07/21/2008, Salinas Puerto Rico

Thank you to all hands for the birthday wishes! I received all kinds of comments, emails and phone calls. I feel the love!

So an early birthday present to myself is the Amazon Kindle. One of the things about living on a boat and cruising is the lack of storage. This situation is a double edged sword. For folks who value a simpler life or for someone who has accumulated to much crap, the best way to downsize is to move aboard a boat. Daily, you will be forced to pick up your stuff and stow or face the consequences. A sailor simply cannot go out and buy new cloths or new gizmos or really bring anything aboard without storage considerations. For beer and wine drinkers the problems of storage grow very thick. Just ask anyone who has smashed a bottle of wine in the bilge while in a seaway. Serious problems not to mention a sea sickness inducer.

Now I don't drink so my liquor storage is a moot point. My thorn is books. In fact most sailors have succumbed to the this healthy "affliction." Up until recently several of my coveted storage areas have been crammed with reading material. Most of the books I have aboard I've read and I just can't part with them. Many are reference in nature and should not be parted with. Enter the Amazon Kindle pictured above. It is an electronic book/periodical reader that can store massive amounts of reading material. Amazon is rapidly converting its entire collection into e-format. It works on the Sprint cellphone network. So I can sit on the boat and shop Amazon and instantly download books for purchase or I can download samples. But there is more. It also has newspapers and magazines and hundreds of blogs, all available instantly. It is designed to have the fit and feel of a paperback book. It does not feel much like a paperback, but is the same size and works like a champ. This gadget mitigates much of my book storage issues. You can store books on the Kindle itself or leave it on Amazons servers.

Check my daily routine, which is full of leisure to say the least! I usually arise at sunrise, between six and six thirty. The mornings are a really special time here in the tropics. The wind is usually very light and out of the north. It is the coolest time of day. I pop out of bed, toogle on Sirius Sat Radio, turn on the Kindle and make coffee. Then I climb into the cockpit with my coffee and read the New York Times or Wall Street Journal or whatever newspaper I have downloaded. I will then read the newspaper. Now for you old school enthusiasts, I really do understand that a part of the enjoyment of reading the paper is the physical flipping through and cutting out an article to tape to the frig to covey how much wisdom you've culled. But try folding the NY Times even in a light breeze and you'll quickly be cussing instead reading. Not an issue with the Kindle. Then again the other day when I was poolside, some little brat splashed water on my Kindle and I damn sure almost started cussing!

Anyway, the Kindle has been one of those devices that has greatly added to my life. Like the iPod which replaced about a tractor trailer full of CD's, I think I will remain faithful to this gizmo. Ideal for those on move, be it from home to work on public transportation or or me, from the boat to the pool.

Capt Chris

Comments [1]

Capt Chris, sunny and hot
07/20/2008, Salinas Puerto Rico

It is my birthday today. I am 41. When my birthday rolls around I like reflect back and ask where was I a year ago....tens years ago or whatever. The exercise becomes jucier the more I age. Aging doesn't bother me in the least, it surely beats the alternative of a dirt nap. However I do take issue with accelerated aging. It is always good to go and visit my parents in Florida where many folks familiar with aging reside. You can see obvious results of people who chose to live with little regard for physical and mental health. Conversely you can see folks as spry as can be in advanced years. Anyway.

Nineteen years ago today I was aboard CGC Polar Sea, pictured here in the Ross Sea Antarctica. What an experience it was to spend 5 plus months in the polar region and even more so the experience of two years aboard a Polar Class Icebreaker. I was a deckie and learned tons of seamanship skills and about heavy duty rigging. One of my first jobs was as crane operator. So I literally have spent days in all three of the ships cranes. You can see that "Big Red" is wide in the hips. She measures 399 feet and has a beam of 83 feet. She can produce up to 75,000 shaft horsepower via 3 gas turbines. So many great memories from that tour aboard ship.

Capt Chris

Comments [7]

Capt Chris, sunny and hot
07/13/2008, Salinas Puerto Rico

National Hurricane Center in Miami posted this sat photo today of a tropical disturbance east of the Lesser Antillies. In the graphic it is labeled as #1. The witches brew is conducive for development and all hands will be keeping close tabs.

Capt Chris

Comments [2]

Capt Chris, sunny and hot
07/13/2008, Salinas Puerto Rico

Here is a shot of the anchor with the new 3/8 stainless swivel. After all my issues with dragging while in the Bahamas and then the subsequent loss of the CQR and chain in the Dominican Republic, I finally am back to full anchoring strength.

I used the Delta several times over the pasted week or so while exploring the local area. I was amazed at how quickly it set compared to the CQR. The manufacture claims it will set itself within two shank lengths. I would say in the Salinas mud it set right where it landed on the bottom. The Delta is self-righting and all the weight of the anchor is positioned well forward which is why it sets straight away. Another advantage over the CQR is it will launch and recover without me having to manhandle it off and on the bow rollers. This advantage now makes it possible for me to raise and lower via remote switch from the cockpit. An upgrade I am working on while here in Salinas.

Sorry to bore all you with the technical and all, but for you arm chair sailors, you have no idea of how emotionally attached you get to an anchor when it keeps you safe gust after gust and day after day. Nothing worse than losing confidence in your anchor.

My choice of the Delta Set was not without research and interviews of other cruisers. As I have noted before anchors and anchoring is a very controversial topic amongst seaman. I failed to hear a bad report from anyone who had been using the Delta Set. But I relied mostly on a great, in depth study of voyaging anchors done by Blue Water Sailing magazine that I saved from several years back. It is scientific in nature and is to long to really repeat. But the gist is that there is really no right anchor. All anchors have strengths and weaknesses in certain types of bottoms and environmental conditions. This is why most cruisers carry three to four different type of anchors. But the Delta Set, CQR and Bruce anchors work in the vast majority of situations and so this is why they remain the most popular.

Capt Chris

Comments [0]

Capt Chris, sunny and beautiful
07/11/2008, Salinas Puerto Rico

Well, our trip to Puerto Rico has come to an end. As usual Alexa and I have met wonderful people. The cruising community is very special. Alexa made a wonderful new friend named Emily. They bonded immediately, Alexa even had a sleep over!! Chris is a wonderful host. We trekked to the island of Culebra and I do mean trekked. After missing the first ferry and having 6 hours to kill before the next one, we had to hike all of our gear back to the car. Alexa was not a happy camper and we almost had a "PTS" which is Chris code for Pouting Type Situation. Now that I think of it, we didn't have one PTS which is pretty amazing. The only thing that Alexa broke this time was Chris's diving mask. Another pretty amazing thing since after our first stay aboard the Christa, Alexa was dubbed "the human wrecking ball". Poor Alexa! After finally boarding the ferry for Culebra at 3pm which left late, we made it to Flamenco Beach campground. By this time we were hot and tired and unknowingly chose the farthest campsite available. Par for the course for our day. The beach was spectacular and a fine time was had by all. We had planned on hiking in El Yunque rain forest but we decided we had had enough travel and we parked ourselves at the marina pool for the rest of our stay. Sun and relaxation was on the schedule for the rest of our stay. We had a great 4th of July picnic with the Burton family at the Cruisers Galley. We also had a movie night, since no trip is ever complete without watching Captain Ron. I envy Chris this wonderful adventure however I am so happy to be able to share parts of it with him. Alexa and I hope to share many more ports. Thank you Chris and Christa!!

Comments [1]