tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58071203824067873922024-03-06T06:21:00.796+10:00A to B to SeaAlissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.comBlogger128125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-17483944144685206292018-12-30T10:28:00.000+10:002019-07-15T07:25:14.323+10:00Aquabat has SOLD!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
UPDATE</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Aquabat is sold! Best of luck to her new owners!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
----</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Aquabat has been a great boat for us but the time has come to move on and for her to create new memories with her new owners! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwl7t3BgXnnyHYDLjrMVLLSs5x8Ou8GhiXjsx8fLQ33M1J-ja415ZSkqsGG6B5s38RuVISLCWRXw49-FMMfUBpMI8_DlQxn5Iy_blP7QLeWLNAb3rQ9exVO7TyJwjSDnq0O17dQcPv0opd/s1600/at+anchor+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwl7t3BgXnnyHYDLjrMVLLSs5x8Ou8GhiXjsx8fLQ33M1J-ja415ZSkqsGG6B5s38RuVISLCWRXw49-FMMfUBpMI8_DlQxn5Iy_blP7QLeWLNAb3rQ9exVO7TyJwjSDnq0O17dQcPv0opd/s320/at+anchor+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For Sale: "Aquabat" (Adams Naut 40)</b><br />
<b style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UPDATE: AQUABAT has sold!</b></div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">
A proven offshore design, built strongly in aluminium</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">
- 1991 Adams Naut 40</div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">
- Aluminium Hull and Deck</div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">
- LOA 40' 3"</div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">
- LWL 35' 0"</div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">
- Beam 13' 0"</div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">
- Draft 6' 3"</div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">
- Displacement 24,026lb</div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">
- Designed by Joe Adams</div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">
- Built by Batson in Byron Bay, Australia</div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">
- Bluewater cruising ready</div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">
- Ready for viewing in Newport, Queensland, Australia</div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
For more details, see: <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1RBIZMkrpnN1scT_h7lmrgCXzn4-klDJw" target="_blank">Aquabat Spec Sheet</a></div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
$80,000USD (UPDATE: AQUABAT HAS SOLD)</div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Contact: Bryce & Alissa Winter, <a href="mailto:a2b2sea@gmail.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">a2b2sea@gmail.com</a><br />
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10965744594785295944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-20602530935096410772018-10-10T09:14:00.003+10:002018-10-10T09:16:50.278+10:00Back on the Water<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">We are cruisers again. We arrived back from the US in the middle of August and just didn’t know what we were going to do. Everything was up in the air. But the Lady Fortune has a way of working her magic and handed us a little road trip down the Whitsundays. We had been hanging out with friends for a week when I had the brainwave that Bryce should go back up to Maggie and get Batty and bring her back down to the Whitsundays. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">It is by no means hard sailing (assuming the weather cooperates) to get from Magnetic Island to the Whitsundays but they are long days (assuming you stop to sleep at night) and it’s not how I wanted our introduction to sailing with two little kids to be. What we needed was nice, easy breezy, 3-4 hour sails, at least until we worked up to anything bigger. This is, funnily enough, exactly the type of sailing you find around the Whitsundays. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Assuming there were no surprises, Bryce could easily single hand Batty (and to be honest, does most of the time). But being a long passage, he wanted to get some company and help. His departure coincided with the end of Magnetic Island Race Week and fortunately, he was able to find some willing crew. They had an uneventful, and dare I say, relaxing, trip down and just like that, Batty was in the Whitsundays.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGay-4GyJT_TX0x247FrS0MegwmALVGu_lZlb8P8sIsRQbC14O6xAPEonBpAfzioiiEwfMatbMDqykPXmITMeJbhCX_mgu7bFeg6mFEXYceX9XFuTWgk38ci3zLyM7-YXEG7VWiSvW35Ay/s1600/IMG_7496.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGay-4GyJT_TX0x247FrS0MegwmALVGu_lZlb8P8sIsRQbC14O6xAPEonBpAfzioiiEwfMatbMDqykPXmITMeJbhCX_mgu7bFeg6mFEXYceX9XFuTWgk38ci3zLyM7-YXEG7VWiSvW35Ay/s320/IMG_7496.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White Sand!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">So we have been out sailing, enjoying the magic that is these islands. If you’ve been following us on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/a2b2sea/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, you will have seen some of the amazing places we’ve been. Our first trip out was for about three weeks. We met up with different friends on two occasions and they were able to bring us fresh supplies, which we gratefully accepted and exchanged for our rubbish for them to take back in. Fair, right?! We could have survived on the food we had but the infusion of fresh produce was greatly appreciated. We buddy-boated with another kid boat for awhile and then joined up with a rendezvous of 4 kid boats ( 8 kids under 6 = insanity but fun)! Water was always our limiting factor. We carry about 700 L of water in our tanks and up until we knew we were heading back into Airlie to resupply, we were very conservative and did not run out.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtWx8PvLr7JvjJf03aMG25xxcYMJHQi-ZbwV3m7vDPHEtHsBLjBMP0FwYsTyRL2gdHaI38zvRws2krKr8wxcF4hpcSS8mBWx2yvwrAFd2nt_5QMeQ0Ci-99YYnsBmg0T_vUIyTaIuPVf9/s1600/IMG_7596.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtWx8PvLr7JvjJf03aMG25xxcYMJHQi-ZbwV3m7vDPHEtHsBLjBMP0FwYsTyRL2gdHaI38zvRws2krKr8wxcF4hpcSS8mBWx2yvwrAFd2nt_5QMeQ0Ci-99YYnsBmg0T_vUIyTaIuPVf9/s320/IMG_7596.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Boat-moms (and a baby) escape!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">We have just a quick 48 hours back in Airlie Beach where we saw some friends, picked up an outboard, re-provisioned and filled up our gas and water tanks and then we escaped Airlie Beach as it became unbearable in the northerly winds and headed back out to the islands. The sail out was unpleasant but very fast and short and we are now sitting comfortably in the flat waters of Beach 25 opposite the bustle of Hamilton Island. We aren’t sure where we are headed next, we are just recovering from a whirlwind few days and will then move on. There are lots of anchorages that are only safe and comfortable in Northerly winds that we don’t normally have access to so we are hoping to check them out. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10965744594785295944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-77035290311037913152018-09-20T21:35:00.002+10:002018-09-20T21:35:17.056+10:00Fear vs. Danger<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I wrote this post several weeks ago and while it’s still very relevant, in light of the two shark attacks in our backyard in the last 48 hours, there is definitely some processing I need to do about that (see below where I mention my fear of sharks)! I touch on that soon but for now, enjoy!</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">———</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First, stop everything and go and <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_hadfield_what_i_learned_from_going_blind_in_space?language=en" target="_blank">watch this video</a>.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Go ahead. I’ll wait!</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">…</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">…</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">…</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Back?</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What did you think? Pretty inspiring, right? </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now… confession time! I, by nature, tend to be a pretty fearful person. I’m afraid of flying, crocodiles, sharks, and open water (cringe) to name a few. So you may wonder how it is that I ended up living on a sailboat? Well I don’t like to miss out on anything, I’m generally up for trying something at least once. I like adventure and I love to travel but I’m also a homebody, so sign me up for being able to take my home with me! For the most part, we have had an amazing experience on this particular adventure. My rose-tinted contacts definitely help!</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But more than once recently, I’ve felt over this crazy life we lead. <i>Can we please just get a house, settle down and be normal? Please!?!? </i>I could do that… SOOO easily! This life is hard sometimes. We lack the conveniences of land life, everything takes longer (Grocery shopping can be a full day event), and it really is a lesson in slowing down. Water restrictions, internet restrictions and even power restrictions are everyday. We live on top of each other. Every aspect of life requires thought. When you are out at anchor experiencing all of the amazingness that come with this lifestyle, it’s easier to slow down and disconnect but when trying to merge the two (land and sea) life becomes a bit tricky. Earmuffs for Batty but my mind goes all: <i>I don’t want to live boat life on land. I want to live land life on land! Screw the boat. Let’s get a house!</i></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And what are those amazing aspects of cruising that I mentioned? The ones that make it all worth while!</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Sunrises and Sunsets. The amazing friends we’ve made on our journey. The cruising <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> community that has our back both virtually and in real life. Being the only boat in an <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> anchorage and the first footsteps on the beach in the morning. Seeing humpback <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> whales surface right next to your boat. Having a pod of dolphins swim around your boat <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> as you are sailing along. Hiking to the top of mountains only accessible by water and <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> staring down at the world. Being off-grid and (for the most part, self-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> sufficient). Carrying all food for a month with you, making it last and keeping it </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; white-space: pre;"> </span> <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">interesting (Yes, a blessing and a curse but a challenge that is right up my alley!). </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; white-space: pre;"> </span> <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Walking everywhere. Experiencing the kindness of strangers. Viewing the Milky Way in </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; white-space: pre;"> </span> <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">the pitch blackness. Learning about the stars, and plumbing and electricity. The ever- </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> changing backyard.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiiuzPoRDO6N4oON6yxxyeiURXfAb8n0abg89q56HStXvZlDt0x0o4IU722wwTmuC5B5vc8x9Z7pRpxW8_CxgX_-okV3PwJqcxrU3NAmEo1xr4JmWVE5eBy0fMls_u7yOpwSbiPiojWbhE/s1600/IMG_20170810_070207_212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiiuzPoRDO6N4oON6yxxyeiURXfAb8n0abg89q56HStXvZlDt0x0o4IU722wwTmuC5B5vc8x9Z7pRpxW8_CxgX_-okV3PwJqcxrU3NAmEo1xr4JmWVE5eBy0fMls_u7yOpwSbiPiojWbhE/s320/IMG_20170810_070207_212.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Perfection.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We haven’t even left Australia yet so I can’t even include experiencing different cultures, languages and food! Oh, the food! And the education our girls, but really we all, are going to get! Don’t even get me started how much that excites me! I can’t wait!</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Another confession. I’m also pretty stubborn. So when there are people that tell me “You </span><span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;">can’t</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> be on the boat with two small children,” my automatic reflex is to rebel. The quickest way to get me to do something is to tell me that I can’t! If you are interested, Behan from Sailing Totem keeps a running list of all of the <a href="https://www.sailingtotem.com/blogging-families-afloat" target="_blank">kid boat blogs</a> out there. We are not alone. If fact, we may even be tame compared to some!</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So where does the video come in? I like to watch Chris Hadfield’s TED talk whenever I need some help putting things in perspective. A reminder that what we are doing, actually isn’t so scary. So can I get over my fears? Sure! They’re always going to be there in the back of my mind, as they should. Some fear is healthy, it keeps you on your toes and helps garner respect for the things you are afraid of. The fear is in my head. Dangers are real but we can mitigate them by taking precautions as needed.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now we just need to get and stay out of crocodile territory and I’ll be fine! (Seriously though!)</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">—————</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Those of you who are cruisers, what would you add to the above list of AMAZING things about the cruising lifestyle?</span></i></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10965744594785295944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-64043739030269356292018-08-21T21:43:00.000+10:002018-08-21T21:43:09.539+10:00One Year On<div style="text-align: center;">
My, how our lives have changed! It’s been one year since we last updated you on our whereabouts so here’s the recap!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
-----</div>
<br />
We spent the 2017 season buddy boating with another kidboat, Madam Wong and capped off the season with a trip out to the reef! An adrenaline-filled experience that falls in our Top 3 amazing cruising moments. We will fill you in, I promise! We finished off our winter in the Whitsundays and headed back north to Magnetic Island for the summer.<br />
<br />
We had arranged to housesit over the summer and enjoyed the luxury of doing boat jobs while not living on the boat and luxuriated in the extra space and ease that land life provides.
