master cabin. All traces of the former head compartment have been removed and construction has begun in earnest. Just look at this boat- we are NOT even playing. There is some serious reconstruction going down.

The area on the port side, just at the top of the berth where the yellow portable light is currently sitting will have drawers for storage at the bottom, a fiddled shelf such as the one on the starboard side and the upper cabinet will mostly be taken up by a plumbing run. The low box on the port side will provide additional storage as well as a seat. You really appreciate those little seats when trying to get dressed underway!

The insert for the berth will be permanently attached so no more sleeping on a total of 3 cushions- a real mattress will fit. The area under berth insert will be enclosed for sail storage and there will be a step installed on the port side to make getting in and out of the berth easier.



Yes, Mark has turned the galley into a full on wood shop. Its not as if I would be whipping up any culinary masterpieces anyway. This is the look Mark has when he is thinking "big thoughts" and by 'big thoughts" I mean thinking of how inadequately designed X is and how it can be improved by reengineering it all and designing it with functionality at the forefront. Sometimes I let him think his big thoughts but other times I remind him that the best is the enemy of the good enough. I never tell him that about the master cabin though.  Can not wait for it to be done!

While the sawdust was flying, the girls enjoyed some pre Mardi Gras festivities. I am a big fan of small town, homely Mardi Gras parades. Still fun, still plenty of libations and indulgences, but much more family friendly. A community based event rather than a commercial blow out. A lot less boobs and vomit than the tourist attended parades of New Orleans. (A NOLA resident doing the puking is rare, its usually the tourist!) The kind of Mardi Gras fun I like. The Kemah parade was just about perfect. Decorated golf carts full of local kids we know, a few pirate filled floats, dogs dressed up festively, drill teams and beauty queens and lots and lots of beads. Once Kitty figured out the items thrown were intended for her she had a blast. Maura lamented that Kitty has 3 times as many beads. Ah the advantages to being tiny....

 

This may have been the Ultimate fun Trifecta for Kitty : pirates, dogs and 'beans'. She really likes her shiny 'beans'.

And the head goes bye bye

Words can not adequately express my excitement at the interior destruction going on aboard Ceol Mor these days. Things might currently look to be in an absolute state of upheaval but its all for a very good cause.

 I love our boat. She is a great sailing boat, large enough for our family to cruise in relative comfort and has a beautiful teak interior. Since ANY boat has trade offs and no boat can ever be perfect, there are a few things that really annoy me. One of the biggest annoyances is the front cabin. Since the rear cabin is too small for Mark and I, we have opted to commandeer the v berth. The plus side has been awesome ventilation. The down side has definitely been the lack of floor space.

When Bob Perry designed the Nassau (Tatoosh, same boat. Really.) He designed it for the typical American sailing family who will typically feel that 2 heads are absolutely necessary. I guess we are not typical because we found the squeezing in of a forward head to be completely unnecessary and to make the front cabin feel cramped, stuffy and uncomfortable. So we are ripping that sucker out!

Mark has finally found a boatwright who can put up with his perfectionist tendencies and whose level of craftsmanship is on a level he is comfortable with- Rick. Rick is an artist and has a tendency to perhaps over embellish on the fit and finish but Mark has found a way to get on the same page with Rick. You guessed it- really, really detailed drawings of what he wants. Drawings that look a lot like this: 

You didn't really think Mark would be able to just do some rough sketches on a napkin did you? So with Mark's detailed instructions and plans and Rick's excellent craftsmanship, we should soon have a truly spectacular Master Cabin. WHOOPIE!! I can not tell you how very happy this makes me.

As to the naysayers who say "but what will you do when your only head breaks?!?!" The answer is- fix it.Quickly. And use a porta potty until such time as the repairs are affected. We are keeping the forward holding tank as the rear one is on the puny side and will have a secondary pump installed so that we have the one head plumbed to both holding tanks. I plan on being completely OCD on the head maintenance and preventative use so if you come visit us, be prepared. A small price to pay for a comfortable master cabin with additional usable storage.

