Writing is Work! And fun!

Quick post! My second story is published. Military sci-fi genre.

http://www.raygunrevival.com/sword-of-saladin-michael-s-roberts/

Writing is Working.

Here is the first short fiction I've had published since about 1995.

http://www.raygunrevival.com/neither-big-nor-easy-michael-s-roberts/

There are two more stories in queue for publication at the same website. I'll post links as they come up. And please, if you can, donate to Ray Gun Revival.

The new outboard saved us again!

Yet another boat dragged anchor into us. That's number five this year. We spotted it before it hit, but it was swinging toward us. I got my ditch kit and hopped in the dinghy. It was about five feet from us when I jammed the little skiff up against its swim ladder and started pushing.

And it worked! The little six-horse Mercury was able to shove the boat--35, maybe 37 feet--well away from us. I pushed it directly away until I felt the anchor dig in again, as far from us as I could get it. Not very far, admittedly, but far enough for safety. For now.

But now we know the dinghy can move our boat if necessary. Since the engine is still not working--the Devil's diesel!--we need that safety margin.

July updates

First the good news. We have a new outboard for the dinghy, a 6-horse Mercury, courtesy of a good friend who is paying me to write a story for him. No more death-trips with the little trolling motor. This simple addition to the boat has dramatically increased both our freedom and our safety. Next step is to find a planing-hull dinghy in the 8-foot range, maybe a nice Caribe 8, since our little flat-bottom Severn is unable to plane.

On the engine front, we still have failure. Two $150 parts later and it still will not start. I am still baffled. I still hate diesels. They are the Devil's motors.

I finally found a method to--in theory--repack the propshaft gland with the boat in the water. It will be scary, since I only have one chance to get it right. We'll have the batteries fully charged when I go for it, in order to have all three bilge pumps at the ready.

We are now completely unemployed and have zero income. I applied for food stamps; no answer yet.

I'll be paid soon for three short stories to be published online by Ray Gun Revival. The three together will pay about enough for one one-backpack trip to the grocery store, but it will get my name out there.

We've made some new cruiser friends out here on the water: Don and Linda on S/V It's Perfect, and Fred and Connie on S/V Tashtego. Don and I befriended Fred and Connie when he and I had to get a rescue party together: a boat had dragged into Tashtego while they were ashore, and Don and I had to use dinghies to shove the boats apart so I could add fenders between them. Again, that little 6-horse Mercury is amazing!

Seven plus months. That is all.0

Beryl

We are prepping for Beryl. It looks like we aren't in any danger. However, Mike has put up some tarps so that we don't have to keep the boat sealed up like a submarine. He is also looking for the appropriate hardware to add another anchor up front. We have water. We won't be able to cook unless we use the Roadpro to warm up food. Wish us luck.

Que syrah II: 19 mars 2011

Que syrah II: 19 mars 2011: Un mot d'abord sur la ponctuation....nous avons maintenant un ordinateur anglais,et nous n'avons pas encore installer le clavier francais....
Your boat is dragging. Charleston Harbor. Almost hit our boat.

What now?