We took everything off the boat and gave her a good clean. We sorted through all of the random things that had been hidden under beds and in deep cupboards for 5 years and got rid of a lot of junk. Sound advice from the legendary Lin and Larry Pardey. The engine got a complete service and the exhaust elbow replaced. We replaced the autopilot remote and had several other electrical jobs done.<br />
<br />
In March, we gained another little lady crew member. Bryce is really outnumbered now! With two under two on the boat, we toyed with the idea of giving boat life a break for awhile. While we briefly contemplated moving to Papua New Guinea, we went to the US for a couple of months to figure it out and ultimately, completed our circle by returning back to Magnetic Island!<br />
<br />
So that’s where we are and at this point we still aren’t sure what we are going to do. Being on the boat in a marina is a compromise for now but we aren’t sure whether we are ultimately going to be pulled one way or the other. We have lots to figure out and will keep you posted as it develops!Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-64585484752624202792017-08-08T20:55:00.000+10:002017-08-10T20:56:14.304+10:00Whale Season<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The Humpback Whale migration up the east coast of Australia starts in June and goes until August, at which point, the Whales turn around and start making their way south again (September - November). This is a very sad but interesting <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/humpback-whales-eastern-australia" target="_blank">government fact sheet</a> about the history of whales and whaling in Australia.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We have never been in Whitsundays at the same time as the whales but we did see a couple on our trip up from Mooloolaba a couple of years ago. With one exception (The magical Pearl Bay), we only ever saw the occasional spouting and surfacing, never diving or breaching. A whale is a whale and they are amazing, giant, majestic creatures and we have now been forever spoiled by their visits.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6tMPgjjDhRejHIfsx52JR_ZpL223a-y6DewGPmNDgTYOfQGhTVzZPx5QTYMn7ScuU6ndUZ41hUpMKmFgVmdwccVVq1b_NvYscuwH7HkiZjRXEVFniTyLNhgsQFzkvluawypmEpSpU8C5d/s1600/IMG_20170810_070207_212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6tMPgjjDhRejHIfsx52JR_ZpL223a-y6DewGPmNDgTYOfQGhTVzZPx5QTYMn7ScuU6ndUZ41hUpMKmFgVmdwccVVq1b_NvYscuwH7HkiZjRXEVFniTyLNhgsQFzkvluawypmEpSpU8C5d/s320/IMG_20170810_070207_212.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Approaching Cid Harbour</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We are currently anchored in Cid Harbour which is much to shallow for whales so we won’t be seeing any in here but our last few anchorages were much, much deeper. Compared to the one meter of water that we are anchored in now, at Blue Pearl Bay on Hayman Island and Caves Cove on the west coast of Hook Island, we were anchored in upwards of 20 metres of water. In fact, Baby I. went for her first (of many) deep water swims with the giant fish (actual giant fish, not the whales). </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCxMebDT-ebRxU9fcT-YVs3r7JhfgyjSXcomWDaFirtrCgbNqVkNMdLEi1yJWrkUdIHjo5pNqWMPyHIy_I2ZckBXPfQUvJt8vXXOpvhKA_zDaMIEupI7EwTtPbyCXFl4gF8Q7LYlHoLN-_/s1600/IMG_0021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCxMebDT-ebRxU9fcT-YVs3r7JhfgyjSXcomWDaFirtrCgbNqVkNMdLEi1yJWrkUdIHjo5pNqWMPyHIy_I2ZckBXPfQUvJt8vXXOpvhKA_zDaMIEupI7EwTtPbyCXFl4gF8Q7LYlHoLN-_/s320/IMG_0021.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwlUvnqrwuWSbYQBzoEtGTBeyXQu9ACwv6JI_8AXMf9qqZtwfpVzvj2iSa7-yEpN5ceYGWCptYUMsd3J8QOdnvEPxP3Cj2ur7WUtVUGDXx8H3SwyWUZY_4OwPnYoUqQPXvmrpNB6-nIGL7/s1600/IMG_0022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwlUvnqrwuWSbYQBzoEtGTBeyXQu9ACwv6JI_8AXMf9qqZtwfpVzvj2iSa7-yEpN5ceYGWCptYUMsd3J8QOdnvEPxP3Cj2ur7WUtVUGDXx8H3SwyWUZY_4OwPnYoUqQPXvmrpNB6-nIGL7/s320/IMG_0022.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">At Caves Cove, we were particularly spoiled when three whales surfaced about 15 metres away and continued to play around the boat. I. in particular, who probably had no idea what we were getting excited about every time whales surfaced further away, finally was able to get it and join in the excitement. In the 18 hours we were there, we saw several other groups of whales passing nearby and then just as we pulled up the anchor, I turned around to see a whale surface right behind us. We proceeded with mighty caution!</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1KeybBCNGuUMFCz5Xq8-wk5eHe0lFIBYTxaXOK2RGLr8gJcDHJVA06uIcQrnqIkc4CFQo_AH7zZgeHtweigGfoO1pptDeinOy1GvAJ35c71djinBqH1TLa7sjyCZ61fEcMg4fuFd4Wgz/s1600/IMG_0045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1147" data-original-width="1600" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1KeybBCNGuUMFCz5Xq8-wk5eHe0lFIBYTxaXOK2RGLr8gJcDHJVA06uIcQrnqIkc4CFQo_AH7zZgeHtweigGfoO1pptDeinOy1GvAJ35c71djinBqH1TLa7sjyCZ61fEcMg4fuFd4Wgz/s320/IMG_0045.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkmMoynGusjr6ayHHWO1FgH5OzFF3RXbuZaSCSZ7DCd4IMl3zhKRHZn-8TpWb4x-lVFcd5DsRpqdQYy3TPOHOjf1XNRH3xBlQR9RU1bKcjvmGbgL_SRAJFvEI3NdqOUpS2UCyvIWO-nfgA/s1600/IMG_0032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="974" data-original-width="1600" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkmMoynGusjr6ayHHWO1FgH5OzFF3RXbuZaSCSZ7DCd4IMl3zhKRHZn-8TpWb4x-lVFcd5DsRpqdQYy3TPOHOjf1XNRH3xBlQR9RU1bKcjvmGbgL_SRAJFvEI3NdqOUpS2UCyvIWO-nfgA/s320/IMG_0032.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">One of my goals this season is to catch a photo of a Humpback breaching. We saw one at Blue Pearl but I couldn’t tear myself away from them to go and grab the camera. Now that we know what’s in store… the camera is ALWAYS nearby!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntN_qv_VOkKdIY73FxKHo7bmxKdXtR5Lsy7SuqdMoeDcyFfcm4EVZo1RzfJR1k-EnkGm4daPoLI2ve_mzgMkMKPW-nqiA3Rd8sbzRYLmEMzk5pdIWJ1JQmS3WFwKs5PWA8PGkkrLw4RT4/s1600/IMG_0030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntN_qv_VOkKdIY73FxKHo7bmxKdXtR5Lsy7SuqdMoeDcyFfcm4EVZo1RzfJR1k-EnkGm4daPoLI2ve_mzgMkMKPW-nqiA3Rd8sbzRYLmEMzk5pdIWJ1JQmS3WFwKs5PWA8PGkkrLw4RT4/s320/IMG_0030.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Great Humpback</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-54152298789971353592017-08-01T20:37:00.000+10:002017-08-10T20:37:39.715+10:00Interior Design on a Boat<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">So the thing about boats is that for the most part they come with the furniture built-in and, unless you have designed your own boat, you don’t get much say in it! We’ve talked about ways we could make changes to Batty’s layout but as everything is interconnected (tanks, storage, compressors, wiring, plumbing, etc) that doesn’t leave us many options, unless we want to get a different boat, which is not happening for awhile at least!</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">So short of a complete interior makeover, here are some of the ways we tried to liven up our tiny living space!</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>Wall Fixtures</b></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Whiteboard, canvases, ornaments, removable wall decals. The whiteboard is magnetic but because we are afraid of tiny magnets ending up either in the bilge or the baby’s stomach, we don’t really use that feature and instead doodle away to our hearts content. In reality, I use it to keep track of what’s in the fridge! </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOBtz1NkMbfmOO0ZPEJK2VafmQ8UBAJlUuJjWiN4DwllzSG5E-5JamxUW4KOtGWxyudv0e1v2d-zCi2t6PON8WY1deNeN1L7oaEauj-Sd9LA41uE1zOWRZqDUQw75kUG1g1Y_UR4O0wv9/s1600/IMG_20170810_104802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOBtz1NkMbfmOO0ZPEJK2VafmQ8UBAJlUuJjWiN4DwllzSG5E-5JamxUW4KOtGWxyudv0e1v2d-zCi2t6PON8WY1deNeN1L7oaEauj-Sd9LA41uE1zOWRZqDUQw75kUG1g1Y_UR4O0wv9/s320/IMG_20170810_104802.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-75DrO4WJibNfgjYECZ9fJXqoYR3jtUZJ2IkD-LensnErY99IILdAuhvPjH8orMBXIN5JdUS8nIJywlob3rnDFpOWR8F_SSNL0j7uxgzdTLRO55fvOJWd0EUDa2ktwT96mDYpva-SKot/s1600/IMG_20170810_104903.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-75DrO4WJibNfgjYECZ9fJXqoYR3jtUZJ2IkD-LensnErY99IILdAuhvPjH8orMBXIN5JdUS8nIJywlob3rnDFpOWR8F_SSNL0j7uxgzdTLRO55fvOJWd0EUDa2ktwT96mDYpva-SKot/s320/IMG_20170810_104903.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ACoUuatHYY1Jv6F1sE-DFfN0YEcMQT-EY9X-LpGClL6audiENO98aY-vVd8M55emQb1DCQ8BDEGqdaXB9S_s-7N6IkXyZMV2kC3tUT4bHAJgIfoVxoZd9BR0MdYEZKbhswi11TEyYSNC/s1600/IMG_20170810_105741.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ACoUuatHYY1Jv6F1sE-DFfN0YEcMQT-EY9X-LpGClL6audiENO98aY-vVd8M55emQb1DCQ8BDEGqdaXB9S_s-7N6IkXyZMV2kC3tUT4bHAJgIfoVxoZd9BR0MdYEZKbhswi11TEyYSNC/s320/IMG_20170810_105741.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">The canvases were a project I did with my Mum. We set about finding a couple of complementary patterns that wouldn’t be too tiring in a small space and mounted them to some canvases with glue. That’s it. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Fh67d_ZI9gjP59qKqf3IWUHRhq8DQOxpgHyeH56gTDEzVhB4m6QhQZ1_aiseQWIZ1y-WpOtxHDUuw4eq76BIn2dWFVsY1tPockQJfIvjsXvgtuw3S3uTEVSOGD3tPx9HL8fvSiIvg0E6/s1600/IMG_20170810_104826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Fh67d_ZI9gjP59qKqf3IWUHRhq8DQOxpgHyeH56gTDEzVhB4m6QhQZ1_aiseQWIZ1y-WpOtxHDUuw4eq76BIn2dWFVsY1tPockQJfIvjsXvgtuw3S3uTEVSOGD3tPx9HL8fvSiIvg0E6/s320/IMG_20170810_104826.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>Fruit Bowl</b></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Because nothing is as sexy as this three-tiered hanging basket full to the brim with fresh goodness, it get’s it’s own category. It’s truly a work of art. Bottom tier is washed produce (apples, pears, tomatoes, etc), middle tier is stuff that doesn’t need to be washed (avocados, bananas, oranges, etc) and in top tier, I keep my ginger, garlic and a stash of onions so I don’t have to go digging in our longer term storage whenever I need an onion. So far it’s working great.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQyuNoAuLvcXc3OvuV-7xRZ2lJNffsalx22u0FjXN565JIR72c9k7xEfGJamxZh1-SRJFnZ9w849op6-5Rxfj44KG8yMJ2SqT-OYfCz5l2tpx7HSVueCj1F2_b_MaIR2gtbSztV9kMQuda/s1600/IMG_20170810_104747.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQyuNoAuLvcXc3OvuV-7xRZ2lJNffsalx22u0FjXN565JIR72c9k7xEfGJamxZh1-SRJFnZ9w849op6-5Rxfj44KG8yMJ2SqT-OYfCz5l2tpx7HSVueCj1F2_b_MaIR2gtbSztV9kMQuda/s320/IMG_20170810_104747.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>Cushion covers</b></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">These were more of a baby proofing necessity than fashion statement and so I didn’t putt much effort into their design and fabric selection. I made our settee covers out of old sheets and have tied some sarongs around our pillows to make them pop a bit. This is about all we can change easily: material. Someday, when flying food and grubby fingers are no longer a regular occurrence, we will definitely recovered our settee cushions nicely.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2Ob5YXfqRKJX08REI3WZ9eK4_1gMCA0-X1z9QOzNfh03tPLDDwpvXyGvLPGUXh-D7Q6G1QjifRXxsFKm3RY2IwnMa_PyBz3dZI2yE9r31rASSKWHryUiafPR0Z_vUdGqH_YpKPnsm__8/s1600/2012-12-13+11.27.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2Ob5YXfqRKJX08REI3WZ9eK4_1gMCA0-X1z9QOzNfh03tPLDDwpvXyGvLPGUXh-D7Q6G1QjifRXxsFKm3RY2IwnMa_PyBz3dZI2yE9r31rASSKWHryUiafPR0Z_vUdGqH_YpKPnsm__8/s320/2012-12-13+11.27.39.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuuw1hOhooiUmGIuIfh6uum_brr9rEoXrttslqvJ_Am1AZESBQamgxUrpv7bDSGYCIhXYc8yJRLqVgfoIb7vv2LIDBaqZiqJkCXzexc85p-lwKfAC9-oqYct7JsXV6CidPPMfxyCVYx0cD/s1600/IMG_20170810_105434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuuw1hOhooiUmGIuIfh6uum_brr9rEoXrttslqvJ_Am1AZESBQamgxUrpv7bDSGYCIhXYc8yJRLqVgfoIb7vv2LIDBaqZiqJkCXzexc85p-lwKfAC9-oqYct7JsXV6CidPPMfxyCVYx0cD/s320/IMG_20170810_105434.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>Curtains</b></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Again, more blue, so they had to go, Bryce’s mum made us some new lighter curtains which really brighten the place up.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><b>Upholstery</b></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">When we moved aboard Batty, one of the first things I noticed (and didn’t like) was that EVERYTHING was blue. Now theres nothing wrong with blue, but being on the water, we see an awful lot of it so we wanted to lighten things up a bit. The blue carpet was in great condition so I wasn’t going to mess with that. So the velvety material on the headboard and reading nook in the master cabin was the first to go. I enlisted the help of my friend, Grace and her mad upholstery skills and recovered them both. We did manage to expand the bed which made the reading nook just another part of the bed but its still cozy.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSg9SSm8j2ypEXBZ5kWKkUHfU5Suq8o6eS4Gkzjgz5auhLOi0k9N9pNYz36I8g44IluvOtTJoKURZwb-KMxFEp1zQLPdh4WCBzjc47OrQPhsMqVjlKX6x4C7XrrPe-gx1J0Haez_ra1dSN/s1600/2012-12-13+11.27.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1038" data-original-width="852" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSg9SSm8j2ypEXBZ5kWKkUHfU5Suq8o6eS4Gkzjgz5auhLOi0k9N9pNYz36I8g44IluvOtTJoKURZwb-KMxFEp1zQLPdh4WCBzjc47OrQPhsMqVjlKX6x4C7XrrPe-gx1J0Haez_ra1dSN/s320/2012-12-13+11.27.52.jpg" width="262" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGuNgPtb9gbKgZF97adSg1gQqrRHuP66AaOPlBWaSyJJSphYCQomzlCfr_Bdr90EJjMg2bZuCworHdE_4mxPOysKlosFJ56kDQGcKq2AZCMexPcL0X86ORB4ndDtxQUq259WMDBbK4LcdE/s1600/IMG_20170810_110038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGuNgPtb9gbKgZF97adSg1gQqrRHuP66AaOPlBWaSyJJSphYCQomzlCfr_Bdr90EJjMg2bZuCworHdE_4mxPOysKlosFJ56kDQGcKq2AZCMexPcL0X86ORB4ndDtxQUq259WMDBbK4LcdE/s320/IMG_20170810_110038.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqoM86_S2evBKVHy3DXsbUySKR_fVAVomNlo2RvmM2iaWRd0c3DSpQiBFmO9wbvBya1fUZuQY98zL2BCXC0YJYmzgfH9uJjdk1t9R-J3DBDzaVneq2hhFrx-6hPcmCtAs10TpRFnuj8yrG/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-04-29+at+16.35.54.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="513" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqoM86_S2evBKVHy3DXsbUySKR_fVAVomNlo2RvmM2iaWRd0c3DSpQiBFmO9wbvBya1fUZuQY98zL2BCXC0YJYmzgfH9uJjdk1t9R-J3DBDzaVneq2hhFrx-6hPcmCtAs10TpRFnuj8yrG/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-04-29+at+16.35.54.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-K2gUBai4qYLIXtlTQxfcGOY7PzJYjnR0bODhxUHEBrx5c39POJqGhyphenhyphenqf0flbtBmNkuTm9SlTQpe4K1dnsA7OUKieNDSAFR5vqERRGK858xElKvV_hN0FBnX3dQ1T8jjNTB1sYLapLtIB/s320/IMG_20140529_144156.jpg" width="240" /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizGbtRIJAfhbBz76SYqT4qxASa23i_WgCW6toElg_oqdjMf0wQWNc5X504ry9ysxQ9jYx6-1IsWU1bJXkmkjkM-YzSOoTHnG4M3GBQNKSXQZ5Rh_ZOIImaNg63mHhLfX0T2-Wci_urYbu/s1600/IMG_20170810_110050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizGbtRIJAfhbBz76SYqT4qxASa23i_WgCW6toElg_oqdjMf0wQWNc5X504ry9ysxQ9jYx6-1IsWU1bJXkmkjkM-YzSOoTHnG4M3GBQNKSXQZ5Rh_ZOIImaNg63mHhLfX0T2-Wci_urYbu/s320/IMG_20170810_110050.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px; text-align: center;">
