I’ve mentioned before that our tiny little Go Pro Hero 3 video camera blows my mind. But the truth is, I don’t really know how to use this amazing piece of technology for all it’s capable of. We all have to start somewhere, though. So experimenting with video footage on iMovie with a big glass … Continue reading
We checked the weather gribs, consulted with other cruisers, loaded up the boat with food and 12 Bota Boxes (the equivalent of 48 bottles of wine), took Hideaway out for a pre-Bahamas shakedown, gave the cats their motion-sickness pills, bungee-corded the bikes down, filled up with diesel and water and, finally, settled in for what … Continue reading
Ryan was glad to hang up the VHF radio when we finally got to Fort Lauderdale. There were 27 bridges that needed hailing between Riviera Beach and Fort Lauderdale, and only a handful of those bridge tenders were in a good mood. In fact, the last bridge we hailed before pulling into Cooley’s Landing Marina … Continue reading
It turns out the only way to get a vacation from boat work is to get away from the boat. Which is why I spent 4 glorious days in the Florida Keys not working on anything but running, a tan and a tolerance for fruity cocktails. But the holiday is over, so I’m back in … Continue reading
12 wacky friends. 2 vans decorated with Christmas lights and disco balls. 196.9 miles from Miami to Key West. No sleep. A lot of giggling. Screaming and cheering for teammates in the middle of the night. Scrambling for shade from the blistering Florida sun. Blasting Lady Gaga, Pink and Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” at … Continue reading
23 days. That’s how long it takes for me to go insane, apparently. It happened slowly; probably while we were tearing apart our boat to run endless wires behind cupboards and floorboards to our battery bank (more on that project later). Or shaving the cats to keep their shedding fur from clogging up our bilge … Continue reading
Ryan and I are thrilled to be back on our boat in Vero Beach, Florida, as we get ready to ring in the New Year and prepare for crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas in the next week or two. Contrary to custom, though, I’m not making any resolutions; I realized this year that … Continue reading
I had two missions when I woke up this morning: 1) shave the cats, and 2) film the process on our new GoPro camera. Our cats, Charlie (the “Polar Bear”) and Celia (the “Cow”), are both long-haired furballs who puff up like sheep in the cold weather and, as soon as it gets warm, shed … Continue reading
1. A cheap grocery store is worth the taxi fare We asked our taxi driver in Titusville to drop us off at some shops by the marina so we could walk through town and pick up a few essentials on the way home. Which is how we found “Save A Lot,” a down-home local grocery … Continue reading
Our main mission in going to Titusville, Florida was to go to the Kennedy Space Center, which looked in its brochures like a combination space museum and amusement park. Ryan’s said many times that if he had the wealth of Richard Branson, he wouldn’t hesitate to drop a large fortune on the opportunity to view … Continue reading
When I lived in Manhattan, I often worked 12 to 14-hour days, and therefore I struggled to get out regularly for a run or a workout, even though it was crucial to my sanity (and Ryan’s – everyone’s happier when I run). So, in an effort to squeeze in some exercise, I would duck out … Continue reading
If I told you that all I had to do today was deposit a check, you’d probably imagine I walked to a nearby bank, fiddled with my ATM card for a few minutes, walked back to my boat, then spent the rest of my glorious day lounging in the sun, sipping Mai Tais. And you’d … Continue reading
Four days after we said we would leave St. Augustine, we are still here. It started with excuses like “we need to go shopping,” then “we need to mail the cats’ permit applications to the Bahamas,” then “let’s look for a used spinnaker at Sailor’s Exchange,” then “we haven’t visited the fort yet”… until it … Continue reading
“Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.” Actually, it turns out it’s mad dogs, Englishmen and me. It has been over a month of pushing our boat onward in cold weather, huddled next to our Coleman camping heater, doing long hours at sea or in the ICW, not getting to shore … Continue reading
“The thin veneer we call civilization can disappear where a shipwreck is concerned.” – Richard Loran, Shipwrecks of Great Britain and Ireland (quoted on Boat US’s web site) We ran aground three times in the middle of the channel in the ICW between Cumberland Island and St. Augustine, Florida, so we were pretty frazzled when … Continue reading
Just a few miles from St. Marys is Cumberland Island, a state park that was once home to a Spanish settlement, slave plantations and Dungeness, a mansion owned by the Carnegie family until 1925. The mansion burned down in 1959 with rumors of the arsonists’ identities varying from scorned girlfriends of some Carnegie sons to … Continue reading
Turf to Surf 