Christmas in Fernandina Beach, FL

Cooking Christmas dinner on the boat

It's our first really notable dinner on the boat as a married couple. Stacie did a great job of making her traditional Christmas Turkey Dinner, She even made a nice Pumpkin Pie. Too bad I was distracted by all the great smells, otherwise I'd have taken a few pictures to share.

Out on the town Christmas night

Trying to get a start on new traditions, Stacie and I decided to take a walk through the small downtown of Fernandina to see who was open. We didn't find much in the way of restaurants, but we did find a few bars open. O'Kanes Irish Pub had karaoke, Dog Star had an old school DJ, and finally at the Palace Saloon we found some pool tables.

Leaving for the jump down the coast

The next phase of our trip is to take a quick run down the coast, to either Cape Canaveral or Ponce Inlet. Because we are going to be running for a solid 30+ hours, a Friend of ours will be coming down for the offshore sail. We're hopeful for favorable winds and keeping those forecasted thunderstorms away from us. 

A day on Jekyll Island

It's been a while...

Lots has happend since last posting, that we'd be spending some time in Georga. Stacie and I flew our kids down to Miami for our wedding... Yes, wedding. We planned on having Lasata down in Miami, but alas the weather gods and work schedule foiled our plans. Never the less, we pulled off a nice beach wedding and are now married (12/12/12).

Back in Georgia, we made a few minor repairs around the boat and did some last minute provisioning. The next phase will put us into Florida and possibly beyond. We're looking forward to Christmas aboard, and heading off to warmer weather.

Before we cast off this weekend for Christmas in Florida, we decided to take a day on Jekyll Island.
For $6 this was a no brainer; an Island with a quaint historic distric, hiking trails, and an abundance of wildlife it was on our must-do list. We spent the afternoon walking on a beach full of some amazing driftwood, and watched dolphins chasing fish up onto the beach.

Being off-season, the place was relatively deserted. We will certainly make a special attempt at getting back here in the spring or early summer.

A few weeks in GA

We're here in Brunswick
...and we will be here for a few weeks. After a short trip off shore between Charleston and Hilton Head, we turned back into the ICW so we could run the portable generators and get some heat. The run into and through GA was surprisingly nice. So, we'll be here for a few weeks for a short break to take care of some business back home.

A few points of caution for anyone who might be following our path through GA, you'll need to pay very close attention to those "Range - Boards" to stay in the deepest water. If you pay close attention to the currents and tides, you should not have a problem and might even get a nice 2 knot push along the way if you time your travels right.

The "Isle of Hope" marina provides a nice place to anchor near Savannah and if you give them $20, they'll give you keys to their facilities and even allow you the use of their bikes. After this a 50 or 60 mile run will put you near New Teakettle creek. This was a very nice anchorage with lots of protection and easy to anchor.

In Charleston, SC. Happy Thanksgiving

We're getting tired!
Nineteen days, and only two of those have produced even the slightest bit of sun! Traveling the ICW is nice enough, but it's not for anyone who has a destination in mind. Between the generally crappy weather and slow going, we're getting a little tired of the mundane motoring. So, after a few days here in Charleston, SC we'll be jumping out and going off coastal to Northern Florida Saturday, Novermber 24'th.

Meanwhile we'll be here in Charleston for Thanksgiving and some recharging of the batteries. We've decided to get some quality rest at one of the more expensive marina's in town. The services are nice, the scenery is gorgeous, and the mega-yachts... well; make us feel a little small. But, the scenery is nice!

For example; here is one of our neighbors http://www.timoneer.org/. I wonder what this 120 + Footer thought about a small 35 footer pulling into the neighborhood?

North Carolina and another storm system!

Here we are... oh wait, where are we again?

Oh yeah, BFE North Carolina! We had a short sail across the Albemarle Sound today, over to Alligator River Marina. We'll need to recharge our batteries and Stacie needs a stable place to work for a couple days.