-----</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">We would love to hear from you. <i>What other ideas do you have for brightening up a small space?</i></span></div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-75026090299499120932017-07-13T09:08:00.004+10:002017-07-13T09:08:38.770+10:00Why Build a Drogue<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
Around this time one year ago, I was, what felt like 500 months pregnant (in reality, 35-36 weeks) and decided to build a <span class="m_316027323909234886gmail-il">drogue</span>. We had actually decided to build a series <span class="m_316027323909234886gmail-il">drogue</span> a couple of years earlier and had been carrying around the materials to make it since then. I was determined that if it was not made before the baby came, then we were getting rid of all the materials and never having a <span class="m_316027323909234886gmail-il">drogue</span>. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
Irrational? Maybe! But the bits and pieces for the <span class="m_316027323909234886gmail-il">drogue</span> were taking up precious space on this boat! And besides, I was pregnant! While I did the actual building of the drogue, Bryce was the brains behind the research and design so I'm going to hand it over to him to share all his drogue-y knowledge! This is part 1 of 2. Part 1 will cover why we decided to build a drogue and Part 2 will cover how we actually built it!</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
With modern weather monitoring services, it is extremely unlikely that we would ever be in the situation where we would need to use our drogue. BUT, if a nasty weather system were to pop out of no where and surprise us, we want to be prepared! So just keep that in mind as you read what Bryce has to say! :)</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
-----</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
This is Bryce now!</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
As some background, the series drogue is a "series" of cones that are streamed out from the back of the boat to slow the boat down as our last line of defence in a "survival storm" scenario (i.e. a storm so severe that the only objective is survival). The main features are: Once deployed it requires no tending in hideous conditions, it prevents the boat from being capsized or rolled, and allows all crew to go below-decks and hunker down until the nasty weather passes. In many ways, it is like an airbag in a car - you hope you never need it, but it might just save your life if it all goes very wrong. A lot of my thoughts on this topic have been heavily influenced by <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.morganscloud.com&source=gmail&ust=1499986996935000&usg=AFQjCNF6q5tB2A7A8E15r08aoDRRnVWgzA" href="http://www.morganscloud.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.morganscloud.com</a> (see there for a thorough analysis). A very brief analysis of the options follows.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
There are other techniques that people use for dealing with a survival storm, mainly consisting of "drag devices" . They all work by slowing the boat down, and ideally stopping the boat from being thrown off the face of a large breaking wave (the boat landing in the trough of the wave, possibly tens of feet below, is the main issue, as is the rolling of the boat that will likely follow this scenario). If a single drag device is deployed and fails at a critical moment, it fails spectacularly and there is no backup. Further, any single unit could feasibly pull out of the face of the wave that it is dragging through, again potentially resulting in the associated free-fall and smash at the bottom. The solution to these issues seems to be using multiple drag devices, but streaming several independent drag devices in these type of conditions is a recipe for them to tangle and become ineffective. A "series" drogue has many independent cones performing light duty; the failure of several cones will be of little consequence. Of course, there remains the issue of a single point of failure in the line and attachment points, so these need to be of high quality.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
Assuming then, that a "series" drag device is the answer, the question of where to deploy it from is next. Deploying from the sides of the boat is out of the question, as that would present the largest area to the wind as well as leaving the boat sitting broadside to breaking waves, inviting a capsize. That only leaves us with the option of deploying from the the bow (a sea-anchor) or the stern (a drogue). For us, a bow deployment was inferior. I know from anchoring that when we get a little bit of the bow off the wind, that will expose the side of the boat to the wind which pushes us further in that direction until the anchor line comes tight and we get whipped around so the other side of the boat is now presented to the wind. This process repeats! At anchor, where we are mostly protected from any significant wave activity, this is only an annoyance. In a survival storm, however, these loads will be ferocious and present an unacceptable risk of either a broadside wave-strike after the bow gets pushed around, or else the sea-anchor line chafing through from the constant yawing back and forth. Contrast that with the behavior of the boat with the stern into the wind. In this position, the boat is remarkably stable, and the opposite behavior occurs (i.e. if the bow finds its way out of position, the wind quickly snaps it back into place). Additionally, the wider transom provides a platform to use a bridle rather than a single line, further accentuating the tendency to sit still and stable whilst stern-to in a strong wind. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
So now that we've decided on a series drogue, we need to look at some of the specific risks. One risk that has been identified is the potential for a pooping wave to flood the cockpit and risk flooding the cabin through the companionway hatch. From first-hand reports, this concern isn't especially significant provided a couple of factors are addressed: </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
a) The cockpit drains quickly (ours has VERY large drains), and </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
b) the stern has lots of buoyancy (ours does), and </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
c) the companionway has a good hatch cover that is in place when the drogue is deployed (ours does and will be). </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
Also, as alluded to above, the attachment points need to be very strong and chafe-free. For our boat, each attachment point must be able to withstand forces of about 9,000kg. The attachment points are still a work-in-progress for us, but we will upgrade this before we do any serious offshore sailing. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px; text-align: center;">
-----</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px; text-align: center;">
That's all for now! Stay tuned for Part 2 in this series where we will share exactly how we built the drogue!</div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-26807669363863096332017-07-03T20:18:00.002+10:002017-07-03T20:18:26.749+10:00Bowen Haul Out: Part 2<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">After the </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.a2b2sea.com/2017/06/bowen-haul-out-part-1.html" target="_blank">disaster</a></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"> that was getting us out of the water, the rest of the haul out went smoothly. </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Batty was last out of the water in September 2015 and we can normally get 18 months out of an anti-foul job, so we knew we were pushing our luck. While we were away, someone had been diving on Batty to scrub her bottom and they had told us that she was in pretty bad shape. I have see MUCH worse on other boats, but the growth that was on the bottom of Batty’s keel was the worst we’ve ever seen it get! We came out of the water on Thursday morning and were going back on on Monday morning (Bonus day due to the initial delay!), so we had a strict timeline to stick to to make sure we got all of our jobs done.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK1D6-U77qp0857ww03LHcFmkJt5dD_HBjJ7AFuP197qYu5Wn7r5uzvLJcT-9h1gP1il4odacIo_d-QFj_CsheLiBGH7wE2YpwibSXQ6m2s7YxuhJsZ5xDFwBt1hsRkV0-qEm-_8uXyLaa/s1600/IMG_20170622_080609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK1D6-U77qp0857ww03LHcFmkJt5dD_HBjJ7AFuP197qYu5Wn7r5uzvLJcT-9h1gP1il4odacIo_d-QFj_CsheLiBGH7wE2YpwibSXQ6m2s7YxuhJsZ5xDFwBt1hsRkV0-qEm-_8uXyLaa/s320/IMG_20170622_080609.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>NEW ANTIFOUL</b></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The guys set to work straight away cleaning, sanding and painting Batty’s hull. After a hose down with the pressure washer, the hull got sanded to prepare the existing paint for new coats of paint. Antifoul paint is pretty toxic stuff so it’s best to wet sand it so that you’re not inhaling toxic dust. They applied primer where needed and were then ready to spray on the two coats of antifoul paint that we needed. The brand of antifoul that we use is International Trilux 33. The sprayer applied the 20L wet-on-wet, after we called the manufacturer to confirm that that was OK. This is expensive stuff, the 20L of paint alone cost us about $1,600! </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCtrnsc_S_KUJbT1encuVXIuyjNQYsqana1bmlgidiAkBMXJJtEoSTLv7lJSsTSnvSr-dGIpzWg-BIB71BDSGphpQgGMVSHynb16b_Prh7mv6Qky-uVdd3dgdd0W03hi79ZiohcSVUrH6H/s1600/IMG_20170624_064359_383.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCtrnsc_S_KUJbT1encuVXIuyjNQYsqana1bmlgidiAkBMXJJtEoSTLv7lJSsTSnvSr-dGIpzWg-BIB71BDSGphpQgGMVSHynb16b_Prh7mv6Qky-uVdd3dgdd0W03hi79ZiohcSVUrH6H/s320/IMG_20170624_064359_383.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>REPLACE SHAFTSEAL</b></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ideally we would have as few holes in the boat below the waterline as possible! The propeller shaft attaches to the engine inside the boat, goes through the hull and attaches to the propeller outside the boat. To ensure that water does not come into the boat through this opening, we have a shaft seal. Our seal had been leaking every time we ran the engine so we ordered a new one and Bryce needed to replace it. [[[All you worriers out there… don’t worry! It wasn’t leaking a lot!]]] When we bought the boat, the previous owner was kind enough to leave the important things behind. We’ve found our fair share of crazy looking, random, unknown tools on the boat and one of them was a propeller puller. It was very useful last time we had to pull the propeller off, but this time it wasn’t working so Bryce had to find an engineering shop in town to refashion the prop puller and make it pull. He finally released the prop and was able to check out the shaft seal. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Part of the problem with the leaking was that the alignment of the engine had changed over time (It’s possible that the new flexible mounts for the engine that we installed a few years ago had sagged a bit). This meant that the seal wasn’t turning squarely, and hence water was popping out (and the seal was degrading). After replacing the seal and trying to put it all back together, it wasn’t going together smoothly… definitely not a good thing, and a pretty reliable indicator that the alignment was badly out. I called in a buddy and the conclusion was that I’d need to take it all apart again, re-sit the new seal, put it back together without one piece that gets in the way of aligning the bits, take it all apart again, and put it back together with everything in place. Bryce spent LOTS of time on his knees with his head down in the bilge and his back has still not forgiven him. A great trick that our buddy suggested that saved some time was turning the coupling faces 180 degrees from where they were, which improved things no end. End result: It doesn’t leak any more!</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCyEE8bEiHbnPqHVTtDTSIvZhea4TeVLu7jlJpQPrccQ64zn6PAdAtgO_2Vi5X3auocX1-sBX3Afegh4hZO71GjYs3axsjoVf3ze9Bu1z0ORNksl5ciBLzesLKm6IckkN3-sJGqw_AZnOX/s1600/IMG_20170623_163317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCyEE8bEiHbnPqHVTtDTSIvZhea4TeVLu7jlJpQPrccQ64zn6PAdAtgO_2Vi5X3auocX1-sBX3Afegh4hZO71GjYs3axsjoVf3ze9Bu1z0ORNksl5ciBLzesLKm6IckkN3-sJGqw_AZnOX/s320/IMG_20170623_163317.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>REPLACE ANODES</b></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While we were out, we also needed to replace Batty’s anodes. Because we are an aluminum boat, we have to worry about electrolysis. Dissimilar metals all trying to eat the ones that are below it on the food chain. Our hull, made from aluminum, is below just about all of the other metals used on the boat, but above zinc. Therefore, we have zinc anodes that get eaten sacrificially instead of the hull.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our propeller is made of bronze and the propeller shaft is stainless steel, so we have an anode on the shaft to help protect the the hull. We also have an anode on one of the supporting struts that holds the prop shaft in place, another anode on the rudder and one on each side of the hull. When we are in a marina, we have an additional anode that we drop off the side of the boat to help in case the metal from other boats is using Batty’s hull as an anode (steel boats, we’re looking at you!). We replaced the anode that was on the prop shaft but the other three anodes still had some life in them so we’ve left them for next time. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>APPLY PROPSPEED</b></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The propeller can get pretty grimy and a dirty prop really cuts back on our speed, as well as increasing fuel consumption. Any barnacles that grow on there needed to come off. Once Bryce had reassembled the engine and the prop was back on, they were able to put a special coating on the prop that is slippery to barnacles. The theory is that when the prop is still, the barnacles attach, but when the prop spins, they simply slip off the slippery coating on the prop. The guys applied Propspeed by grinding the prop back to bare metal with a wire wheel attachment on the angle grinder, and then painting the Propspeed on. It actually looked pretty easy, and Bryce is considering trying it himself next time.