Okay. It has been a while since I posted. We have been on the hook for approximately four months now. In December, we had to move off the dock at the City Marina because my contract ended with CCSD. With all of my projects completed and no more money in their coffers, I was no longer employed. Christmas consisted of a discount steak and potatoes, no gifts for each other. I qualified for unemployment with South Carolina but once again, they succeeded in making it impossible for me to file. In January, I was contacted by an employer to work remotely. I've worked with them before and really like the tech manager. Between my work and family, we were able to survive. Things that have broken since we have come out on the hook, the Westerbeke engine, the marine stove (back to cooking on the Coleman propane stove again), new leaks, packing gland needs to be replaced, Mike got stranded with a single oar and no power for the dingy, my laptop keyboard for the second time, my cellphone, and me. I have a new cell phone. Mike figured out the battery problem, but the motor still isn't strong enough to counter wind and currents unless everything is perfect. Mike was able to catch mullet twice with the cast net. I spent $150 at the doctors getting a UTI treated. I have been working a little with a company in California and making between $17 and $380 a week. Never sure how many hours I might get but I'm always ready to work. Not enough to survive on. Not enough to fix our boat and the stove. I had a chance at a job that would pay well and pay for lodging for four days a week. I thought that this was the chance I needed to help pay for survival for six or nine months. Plus, the job was going to be a challenge. I was really looking forward to pushing up my sleeves and getting into a project that had little or no documentation. It is a tech writer's dream. I had a great phone interview and was asked to come to Jacksonville for a second interview. I made arrangements and spent $180 of our remaining money to get there. The client canceled because of a death in the family. We lost the money. Second chance for an interview came this week. Monday, I received a message that they wanted to interview with me on Thursday. I was overjoyed. I made reservations for a rental car and my niece graciously invited me to stay with her. I was looking forward to seeing her and her daughters. I printed out my Google maps today and Mike dropped me off on the dock. I took the Yellow Cab to the Avis office. The taxi drive was really nice. He was in the Marine Corps some 20 years ago. We had a nice talk and I truly enjoyed the ride. It was nice to speak to someone outside of the boat world. He dropped me off and wished me luck. I take out all of my paperwork and put it on the counter. The agent is on the phone explaining rental rates. Not a problem, I'm 20 minutes early for my reservation. I ask the rental agent if I can pay cash for the car because I want to use the debit card for gas. He told me no. They don't take cash. Okay. No problem. Then he told me that because I'm using a debit card instead of credit card, there would be a credit check and a $200 would be held on the account. That was a problem. He looked at me kindly and said that my credit rating wasn't high enough. He suggested Hertz would let me rent if I had full coverage on a car that I owned. I thought that giving my car up was the most humiliating experience I had ever had, but we called them and told them to take it back. This was far worse. This was crushing. I thanked him and headed out. I called Mike and told him what had happened. I was trying not to cry. He told me to come back to the dock and he would pick me up. I stood there on the sidewalk for a good ten minutes deciding whether to go to Crisis Ministries or go to my husband. I called Yellow Cab and asked to be taken to the City Marina. I chose to stay with my husband. The taxi driver was very nice.

Wiring Projects!

Two successful wiring projects today: One, a very simple rig to charge the dinghy battery by plugging it into a 12V plug; elementary wiring, I know, but it's very efficient and convenient. And two, a shore power connector that plugs into the generator. This allows us to run the gas jenny and put power into the 120VAC wiring as needed. Then it can be routed to individual outlets through the AC breaker panel, which can also monitor the voltage and polarity. So, two simple but effective improvements were made today!

Hop in the Car and Go?

Nope. Most of our friends and family, except our fellow boat dwellers, think getting to shore is as easy as hopping in the car and turning the key. It's not. Planning a trip to shore takes quite a bit more preparation.

The first thing to consider is energy. Our dinghy has an electric Minn-Kota outboard, powered by a marine deep-cycle battery. With a full charge, the dink has enough energy to make one round trip with a large safety margin, or two round trips with no safety margin. I try never to make two trips in one day. That energy has to be recovered somehow as well. It can be done on shore with a battery charger and an AC outlet, or it can be done on the boat. On the boat, charging can be done for free with solar and wind if there's enough of both, but hooking a drained battery to the main bank can pull the whole system voltage down too low; that kind of charging has to happen when the solar panels are putting out and the wind generator is spinning. Otherwise, we have to run the generator, which costs us gasoline.

Next consideration is tides. From here, the trip to shore has two legs in nearly opposite directions, so slack tide is the best time; there are two every day. If necessary, the trip can be made while the tide is running slowly, timed to go with the tide on the long leg and fighting it on the short leg. The ideal time to run to shore is at the end of outgoing tide, then waiting for slack tide or the beginning of incoming current.