Other than the fact that there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ON THE ALLIGATOR RIVER, it is quaint little place. We have a Truck Stop / Marina store, laundry and showers, WiFi and TV room... what else do we really need? So we'll see who else shows up, and maybe stay a few days waiting for the next storm system to pass by. (at this rate who knows how long it'll be before Miami!)

Sail'Oween

We're on our way!
So, the day after Hurricane Sandy paid us a visit we gathered up our stuff and finished getting the boat as ready as we were able. And, now we're off! If you'd like to see our progress you can find us on our "Spot Tracker page" where we post our progress every few minutes. ... Or you can check our adventure page: http://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/search/?query=lasata&x=13&y=17

I'm tired, so this is all I can do for today. Hope to be back here soon.

Let's get this thing going already!!!

Sandy's gone... we're still here!
Well, preparations for departure and for a hurricane are counter to one another. Obviously; however, here we are... Generators are fine, we stayed aboard through the whole thing and everything generally worked well, ...well good enough, for now anyway. For example today I we started smelling that familiar hot wire smell. Turns out, the generators and the heat pump couldn't quite keep up with the demands of Stacie. I just hope for her sake, the compressor didn't overheat too much.

Time will tell, and in good time we'll be on our way. Tomorrow looks to be the day. We'll be leaving at 9am for our journey! I'm certain that freeing Lasata from the dock will be a very liberating experience for each of us. I'm really looking forward to getting this started...Tomorrow!

To stay or go?

Sandy has me wondering... hmmm, stick with the plan and leave Saturday in high 60's and risk high winds and rough seas... Or go Monday with 50 degree highs and in wet, rainy miserable conditions.

If we go, it wouldn't be the first time Stacie and I have left in a storm. I'm just not to make it a habit. 

Stay tuned; I will be making a decision tomorrow.

The count down "T minus 6 and counting..."

This past weekend, probably counter to just about everyone who is planning to go sailing south for the winter, living on their boat. We participated in a Regatta over the weekend, and didn't do badly at all considering the race crew is relatively new to sailing. Placing 4'th overall and second in class means we were definitely contenders, and if we can just tune our performance on the line and in tacks we're going to do great next year.

Anyway, I digress... we are basically trying to get out of town... So, why are we racing? Well, I am of the belief that time on the water is everything. And the risk of breaking something near home is better than breaking while we are underway trying to get somewhere; contrary to what Captain Ron says. That said, we finished a nice day racing on Saturday afternoon and suddenly found ourselves without enough battery power to run the electronics on board, let alone start the diesel engine!

Well, here we are; on a sailboat and unable to start the engine to get back to the dock. What are we going to do?!?? Sail in of course! After much cursing, and lots of stress, and even a few laughs we found our way into the slip after just a few short minutes of sailing, then 45 minutes of kedging off the sand bar into the slip.

So, why are we sailing in a regatta just a few days before we are to begin our journey? The answer to me is "because we can and should". I consider a sort of "shake-down" and a way to ease into being on the boat more often that not.

Down to the wire

Funny choice of words for this post; "Down to the Wire"...
A few weeks ago, I had my rig inspected and the Wire or officially known as standing rigging. The inspection didn't point out anything of note with respect to the "Wires" or the "Hardware", however we did note a small deformed spot on the front inboard edge of the lower spreader.

At first this was some cause for concern for me, as if the lower spreader gives way under load the risk of loosing the rig is high. To address this will at the very least take two weeks and will require pulling the sails off the boat and removing the entire mast. Once on the ground we'll have a closer look at the mast and all the parts. At this time we may as well also measure and replace all the wire and hardware. In short... this would be a significant cost in both time and money.

After some consideration, I've determined that the risk of anything catastrophic happening is low, especially since I'll not be going offshore or making any crossings the risk is quite low. That said, a crossing and some offshore runs are planned for January. This gives me enough time to get the boat to Florida and find a nice DIY Marina and have the mast pulled, allowing me to work on the mast in the warm comfort of South Florida. Ha! crisis averted!