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wOqHLbijFtsKQ1fJ4PMEkgWElS-bAwIyyKhFKzZb5aT0CW8m6EYY4RK_flsfm7XH6HHgYstkOxQnOvVPv9_JV9kBIBsrnpZGKyf1vYyFntzQS_-l4W5JU8YzM_WKcsDBWvr_KveI-MD5/s1600/IMG_20170626_105906.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wOqHLbijFtsKQ1fJ4PMEkgWElS-bAwIyyKhFKzZb5aT0CW8m6EYY4RK_flsfm7XH6HHgYstkOxQnOvVPv9_JV9kBIBsrnpZGKyf1vYyFntzQS_-l4W5JU8YzM_WKcsDBWvr_KveI-MD5/s320/IMG_20170626_105906.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>ENGINEERING</b></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We also had lined up a friend, who happens to be an engineer, do a couple of jobs for us. The anode for the prop shaft was too thick, which meant that it had to be shrunk. We didn’t want to butcher this, because if it was not ground down squarely, it would result in uneven spinning on the shaft as it wobbled around. This would be bad for just about everything involved. This friend was also the giant help to Bryce in helping to reassemble and realign the engine. Additionally, one side of the channel that our anchor chain runs through up at the bow has eroded after years of the chain running over it. This is still a work in progress as we didn’t need to be out of the water for it to be done but a fix is in the cards!</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">———</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conveniently, there is a caravan park across the road from the boatyard and we rented a little cabin for our time out of the water. This was a good call for SOOOO many reasons. Bryce was able to make AS MUCH of a mess as he wanted on the boat and did not have to clean up at the end of the day. He popped home for lunch during the day and at the end of the day, he had a hot shower, warm meal and clean bed waiting for him. For me, it meant that baby I. and I were able to stick to a bit of a routine in a comfortable space and even enjoy the luxuries of land life as well (washing machines and hot water!). </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUWqpfSe8Fp6DCQtI8QM6S45Vd9YfQonyFOJxH_gINBh46XtBrbzue0cUmJPg6lAwZOChGBubxJfassDvApHe_iMAEAeJ_jZIWvBVhQctszOYZH41Vl-RyocUuNypvSMo27vuKeTEsixR5/s1600/IMG_20170623_124033_128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUWqpfSe8Fp6DCQtI8QM6S45Vd9YfQonyFOJxH_gINBh46XtBrbzue0cUmJPg6lAwZOChGBubxJfassDvApHe_iMAEAeJ_jZIWvBVhQctszOYZH41Vl-RyocUuNypvSMo27vuKeTEsixR5/s320/IMG_20170623_124033_128.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All in all, Bowen was a really good place to haul out. Expensive, but what haulout isn’t! But it’s over now, thank goodness, until next time!</span></span></div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-65420401757029987142017-07-02T21:22:00.004+10:002017-07-02T21:22:59.550+10:00Sailing Maggie to Bowen VLOG<div style="text-align: center;">
It took us awhile to get going but we finally did it! Not surprisingly, we went against the popular direction and decided to sail southward, into the wind!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Join us as we sail from Magnetic Island to Bowen!</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wMmnR35siEA/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wMmnR35siEA?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-42491830865615473162017-06-28T20:47:00.000+10:002017-06-28T20:47:07.872+10:00Bowen Haul Out: Part 1<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">We have known for a VERY long time that we needed to haul out, the only problem was that we couldn’t find a place to do it. One place in Townsville, we were restricted by draft and tides. Another yard in Townsville had a clause in their contract that rendered our insurance void. After Cyclone Debbie, we were told that all of the yards in Airlie Beach were closed to non-cyclone work for 12 -18 months. In our general area, that left Cardwell, 2 days north and Bowen, 3 days south. Our plans had us heading south so Bowen it was!</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">The yard at Bowen is a slipway, and was our first time taking the boat out in this manner. In the past, we’ve always used a travel-life, where they put the boat in slings and lift her out of the water before setting her on a hard stand. With slipway, the hardstand, or cradle, is already in the water, you drive into it and are secured and then you are pulled up the railway-like tracks to the work area.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We had been told to report to the slipway at 6:30 am on Tuesday morning to give us the maximum amount of water at high tide (6:31am). So we all got up early to have breakfast and get ready, no easy feat with a 1 year old. At 6:28am, we arrived and the yard was still shut, the cradle was not in the water and there was no one there. We were early, so we did a lap of the harbour. We returned to the yard at about 6:40am to see 2 of the crew working on the cradle and it was still at the top of the ramp. They told us it would be about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, they lowered the cradle and we were instructed to drive on in. The crew then advised us that they were having trouble lowering the cradle all the way because it had hit something on the tracks. We attached some stern lines to the cradle and put the boat into reverse to try and pull the cradle deeper into the water. It didn’t work.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">One of the crew dived on the cradle and the boat and found a large block of timber blocking the way that they had accidentally dropped in there a couple of weeks ago. We tried to use Batty’s power to reverse the cradle a bit further again and we were able to bring it out a little bit more. We were now over an hour past high tide and we were instructed to power forward onto the cradle. We made it onto the cradle and then they tucked us in with the forward arms of the cradle. This took a little bit longer as they accidentally dropped one of the bolts in the water and had to get a screwdriver to jam into the hole. Once we were securely attached to the cradle, they started to pull us up and that is when the cradle derailed from the tracks… with Batty on the cradle… with the three of us on Batty being told to remain still in the cockpit.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0kSIUEcfYSVHG85EeG_3TBOl6nsFI0eyVhnsjYgx9s_19jo-zU6jzCGZq9hKVOYUsZ-8BkyXSUiuy4w4bcSc1rnVvTeOGPgBP8jobeP4ltKpTdxQksThVG6QUB3nPLjmxp4hX9_EZEsn/s1600/IMG_20170620_195255_626.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0kSIUEcfYSVHG85EeG_3TBOl6nsFI0eyVhnsjYgx9s_19jo-zU6jzCGZq9hKVOYUsZ-8BkyXSUiuy4w4bcSc1rnVvTeOGPgBP8jobeP4ltKpTdxQksThVG6QUB3nPLjmxp4hX9_EZEsn/s320/IMG_20170620_195255_626.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boat, & plans, derailed!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">They tried some maneuvers to get the cradle back on the track. They used their work boat to ram against the cradle to try push it into place. They tried pushing it over with their own strength, to no avail. Batty’s 12 tons were not budging. Once it became clear that were stuck, these attempts were abandoned. We were allowed to move around the boat and even allowed to get off the boat. At that point the cradle was jammed against the concrete so she wasn’t going anywhere. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAzxEpmDrdhlIAF3v5Pd-bBs6ic436xUSBiJBRMlmFS4dkebzzrw1tKcDEXSMZ5OG5j4ENudZve8F8JNZPEnRQY4IDPUqgBFO7Xq9cisgNkDPbtZXwvG1HgjUCG2fQjArGg4exd7dMHLio/s1600/IMG_20170622_102129_562.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAzxEpmDrdhlIAF3v5Pd-bBs6ic436xUSBiJBRMlmFS4dkebzzrw1tKcDEXSMZ5OG5j4ENudZve8F8JNZPEnRQY4IDPUqgBFO7Xq9cisgNkDPbtZXwvG1HgjUCG2fQjArGg4exd7dMHLio/s320/IMG_20170622_102129_562.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dismount!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Bryce returned at low tide to reassess the situation with the work crew. They decided that we would attempt to re-float Batty at the next high tide which was at 7:30 pm that night.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBFh7unwvQME4ZBNAojngFkuLCQUcPqXE8qaZqNh794RTi0i_Si0tVkQEV7600b5RH7BsvoXgxnPSCf1cjJ1Glk5Krqi0nmvnI6FvpbKeqVw7R2iHnrFmv9kPXyYCiUTH_7kxww0k1xYcW/s1600/IMG_20170620_180043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBFh7unwvQME4ZBNAojngFkuLCQUcPqXE8qaZqNh794RTi0i_Si0tVkQEV7600b5RH7BsvoXgxnPSCf1cjJ1Glk5Krqi0nmvnI6FvpbKeqVw7R2iHnrFmv9kPXyYCiUTH_7kxww0k1xYcW/s320/IMG_20170620_180043.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Night time escapades!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">7:30 came and went. There were lots of extra hands on deck</span>, including swimmers (in their clothes, in the cold water with the howling wind) but they were not able to move Batty in either direction on the track. New plan was to try again at the next high tide the following morning. The next morning, a front-end loader (a digger) arrived and pushed the cradle and Batty back into the water. It took nearly all of the digger’s power to make this magic happen and the water was up to the driver. With that roadblock out of the way, they used the front-end loader to clear the tracks at low tide and reposition the cradle ready for another go.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDt6rc26-CsrwokdS0IDdR-mcADiiDrPldgKjk0e7z7_jLTM5WUia-IXVuXu15WP7ZUROi04d3moSyZ4zGNE5XQUMgqXqVJRgYA1o66PMXzoP4p3YGj8NXjs4HmsD-mtdFZ-c99ZYPGq8b/s1600/IMG_20170621_073414_381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDt6rc26-CsrwokdS0IDdR-mcADiiDrPldgKjk0e7z7_jLTM5WUia-IXVuXu15WP7ZUROi04d3moSyZ4zGNE5XQUMgqXqVJRgYA1o66PMXzoP4p3YGj8NXjs4HmsD-mtdFZ-c99ZYPGq8b/s320/IMG_20170621_073414_381.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free at last! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Thursday morning (2 days after the first attempt), we showed up with Batty at high tide and everything was in it’s proper place. The crew was on deck, the cradle was in the water and the track was clear. We drove into the cradle, were secured and up we went!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4gqKJ5f64Bqntyo14ve2wbhbDUIv9bTxQJCE9NWdi6xT60BQ_Pqs4zTVHLzNeBDo9hdF-jpXVPBwo65fDkoFIG1NiA1ZQC3wqEtghix4iRXO_S-JVFoUjNUcv5Qa72jhtPUNYxcUe4lGg/s1600/IMG_20170622_074130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4gqKJ5f64Bqntyo14ve2wbhbDUIv9bTxQJCE9NWdi6xT60BQ_Pqs4zTVHLzNeBDo9hdF-jpXVPBwo65fDkoFIG1NiA1ZQC3wqEtghix4iRXO_S-JVFoUjNUcv5Qa72jhtPUNYxcUe4lGg/s320/IMG_20170622_074130.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Take 2!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">We are able to laugh about it now and occasionally while it was happening, but for the most part, it was a wee bit stressful! The yard was very apologetic and paid for our extra nights accommodation on land due to the delay and they also comped two of Batty’s days on the slip, both of which we greatly appreciated. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8OwcC0iXD6bj3dN7SWi4m7znXRk_n5dYCZLkfHXkRoDdF73MnWmcKTo52aoIcqVh3R-evRJyKJryg3nwgjD2SPLRYVYOskaiAKlG5xYaUxkpz_Gp6kgNY3EZWIaPE5afNEA60NitImZ_8/s1600/IMG_20170623_163244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8OwcC0iXD6bj3dN7SWi4m7znXRk_n5dYCZLkfHXkRoDdF73MnWmcKTo52aoIcqVh3R-evRJyKJryg3nwgjD2SPLRYVYOskaiAKlG5xYaUxkpz_Gp6kgNY3EZWIaPE5afNEA60NitImZ_8/s320/IMG_20170623_163244.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">-----</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Stay tuned for Part 2 and hear about all of the TLC that Batty got while she was out!</span></div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-60537965273784509912017-06-22T21:42:00.000+10:002017-07-02T21:42:55.017+10:00Getting ready to go!<div style="text-align: center;">
It's taken us ages to get ready to leave Maggie. We unpacked the boat, then had to repack as Cyclone Debbie was heading straight for us, and then unpack again. The cyclone missed us... phew!! </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Get a glimpse of the other side of boat life!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8hRe_H1YjlM/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8hRe_H1YjlM?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-47353934887520225322017-06-22T12:38:00.000+10:002017-06-22T12:39:55.597+10:00Newly Salted Interview<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Back when we were first starting to look at seriously buying boats, we were doing alot of research about what it was like to actually cruise. We read a lot of blogs and <a href="http://newlysalted.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Newly Salted</a> and it’s sister site, <a href="http://interviewwithacruiser.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Interview with a Cruiser</a>, were two sites that we literally devoured information from! It’s so great to get other people’s perspectives on this lifestyle. We are thrilled to be joining the ranks of other new cruisers on the <a href="http://newlysalted.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Newly Salted</a> site. </span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">-----</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">We are Bryce, Alissa and our 1 year old daughter, I. We started cruising in April 2013 in Mooloolaba, QLD and have cruised up and down the Queensland coast getting as far north as Cairns. We have spent significant portions of that time at Magnetic Island and the Whitsunday Islands. Despite having had the boat for 4 years, we’ve taken breaks to travel, work and have a baby, which brings our active cruising time down to 20 months. We live and sail on a 40 ft aluminium monohull named Aquabat, that was built in 1985 by the man we bought her from. We love meeting other cruisers so please feel free to </span><span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.a2b2sea.com/p/blog-page_1.html" target="_blank">contact us</a></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> if our paths may cross or you have any questions!</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWpGq3IgKCSuBrSFFFQIxo-Fy7JIlmQLAGLFJYGRrcDyv6vIjS1V9k0SV6EAl6x03XrlqEzM4hTNbAwH_CweTw_d0uL8aGseDad3Jdxm8YLBzrJwf7kNGsJvTvnFexhbjUmqBeFksYd5e/s1600/IMG_20170619_113340.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWpGq3IgKCSuBrSFFFQIxo-Fy7JIlmQLAGLFJYGRrcDyv6vIjS1V9k0SV6EAl6x03XrlqEzM4hTNbAwH_CweTw_d0uL8aGseDad3Jdxm8YLBzrJwf7kNGsJvTvnFexhbjUmqBeFksYd5e/s320/IMG_20170619_113340.