Enchanted - April 30, 2008 -
We are feeling the pull of summer here. The days are consistently warm now, and in spite of old man winter trying one last time to lay his hand on us at the coast, the sun is out and bathing suits, baggies and tanks have taken over our town.
With the warmth and gorgeous weather comes the inability for us to stay focused on our home schooling. We procrastinate in the morning until the next thing we know, it is lunch and we have not even opened up a book.
I find myself drawn to the boat more and more. It is where I want to be…surrounded by her warm teak wood, the heat of the deck underneath my feet, and the sound of the wind in the rigging
So, to shake things up a bit, we have been heading to the boat mid-morning and spending the day there. We sit in the cockpit and do math, science and read while gulls fly past and ducks beg for food off the transom.
You would think that is would be distracting, but the fact of the matter is, we get more done there and I don’t find myself frustrated by resistance from him. Even math gets done without the constant struggle we normally have.
………………….well, I never said he liked it. Blek, me either, but it is a necessary evil. A tool he will use to figure out how the universe works. So learn it he must.
After school work is done, we make lunch and eat it on the bow of the boat, watching the weekday activity on the docks that is so different from the hustle and bustle of the weekend. The live aboards wash their boats, carry laundry back and forth from the clubhouse, and everyone has their coffee in the shade of a palapa, talking about the weather, fishing conditions and other boat talk. We watch for a bit, then we go swimming.
When we were in the process of buying Calypso, it seemed like such a hassle. From the time we found her to the day they handed me the keys, it took almost 6 weeks. It was so frustrating and maddening. We had planned on staying at the coast for the month of June, but the difficulties in securing title on the boat extended our stay by a month, and in that time we fell in love with this place. You see where I am going with this? That’s right….coincidences. I just don’t believe in them. I believe in fate. That things happen for a reason.
The name we chose for the boat is significant to me on so many levels. Since I was a child, I was drawn to the sea. I grew up watching Jacques Cousteau, and would climb aboard Calypso with him every week to explore the mysteries of the deep. I ached to be part of that world. I knew, even as a child, that God had given me this desire. It was part of me, the way my hand and foot were. I loved the ocean and all of its creatures with a passion that was palpable to those around me.
Like some migrating animal, at 19 I pointed my car south and rooted myself in sand. Galveston was my Archipelago, my Galapagos…a place that shaped me and helped me evolve into what God had willed for me all along.
I lived there for 12 years………and then we moved inland. I believe that moving from my watery world and onto solid, arid ground was meant to be. We needed to grow and change in ways that were not possible in Galveston.
It would be another 12 years before we found our way back to the coast.
I am not sure I could have continued to appreciate my aquatic gifts if we had remained in Galveston. I think I lost myself when we moved inland, and only by losing yourself can you find your way back to your purpose and appreciate it for what it is.
Calypso brings me full circle. I am that child again, splashing in the water, turning over every rock in search of creatures, wild hair flowing, a smile perpetually on my face. Last week, I stretched myself out in the sun on her bow as we sailed over a glassy sea. I reached out my arm and tried to touch the water………..I don’t want to just touch it, I want to understand it. What an amazing thing God made. I want to help others understand it. I want to fight to save it and all of the creatures it holds. I truly believe that God planted this gift inside of me and it is time to let it grow again. Time to plant it in my children as well.
They will grow up in a place that I only dreamed of as a child. They will splash and play in the waters of my childhood mind, and I will get the joy of teaching them about it and experiencing it with them.
Jacques Cousteau once said “”One protects what one likes….and one likes what enchanted us.”
The definition of enchant is: to attract and move deeply : rouse to ecstatic admiration
I intend, with Calypso, to enchant my children.
Aye Calypso - April 26, 2008 -
I sing to your spirit…………………..we have named her. Enjoy.
Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com
War of the Roses - April 22, 2008 -
We have little silent battles at our house.
Remember Bill the minimalist? If he does not like some nick knack that I have, he will simply put it away. After a day or a few, I will notice it missing, and start the hunt. Upon finding said object, I will place it out again in its proper place, Bill will see it and start the whole process over again.
These little silent exchanges go on forever at times, some lasting months, until it happens when I am on my period someone finally cracks or the object literally disappears.
