Going on the hook

I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a while. We've been working on getting everything ready to go on the hook. Work has slowed down and we won't have the money to pay slip rent for January. We went on a short and exciting cruise toward Fort Sumter last week. After about an hour motoring in the harbor and getting used to the feel of our boat, steam started coming from the engine compartment. We decided to put up the sails and killed the engine. It was a wonderful time and we finally tacked back to a good area and dropped anchor. We watched the sunset and listened to the quiet. It was so different from the marina. With no more traffic noise from the bridge, the only sound was the slapping of waves against the hull and the purr of the wind generator. Note: Bob, you were right. Mike got thwacked on the head by the wind generator. There wasn't any blood, but it did give us a new respect for the whirling blades. The next day, Mike figured out that raw water feed wasn't cooling the engine. We called BOATU.S. for a tow back to the slip. The wind and tides were not good for sailing back to the marina. The towboat operator was experienced and brought us safely back. Mike started digging into the engine and found that the impeller was missing a piece of metal/key. He created a fix from an old screwdriver and got the motor up and running again. Mike still has to go up the mast to install the masthead light. Then we go grocery shopping one last time using the courtesy van and fill up on diesel. After we finish prepping, we will be going on the hook in the harbor. We will pay the dinghy fee so that we can tie up our dinghy at the marina and get fresh water and wash clothes at the Variety Store. Mike will have to bicycle to Harris Teeters for any groceries. By the way, a big thanks to everyone who sent us Christmas cards. A big thank you to Thomas who sent us a wonderful food basket. We are still enjoying the fruit and treats. Happy holidays to all!

A note for Christmas shopping

I strongly urge all friends and family to consider shopping from local, small merchants and from individual artisans this Christmas season. Two of my friends have stores on Etsy. These friends provided moral and monetary support for us in our darkest times. They have beautiful and inexpensive handmade items that would be perfect for gifts and stocking stuffers. The links to their stores are: http://www.etsy.com/shop/RhondaMadeIt http://www.etsy.com/shop/jestersbaubles

Interviews

Recently, we have had several radio interviews and a news report about our lives on the boat and how we got here. Mike's contact on the Friends of the Unemployed website suggested us as person's to talk to about major lifestyle changes. If you are interested in hearing the story or seeing the boat, here are the links. KCAA: The Many Moods of Vince Daniels: KTAE Podcast Player 10:57am Nov 6 Katie and I got our interview is 00:32 to 00:60 on the timer. http://kcaaradio.celestrion.net/kcaa-podcasts/moods/20111105.html kcaaradio.celestrion.net KCAA Podcast Player Swiss Television http://www.facebook.com/l/5AQA1T8gq/www.videoportal.sf.tv/video?id=aeff028a-716a-491f-b1e5-9e0d52445b74

A lesson in engineering

Winds got up to almost 40 knots last week. This was enough to knock down our wind turbine tower, surprisingly enough. It failed at the wooden base, so that will have to be redesigned and rebuilt. The fall also bent the main tower, which I think was too tall anyway. I will be building a new tower of stronger materials, with a much more robust base, and a shorter stance by about 3 feet.

Just a cup of water

Water is a precious commodity on a sailboat. Bathing, dishwashing, clothes washing, and drinking are nearly impossible without a goodly supply of freshwater. In the old days, before Sovereign, we had a dishwasher, a refrigerator with a cold water and ice dispenser in the door and 2 mini-refrigerators, 2.5 bathrooms (2 full baths with showers), a huge double-sink in the laundry room, an inground pool, and a clothes washer. Presently, we have a 65 gallon water tank, no hot water, a Coleman plastic folding double-sink, a bucket and washboard for clothes, and an antique refrigerator about half the size of those used in a college dorm room. All of our water comes from a water hose at the marina dock. A recipe for bathing – First I boil 4 cups of water and pour into one of my two blue and white camping pots. Then, I add enough cold water from the garden hose to make it warm. I take the pot into the cramped water closet where everything is moved out of the way. I then pour the first ½ cup of water onto my head. I shampoo first and then scrub the rest of my body with soap. I normally use another ½ cup of water during this process. Then, a ½ cup at a time, I begin rinsing from head to foot. Finally, I tip the pot over my head and it almost feels like the fleeting memory of a full shower. Total water used equals approximately 6 cups. The final part is turning on the head bilge pump to whisk the grey water away. I sometimes dream of bubble baths. I’ll describe dishwashing, drinking water, and clothes washing in the next post.