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; min-height: 16px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;"><b>1. What (if anything) do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising?</b></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Bryce: Don’t buy anything at all until you have lived on the boat for 6 months.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Alissa: There will be days when equipment breaks and the weather is crap that you will want to be done with the boat but then you have the most amazing days ever that make it all worth while. Actually, I was told that cruising combines really low lows with really high highs which is basically the same thing… I just didn’t truly understand what it meant at the time!</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; min-height: 16px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5r982jMX9qaL7nKoCGBb-4EDjDjGUim8oRivqA9AhfbXnG88Zh9RUayyXmUKjA-v9p0Zs3hMQWoID0qNHKChCGEZ5LbESjHO-d0rR66RH0ommivBRPwJHzIIMEjX5_NloLdm1TjNtgVAR/s1600/IMG_20170607_063301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5r982jMX9qaL7nKoCGBb-4EDjDjGUim8oRivqA9AhfbXnG88Zh9RUayyXmUKjA-v9p0Zs3hMQWoID0qNHKChCGEZ5LbESjHO-d0rR66RH0ommivBRPwJHzIIMEjX5_NloLdm1TjNtgVAR/s320/IMG_20170607_063301.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;"><b>2. As you started cruising, what transitions did you find the most difficult?</b></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Bryce: Lack of a regular income.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Alissa: Things we take for granted being relatively unlimited on land like electricity, water and internet, are no longer unlimited!</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; min-height: 16px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;"><b>3. What mistakes did you make as you started cruising?</b></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Bryce: Bought too much “stuff” for the boat that we didn’t really need. - Didn’t have the surveyor go on test sail! - Ran aground a couple of times, don’t just blindly trust the charts or the coastguard over the radio, (“there’s deep water if you hug the marker” There wasn’t!). - One time when we hauled out, our hydraulic steering pump needed replacing, because we were hauled out we paid way more ($1000s more) then we would have if we’d had time to shop around. We were just going back to our mooring so we could’ve used our emergency tiller and taken our time to find a replacement. - I am a competent sailor so I had thought that we had cruising figured out… but it turns out sailing is only a small part of cruising. You also need to be a diesel mechanic, plumber, electrician, rigger, sailmaker, carpenter, among other things! - Should have bought a smaller boat as our first, learner boat… bigger boat = bigger, more expensive mistakes.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Alissa: What mistakes didn’t we make!? See Bryce’s answer! :)</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; min-height: 16px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;"><b>4. What do you find the most exciting about your cruising life?</b></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Bryce: I really like meeting new people and cruisers generally seem to be really friendly, good people. </span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Alissa: We can have a new amazing backyard whenever we want! And the people! We’ve made some great boat friends in the past few years.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; min-height: 16px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;"><b>5. What do you dislike about cruising that surprised you?</b></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Bryce: Not having space to just stretch without bumping into something. I struggle to fit into any of our beds, even having modified one of them. </span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Alissa: I am definitely a fair-weathered sailor. Whereas Bryce is quite happy trimming the sails and actively sailing, I would prefer just to set the sails and go for a ride on nice calm seas! I also dislike have to disassemble the boat to do anything or find something. I don’t like mess though so that’s not surprising!</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; min-height: 16px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;"><b>6. What is something that you read or heard about cruising, that you didn't find to be true?</b></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Bryce: I read it’s a cheaper way of life but that hasn’t eventuated. We’ve needed to upgrade a number of systems to suit our style of cruising and it’s been very expensive. For example, a compete rewire, new solar panels, new batteries, replaced head and the list keeps growing. </span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Alissa: When we were preparing, we were reading about the pioneering cruisers, like the Pardeys, who were doing it hardcore. Cruising without refrigeration, freezers, washing machines and watermakers, using oil lanterns instead of electric lights and oars and sails instead of engines. Boat life would definitely be a lot simpler without the extras “complicating” things. I didn’t know that you could have an inverter and still run AC appliances so we bought manual (hand-powered) versions of appliances. I didn’t know that you didn’t have to live without creature comforts. You can have anything you want on a boat (basically) but there is the tradeoff that it makes your boat more complicated with more things to break and more things to repair. You just have to decide if it’s worth it to you or not!</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; min-height: 16px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;"><b>7. What is something that you read or heard about cruising, that you found particularly accurate?</b></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bryce: It’s a constant series of jobs to keep the boat shipshape.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-align: left; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Alissa: Boat Maintenance in exotic locations. 100% </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">true!</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; min-height: 16px; text-align: left; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-align: left; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;"><b>8. Is there something you wish you had bought or installed before starting out?</b></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-align: left; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Bryce: We probably should have ripped out the fridge and reinstalled it as the insulation is shot! The fridge is out biggest battery drain by far.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-align: left; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Alissa: The wishlist is long! I would love a freezer and a watermaker but they are staying on the wishlist for awhile! I will settle for a functioning fridge!</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; min-height: 16px; text-align: left; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-align: left; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;"><b>9. What piece(s) of gear would you leave on the dock next time? Why?</b></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-align: left; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Bryce: A lot of our books probably. They are heavy and take up a lot of space. We may yet get rid of them. </span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-align: left; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Alissa: Bryce will hate me saying this but his fishing gear. I don’t eat fish and Bryce doesn’t go fishing, so it’s just taking up valuable space. </span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; min-height: 16px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;"><b>10. What are your plans now? If they do not include cruising, tell us why.</b></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Alissa: We have a 1 year old on board now so we are just taking it slow and easy as we all acclimate to life on board.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Bryce: We will probably stick around the North Queensland coast for a couple more years and maybe head out to New Caledonia or Vanuatu once our crew is less dependent. Longer-term aspiration is to circumnavigate the globe.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIat_Q8iMoDKZw-UF0nDl8zHQ-5tdHNU5FszTCv1CevJ0C7zZ2WtfzTSFnyTmUt7fIZtJ1OfDdmzCsuR15P6FYA9tuyV_ZNG-IhQB-jK01lrqhQCQTkViRpEUlQzHuJUwe7G0nhXwKeNPS/s1600/IMG_20170602_202828_628.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIat_Q8iMoDKZw-UF0nDl8zHQ-5tdHNU5FszTCv1CevJ0C7zZ2WtfzTSFnyTmUt7fIZtJ1OfDdmzCsuR15P6FYA9tuyV_ZNG-IhQB-jK01lrqhQCQTkViRpEUlQzHuJUwe7G0nhXwKeNPS/s320/IMG_20170602_202828_628.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; min-height: 16px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">11. What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it?</b><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">Bryce: <b>How do you decide your cruising plans?</b> Initially, I went about planning like I had in business. i.e. make a plan and then do it! This lifestyle is not suited to that approach and just provides endless frustration! Instead of plans, we now talk about options until we quite close to being able to actually do something. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Alissa: <b>How would you recommend that someone </b><a href="http://interviewwithacruiser.blogspot.com/search/label/prepare"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><b>prepare</b></span></a></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><b>s</b></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><b> to cruise?</b> We both joined Hoofers Sailing Club in Madison, WI (Me as a complete rookie, Bryce as an already excellent sailor just looking for more experience) which was a great place to learn. We were able to make mistakes on a boat that wasn’t our own! We also went to a couple of boatshows and attended some really informative lectures there and we read alot of books and blogs. In preparing for cruising again, given that we were coming from a place where (apart from sailing) our knowledge base was zero, I would’ve liked to take more hands-on intensive courses on a couple of the trickier topics, like engines repair, plumbing and electrical systems. We’ve learnt alot but some of it was probably the hard way! </span></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-align: center; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-kerning: none;">-----</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-align: center; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: normal; margin-left: 36px; text-align: center; text-indent: -36px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for reading our interview! Be sure to check interviews with other cruisers on <a href="http://newlysalted.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Newly Salted</a> and <a href="http://interviewwithacruiser.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Interview with a Cruiser</a>!</span></div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-43977713022758814812017-06-14T11:40:00.000+10:002017-06-14T11:40:00.938+10:00Baby Proofing 101<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Being that we live on a boat, everything is mostly contained and secure but we have had to make a few modifications to the space in order for us all to be safe with a baby on board. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Here’s a few of the changes we made!</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">A <b>safe sleeping space</b> was a given but we forwent purchasing a cribs or portacot and made our own lee cloth to create a boat crib. This is also a place which we can stick her if we need all hands on deck quickly and know that she is safe, no matter how much she protests.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0CnELNOBcI-mTAPPimTjMUL_AtAVkVN-dEzSduC_r7iY8YgLmg-EhHbHpz1XnZIuN3Flm_gXgj0LokvuPd_kjXa88WpwGtt7am_J_stjwH9VuUcym4A6dP6w_dfWyTvCzvxks2JzHWtY/s1600/IMG_9734.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1584" data-original-width="1600" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0CnELNOBcI-mTAPPimTjMUL_AtAVkVN-dEzSduC_r7iY8YgLmg-EhHbHpz1XnZIuN3Flm_gXgj0LokvuPd_kjXa88WpwGtt7am_J_stjwH9VuUcym4A6dP6w_dfWyTvCzvxks2JzHWtY/s320/IMG_9734.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We don’t have a car so hadn’t planned to get a <b>carseat</b> but in the end, we ended up being in a car enough that we needed one. We had it set up on the boat for our longer passage south just in case we came into some rough weather and needed a really safe and secure place to pop her but thankfully we didn’t need it! Now that we are in protected waters we will put it away and reclaim our settee. We made sure to get a convertible carseat so that it would last for as long as possible!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNAq_YnDn8abOx7oUP7t6d1zPRQAwBVXdDTaYzTbpXVu37lW-K1o2RC_yLkihuyP9fqJLqZ-BGP2bedrr90-KtrhnWGjBbB3kqK1eJeMRYsz8TVXmictTcBMcXh1W9oDnwmG3xUtHjlkt/s1600/IMG_9727.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1204" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNAq_YnDn8abOx7oUP7t6d1zPRQAwBVXdDTaYzTbpXVu37lW-K1o2RC_yLkihuyP9fqJLqZ-BGP2bedrr90-KtrhnWGjBbB3kqK1eJeMRYsz8TVXmictTcBMcXh1W9oDnwmG3xUtHjlkt/s320/IMG_9727.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Our <b>cushion protectors</b> (see above) aren’t fancy but they do the job. I whipped up covers for our cushions out of some old sheets and they are the first line of defense for spills and flying food. They are also much easier to take off and wash then the spot-clean only seat cushions that the boat came with. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We only have had to install one <b>cupboard lock</b> yet but reserve the right to install more! Everything is mostly securely away but there are a few cupboards whose latches are the convenient height for playing. We put one right away on the one that contains some nasties and that one happens to be the one that is played with most often. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Qis8c9MtUzSeQMy7wiPcEOnK4n1jenoiMNGx6bje7XvqQOhDIRRjmSsTZ2JWFHEMx-j_uQaUnutal_yRHaVPWlPb-PnhOC29RrF2aT0JGhivfycr-y-fBrU8gBmIQtQ-0dpyeA3plBK1/s1600/IMG_9733.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1313" data-original-width="1600" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Qis8c9MtUzSeQMy7wiPcEOnK4n1jenoiMNGx6bje7XvqQOhDIRRjmSsTZ2JWFHEMx-j_uQaUnutal_yRHaVPWlPb-PnhOC29RrF2aT0JGhivfycr-y-fBrU8gBmIQtQ-0dpyeA3plBK1/s320/IMG_9733.