Bill and I have our own sinks for the first time in our married life. We have so much bathroom space it feels sinful. I never knew that loving a bathroom was possible. In our old house, the one bathroom was a place to get in and out of as fast as you could so the next person, who could be all of 3, wouldn’t pee on the hardwood floors outside the door. Now, I have my own space. I can take a long, hot bath uninterrupted (the genius of locks on doors that do not require a skeleton key that was lost around the turn of the century…boggles the mind), and can hide from the kids sit in my carpeted walk in closet and read a magazine in peace. Yes, I am that weird.
As you know, I decorated our bedroom/bath with ocean decor….seashells, coral, etc. On each sink, I have a little shell filled with seashell soap, some red coral, seashells and hand soap. It drives my husband up the wall. Stuff! On his side of the sink! A place that must be bare so that he can wipe it down without having to move stuff around.
Almost every morning, the little soap dish on Bill’s side is moved somewhere in the bathroom, and his coral is relocated to the garden tub. When I discover it, I move it back. This has been going on now since September. We never say a word to each other. Little, silent, playful battles.
Saturday morning, I woke up to this:
Which side do you suppose is mine?
La luna - April 20, 2008 -
What makes me amazed about this picture is the fact that I took it while on a boat, in 20mph winds, with the boat swinging in a wide arch at anchor, and without a tripod. I used the 70-300 lens with Vibration Reduction, and I have decided I want to marry this lens and have it’s babies.
Dockside playground - April 16, 2008 -
What I love about these pictures is how comfortable my kids look on the boat. They are relaxed and at home on the water.
It is their playground. How cool is that?
She rows - April 14, 2008 -
….at least for about 5 minutes. That is about all my perfectionist husband could take of going round and round in circles.
I cannot believe the fat roll I am exhibiting here. Happiness makes the gut grow larger, right? Reminder to do more sit ups!
Because I am an addict - April 14, 2008 -
What would a gorgeous sunrise on the deck of your boat be without a warm cup of cappuccino in hand?
Yes, I swear. I figured out how to make a fantastic cup of steaming espresso loveliness on a boat. I am a freak of gigantic proportion.
As Bill was rowing the dog to shore for a walk of utter futility, I pulled out the the stove top espresso maker and the other supplies necessary.
The espresso was easy. The above setup makes some excellent espresso, and all I had to do was make the foamed milk.
Voila
The battery powered Aerolatte, some Organic milk(Horizon single serving, no refrigeration necessary), and a frothing pitcher. Froth the milk while heating on the stove using the pitcher, add to your espresso and there you have it.
Now head outside on deck with your cappuccino, and enjoy the gorgeous, calm water, the rosette spoonbills flying overhead, and the amazing sunrise that words nor pictures can describe.
Boat dog - April 12, 2008 -
Some dogs just never figure out being on a boat. They are afraid of the water. They don’t get their balance. The unfamiliar surroundings paralyze them with fear.
And they never figure out how to potty on a boat.
This last issue can be the deciding factor on whether a dog will ever acclimate to cruising.
Honey loves being with us. She craves it. So it was only natural that we tried to take her with us on the boat. She did quite well on her first few day trips. She found her balance. She accepted the boundaries of the life lines, and she had a just the right amount of respect for the water, without being too scared to enjoy the ride.
But she would not go potty on the boat. Not a big deal on a day cruise, but on a weekend away she would have to figure it out or not return with us on future long cruises.
There are many different ways to get a dog to do their business. Some people tie astro turf to the foredeck. Some put it n the cockpit. I have even heard of one story about a dog that refused to go no matter what the owner did…even bringing actual grass and putting it in the cockpit. Alas the dog would not go, so it never cruised agan.
We didn’t do anything special for Honey. We figured when she needed to go, she would just…go.
The evening came and went. She slept through the night in the aft cabin with Quinn, Mia and I, and when morning dawned, Bill took her on deck with no luck. So, he decided to row her to shore.
“Bye sweetie! I’ll have some coffee ready when you get back Have fun!”
It was quite a way to shore.
He rows the dog to shore, walks her up and down the beach FOREVAH, and she would not go potty.