It's been all uphill from Bermuda
This trip has been a long time coming, and since Bermuda this past June it has been the primary "next thing" on my mind to do. With 12 days to go I am feeling like I'll never have everything ready, so it'll only be a matter of leaving the dock and turning south. With a 24hour run straight to Hampton Roads, VA I'll be likely in either the Dismal Swamp or heading to Coinjock by Halloween. ...Dismal Swamp sounds like a better place, considering the time of year.

Less than a month to go! With only a few weeks to go, Lasata is still missing a Radar, and I have yet to make those final minor fixes. We're still in Annapolis, and anxiously awaiting the Annapolis Sailboat Show. Hopeful that the show will bring lots of great deals and needed incentive, there is still time to put the final touches on and untie from the dock.
The initial plan is to take three leisurely days down to Norfolk VA. From there we will start our trip into the ICW and head for the Neuse River.

Inspections, Inventory, & other important stuff.

Getting ready for a trip like this involves lots of planning and preparation if you're going to do it safely, comfortably, and without blowing a ton of cash. I've been doing all the work on Lasata with the exception of replacing all the Keel Bolts approximately 3 years ago, and replacing the running rigging. With respect to both of these jobs, paying someone else do do the work was very convenient and mostly trouble free. I'd have rather done the jobs my self because there are a few minor things I would have done differently.

That said; I've had a rigging inspection done by the Rigging Company in Annapolis, MD. I recommend anyone who hasn't had their rig inspected in the last few years, do it and use these guys; they're very professional and know their stuff. Being on the boat with these guys looking my rig over was an educational experience at the very least. More on this later.

So, on to the inventory; I've not been on the boat as much as I'd like over the past two years. Because of this, I am not sure of what is still on the boat and what is worth keeping and not worth keeping. Luckily we'll be going down the ICW and will not be very far from shopping. I'll be keeping the spares to the minimum until I can spend a few days simply on the boat. However, at a minimum I plan to have the following spares;

• Three spare fuses for each piece of equipment aboard.
• Two Raycor filters.
• Emergency VHF antenna.
• Two handheld GPS units. 
• Water pump impeller for Yanmar.
• Yanmar repair kit (hoses / belts / etc...)

Other than that, as we make our way south I'll consider preparing as though we were doing an Ocean Race. This past Summer we had the opportunity to participate in delivering a sailboat from the 2012 Bermuda Ocean Race. In doing this, we attended and received a Safety At Sea certificate. To participate all boats had to have a thorough safety inspection as well. This Safety Inspection Checklist is the standard we're going to strive for before we hit Miami.

Butterflies go South, Chickens Don't

Committed to Go; this is it... I'm mentally and physically prepared for the trip. I've done trips much more difficult than this. My boat is up to the challenge, and I have skills surpassing 95% of what I'll be facing on the trip. As for the other 5%? Well, I did say "surpassing"...

So then, what are these little nagging nervous feelings? I think it is probably that that I am not fortunate enough to be independently wealthy or in retirement... and I like my things! The way mental and physical preparation can make one feel at ease with the challenge of  a trip like this, the same goes for being financially prepared.

In my case this doesn't necessarily mean to have a stockpile of cash lying around, rather I've taken the "4 Hour Work Week" approach ( a book by Tim Ferris ). Mind you; I've read the book and completely admit to being a casual follower of the principles at best... but the book did change the way I look at work and specifically, how I can do the things I want to do now.

That said; I'm off to the boat for more tweaking and day dreaming.

Going South

As the summer is ending,  we're struggling to do the fun "summer things" while "getting ready to go south". Although some of the things being done (a delivery back from an Annapolis to Bermuda Ocean Race, a weekend at anchor in St. Michaels, etc...) are in support of the act of living aboard, things like upgrading Lasata's electronics are slowly being completed.

The list of upgrades includes all new Electronics; for example new Raymarine transducer pack for Speed, Wind, and Depth. We've integrated these things with a new MFD Display for GPS/Chart plotter, and finally a new Digital Radar to be installed sometime very soon.

Other upgrades and additions to the boat include things like a Solar Charging system, and a few safety items like AIS to let other ships know where we are and a "Spot" tracking system to let our shore-side friends and family know where we are. These and a few other safety items to go, and we should be on our way.