Just a cup of coffee

Morning arrives in Charleston and the boat is gently rocking. The sound of traffic from the bridge overhead is a constant thrum and the air conditioner blocking the hatch is on full cool. The sound of water trickling into the cockpit from the unit is a worrisome sound. Anytime you hear water trickling on a boat, you have to check where it is coming from and to where it is going. Mike has been awake for a while and has already boiled the water and made coffee using the French press. The Senseo coffee maker died a year ago and while missed, was totally impractical for our use. The pods were expensive, the maker itself took up quite a bit of room, and most importantly, it ran on AC. This means that when we are not on shore power, we would have to run the generator in order to make coffee. So, boiling water and the French press are the best solution for the start of the day. While we are in port, we can venture to the Harris Teeters grocery store to buy their excellent store brand ground coffee. However, we have a cache of Community Brand coffee beans and a hand-crank coffee grinder for emergencies that we will use when we finally set off on our cruising adventures. Mike hands me a steaming cup of coffee as I power up my laptop and get ready for work. As I start reviewing my documents for the day, I realize how much I appreciate my husband. The act of making coffee for me in the morning is one of the many kindnesses he blesses me with throughout the day.

Life on board

We have lived on Sovereign for almost three years now. My sister-in-law suggested that some people may have an interest in how we live on a 33’ sailboat and manage the daily business of survival. What has become the norm for us is so radically different from our former lifestyle that I imagine it might seem interesting to others. Dishwashing, bathing, laundry, cooking, working, and grocery shopping are some of the normal things that people do without much thought. For decades, I had a dishwasher, electric or gas stove and oven, refrigerator/freezer, full bath with tub, washing machine and dryer, a car that I drove to work each day, and easy access to a grocery store. That has all changed. I am a technical writer and I wish I had the flare that my brother or husband have in creative writing. Please bear with me as I give you insight into what it is like to live in our new reality. I will write a bit each day on the small, but significant changes that we have made over the last three years.

Wind Turbine added!

We added another piece of handy gear to the boat: a big wind turbine. Wattage will depend on the wind, of course, but it's a solid unit rated for 300W peak. I had the option to wire it directly to the batteries and ground but that would waste a lot of the power, plus it might interfere with the solar charge controller. I decided to treat it as a clean power source and get the most out of it. A bit of research led me to a nice 50-amp bridge rectifier for 3-phase input which would smooth the turbine output to ripple DC. The DC then goes to a second charge controller to regulate the voltage further, and then finally to the batteries. I've been testing it without an ammeter so far by watching the change in the primary solar controller output, but I am definitely going to add a meter to the system.

Downwind pole added!

We recently added a spinnaker pole to our kit. A 13-footer, kind of heavy but just about right for the boat. So we are now set for downwind runs with either the genoa or the spinnaker. Lazy times!

It mounts nicely on the mast almost like it was made for it, and it's easy to deploy after a little practice.



Ta-dah! Let me just rest on it a moment with a smoke.



So, we're another major step closer to being offshore-ready. More updates to follow.

Cookin' With Gas!

After almost two years without a real stove or oven, we have a working galley again. Three-burner propane Shipmate with oven, found it on Ebay.

A few weeks ago I'd picked up what I thought was a decent oven as part of a swap/salvage deal. Turned out to be very leaky, so I had an expert look at it. All the parts would have had to come from the UK and it would've cost about 3/4 as much as a brand-new one. So, I decided to go shopping.

Found this unit in Sausolito, California, for about 1/3 the cost of an equivalent new unit. It is now installed and temporarily plumber for the little camping bottles. I'm planning to upgrade it to a larger 10- or 20-pound aluminum tank with pressure gauge, regulator, the works. But! It works now! That's our first boat-cooked meal in quite a while: two nice ribeyes (on special) with mushrooms and onions. YUM!

Solar power!

We are closer to cutting the shore lines! The latest upgrade, SOLAR! Two Kyocera 135W panels, plus a 1500W PSW inverter and a 25A charge controller. We're getting there.



Oh, and dangling below it is the new dink "Serf." I tried selling "Vassal" and finally ended up donating it to a church with a sailing program for at-risk kids. So, we now have an excellent deflatable slung in the davits, solar panels on top, and new lift rigging (clean white lines for the win).