So…. he rowed back to the boat.
Honey jumped back on the boat, ran to the foredeck and promptly pooped. Then she ran to the back transom and peed off the back of the boat……like a seasoned sailor.
We washed it off the boat via a bucket of sea water, and that was that.
She is now officially a swab.
Dinghy ride - April 11, 2008 -
To get back and forth to the island, we rowed the dinghy.
I use the term “we” loosely. It is more like “I” sat in the back of the dinghy sipping coffee, while watching “we” row it.
I had the best seat in the house.
Um, yeah.
Flex, relax, flex, relax. I may have even said “Hey, baby, aren’t you hot? Why don’t you take off your jacket?”
Please, for the love of all things holy, ignore the cutoffs (agan!) and the granny wear over sun shades. I try. The only thing I can take solace in is the fact that he is ordering some prescription Costa Del Mar’s and then I will let the kids ride over the wear overs repeatedly with their bikes.
Where was I?
Oh yeah, right here
I even got this treatment
Spoiled! Rotten! Not the cute one in the front of the boat (although that could be the subject of many guest posts on my blog by my boys), but the coffee sipping princess lounging in the back.
It sucks to be me. ;*)
Cooking - April 11, 2008 -
There are two ways to cook on a boat. With a gimbaled propane stove inside, or with a propane grill out on the deck.
We have not purchased a grill yet for the boat, as they cost as much as a nice backyard grill, so that leaves us with the stove inside for now.
Obviously I could not bring any meat with us. There is just no way to keep it cool. We don’t have a refrigerator, and the cooler full of ice does not keep it cold enough for safety reasons. There is dry ice, and that is something I will use on longer trips, but for this excursion, I opted for non-perishables. Simplicity to start with.
The dinner I had planned that evening was whole wheat pasta with bruschetta and rolls. Mmm. I chose whole wheat egg noodles both for their protein and that they cook in 1/2 the time of regular noodles. Remember, we are on a “preserve our resources” mantra, and the propane tank is smallish, so the less cooking time the better. I am sure l could run the stove as a heater, and the tank would have plenty of propane, but until we figure out the the longevity of the tank, I will be conservative.
The stove is gimbaled, meaning when the boat heels over, the stove is on hinges that allow it to move with the boat to keep a level surface. It also has little “grips” that hold the pots on the top.
“Too many cooks in the kitchen” takes on a whole new meaning in the galley (kitchen) of a boat. I mean, just look here:
That spot in front of the stove? That is the galley. It is off limits to the kids when I am cooking. There is barely enough room for one person to stand. If the kids came in there, well hell, they might bang the stove and knock the pot of boiling noodles off………or my Tecate (shudder). So, no kids in the galley unless they are in charge of the meal.
Other things to cook would be rice, beans, soup, bread, etc etc. You know, you just have to plan things and get a bit more creative.
Clean up for us is a bit more time consuming than on land. I do not use paper plates for the obvious reason…….what to do with the trash when there is no trash pickup in an isolated cove? I bought some plastic plates for now:
They wash easily and won’t shatter or break.
I will defer the topic of the use of soaps etc. to the lovely Toast, as she wrote an excellent article on doing more with less. In addition, water on a boat is precious, so conserve, conserve, conserve. For the dishes, I put some water in the sink, put just a dab of soap on the scrubber, wash the dishes, then rinse them on the other side of the sink. Bill dries and puts them away.
Other meals consist of breakfast rolls, sandwiches, pesto dips and crackers, and fruit. And beer………you do know that the beer must always have ice. The small cooler we did have with ice? It contained the beer and cheese.
Priorities, people.
Next topic: where does the dog pee….or does she at all?
Sleeping on a boat - April 10, 2008 -
The sun sets, you put your camera away, and after a bit of cabin time, you ready the kids for bed. Tired does not describe the way you feel. It is more like your brain is shutting down, and you need to sleep to stop it from dying.
There is really nothing like sleeping on a boat…..the waves lapping up against the hull. The sight of the immense sky filled with stars like you have never seen before right outside your cabin window.
