Sailing with Nine of Cups

Vessel Name: Nine of Cups
Vessel Make/Model: Liberty 458
Hailing Port: Denver, Colorado, USA
Crew: Marcie & David
About: We've lived aboard Nine of Cups since 2000 and have managed to accumulate 86,000+ nm under the keel since that time. We completed a circumnavigation in April 2015 and managed to sail around the five great southern capes. Come along with us for the ride!
Extra:
Visit our website at www.nineofcups.com for more photos and info about Nine of Cups and her crew. We also have a more extensive blogsite at www.justalittlefurther.com. Are some of our links broken? Links break from time to time. Please let us know which ones are broken and we'll fix them. You [...]
05 January 2017 | Chesapeake, VA
07 July 2016 | Us: East Walpole, MA / Cups: Chesapeake, VA
06 July 2016 | East Walpole, MA
04 July 2016 | East Walpole, MA
02 July 2016 | East Walpole, MA
01 July 2016 | Virginia Beach, Virginia
30 June 2016 | Chesapeake, VA
29 June 2016 | Chesapeake, VA
28 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
27 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
26 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
25 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
24 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
23 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
22 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
21 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
20 June 2016 | Charleston, South Carolina, USA
19 June 2016 | Charleston, South Carolina, USA
18 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
17 June 2016 | Intracoastal Waterway from St Augustine to Norfolk
Recent Blog Posts
05 January 2017 | Chesapeake, VA

Happy 2017!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

07 July 2016 | Us: East Walpole, MA / Cups: Chesapeake, VA

Taking a breather ...

Since we'll be off the boat during July and August, we plan to post only three times per week. The Captain will continue writing a practical Blue View post each week, we'll keep you up to date on what's happening with us and then throw in some cruising nuggets as well.

06 July 2016 | East Walpole, MA

Keeping fit

We’ve written before about keeping fit on the boat. David is so much better at a regimented exercise program than I am. I have all the best intentions, but I can always think of something better to do than sit-ups, push-ups, leg lifts and running in place. It doesn’t take much to distract me. Walking, [...]

04 July 2016 | East Walpole, MA

Happy 240th Birthday, America

Growing up in New England, I took for granted just how lovely a summer’s morning can be in Massachusetts. It’s comfortably cool and everything smells clean and fresh. Spider webs glisten with morning dew and it’s just great to be alive and breathe in the new day. Being back at Lin’s house conjures up wonderful childhood memories of summer mornings past. And this is not just any morning … it’s the 4th of July, the best holiday of the summertime in the USA.

02 July 2016 | East Walpole, MA

Leaving Cups and a Road Trip

Leaving Nine of Cups is never easy. We know she’ll pout while we’re gone and so we do our best to make sure she’s as comfortable as possible before we leave. We were whirling dervishes trying to get everything ready.

01 July 2016 | Virginia Beach, Virginia

Hunting & Gathering - Virginia Beach

We had lots to do before leaving Cups. David was intent on getting as many chores done in advance of our departure as possible so that once we return in September, we can spend time sailing in the Chesapeake rather than doing repairs and maintenance. Much of what we needed in the way of parts and supplies, [...]

St. Helena to French Guiana - Day 9

19 September 2015 | Enroute to French Guiana, South America
Marcie
Day 9 - 2,183 nm to go

A pleasant enough night watch with a few 25-30 knot gusts associated with cloudbursts that kept us on our toes, but nothing that lasted. For the most part, 12-15 knot E/SE winds prevailed. On my midnight-0300 watch, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a sudden movement. A shadowy silhouette of a fluttering bird hovered just above the solar panels. I think it was probably a petrel, attracted by the running lights. He squawked a few times. I flashed a light on him and he flew off, then returned intermittently throughout my watch. I was wondering if he intended to land on the solar panels like several booby hitchhikers we've had in the past, but he never did.

Dawn was a flop again...a heavy grey, overcast sky with intermittent sprinkles kept me below for an hour or so...enough time to answer an email and finish up a blog. By mid-morning, however, the sun shone its full radiance and remained so for the rest of the day.

Crew conversation has been intense lately. We're still not decided what we'll do after the Guianas...such a big world, so many options, so little time. Rest assured, once we figure it out, you'll be the first to know.

I've begun reviewing my French, taking an hour or so each day brushing up on my vocabulary and verb tenses and idiomatic expressions. It's coming along okay. I've asked David to come up with sentences for me to translate and we do this for 10-15 minutes each morning. The problem, of course, is not asking the questions in French...that's the easy part. Rather it's successfully understanding the answers that are quickly rattled off in response. "Ou est le banc?", I ask. And the answer is ... Blah,blah,de la blah in a local French accent and dialect and I have absolutely no idea where the bank is at all.

Studying, writing and chatting away the day and before you know it, it's dinner time again. Thai satay chicken with carrots and rice tonight...care to join us?

By the way, it's Talk Like A Pirate day today. If we were on land, I think we'd celebrate with a tot of rum and we'd dig out our bandanas and eye patches and have a pirate party. As it is, we sail dry and I have no idea where our pirate garb is hidden, so we'll content ourselves with saying "Arrrrr" and "Shiver me timbers" a lot.

Remember to check justalittlefurther.com "http://justalittlefurther.com" for posts and pics beyond our daily passage notes.
Comments

About & Links

SailBlogs Groups
SailBlogs Friends
LONG WHITE CLOUD
Leu Cat
Carinthia
SANGARIS
Migaloo
Asylum
Tiger Lilly
Thorfinn
Hello World
Halekai
Tender Spirit
Valiam
Talacam
MACCABEE
Annecam
HooRoo
Echo Echo