06/05/2009
Last summer, Al and I were sitting on our boat at a slip at Discovery Divers/Beaufort, when one of the liveaboards came over to see the boat and introduce himself. "Where've ya been?" he asks.
We tell him about how we sail all over the sound and the rivers; how we would love to do some "real" ocean sailing, maybe head down to the Bahamas when we get a bigger boat.
"Go now!" he says. "Wait right here" and off he scrambles. He came back laden with charts and pictures of his trip to the Abacos in a 25 footer! "Go now' he says. "Don't wait to get a bigger boat. This is more than you need right here."
Well, before the week was out, Al had announced that if I wanted to (Do coconuts grow in trees?) we would plan on taking a 3 month sabbatical to sail to the Bahamas in November of 2009. (I love this man!)
Of course I want to do most of the trip offshore, and Al is thinking a ICW route would be more conservative, but the die is cast either way... we are going.
Prepping the boat has been an ongoing project. We started last fall, making our lists and chiseling away at them. so much to think about; and on a budget too. It's been an interesting mix of compromises.
For example, Al wanted an EPIRB. My thoughts were of group suicide for allowing my boat to sink out from under us. I didn't share that with Al - we bought the EPIRB.
I wanted new lifelines; ours are rusting and loose. Al felt that they weren't that bad. We are removing them to take to the rigger this weekend.
Other things are beyond us. Budget, remember. A reefer, SSB transmitter. We just got our Sony SSB receiver, and are grateful for the small victory that affords. We can listen to the weather at least.
We will continue to improve and outfit, and I will add to this as I can.
|
Comments [1]
Well, we just put our sails back on Journey, after sending the 30yr old tatters to Sail Care, for cleaning, repairs and treating. We also purchased a Strong Track for our main track from them. WOW! What a difference. Truly, Sam and Jerry are magicians! We were able to make contract at the Miami Boat show, thus getting a show special and hence the Strong Track, which we wanted, but hadn't planned on right yet. Everything came in under budget, and there were numerous repairs made to both sails, including cutting off and reshaping our 150% before applying a new sacrificial. The sails looked and felt like an old pair of jeans before, but are now white, crisp and slickery! Love them!
|
03/22/2009
Hi, We are Martha and Al along with our child, S/V Journey. We have owned Journey since August 2004, and have been steadily making updates and improvements to her. She is a 1977 Islander 28, a fine cruiser for the two neophyte sailors we were back then. While we are still finding our "sailing genes," we have done a lot of one and two week cruises around the Sound, over to Ocracoke,Oriental, Beaufort, and of course "the bite." We usually refer to these as our little "great circle route." We are always looking for folks to go cruising with, or to meet up with along the way when we are out and about. We try to sail pretty much year round, sometimes it seems that home scheduling gets in the way - exspecially during the colder months. (Funny how that happens)
|