The third consideration is wind, both speed and direction. Any wind over 10 knots will push the dinghy way off course, and it has to be "crabbed"--steered sideways toward its goal. Takes some practice. Wind also kicks up waves and swells, which also slow the trip down--and make it much wetter. Salt spray in the eyes is not fun, or safe. The right combination of wind gusts and large waves have the potential to get air under the bow and flip the dink. Heavy waves right on the bow put water into the dink.

Lastly, there's load-out, both volume and mass. The dink can only hold so much volume, and can only carry so much mass. The heaviest loads make it more stable, but slower. Light loads get bounced around and have to be secured more fully. A typical heavy load is the fuel-and-water run: 20 gallons of water and 5 gallons of gasoline, totaling about 205 pounds.

All of these things factor in to the planning of a shore run. It's not the same as hopping in the Miata for an impulse-run to Krogers. Not the same at all.

It's Tuesday

For those who have not been with us from the beginning, it is Tuesday. Time is different on a boat. We sometimes forget the day, the month, the time of day. We go to bed early and wake up with the start of sunrise. That is not accurate. We wake up and check on the boat two or three times during the night. However, we don't commit to coffee until we are ready to start the day. It has been three years. Three years living on the boat. Three years without the dishwasher, hot shower, flushing toilet, working stove, big screen TV, and everything that we had before the fall. We just celebrated our 5th marriage anniversary and our 20 years of marriage on February 29th. Mike says we should have started living this way 20 years ago. I think he is right. I'm not sure if I would be prepared to do this and Mike would not have joined the Navy. The Navy gave him many of the skills necessary to fix our boat. So, if we had done it 20 years ago, with my son, where would we be now? Depending on the day and the conditions around us, I will give a different opinion. Three days ago, I would say yes. This is what we should have been doing and should be doing now. Today was frustrating. My computer died. This is our only source of income at the moment. I'm posting this on Mike's computer. It doesn't have my software or system setup for working online. I asked Mike today if it was worth it. As always, he says yes. He is out washing clothes by hand at the moment. First he soaks the clothes in a little detergent and harbor water. Then he rinses it in fresh water. We have extra fresh water at the moment. We've had heavy rains for the last couple of days and our dinghy is full. He will be scooping fresh water onto the clothes and hanging them up to dry. The wind has been good and the wind generator (Jenny) is keeping us in power. Every is a survival day sprinkled with a bit of imagination and hope. I'm cooking comfort food now. Instant mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, and mushroom gravy. Take care all. Love you.

Fear is the killer

The only thing that can keep us from surviving is fear. Fear of failure, fear of starving, fear of the anchor giving way, fear of the next shoe dropping. It is the hardest thing to combat. We can't afford it. We can't sit frozen like a rabbit watching the rattle snake writhing towards us. We grab onto every good thing that happens. Mike's friend Dillon took him hunting for food this week. Mike came back with a few clams, a bunch of oysters, conch, and fresh picked bay leaves. We didn't have an oyster shucking knife so I boiled them. About 1/2 of the oysters opened when I put them on to boil with the last of our new potatoes and we feasted. It was a good evening. I finalized my last project with the school district and started new projects with my company in California. It isn't constant work but it may make enough to keep us from starving. I just spent most of our money on insurance for the boat. It was a tough decision, but we have seen what a poorly anchored boat can do. In the past month, we have learned how to better anchor our boat and we have seen two other boats that haven't been so lucky. Mike is still working on the engine. It was running but now it won't crank. He has tried a number of fixes and we have a friend coming over, as soon as the weather is compliant, to help us in the diagnoses. If it is the fuel pump, we are in serious trouble. The fuel pump costs more than we have. We need to get more experience with sailing the boat. We have heard rumors of people who do not rely on the engines to sail in and anchor their boats. On February 29th, we will be celebrating 20 years of marriage. It will be our 5th anniversary. Grabbing onto the good things will keep us together. Fighting the fear and pushing through is our only option. Love to all of our friends and family. Thank you for your support as we weather the storms and trials of our strange odyssey.

