Do you have any thoughts or suggestions regarding cruising or sailboats? Do you have a favorite sailing destination, or one that you would avoid? How about a favorite recipe for cooking on a sailboat? Any questions about sailing or cruising that you have?
We'd love to hear from you! Post your story, question, or suggestion here.
Ken and Cheryl
Posts
41 comments:
I just found your blog while I was trying to find a good name for ours! We are moving aboard our 35' catamaran this June. We are starting from Maryland and heading north for the summer. If things work out we'd like to go south for the winter and then over to the Bahamas. We've had our Knotty Cat for two years now and even though I'm not a good cook, I do enjoy cooking on the boat. We have a lot of things that need to be done first, including my getting our blog up and running. I'm hoping I can keep it organized and that other live-aboards can learn from our mistakes. Good Luck to both of you!
Your plan sound fantastic! I am preparing for a 12-14 day passage this summer (san fransisco to Oahu) and am working on what food to bring. I have some canned meat on order and will let you know how it is! Sounds like you will be able to reprovision frequently but from our carribean charters, meat can be really pricey down there. There are some great sailing cookbooks available with lots of ideas for cruising food.
I have been to the BVIs twice on charter trips and LOVED it. You are going to have a blast! I hope to follow in your footsteps in the next 5 years or so!
Laura and Pineapple Girl,
So both of you are leaving on a sailboat this summer. How exciting for ya'll! Oahu is amazing, and we hear the same about the Bahamas. We look forward to hearing about both of your adventures this summer, as we're sure they will be awesome.
Your plan sounds fabulous! Good luck. My husband and I are working towards cruising with our 2 children.
I look forward to following your journey!
Lacey
Lacey n Nathan,
We've met quite a few future cruisers from Texas. It's good to hear from yet another. We'll be keeping track of your progress as well.
Cheryl,
This is a great/easy fish recipe. I've always made it with talapia, but I'm sure you could try different types of fish. I serve it with a side a fresh veggies and brown rice. It's a BIG hit.
Ingredients
3/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 c. ranch dressing ( I usually get low fat)
2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound tilapia fillets
1. Place the bread crumbs in a bowl. Pour ranch dressing in shallow dish. Coat the tilapia fillets with the ranch, then dredge in the bread crumbs to lightly coat.
2. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Place the fillets in the skillet, and cook 5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and easily flaked with a fork.
Lacy n Nathan,
The above recipe sounds great! We're not big fish eaters, but we know we need to start acquiring the taste. This will be a good start.
Stumbled on your site. Great writing and I really like the story.
Keep up the great work and I look forward to reading about your cruising.
DC
Barco Sin Vela II http://maogwaicat.blogspot.com/2009/03/so-lets-get-started-on-yet-another-tins.html
Formerly Wildebeest III (1985 Morgan '43) Based in St Katherine's Dock, London.
Barco Sin Vela II - We checked out your blog and see that you've got a lot of great adventures. Looking forward to reading more of them. They really get us excited about cruising!
Ken and Cheryl,
A handheld VHF is a great thing to have. You might also look into getting a remote handset for your main VHF. That way you can use the main VHF with it's greater transmission strength from the cockpit and save the handheld as an emergency backup or for dinghy trips. Just a thought. This is assuming that a remote mic is an optional accessory for your current main VHF. Keep at it. You guys are doing great.
Chris
Just a quick bit of observation on the BBQ overboard. Attach a weight to a light line, ( a 5lb weight off a diving belt is perfect) and drop it over the side where you lost the item. This assumes of course you are either moored or anchored. This will serve as a search datum,a quick depth check, and a down line when you dive.
Ti' Punch...unfortunately our current VHF does not have the option of a remote handset, but great tip for the future. Love the name of your boat!
Laysan306... great tip! I hope we don't need to use it in the future, but I'm sure we will!
Cool blog! Hope we see you out on the lake sometime. =)
~Tate
Hi Tate!
Looks like you live nearby! We'll definitely have to hook up this Spring.
Hi Ken and Cheryl!
We are on the same track- middle age (ugh I hate saying that!) nearly empty nesters who are going to simplify to the cruising life! I have a blog I just started www.ourripple.blogspot.com. It's going to be fun watching others go about the same plan!