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We had some <b>electrical stuff</b> that we needed to protect. That problem was solved by running toy box interference! It’s also a great out of the way location for her to play. The toy box is also acts as limiter on our toy volume. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Our <b>latches</b> to pull up our floor boards are a huge draw for I. and she loves playing with them and leaving them up! We ran into them a few times before we taped them down. It’s not pretty but it works! She pulled the tape off one but now no longer seems interested in them. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdTHRwXO-fiJydVouVdoS7S59fgBoMH8ELOSgtXezZmp48Wlf_cbRn2CmpMCWu3ovJTmmzoMP4WTzhzC-Rz14PgzoUJ2gwtTuE5TSeCMltb5JLxwTc20G5agTkB-MBcKuwH1q4i9znCgRD/s1600/IMG_9730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdTHRwXO-fiJydVouVdoS7S59fgBoMH8ELOSgtXezZmp48Wlf_cbRn2CmpMCWu3ovJTmmzoMP4WTzhzC-Rz14PgzoUJ2gwtTuE5TSeCMltb5JLxwTc20G5agTkB-MBcKuwH1q4i9znCgRD/s320/IMG_9730.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdd_W72uJixjI86k35D9v0rxDdrIm2pccsLzoDdRc71um1xTeyam5UT67FwTs9LWtHm4LI3X69m7NhHKRPrqfMAIwP-I0jWMsu28KAFz-d4GBgCNlDBLFZAIsCebnBxSyuF4qm2O23RJp/s1600/IMG_9729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdd_W72uJixjI86k35D9v0rxDdrIm2pccsLzoDdRc71um1xTeyam5UT67FwTs9LWtHm4LI3X69m7NhHKRPrqfMAIwP-I0jWMsu28KAFz-d4GBgCNlDBLFZAIsCebnBxSyuF4qm2O23RJp/s320/IMG_9729.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Installing </span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">lifeline netting</b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> is probably this biggest, most important, non-negotiable baby proofing that we did on board. With it in place, I. can freely crawl around the boat and we know that she won’t slip through the lifelines.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2v4PY_5abu0Fumi4hr7Vx0zz_YLqKcQzyGDPRLfCrt3Ei_9xCb7HOdlIh4U7rYj7FpdOuVE1piuoMT5KqFB8xjf4Qj9ZE7xO-g0UfxSXL5HObazEEStIsZ9cYkNMHidsvxqoRdESsJBz0/s1600/IMG_9737.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2v4PY_5abu0Fumi4hr7Vx0zz_YLqKcQzyGDPRLfCrt3Ei_9xCb7HOdlIh4U7rYj7FpdOuVE1piuoMT5KqFB8xjf4Qj9ZE7xO-g0UfxSXL5HObazEEStIsZ9cYkNMHidsvxqoRdESsJBz0/s320/IMG_9737.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">At the top of the </span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">stairs</b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">, we always have one, if not two, boards in to keep I. from falling down the stairs from the cockpit. This also acts as an additional line of defense between her and the water if she manages to eva</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span>de all of our other methods and climb up the stairs! At least she can’t get out! At the bottom of the stairs, we have a temporary rail (a toddler sleeping rail) that we can quickly put across but we also have a more permanent cloth which we can secure across. But for the most part, I. is free to climb and explore!</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcNYSav7wOQbrg2EEzrtJMoIYTAlr8hM4hcmsXR7J2XVLGTt6Eb3VkmAs6kwbX6fJCOo1dCH21G4WJQTr4xETyf9e4HUjvSfigwow3T3wq0C1D3wlcdfFV0cnQAOuRWf5Vb9fWO7YbdEV/s1600/IMG_9731.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcNYSav7wOQbrg2EEzrtJMoIYTAlr8hM4hcmsXR7J2XVLGTt6Eb3VkmAs6kwbX6fJCOo1dCH21G4WJQTr4xETyf9e4HUjvSfigwow3T3wq0C1D3wlcdfFV0cnQAOuRWf5Vb9fWO7YbdEV/s320/IMG_9731.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">As I look around the boat, those are the only changes that I can see! There may well be more to come but only time will tell!</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><br />
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-44695654131877660222017-06-12T21:46:00.000+10:002017-07-02T21:46:35.188+10:00The Beginning<div style="text-align: center;">
We've owned Batty for 4 years now and been on all sorts of adventures with her! We started in Mooloolaba, QLD and have sailed as far north as Cairns. We've also had a couple of adventures without her! Lots of visits to Brisbane and Adelaide, a quick trip to Melbourne, Stints in PNG for work and a couple of trips to the US!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Join us as we reminisce about how far we've come!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lmoM3pbszO0/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lmoM3pbszO0?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-4524799168261544722017-06-03T19:28:00.002+10:002017-06-03T19:28:27.602+10:00Southbound<div class="" dir="auto">
Our plan had always been to spend this season in the Whitsundays. We missed the Northerly winds to get down there so we had been toying with the idea of heading north but our hearts still really wanted to go south! Last Saturday morning, we woke up in Horseshoe Bay to calm winds and a favourable forecast for the coming days and, quick-as-a-flash, made the decision to head south. The winds were still from the southeast, which was the direction we were headed but they were light so we were hoping for a nice-ish ride! </div>
<div class="" dir="auto">
<br /></div>
<div class="" dir="ltr">
We had left Nelly Bay for the quick sail around to Horseshoe Bay just a couple of days earlier. It was I.’s first sail so we didn’t really know what to expect. She was a champ and stayed in her carrier the entire trip, napping, chatting and just looking at the waves going by. She didn’t get seasick either which is a huge plus. One seasick person on this boat is enough! Some friends came for the sail with us which took our kid count up to two babies and one toddler but the extra hands also meant that I didn’t have to do anything boat related! A huge thanks for them!</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKo-615Flzf_D_j0A91jB5vkXrM399skFz4K3ewywxWumWHu6DGsHy3BzWBiKLA62fV5aNvwnLsf2wxDMn5NUZTCv70C0Y6Wd9tN_dE0QjuijTFCMEaNMjraP3xCU6Vfq_uTAGztb3lDue/s1600/IMG_20170527_113757+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKo-615Flzf_D_j0A91jB5vkXrM399skFz4K3ewywxWumWHu6DGsHy3BzWBiKLA62fV5aNvwnLsf2wxDMn5NUZTCv70C0Y6Wd9tN_dE0QjuijTFCMEaNMjraP3xCU6Vfq_uTAGztb3lDue/s320/IMG_20170527_113757+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We passed mighty close to this guy at anchor!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="">
To get to the Whitsunday’s, we knew we were in for several really long day sails. We had contemplated doing it all in one go but decided that that would be too exhausting. We also considered sailing at night while the baby was sleeping but we couldn’t figure out how we would balance watches and then survive during the day! Ultimately, sailing during the day and getting a good nights sleep was the best decision for us. Baby I. was so good on our big sails. She explored, played, ate, bird and wave watched and read books in the cockpit well. I will say though that I have never appreciated naptime as much as I have when seasick and want to do nothing but stare at the back of my eyelids!</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLTyGNWMLqcda4j_6-HtUoHfxVGNjxZ873mxYb783yQJy0wsBuHfQPm8lrCIZZEAStoqjFpxVZrIeKqr-jHTeupYlk-f28OGAdoA9y5UWmPyPLElKw8-gEJzNbiehj0XITPqB7ue-agZ0R/s1600/IMG_20170527_174218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLTyGNWMLqcda4j_6-HtUoHfxVGNjxZ873mxYb783yQJy0wsBuHfQPm8lrCIZZEAStoqjFpxVZrIeKqr-jHTeupYlk-f28OGAdoA9y5UWmPyPLElKw8-gEJzNbiehj0XITPqB7ue-agZ0R/s320/IMG_20170527_174218.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sails down as the sun goes down!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="">
Our first day was a sail from Magnetic Island to Cape Bowling Green. It was long and rough. We got in after dark, with no moon and were exhausted! We were off again first thing the next morning in the same miserable seas, destination Cape Upstart. We had our engine running the whole time to charge our batteries (solar problems AGAIN!) and give us some extra speed: loud, smelly, extra unpleasant! But then magically that afternoon, the wind shifted and pick up and we were able to point straight at our destination, turn off the engine and arrive at Cape Upstart with enough sunlight left to head ashore! Winning!</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3LR3ZWfOsP7X5WRR9XT2E5tEqqLZ5joarl-F9bqCUXoMQs9OFu5eXIfy8ZAuuo7P2qfPreCF4pPIoknmSiGY5f8FuUEz-3dvpfz2eKFtYTgj8GHB3VxohMKL6CjTOGKamhdpuHLD3zUSF/s1600/IMG_20170528_143234_030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1575" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3LR3ZWfOsP7X5WRR9XT2E5tEqqLZ5joarl-F9bqCUXoMQs9OFu5eXIfy8ZAuuo7P2qfPreCF4pPIoknmSiGY5f8FuUEz-3dvpfz2eKFtYTgj8GHB3VxohMKL6CjTOGKamhdpuHLD3zUSF/s320/IMG_20170528_143234_030.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those blues!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="">
And then our good wind ran out so we have just been hanging out at Cape Upstart waiting for favourable conditions to return! Cape Upstart has always been a stop on the way somewhere else so we’ve only ever overnighted here. The forecast has us here for at least a few days so it should give us a good chance to explore!</div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-56571497428011793042017-05-17T11:51:00.000+10:002017-05-17T12:36:12.030+10:00Biggest Letdown EVER<div class="" dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We were ready to go. Everything had been put away. Our route had been planned out. Delicious snacks had been prepared. A big pot of sweet potato chili was waiting on the stove so we didn’t have to cook while we were underway. </span></div>
<div class="" dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" dir="auto">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But this morning we woke up to the skies looking like this:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYXAPn2MSa_TBWXwTviuDA8V__x6zJbB160MJoQKPQavaO73OTZ-1BS6v8hWCwMwEABa19twBT2-Yq0DFF24YQsaFnz6vorwjBSb4u_LX9xbO2EMfzRexb9E-I23zG6wGXIPl2AkfEs-rd/s1600/IMG_20170517_104356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYXAPn2MSa_TBWXwTviuDA8V__x6zJbB160MJoQKPQavaO73OTZ-1BS6v8hWCwMwEABa19twBT2-Yq0DFF24YQsaFnz6vorwjBSb4u_LX9xbO2EMfzRexb9E-I23zG6wGXIPl2AkfEs-rd/s320/IMG_20170517_104356.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grey, cloudy, miserable skies</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="" dir="auto">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And the forecast looking like this:</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnFQPv3NptR3FgeI_ZW3Sl9hm7ZZAiSyXhnWfF74aqklLHBh_osmN-JpvVexElBxAc5QKX-VGKWW3J76_XUNl4wK0eWiehxxAALPOhgNJL1UTTM2XKM86OjMW_bYdBhlGDm8kwZpgZGvso/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-05-17+at+12.34.27.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnFQPv3NptR3FgeI_ZW3Sl9hm7ZZAiSyXhnWfF74aqklLHBh_osmN-JpvVexElBxAc5QKX-VGKWW3J76_XUNl4wK0eWiehxxAALPOhgNJL1UTTM2XKM86OjMW_bYdBhlGDm8kwZpgZGvso/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-05-17+at+12.34.27.png" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forecast courtesy of the BoM</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;">We contemplated just going around to Horseshoe Bay on the other side of the island anyway… just so we could finally get out of the Marina. But then we gave ourselves a reality check and bunkering down at anchor during a strong wind warning and days of rain is not how we want to introduce almost one year old I. to life at sea! Nor, for that matter, is it the introduction that we want for ourselves to life at sea with her!</span></div>
<div class="" dir="auto">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" dir="auto">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, reluctantly, we called it off. </span></div>
<div class="" dir="auto">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" dir="auto">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is a huge letdown and the disappointment is real. We have been trying to leave, what seems like, forever and for one reason or another (<a href="http://www.a2b2sea.com/2017/04/it-didnt-happen.html" target="_blank">Haul-out plans</a> being a big reason!), have always put it off. All of the stars had finally aligned and we were ready. As disappointing as it is, we know better then to fight the wind and weather.</span></div>
<div class="" dir="auto">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">However, ever the optimist, there are silver linings to this delay. Firstly, we have friends arriving on the island today and Friday who we were going to just miss! Now we get to spend time with them and their babies! Yay! Secondly, after the berth next to us being empty for a year (yikes - that is how long we’ve had the boat here!), we woke up this morning to very silent neighbours. They seemed to be in a hurry to catch a plane and promptly unloaded the contents of their fridge on us! Ah-mazing! </span></div>