I am so excited about this portion of the refit that the current state of the boat doesn't even phase me. Even though right now it looks a lot like this:

Its gonna be messy for a bit but oh it will be worth it!

Happy New Year!

We celebrated the New Year in our typical lavish and opulent style. The Cristal was flowing as we partied into the wee hours on the deck of our yacht. Not really. I just made that up but it sounds so much more high flying and exciting  than the reality which was we were all asleep by 10 pm because we were tired from sanding and painting in the damp and cold. And while Ceol Mor might technically be a yacht , I just can not refer to her as such without feeling like a complete tool. In my mind, a yacht does not require me ever dealing with the contents of a holding tank or manual labor on my part of any kind. A boat, does however. So in truthfulness I will admit we rang in the New Year by working on the boat.

I think we are now at a point where we can say that we have/are in the process of rebuilding this boat from the keel up. Mark says I am being overly dramatic and that only every single one of the functional systems is or has been rebuilt. The interior teak joinery is gorgeous. Its only the functional bits that need a complete update. A boat by its very nature has a metric butt load of functional systems. So many systems, so little time...

Mark removed our water heater from under the aft cabin berth. I believe our heater is the very same model Joshua Slocum used on his boat.  We are talking about seriously old equipment. We know it was original to the boat because the darned thing was too big to fit through the cabin door. They must have built the boat around it. Mark managed to get it off the boat with an assist from his boat buddy Tim and a hacksaw.

Once the heater was removed we were able to finally access the port side engine mounts. We can certainly improve upon the less than desirable angle iron and wood mounting (hey, you boat yard peeps do realize that bolts simply mounted through wood will compress over time, don't you?) with the addition of metal plates. Eventually, some day a repower will happen (Mmmm Beta) and when it does we can redesign the engine room to have a much more solid engine mounting but for now, the engine seems to keep on keeping on and hopefully we can cut down on the shake, rattle and roll factor a bit by beefing up what we have.

With the heater out from underneath the girls' berth we found what one always seems to find on these old boats- rot. The plywood supporting the heater had gotten wet and it did what wood does when it gets wet- it rotted. On a positive note, this is nothing really structural and therefore is pretty to easy to set to rights by cutting new wood and a lot of sanding and painting. A new, shiny water heater will be installed in the very near future.

As part of the prep for redoing the entire plumbing system, Mark  removed our water tank from under the port side salon settee. Guess what we found there? Just guess? More rot. This time the culprit seems to have been the leaking chain plates which if you've been following along you know was a huge, long and laborious job to correct. I was really hoping we had seen the last of issues from that particular defect. No worries. Its not structural and my sanding and roll and tip skills are getting quite good.

I am pretty darned gleeful right now. The reason being is that Mark has finally contracted with a really talented boatwright to take out our forward head. This will be just about the best Christmas present I could ever receive. We met him last year through Mark's boat friend Tim and I admired the work he had done on other boats as well as the gorgeous wooden dinghy he had built for himself. I was ready to hire him last year but Mark wasn't so when the boatwright returned to Maine last fall I thought we had missed our chance . He's back in Texas and Mark is ready so it looks like a go.He does beautiful work and I am so proud of Mark for turning over a project to someone else. Just because you CAN do it all yourself doesn't mean that you shouldn't enlist the aid of a professional from time to time. With an assist on the carpentry we just might have Ceol Mor ready before the 2014 hurricane season cranks up.

This photo has absolutely nothing to do with the boat refit. I added it because Kitty actually sat still for about 3 minutes, there are no remnants of breakfast on her face and her hair is somewhat brushed. This is worthy of note. Its Kitty and Angus- the wee bagpiper Mark brought back from Scotland for her Christmas present. She seriously loves the funny little guy.

No time to be schmoopy- ITS CHRISTMAS!!