Erin & Ed
Hello again Ken and Cheryl,
I can't recall if I mentioned that there is another cruising couple out there with similar experience to yours. They both shared power boat experience, but didn't sail until they bought their boat and went cruising in Mexico. You can read more of their experiences at http://svjustaminute.blogspot.com. I think you'll find some commonality in your stories. Have fun in the coming new year!
Hey there, you may enjoy reading this blog: http://interviewwithacruiser.blogspot.com/
We've enjoyed reading it a lot as we prepare to head offshore. Best of luck to you, Cheers.
Kyra n Rick .. we're very familiar with "Interview With A Cruiser" and love it! We just checked out your site and are looking forward to keeping up with ya'll as you head offshore. Fair Winds!
Ah, sounds like you enjoy reading it as well! I'm happy for you guys too, you'll love it out there I bet, 2012 isn't too far off...cheers
How do I find those comments and pictures where you were sharing your experience with blisters on the bottom of your boat? I know they still exist on your site somewhere, I just can't find them again
Nemo, if you look on the sidebar under "Stuff We Wrote" and click on "haul-out" you will not only find the blog about blisters but all kinds of helpful information regarding thru-hulls, paint, etc. Sounds like you're working on your boat .. best of luck to you!
Happy for you. In 1996 my wife, three kids and I sold everything we owned, went from Washington to Florida, bought our 41 foot outisland and started our cruising life. Love the Bahamas and have spent about 5 months of this year over there. Kids are gone, wife is gone, but it's still a great life. Wouldn't trade it for anything.
Great plan! Just curious if the Catalina 30's cockpit will drain fast enough if you take on a big gulp of blue water in open water. Friends of ours have the same boat, and having sailed to Hawaii a couple of times, I would be quite concerned about it... Just a thought! I also have a Santana 28 with the same issue. Not an open water boat.
Just found your blog. Good stuff. Just curious where you are in the plan? We used to have a C30.
Fair Winds
~~_/)~~
Sabrina & Tom
s/v Honey Ryder Caliber 40 LRC
http://wildcatsailorgirl.blogspot.com/2011/12/xmas-2011-holiday-song.html
Chuck, great to hear from you and that you're enjoying the Bahamas. Five months this year ... nice!
Bruce, you bring up a good point. However, our Catalina drains pretty well and we sure won't be sailing to Hawaii! =) We'll be coastal cruisers.
Sabrina n Tom, we hope to be on our way the beginning of 2013. We don't plan on sailing our Catalina 30 across oceans, and we'll be hugging the coast. However, what are your thoughts about making it to the BVI's? Will be checking out your site!
I have a constructive comment for you. Your list of things to do and things to buy is long and many thousands of dollars. When you complete this list, you will still have a 30' Catalina (worth what it is before you start) and, if you enjoy cruising, you will be looking for something bigger...This, I am certain of. Think about this now, rather than later.
I have listed links to 2 cruising boats that are completely cruising equipped and for sale by their owners.
http://audreypaige.blogspot.com/2011/07/audrey-paige-for-sale.html
http://alleluiaforsale.com/
I know both of these boats and their owners. Figure out how much you can get for the Catalina and put prices on your list...add those numbers together along with whatever you can scrape together for a larger boat and make an offer...you never know.
Bill
BeBe
Thanks so much for the links Judy! The first boat didn't have a price but if its anything like the second ... way over our shoestring budget. As of now, we only have $24K into our boat and it have fairly new sails and rigging as well as the haul-out work we've done. We figure we won't be spending any more than $20-$25K at most. At around $45K for an updated boat we're gonna just keep her. It's the only way to make cruising possible, and we do love her. We'll be those "boating bums" you see ... LOL!
Hi Cheryl,
You recently posted something about cleaning and protecting stainless steel and I think you used an automotive product? I've searched your site but cannot find the reference, although I'm almost positive it was you who posted. If so, what was the name of that product you used and did you find it at an automotive store? How's it holding up?
LCP ... you're right. We did post about Nevr-Dull, which works great on cleaning/polishing aluminum and other metals. We've used it for years on our motorcycles and happy with the results so far on our bimini frame. The link to that post is www.mid-lifecruising.com/2013/06/new-bimini-fitting.html
We live in the pensacola area and are on the same path/hopeful timeline that you guys are. Maybe one day we will share a shoreline!