<div dir="auto">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So… we will try again soon! Watch this space!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10965744594785295944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-18434372778146439942017-05-12T10:41:00.001+10:002017-05-12T10:41:40.405+10:00One Job a Day<p dir="auto">Life on a boat is generally a bit harder then life on land, or at least it seems that way sometimes. Our life revolves around an endless list of boat jobs waiting to be done plus the constant maintenance that a boat requires. Then the everyday boring jobs just take longer. No dishwasher, no washing machine, no car. So errands can take a whole day. But that’s ok because time is what we have alot of and it’s a small trade off to be able to live the life we do. </p><p dir="auto">Then you get, Life with a baby, on a boat. That definitely gets interesting. Between mealtime, naptime, playtime, swimming and then all of the other life-jobs, it doesn’t leave much time in the day. We generally budget an hour for meals. We still put our baby to sleep (Don’t judge us!) and that can sometimes take a half hour though more often then not, it’s much much quicker. </p><p dir="auto">I would never get any of the extras on my list done if I didn’t set small goals each day. My motto is “one job a day.” That’s all I have to do, on top of everything else. I can certainly do more if I’m feeling like superwoman but all I aspire to is one. Some days I’m super ambitious in my goal setting, other days I give myself a break and set a super easy goal that I can definitely attain so that I can still feel like I’ve accomplished something.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwCFAoun9REPDPFyGbHju1D5WQW3sC9GTG1HZv90dgs1c5zfUF0ghjiaJtrP7h3BPnvmtg40y26w7AVBgW1VCCo7KablWMEqQjXT8ZXFMpUq78oN5CdFdr7aiLdldhor_4XuW0NutHnaZ7/s9999/IMG_20170510_174721_048.jpg" data-image-align="middle" data-image-caption="Batty's 63 metres of anchor chain" width="2448" style="max-width: 100%;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Batty's 63 metres of anchor chain</td></tr></tbody></table><p dir="auto">Yesterday, I was superambitious. The day before we had taken the chain and the anchor off the boat and it was sitting on the dock (danger!) needing to be flipped and marked at 5 metre increments. It took me one nap time plus another hour and a bit to get it done but then we were able to put it all back on the boat and cross it off the list!<br></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifukE7uwGVfrUT-r-trg_jYe_1WjnPydFeU9tJ33jnG08GJVexzJvh71OywrZu5HCOxf_8PwzS5Eh58vq5oUDWQSW-5T3sPGreUdfZu728whNdsNXK17E4NqozNX0tMbRFJmqLu7aQHsi0/s9999/IMG_20170512_102307_727.jpg" data-image-align="middle" data-image-caption="Vanilla Beans and Vodka" width="1195" style="max-width: 100%;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanilla Beans and Vodka</td></tr></tbody></table><p dir="auto">Today was an easy goal. I needed to make more vanilla. Even that seemingly simple task had it’s complications. To get to the vodka, which is appropriately stored under the baby’s bed, I had to clear off the bed, disassemble the bed, get the vodka, reassemble the bed and then make the vanilla. But it’s done now! Such feelings of accomplishment! It’ll be a huge bonus if I manage to plant a couple of seedlings that are waiting for some love!</p><p dir="auto">So that’s how I get through life… with one job a day!</p>Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-68121251673869394112017-04-29T16:49:00.000+10:002017-04-29T16:50:00.913+10:00It didn’t happen<p dir="auto">I spoke too soon. <br></p><p></p><p>Just after I put up the <a href="http://www.a2b2sea.com/2017/04/biding-our-time.html?m=1" target="_blank">last post</a>, we received an email that set in motion the possibility that the plans would change again. </p><p>UGHGHGHGHG!!! Ok… frustration released. Be zen. Deep Breathes. Go with the flow. Om and all that jazz.</p><p>The email we got was from Rosshaven Marine, the boatyard where we were due to haul out on Tuesday and it contained the work contract that we had to sign prior to them lifting all 12 tonnes of Batty out of the water. We have hauled out many times and each time had signed a contract so this was not abnormal. But this contract was different. <br></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifW-GcwUsy6QD6djCfofSFaAmuWOl-doPJDiaIdlr1U7_ow6T3SGg3SqFkzXnzQmusCd0FK4MThnMzem1SFS0cgf2F5m-gzBtrizJ7liEw8XTPb29kko1SQHtKbhKyc33158MUrgokZlFD/s9999/Screen-Shot-2017-04-29-at-16.35.17.png" data-image-align="middle" data-image-caption="Haulout: Hervey Bay - September 2013" width="380" style="max-width: 100%;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Haulout: Hervey Bay - September 2013</td></tr></tbody></table><p dir="ltr">One perk of having a husband who used to do contracts in the real world, is that he reads them and reads them again and again before putting his name on it. Upon reading this one he saw that the contract said that the boatyard was not liable for any damages, <strong>including those caused by the boatyard’s own negligence.</strong> </p><p dir="ltr">I think this is INSANE and it’s kind of infuriating to think that they can do something like that. That’s basically like saying there was a fuel leak that we hadn’t gotten around to fixing yet and it accidentally leaked onto your boat and then someone was doing some welding nearby and a spark flew over and blew it up but it’s not our fault! Not cool! (The preceding was a hypothetical situation. It did not actually happen to us or anyone we know.)</p><p>According to our insurance company, there are only a few boatyards in Australia that have this clause. Normally (if the boat owner bothers to read the contract), the insurance company contacts the yard, asks them to remove the clause, they oblige and the work carries on. However in this instance, Rosshaven refused (for whatever reason) to remove the clause. Our options were either that we didn’t sign the contract and didn’t haul-out or we did sign the contract and waived our insurance and were unable to haul-out anyway (as a requirement of the yard is that all boats are insured). Lose-lose situation for us but at least we found out before we got there i guess. </p><p>So we are back at square-one. We still need to haul out so are looking at our options again. We are intending to head south, and there are yards in Airlie Beach, but because of Cyclone Debbie and the huge losses sustained by boats down there, the yards in Airlie Beach are unable to take non-cyclone damaged boats for at least a year. Our other option is to head north to Cardwell to haul out there. Coincidentally, the yards in Airlie Beach and Cardwell do NOT have negligence waivers in their contracts. We have already checked.</p><p>Please note that in all of our interactions with Rosshaven, they were very professional and everything was on track for our haul out on Tuesday. While we had heard reviews from all over the spectrum about this yard, we hadn’t experienced anything negative ourselves. I am not naming and shaming here. Truthfully, their hands may have been tied with their underwriters calling the shots, just as our insurers were. I get that. But all I’m saying is please do your due diligence, get the contract early and read the contract before you get to the yard and sign it. If in doubt, get your insurers involved so that there are no surprises down the track!</p>Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-6303902073366860222017-04-14T11:14:00.000+10:002017-04-29T16:50:37.175+10:00Biding our time<p dir="auto">We had been due to haulout the boat several weeks ago but at the last minute cancelled for a variety of reasons. It was fortuitous that we did cancel as our time out of the water would have coincided with the days that <a href="http://www.a2b2sea.com/2017/03/debbie.html?m=1" target="_blank">Tropical Cyclone Debbie</a> was approaching our coast and due to make landfall. While we luckily survived Debbie unscathed, there was a time during her approach that we were in for a direct hit. Having Batty out of the water would have added an extra layer of stress and effort to our cyclone prep in addition to none of our planned work actually getting done while we, and everyone else, prepped for Debbie’s arrival.<br></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhkoTaAxYxDBJ-ajDfyGd58jmUclXS6X8tGUomBLeYcSRFUKiN_LYeHzzL02YyVjWn-4Yrz2pTfZ_Ru9Q15tec3lOsX8EYrV8MpSo0BtXeH1gtohNXoj9oKgnY5BUP3sySlwX-PQmzeY1B/s9999/IMG_20170403_100129.jpg" data-image-align="middle" data-image-caption="Picnic Bay, Magnetic Island" width="3263" style="max-width: 100%;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picnic Bay, Magnetic Island</td></tr></tbody></table><p dir="ltr">Since then we have diligently been plodding through our endless to-do list as we waited for a new date for our haulout. Due to Easter, Anzac Day and May Day, it seemed like April did not have a single 5-day work week. With our prior luck with haulouts, we were gunning for at least a 4 day week that did not end in a long weekend, should we be stuck out of the water at the end of the week. Boatyards charge you for the crane lift in and out of the water and then a per/day fee for just being in the yard. This is on top of any work you have done (Coincidentally, they don’t work on the weekends either!). We finally received confirmation late last week that we are on the books to be hauled-out this coming Tuesday. <br></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvv_p9_ccv0poSwqgS8WkrEPihJLXTDET0Hulva-hXxMhsE_qRJ81rp0v_Q-VmkJDj8mVOYD9satTVyY8Y5EcnQ-DIrBQufWa8UmOFfWa-0QWn9MBMJDchE54TwrGVhbXalwHDFSYEEEU7/s9999/IMG_20170421_105415_797.jpg" data-image-align="middle" data-image-caption="Babyproofing" data-image-original-name="IMG_20170421_105415_797.jpg" width="1080" style="max-width: 100%;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Babyproofing</td></tr></tbody></table><p dir="ltr">Though certainly not as much fun as being at anchor, life is much easier in a marina so we elected to stay put while we waited it out. I will admit I am a bit nervous about being at anchor with the baby purely because I know our water won’t stretch as far. Bryce and I have been able to make our water stretch for more then a month when it was just the two of us in conservation mode. This is not going to be feasible anymore with an extra crew member on board. A watermaker is on our wishlist but it’s still likely a fair way off.<br></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSTFo7hYELto2l6UANOl6uZ0yXF0zyc1iP5e37PGEwZEdXtQXZFsKvafILIt5SCVEQdpv064B4RHoMlVv0-y0vPBe8yf4h5QyE45ZRaI6omnXfdoSs_XWDNGbvdg_o3Qysz0VhGOly6iid/s9999/IMG_20170410_190244_108.jpg" data-image-align="middle" data-image-caption="Marina Sunsets" width="2448" style="max-width: 100%;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marina Sunsets</td></tr></tbody></table><p dir="ltr">We are still posting to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/a2b2sea/" target="_blank">facebook</a> frequently and now have an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/a2b2sea/" target="_blank">instagram</a> account where you can see lots more of our day to day life. We have some other projects in the works to share with you all soon so stay tuned!</p>Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-19553692440045408462017-04-04T09:27:00.005+10:002017-04-04T09:29:18.482+10:00The First Glimpse<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">I was sorting through some old photos awhile back and came across this video and thought I would share it. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">The backstory:</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">In June, 2012, we had left Australia boatless with the intention of finding and buying our boat in either the US or Europe. Bryce came back to Australia to meet a new nephew in December and happened to find Batty for sale just one hours drive from Brisbane. She ticked a lot of our boxes so he went to check her out. His interest piqued, a survey was commissioned and the ball was rolling in the direction of Aquabat becoming ours. If we bought this boat. I would not get to physically see her before the purchase. I was full of questions and requests. Some >>very<< detailed videos of the boat were high on my list. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">This video, narrated by Bryce, was one that I received and gave me a glimpse of what was to be our new home. For the record, this is the cleanest and emptiest I have ever seen Batty. Something to strive for again! :)</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">You can watch the video <a href="https://youtu.be/VLgssYC8xC0" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Enjoy!</span></div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-68995884485605260962017-03-31T22:24:00.001+10:002017-03-31T22:24:17.145+10:00Debbie<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When we left the boat in November, we had left her ready to weather whatever was thrown at her. For the record, we were gone for 4 months… no cyclone! Yet we hadn’t even been back at the boat a week when we got word that a cyclone was brewing. It had only taken us a few days to dismantle all of that weatherproofing to make the boat livable again and get started on some jobs. As it so happens, one of those jobs was rebedding our hatches. In a nutshell, this job involved taking off all our windows, cleaning off the surrounding gunk and putting them back on again all nice, snug and weatherproof. With a couple of leaky hatches, this was an essential job but having giant holes in your boat is not something that you generally want with a cyclone on the way. So it was with a greater urgency that these jobs were finished and the boat put back into her cyclone ready state. Fortunately, Debbie was a real slow moving beast so there was lots of warning and lots of time to prepare. Ferries to and from the island stopped running two days before landfall. The airport in Townsville closed the day before. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We were inundated with phone calls from caring friends and family to make sure we were ready. My mum, uncle and grandma had been caught in Cyclone Yasi 6 years earlier and were sharing their experiences so we knew what we could expect and what essentials we should pack in our cyclone kit. We spent days prepping for Debbie’s arrival. We (re)readied Batty to ride out the storm as well as two other boats in the marina. We were staying with friends to ride out the cyclone and had helped with all the necessary prep at their house. We had stores of water, batteries and had been cooking up a storm. We were ready.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And then… nothing. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Debbie slowly tracked her way south, completely missing us. We had approximately 3 light showers, some lovely, warm breezes and incredible sunsets. That was it. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We were lucky.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSeWYCqHveKK8TeFoxXj7U2WCCsEXBWOIYK2ZxqjPp_gciVaTdP64XosLLgNn3-c13d5xF36DcRDpVKfsoO7c1v9tsAhoFrlIUQbcEQ0oD16KE34VR-bcrLWBS0gdRz8m5_7XhE3sfuDpL/s1600/IMG_9553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSeWYCqHveKK8TeFoxXj7U2WCCsEXBWOIYK2ZxqjPp_gciVaTdP64XosLLgNn3-c13d5xF36DcRDpVKfsoO7c1v9tsAhoFrlIUQbcEQ0oD16KE34VR-bcrLWBS0gdRz8m5_7XhE3sfuDpL/s320/IMG_9553.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: inherit;">Debbie could have just as easily come for us and we are incredibly grateful that we didn’t have to go through what sounded like a pretty horrifying experience and our hearts go out to those affected. We watched the landfall while communicating with friends who were experiencing a direct hit and we watched the footage of the aftermath trying to look for boats that we knew so we could let their owners know they were safe.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAq7VE6MOPAhXvKOCR1ADABV6npeBK-oY6qJfMFSJfrcoKWy-GiE8lHTcy7mLvUfThpL4AzfYDjO1lWR-QQc2yC9e6i9WKg3fnFr24chgvu9rqsoiaZRoakxmMONTO8E9BQ4GSdPjPlSyc/s1600/IMG_20170326_183036_271.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAq7VE6MOPAhXvKOCR1ADABV6npeBK-oY6qJfMFSJfrcoKWy-GiE8lHTcy7mLvUfThpL4AzfYDjO1lWR-QQc2yC9e6i9WKg3fnFr24chgvu9rqsoiaZRoakxmMONTO8E9BQ4GSdPjPlSyc/s320/IMG_20170326_183036_271.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As we return everything back to it’s normal home (re-de-weatherproof), we constantly remind ourselves just how lucky we are that this is the only cleanup we have to do. