I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful birthday wishes. It was great to hear from so many of you, especially since I spent the majority of the day in a Benadryl induced fog. I was COVERED in bug bites. You might think I’m exaggerating by saying that I had 2,000 bug bites, but I assure that it is an accurate estimation. I started counting and reached 542 by the time I hit my knee on the first leg.
Author: letitbreezesailing@gmail.com
Cruising Down the ICW
We left the Regatta Pointe Marina on Thursday, Feb 11th at noon. We said goodbye to our C Dock friends whose warmth and helpfulness made the beginning of our journey so enjoyable. Well, as enjoyable as 2 months of boat work can be. It was a perfect day–light winds, 70°F, and sunny.
Puppy Proofing
Any dog owner can relate to the sacrifices we make for our furry children. They depend on us for everything—food, safety, shelter, affection, water, etc. It’s difficult to see how our pups are related to wild dogs, because these two wouldn’t last a day on their own. Jaela would probably chase a squirrel off a cliff and Baxter would curl up and die without his blanket.
Provisioning for The Bahamas
We have had some windy cold weather recently. Sleeping through the night has not been an issue for me, I could fall asleep standing up. Rob frequently gets up throughout the stormy nights to check on our dock lines or to try to tighten a halyard that is slapping against the mast. Working outside on the boat during these windstorms is nearly impossible. Towels, tools, and dog toys fly into the water. I’ve gotten pretty quick at fishing things out with the boat hook. So during Saturday’s storm, we decided to shop for provisions.
And the New Name is…
When we adopted Jaela last year we decided right away that we would rename her. “Jaela” wasn’t as bad as Baxter’s pound name, “Coco Puff”, but we could come up with something better. After two days of reviewing dog (and people) name lists, we decided to stick with Jaela after all. It was just easier.
Operation Cushion Update: Completed
I am a domestic goddess! Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but we finally finished updating the salon cushions and they are divine. After reading Jody’s (Where the Coconuts Grow) DIY Cushions post and watching some Sailrite videos, I was convinced that updating our cushions would be a breeze. They made it look so easy. Who cares that I’ve never really sewn before? My recent throw pillow success had me filled with confidence.
One Step Forward…Two Steps Back
Well, we’ve had our boat for a week now and we’ve already learned that owning a sailboat is HARDWORK. We’ve been working very long days. The good news is that we are becoming very familiar with our boat’s systems. The bad news is that every time we fix something, we discover two more things that require maintenance in the process. We were testing the hot water heater, when our fresh water pump failed. We cleaned out the anchor chain locker only to find that the windlass and raw water wash down pump weren’t working. Thus, our to-do list is growing faster than we can cross items off.
Who Has 4 Thumbs and Owns a Boat???
These Guys!!!
It’s official. We bought a Pearson 39-2 sailboat. We plan to move onto this lovely lady in the Regatta Pointe Marina after the New Year. Until then, we will be dwindling down (and of course adding to) our to-do list. We are looking forward to taking her on some shakedown sails this weekend when Rob’s dad is in town to help.
Goodbye House
Okay, so that blizzard I wrote about in the last post WAS a joke. We didn’t get the 12 inches that was predicted…heck…I don’t think we got more than an inch. But it’s the last snow the dogs will see for awhile, so we went to the park to play.
Packing, Goodbyes, and a Blizzard
Mother Nature has decided to send us off with a bang. A BLIZZARD! It seems fitting that we shouldn’t be able to escape to 80F, sunny days without one last snow storm.