Bill and Jessie
Found your site and have been reading with much interest. We are in a situation which requires us to cut our expenses to the bone. I quit my job with a geotechnical engineering firm last January due to poor management and ethics issues. Probably a dumb thing to do in this economy, but my blood pressure has dropped from 185/95 to a more tolerable 140/80 without medication! I was unable to find full time employment again due to my age and salary. In April I was contacted by a couple of firms to do some contract consulting work, so I formed my own company. This kept some cash flow coming in through the end of August, but things have since dried up and I have had no contracts since then. This started us looking at what we could do with retirement. I am 60 and my wife is 61. Collectively, we have $370k in retirement accounts, which we have been drawing on as needed for living expenses. We are considering selling our house, combining the procedes with our retirement funds as necessary to buy a boat outright, and living aboard. We would stay in, probably, the San Diego area for a few months to a year to prepare and then head south to cruise full-time. However, we are in a quandry with regard to budgeting. The retirement funds will not last for long (maybe 12 to 15 years at $1800/month) and if we activate our Social Security benefits early, there would be a considerable reduction. On the other hand, if we could last until full retirement, we would get about $40k per year if there is anything left by then. We have been looking for others in the same situation and would love some feedback.
We have also been thinking about setting up a website or blog almost exactly like yours to memorialize this new chapter in our lives. Hope you would not be offended if we set up something similar? Anyway...great job and keep up the good work. You are an inspiration!!
Happy sailing,
Colin (& Marge)
The last post was great Cheryl. Keep moving toward the light. :) Sometimes the steps feel really small, but hey, they are steps!!
Look forward to following your blog. Some of my sailing school students will be getting a note to check it out regularly, too. I teach cruising and am always asked for blog recommendations. Thanks for sharing so much useful information.
I read a book by one a Hereshoff who's name I do not remember. He said that the joy of cruising is that with each change of the wind and change of the tide a cruisers view of the world changes. He went on to note that folks on land don't have that variety. It has been my experience and I hope it is yours.
Norm in Boston
We took 19 months off to cruise on s/v Seaductress when we were in our 40s (2005-2007) and I still think it was the smartest thing we've ever done. Still have the boat and hope to go back out some day. I've enjoyed what I've read so far on your blog--keep us posted!
Love the site - hope you are having a great time. Maybe we run across you sometime - you can contact us at texahoy.com
Deborah and Bob
Have enjoyed reading your blog! My wife and I also have a Catalina 30 and are planning on cruising on it as well, leaving this fall & heading down the ICW to Florida and the Bahamas!
Your insurance sounds quite expensive considering the max value is $20k. Check out BoatUS, they have better rates and a great safety publication, "Seaworthy", which is well worth reading to help prevent any losses or injuries.
Hello...I just stumbled across your blog and found it quite interesting, especially your thoughts on frugality and minimalism. On this subject I have similar thoughts as you and I find a number of my friends are interested in this also. The "great recession" was very tough on many of us and I believe caused many to reconsider consumerism and begin to look at alternatives. I recently sold my Catalina 30 due to a divorce, but will be purchasing a replacement as soon as my house sells. Thinking about an Islander Freeport 36. I will live aboard her for a year getting her ready for extended cruising. I'm in the Pacific Northwest, so my cruising life will involve sailing down the west coast of the US and into Mexico. Who knows...perhaps one of us will transit the canal and possibly run into each other (figuratively)...Fair winds!
We LOVE hearing from all of you! Hope to meet you all "out there" someday! Steve .. good luck with the sale of your home and getting another sailboat. We hope to get to the West Coast for sailing someday!
I still have three years and 5 months but who's counting to RETIREMENT, LOL. We are planning on buying a catamaran 37-41 and cruising the Caribbean. Would love to talk and pick your brains about everything you are doing to start your sailing lives. I have family in Biloxi, MS so we come down often. We live in Missouri at this time. I will read through your posts like have done to so many others but would love to maybe meet up with you guys some time.
Hoping you're all tucked back in a creek somewhere to wait out this Hurricane! Fingers crossed you have no issues...
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