I have not been neglecting the blog. I do try to keep is somewhat focused on the boat (with a healthy bit of kid thrown in. Hey, the title is OUR life and right now our life is pretty darned kidcentric) and there had not been a whole heck of a lot of progress on the boat this month. We aren't slacking, far from it but the truth of the situation is that when Mark is away, precious little ground is gained. If we thought October and November were busily pulling us away from the boat with work, December taught us that we didn't really KNOW what busy was.

December found Mark traveling for work to Florida for a week. No time for fun and sun, he flew back home for a less than 24 hour stay. Bright and early the next morning, he was on a flight to Bergen, Norway. He was so frazzled by the quick flight turn around, he forgot to bring his coat. Mark joyfully embracing the stereotype of the thrifty Scot refused to buy a new coat when he had a perfectly suitable in his car. In Houston. So he bravely kept up a crazy weeks work schedule in Bergen, Norway in December. With no coat. Dude. I appreciate not wasting money as much as the next guy bit getting frostbite will definitely slow your roll.

Anyway, he was able to fly to Scotland to visit with his mother, sister and brother in law for you guessed it- one day. Then it was off to Nuremberg, Germany for a week. While he worked long days, he did find time to enjoy the Christmas markets. His take is that there is no place on Earth that does Christmas better than the Germans and we have put Christmas in Germany on our bucket list. Wouldn't a photo be nice? Yeah. He never takes his camera with him. Its on the nav desk on the boat, far from any image you might want to capture. From Germany, it was back to Norway but this time he was in Stavanger. His time in Norway has put another post cruise option on our list of possible locations. He just loves it there. I never thought much about living in Norway. but it would be kind of neat to see where my mom's family is from and we do have friends there so who knows?

From Stavanger, it was fly home to Houston. Hang your hat for a couple of hours then back to Florida for a few days. And that my friends was all of December. The bad news is that Oct., Nov. and Dec. have managed to push our schedule back by 3 months so there is the very real possibility that our departure date will have to move. The good news is that Mark doesn't so these kinds of work heavy months for the fun of it- they pay him. So bad news, schedule off, good news more pennies in the cruising kitty. I am not going to be schmoopy about yet another possible delay because he is home, we are together and IT IS CHRISTMAS!!!

I unabashedly adore Christmas. Its not as if I undergo a complete personality transplant and suddenly become a cookie baking, light installing Martha Stewart type who creates wintry tablescapes out of twigs, marshmallow forest creatures and snow I created in my freezer but I appreciate the handiwork of all those who do. This is shaping up to be a great Christmas and the biggest single reason for this is having a 2 year old who is every bit as excited when she sees light displays and decorated trees as I do. Kitty is a fellow fan of Christmas and man, is it ever fun.

This girl is completely horse crazy.

We went to a community Christmas party where they not only brought in Santa Claus (Kitty loves the Claus in theory, not reality. No photo ops with Santa this year. She kept telling the kids behind her 'Its your turn'. ) but ponies (Kitty is seriously horse crazy), a train, bouncy castles and the mother of all wonders for kids raised in the subtropics- SNOW!! 

Kitty could not wait to throw herself into the snow. Once she did, she learned the hard, cold truth. (pun intended) Snow is damned cold. She turned around holding her hands up "Mama. I need glubs".

 Maura was excited by the snow until she realized that snow in 75 degree weather turns to ice and that stuff is slick. She looked like a geriatric tottering around on the ice but is wily enough to have plucked a candy cane decoration that was the perfect size to function as a walking cane and enjoyed the ice until her feet were too cold and then it was time for home. Who needs Disney World?

While Mark was off traveling the world for fun and profit, Maura and I got to work on a fun little project. My dear friend Steve Rees, formerly of Two O'Clock Courage was kind enough to record a little piece of Christmas music for Maura to sing. Steve is an incredibly tasty guitar player and I love what he did for her. We didn't tell him anything other than "Do your thing"and boy did he come up with a lovely arrangement for her. He's not only a fantastic musician, he has a place in his heart for young musicians. I think he was the perfect conspirator to work with Maura on her first ever recording.