On the other hand, there is also nothing quite so nerve wracking as sleeping on a boat filled with your children and the only thing holding you to the same spot is an anchor that YOU deployed and helped set. An anchor that the wind is trying its best to dislodge as your boat swings in a wide arch, tugging on the line disappearing into the water.
Your husband sleeps on the port settee so that he can stand up every hour and look out the hatch and make sure we are not drifting blindly into the shipping channel. You would take turns with him, but you know that tonight there is no way that sleep will find him even if he knows someone else is on watch….someone that loves his family as fiercely as he does.
Sleep comes and goes and during the wakeful times you find yourself looking out the hatch at the stars, trying to gauge, by the movement of the big dipper back and forth across your line of sight, if you are dragging anchor.
You set the anchor drag alarm on your GPS to 40 feet, because the swing of the boat is so great, if you set it anything less it will sound every 3 minutes.
The kids sleep like rocks. One in the v-berth, one on the starboard settee, and you sleep in the aft cabin with the 2 little ones…….the dog curled into a ball at your feet.
The big dipper sways back and forth, back and forth across the window, its path getting shorter and shorter as the wind eases………the next thing you know, you open your eyes and the sunrise has begun.
Stowing crap, space limits…or how to cram 6 people and a dog into 100 square feet - April 8, 2008 -
After dropping anchor and checking out our surroundings, I went below and organized the mess that was the cabin.
Last summer we went from living in a 2100sq ft house to a 300sq ft 5th wheel. It was really interesting to see that how one felt about the confines of space was relative to the amount of crap we had. At the house, there was SO MUCH STUFF! In the 5′er, the kids were each allowed one small basket to fill with whatever toys they desired. They each had a single drawer for their clothing, and I made shelves at the end of each of the 4 bunks for them to fill with some books. And that was it. Mom and Dad toys (surf boards etc) were stored under the trailer, and decorations inside were kept to the bare minimum.
It got a bit cramped at times…especially when too much sugar was involved….but all in all it was surprising to realize how little space one needs to be fulfilled and content.
Now imagine reducing the 300sq ft to around 100sq ft. 100 sq ft filled with 6 bodies, clothing for them, bedding, and food. And a dog. A dog who is shedding. Alot.
Each child was allowed to bring a small grocery bag filled with toys. Mia had her little backpack. I had a duffel bag filled with clothes for myself and Mia, and Bill had one for himself and 2 of the boys. Cory had his own backpack. The V-berth looked something like this:
Yeah. Not too bad if no one had to actually sleep in there. Ahem.
I stashed, folded, straightened and primped inside until all was pretty neat and tidy…..
WhatEVAH!
One thing that Captain Bill is pretty anal about is stuff on the cabin floor. If shoes or toys are left there, there shall be hell to pay. There is nothing like having a sailing emergency, and while lurching across the cabin, stepping on a really cool Bionicle or Barbie. He especially cannot STAND shoes scattered about. It is just plain dangerous. Your balance and such are all funked out on a boat, so you really don’t need to factor in an obstacle course on top of your negative equilibrium. So, the person who left the pants on the floor in the above picture had to walk the plank. We loved him and miss him terribly, but oh well.
Even with 4 kids, things are pretty manageable on a boat. The thing that was the most troublesome was the dog hair. Honey sheds her coat a few times a year, and it is nothing less than spectacular the amount of hair that falls off of her small body. On a boat, hair is just intolerable. It gets in every crack and crevice and given the fact that you just can’t vacuum it up, I spend a great deal of time with wet paper towels, wiping up the offending spiky little hairs. ’nuff said.
Why can’t we have a hand held vacuum, you might ask. Chris may wonder how Bill survives without his magic machine. Well, it all boils down to power. We have 2 batteries that power the engine and the electronics on board. We do not have a generator (yet). Having running lights at night trumps cleaning up dog hairs, as I imagine the hairs would strike us as unimportant in comparison to getting t-boned by another boat because we ran out of battery power and could not start the engine to charge the batteries and run the lights that show other boats where we are….Savvy? In a nutshell? The boat is like a car. The engine charges the batteries, which run all the electronics and lights on board. As we get to know what our actual needs are, Bill will be reconfiguring the power issues. For now, our motto is that energy is precious. Do not use it unless necessary.