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-40670461165577254272017-02-17T08:40:00.000+10:002017-02-20T05:37:39.264+10:00A Texan Roadtrip<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Well we made it back to Australia and are currently deep in the throes of jet leg. I’m finally taking the sage-old advice of sleep when baby sleeps. We try to push out bedtime by 30 minutes to an hour each day but for the most part, I’m still getting to go to sleep when I’m tired. Bedtime is currently 2:30pm! At least that’s an improvement on 1pm bedtime the day we got here!</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Because our long-haul flight left from Dallas, we decided to break up our trip a bit and have ourselves a little Texan holiday. I relinquished total control of the planning to Bryce, which is a BIG deal for me but I had a lot on my plate trying to get us out the door in Madison. It was refreshing to just go with the flow and Bryce did a great job planning. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We booked a hire car and were able to use hotel points to book our accommodation. This was our first holiday with a baby and so knew that we would be doing things differently. The biggest concession was to slow down our pace and work on her time, namely around naps. We broke down our drives so that we were mostly only driving during nap times. More often then not, this worked well but more on that in another post. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Texas is big and we had narrowed our Itinerary down to three places: Dallas, Austin and San Antonio. Despite flying into and out of DFW an infinite number of times, all I knew about Dallas was that JFK died there. I knew absolutely nothing about San Antonio, though every one we spoke to mentioned how great the riverwalk was. Austin, I had lived in for 3 months many years ago, so basically had food on the mind! </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpEPJZLJ0L0ffCteIuoCmS4DBIQTcw_Uuu_AiLisTNG2tWbZJHnUH4Xzn8RdMWIMwueqhqYJcaBOCwOgp42d8fWra1N8KGo5PN-xbUlweltLVcwJDh2TDNOKAboY_-5M5DcJIxTuHqWn10/s1600/Alamo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpEPJZLJ0L0ffCteIuoCmS4DBIQTcw_Uuu_AiLisTNG2tWbZJHnUH4Xzn8RdMWIMwueqhqYJcaBOCwOgp42d8fWra1N8KGo5PN-xbUlweltLVcwJDh2TDNOKAboY_-5M5DcJIxTuHqWn10/s320/Alamo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Alamo, San Antonio</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">In Dallas, we drove past Dealey Plaza and the JFK memorial, had some amazing Lebanese and Mexican food and had a wonderfully unexpected catch up with an old friend. In Austin, we ticked off all the food boxes, caught the views from Mount Bonnell, explored the Capitol building and meandered around Lady Bird Lake. San Antonio was the biggest surprise. With it’s riverwalk and bridged walkways, Downtown San Antonio a bit like a modern, metropolitan Venice - both California and Italy. We also spent some time at the Alamo and some missions (old spanish ruins, some still active) just outside of town. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhbFGM-bSZh0I5Zq1h-Dg4yFhtYvuV6sQBlX4JzL1xe9Ubn0yu6qt0HrG9sCo8uaofUnV_nCUTk8iLt2rHjue97k0o3yUfJEK99nPGCgoNQybeWOwqIohMKg_Mqs-sl7pVm0RxrMFnuADf/s1600/Mount+Bonnell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhbFGM-bSZh0I5Zq1h-Dg4yFhtYvuV6sQBlX4JzL1xe9Ubn0yu6qt0HrG9sCo8uaofUnV_nCUTk8iLt2rHjue97k0o3yUfJEK99nPGCgoNQybeWOwqIohMKg_Mqs-sl7pVm0RxrMFnuADf/s320/Mount+Bonnell.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mount Bonnell, Austin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">We were so lucky with the weather which was stunningly beautiful the whole week we were there… except for the last two days in Dallas were rainy and cold! A fitting adieu to the Northern Hemisphere winter! Now we are sweltering back in the Queensland heat, but surviving thanks to air conditioning! We just missed a wicked heatwave (record-breaking through much of Australia), but even the post heat-wave normal summer weather is a shock to the system after a Wisconsin winter.</span></div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-15340949786422263772017-02-04T03:57:00.001+10:002017-02-04T03:57:22.512+10:00Road to Nashville<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
We're changing it up today and Bryce is making an appearance on the blog to tell you all about his recent trip to Nashville, Tennessee. Enjoy!</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
----</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">A ten-hour drive was all it took to have me arriving someplace warm, well at least warmer than it was in Wisconsin. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">I met Kobus and Teresa about 12 years ago when I was working in South Africa. They have since moved to Nashville (actually Lebanon - a satellite town of Nashville). We have visited them at their previous Tennessee house in the past and I wanted to be sure to see them again on this trip. It didn’t work out for them to make it up to Madison as Teresa had a family emergency that she had to attend to back in South Africa and Kobus was recovering from knee surgery, so flying and driving were out for him. We weren’t keen on a ten-hour road trip with a baby, so off I went alone for a guys weekend in Tennessee!</span></span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTqlZdqUEdMeIZghEKT6tlX6166mVMrVM1T6IC4kwMEZn-WPOKb_Lfw9ykgMYApSr2PwaKMOM3XPOLCSsIifEfglKG5458EJ9dqOHVfju0GPY7PIsCs5V2gCjx1Skoo6gEiTh4XW0SYD7b/s1600/IMG_1639.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTqlZdqUEdMeIZghEKT6tlX6166mVMrVM1T6IC4kwMEZn-WPOKb_Lfw9ykgMYApSr2PwaKMOM3XPOLCSsIifEfglKG5458EJ9dqOHVfju0GPY7PIsCs5V2gCjx1Skoo6gEiTh4XW0SYD7b/s320/IMG_1639.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bryce & Kobus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Kobus cooked up a storm, and we had a classic South African braai (i.e. BBQ-meat) with some buddies the first night, and on another night a loaf of awesome home-cooked bread with a traditional South African potjie (a pot in the fire layered with meat, onions, vegetables, more meat, port/wine and spices). It was one of my special requests that I remembered from my year in South Africa, and it tasted as great as I remembered. We might have drunk a bit too much wine that night, but it was great fun.</span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojhrC5OXwGiqUhndNdZoCfIiK4mZPdDcbrtWg-_hYT-2wqKdN8tX1smE7oCoxfG6TonlSssoQw1YF0AqfFPg5_TRldE2Q4wjEKroaJeVyZik3B9ZyBHGBRQPoW1sANqfUNvGwGGfDApCZ/s1600/IMG_1640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojhrC5OXwGiqUhndNdZoCfIiK4mZPdDcbrtWg-_hYT-2wqKdN8tX1smE7oCoxfG6TonlSssoQw1YF0AqfFPg5_TRldE2Q4wjEKroaJeVyZik3B9ZyBHGBRQPoW1sANqfUNvGwGGfDApCZ/s320/IMG_1640.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">South African Potjie</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrlbY2Pl-RKJrIe3P2b1NyiuriHVonjp7YO1qjb2NpO-GQo-CYX_RBgQCHWI5pwPE-nB-dXRJ20-5Rvr1kE4oBWVguIhyphenhyphenz5ewR9DkY4indjmbQmxDVtwEgEmXKAptvPoloi4vq2PxPOKX/s1600/IMG_1642.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrlbY2Pl-RKJrIe3P2b1NyiuriHVonjp7YO1qjb2NpO-GQo-CYX_RBgQCHWI5pwPE-nB-dXRJ20-5Rvr1kE4oBWVguIhyphenhyphenz5ewR9DkY4indjmbQmxDVtwEgEmXKAptvPoloi4vq2PxPOKX/s320/IMG_1642.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Freshly baked bread!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; color: #222222;">When out and about at shops, the southern accent was everywhere and I found it quite hard to understand. I had several instances where I was just forced to "smile and nod"; the person on the other side of the conversation could have pretty much been saying anything for all I could understand! I have a feeling that one old woman was giving me a hard time about something, because after a smiling but indecipherable spiel from her, I made out "Arm jurst kiddn"... wait, did she just insult me and I was smiling and nodding like an idiot? Oh well!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">While I did the drive down in one go, I broke up the drive back up to Wisconsin into two half-days. I got off the road on the way back just as a wicked snowstorm was starting. As soon as I found out that the hotel had a hot-tub, I was sitting in it watching the snow blast and howl horizontally outside the window. It was much nicer to be inside and off the road for that (and in a hot-tub to boot)! The snow had been cleared by the morning and it was smooth sailing right up to just before Madison, when it started snowing again. Good timing!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">I had a great time and Kobus really looked after me well. Thanks a bunch, mate. Can't wait to catch up with you both next time!</span></span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-71601707259315437482017-01-27T14:02:00.000+10:002017-01-31T00:06:02.535+10:00Our Movements<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Thank you all for your input in choosing our next steps. While we still don’t have a definite plan, we are moving closer to having some idea of what we will do. In short, we still don’t know but we’ve been given lots more to think about.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">A new option came up for us as we were offered an opportunity to housesit in Darwin for 5 weeks. We would LOVE to but we want/need to sail this season and a month plus in Darwin would get us back to the boat way too late in the season to make that happen. Raincheck Darwin Clearys!</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We are sad to say that New Caledonia and Vanuatu are off the cards. Due to our land travels, we are quite possibly getting back to the area too late to catch any northerlies south. We may already be pushing our luck trying to get down to the Whitsundays but three days of beating into the wind is a much different story than trying to get all the way down the Queensland coast in a hurry. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">The guy tasked with cleaning Batty’s hull while we’ve been gone and keeping an eye on her just informed us that Batty probably needs a new bottom paint job. We knew she was coming due but were hoping to eek another season out of the current coat. We will have to see what we think when we are back with her but for now we are planning a haul-out when we get back. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">So in summary… we will see how we go when we get back! There are a lot of factors that we just can’t know until we are there. Wind, weather, the state of Batty’s bottom and inevitable haul-out surprises will all play a part. Oh yeah... and having a mobile baby on board! </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Bryce has been taking a break from the cold for the last few days and visiting some friends down in balmy Nashville. He comes back tomorrow and we start our last week in Wisconsin.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Next stop… Texas!</span></div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807120382406787392.post-54481960242305765532017-01-19T13:41:00.000+10:002017-01-19T13:41:18.021+10:00Choose Our Adventure <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">When I was little, I used to read the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><i>Sally was being chased by a dragon, when she came to a cliff. If Sally jumped off the cliff, turn to page 95. If Sally stayed to fight, turn to page 3. </i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">I would cheat and turn to both pages to see which outcome I preferred before choosing my action and very often would have multiple scenarios running at the same time. As as we all know, real life doesn’t quite work like that. We have to commit to our decisions and take whatever comes when we turn the page. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">With that in mind, we have been trying to decide what direction we are going to take this year. It has been a few years but we will FINALLY have an entire cruising season with Batty. While we have a few boat jobs to get done once we are reunited, we hope to be underway in no time. With so many amazing options in our backyard, we are having a hard time choosing. We would love to hear any other options we should consider and any opinions, positive or negative. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_sKEaxSt08s473O6miW4cmX04LPbqgP0Svoc0Zyp6MFF1uWxUsZJ0cbYVHlQb07ShC1TKQhkfQDtalanxbNe7MQjP-wcXTjCXC8eAaoWLKEQGE8fuqxZHzFOR3cL9MMscp5ToEb0Yd3Ce/s1600/IMG_0404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_sKEaxSt08s473O6miW4cmX04LPbqgP0Svoc0Zyp6MFF1uWxUsZJ0cbYVHlQb07ShC1TKQhkfQDtalanxbNe7MQjP-wcXTjCXC8eAaoWLKEQGE8fuqxZHzFOR3cL9MMscp5ToEb0Yd3Ce/s320/IMG_0404.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">The criteria for choosing where we are going are short and easy sails, easy land access, fun and new & exciting. It’s important to note that Batty is bluewater ready and we will be starting the season with a 10 month old on board.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">The options:</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Stay Where We are</b> - Batty is currently in Townsville and cruising around that area would include Magnetic Island, the Palm Islands, Orpheus Island and several more. We have spent lots of time at Maggie and stopped at the other islands on our way up to Cairns several years ago.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Head North</b> - In our journeys with Batty, the farthest north we have been is Cairns. There are lots of places to stop along the way to Cairns and lots to see further north. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Head South</b> - We would need to get going just before the season starts to be sure we still have northerlies to get south. Destination would be the Whitsundays. We spent last summer in the Whitsundays and have been there on other occasions as well. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>New Caledonia and Vanuatu</b> - This would involve a much longer initial sail to get there but once we were there… oh man! We would need to be back at the boat earlier then we are currently planning as we need to go much further south (Brisbane) we need to go before heading east. None of us have been here. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">----</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">That’s it. All our options… well as least the ones we are considering. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Thoughts? Questions? Other ideas? </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">We would love to hear them!</span></div>
Alissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16585224425580956805noreply@blogger.com8