 Cindy Pruitt of Smiley Face Records was a gem to work with as well. Even going into a small studio, doing a quick and easy vocal take without any bells and whistles or studio magic can be daunting to an inexperienced singer. Cindy was very warm, welcoming and put no pressure on Maura. I think Maura had a really great first studio experience which will serve her well when she is grown should she continue to want to sing. Thanks again to Cindy and Steve. We really place a high value on experiences over things and this was a great experience for her.

So here is Maura singing a song of the season with highlights of the past year. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. May this next year find you an abundance of laughter, joy, health, adventure and a great big horizon.

* When Mark heard this his comments where "ACK! It sounds so ENGLISH! Why did you pick something so slow and without a beat?!?! Because Mark, 'God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen' is my dad's favorite Christmas song and my dad is my number one Daddyo and since he is the bees knees, he gets his granddaughter singing his favorite.

Not to worry. Kitty shares your love of hard rocking Christmas music as evidenced here:

That's right. That's my baby singing The Kinks. That is how we roll. Merry Christmas everyone.

Props to the Liveaboard Refitters

Some folks make sailing heroes out of those who sail the higher latitudes dodging icebergs and dealing with extreme weather.  Not me. Why anyone would want to sail in frigid waters with the only reward at landfall being some seals barking at you, penguin poop and yet more frostbite?

No, my sailing heroes are the folks who manage to live aboard while undergoing a real refit. And by real I mean something a little more involved than changing the curtains and adding new electronics. That's not a refit, that's shopping despite what the boat brokers try to tell you. Living in an already really confined space with everything topsy turvy and managing to not fly into a homicidal rage? That is worthy of admiration. I respect those who do this because there is no way I could do it.

Here is the current state of our salon. All the floorboards are up, Bondo fumes fill the air, the headliner is still off and tools are everywhere. Though heaven help you if you move the tools because Mark has them placed just SO.

The reason for this latest bit of upheaval? Tidying up the run to the bilge. The area under the floorboards has never been faired which means we have lots of little bumps and crevices along the way to the bilge. Bumps and crevices which like to hold water (which despite our best efforts continues to drip down the mast). Sure, its a tiny bit of moisture but its a small boat and that little bit of moisture does like to grow interesting things like mold and mildew. Our goal is to make the boat as dry as possible so we need any and all water to go all the way down to the bilge where we hope one of the numerous bilge pumps we are putting it can give it back to the ocean.

We would also like to be able to install sliding trays which run on elevated tracks in this unused space. Not a whole lot of things will fit there, but provisions sealed in airtight containers should fit. We will have enough canned good storage space to provision for the zombie apocalypse. That's the thing about zombies, everyone knows they can't swim so a boat is a perfect place to avoid brain stealing walking dead. That was my first thought when Mark and I discussed adding storage. Mark just raised an eyebrow at my fantastical rabbit chasing mind. He can be really patient at times. But I digress...

So we endure the smell of Bondo as we try to make the under floor area baby butt smooth. The fumes tend to make me lightheaded, then I start to like the smell and wonder why no one has come up with a Bondo scented aftershave because is it ever a MANLY smell and then I realize I am obviously destroying the few brain cells I have and I'd better go on deck for a fresh oxygen infusion. When my thinking process returns to normal (or as close as mine ever gets) I then think about the folks who are doing similar tasks on their boat while living aboard and I am in awe of their fortitude. THAT is some serious chutzpah.

What do we do while we wait for the Bondo to cure? Why tidy up the topsides of course. We are still pondering what we want to do to the deck layout to make Ceol Mor easier to sail but we know all the decks need to be in tip top shape before we install anything so while we think, we tidy. We tidy up which means there is every bit as big a mess on deck as there is below.  Gingerly step around the needed tools and gently remove any yuck staining the fiberglass under the old deck hardware, check for soundness and paint as necessary. Repeat. Go below, brave the fumes and clutter and Bondo some more. Then be very thankful we don't have to try to live in this big mess and give a hearty salute to those brave souls who chose to do so. You folks are made of stern stuff indeed.