Here is how we deal with kilowatt abuse……….Time Out on a boat.
(to be continued)
Cast off - April 7, 2008 -
Lordy, the prep time for a trip on the water is unreal…well, at least it is for me. Bill threw some cutoffs, hats, and bathing suits into a bag for himself and the boys and was READY. Woot. Let’s go!
Me? I had the task of planning food for 6 people without the ability to keep it cool over a long period and packing for Mia and I, being mindful of the schizo weather we have been having.
Trying to figure out protein rich foods to cook, without it consisting of beans and rice, beans and rice, rice and beans, is also a daunting task. There is only so much canned tuna that I can force feed my kids.
In the end, I found all kinds of fantastic options at our local HEB. I even found organic milk that didn’t need to be refrigerated! Have you seen the little, bitty Horizon Organic milk singles? Their cost is not so cute, but to have dairy on the boat for our morning cappuccino was worth every buck spent.
When I showed up at the dock with a dock cart filled and overflowing with stuff……..and the dog……Bill looked at me and asked if I had planned our escape from civilization instead of a weekend away. All we needed were passports, baby.
Bringing the load on board had me wondering where the hell I was going to stow everything. Boats are not known for their ample storage options…that is, unless you have a 50 footer, and then I imagine you would have plenty of room for your groceries………..plus a 40″ flat screen TV and refrigeration. Ours, at 31 feet? Not so much. I was surprised though to find that everything I brought on board fit very nicely in the cupboards and cabinets available.
I had pasta, sauce, bruschetta, bread, bagels, crackers, chips, dip, olive spread, hummus, organic boxed milk, fruit, cheese, muffins, cinnamon rolls, juice, water, water, water, and Tecate for the grown ups.
After stowing all the supplies, we cast off our lines and headed out across the bay.
It was a 1 1/2 hour sail to our destination and the winds were blowing around 15k. There was still a chill in the air from the norther that had blown through the previous day, but the sun was out and shinning bright.
We approached the cove where we planned to stay, chose our spot, dropped anchor and assessed our position. With the swing of the boat from the wind (winds blowing south east at the time), at times the boat would drift into depths that were too shallow for comfort. We draft around 4′8″ and it appeared that we would swing onto a sand bar with a depth of 5′2″…..factor low tide into that and it spelled trouble. Captain decided to pull anchor and try again after consulting Dr. GPS.
Our second attempt found us in water no less than 7 foot in depth. Plenty of room for the lowest of low tides. Bingo.
I secured the anchor, stood up and surveyed my new surroundings. Idyllic does not even begin to describe our anchorage. To think that someplace just as lovely as Cozumel was within an afternoons sail from our house was mind blowing. It was this that I have been waiting for since last June. We were finally doing it. (to be continued)
Here is Miss Mimi checking out the beginning of the sunset. You can see our “neighbors” anchored in the distance. 
Our mode of transportation to and from the boat
We finally did it - April 6, 2008 -
We loaded the boat with supplies, and took off to find our own slice of paradise.
And find it we did…….
We anchored in the cove of this little island and spent the weekend.
I will be posting about our little cruise during the week. For now, here is a shot of our boat at anchor.
It was the best time EVAH!!!
Heaving to - April 2, 2008 -
“In sailing , heaving to (also heave to) is a way of slowing the boat’s forward progress, fixing the helm and foresail position so that the boat doesn’t have to be actively steered, thereby allowing the crew to attend other tasks. It is commonly used for a “break” while waiting out a storm, or by the solo sailor as a way to provide time to go below deck or attend to issues elsewhere on the boat (including taking a lunch break). ”
In the photo above, notice that the foresail (the sail in front) is not being allowed to tack over to the same side as the mainsail (big sail). Bill did this, heaving to, not because we lost a man overboard, or because there was an urgent matter to attend to. The weather was GORGEOUS, the sun warm and lovely. He did it just because. To savor the moment and slow down our progress back to shore. He let go of the tiller and walked around the boat, taking it all in. The boat just floated in the same place….blue-green water below and powder blue sky above. Our tiny island suspended in time.
I am heaving to. Not to tend to anything urgent or to weather a storm. I am doing it ……..just because. Like Bill, I want to take it all in.