Food+energy+water

Food = basic food + energy + water So, for those wondering how we eat and what we eat, here is our blog. For the most part, we only eat one meal a day. The first thing required for a meal is the basic ingredients of, well, hmmm food. We are saving our canned goods at the moment. We had a windfall of money from my last week of work and we splurged. Mike bought sausages, spaghetti, and spaghetti sauce. This is my 6 day meal plan, Take 1 lb. of ground beef, 1 onion, 3 tbsp. of chopped garlic (4 cloves), 1 can of mushrooms, and 1 jar of spaghetti sauce. Brown the hamburger, mushrooms, onion, and garlic until brown. Turn off that burner and start another. Boil about 1/2 a pot of water in a 5 qt enamel pot with approximately 3 tsps. of salt and some garlic powder. Cook spaghetti noodles until they are close to tender. Move the spaghetti noodles into the pan of sauce. Leave the water boiling. Add whatever spare vegetables you have left to the boiling water. We use the bags of cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots when we can afford it. Take three ladles of spaghetti sauce and add to the boiling water. Add 4 good shakes of Cajun seasoning. Add 1 package beef sausage and 1 can of corn. Cook for another 15 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese before serving. We warm up the leftovers everyday in a little 12v oven. With one small bowl each day, we have a fairly healthy meal. Our average consumption of energy for the initial meal is about a 1/4 of a 1 lb. propane cylinder. A 1 lb. propane cylinder lasts us about 4 days. That includes hot water to bathe and cook with. Snacks, well - Saltines keep us from feeling hungry. We also buy small bricks of cheddar cheese when it is on sale. The main thing is that you have to be aware of all of the elements that go into making food. Water has to be hauled from shore or captured in our rain trap. Propane has to be brought in and is expensive. There has to be either enough sunny days or windy days to use the 12v oven to warm up food and run the refrigerator. Ingredients for food must be bought. Hopefully, we will be in better waters to catch fish, clam, and conch.

Sovereign finds a new friend

It has been an interesting week. For those following us on Facebook, you may have seen my post on a narrowly diverted disaster. Several days ago, we were awakened to a strange grinding sound. Climbing quickly out of the v-berth, Mike went to the hatch and poked his head out. "Katie, I need your help." When I looked out the hatch, there was a brief moment of confusion, a boat was on our stern and the grinding sound was where our solar panels touched its pulpit. It was dark and misting rain. I thought a sailboat had ran into us. I turned on the engine. After moving quickly to the stern to start pushing the boat away from us, I realized that we had drifted into a well-anchored boat. Mike moved to the bow and started heaving up the anchor. The anchor buoy line was tangled around the anchor chain. I kept my arms stretched out between the two boats trying to save our solar panels and minimize the rubbing. An eternity later, about 10 minutes, Mike finally got the anchor up. We then motored safely away from the boat that we drifted into and the mast of another boat that sunk a long time ago. With me at the helm, Mike gave directions to get us into the channel. I'm so short that I can't see directly in front. Mike has to stand watch when I'm on the helm. We took the time to drink some water and smoke a cigarette. The rain was starting to come down harder. We motored past the Coast Guard station and then I turned her back towards the harbor. We took our time finding a better spot to anchor and finally maneuvered into a nice open spot and set the anchor again. As soon as we were sure the anchor was set, we started assessing the damage. Our solar panels were fine, we had acquired a solar lawn light from the other boat and the glass cover was shattered all over the transom. It was a miracle that I hadn't cut my feet. Once all was calm, I went down and started the water boiling for coffee. Of course, we didn't really need caffeine to wake us up. The rain stopped about the time our first cup of coffee was ready. Mike kept a watch for the owner of the boat we nudged. He finally dinghied over and left a message explaining what happened attached to the still functioning solar light and some money. Several days later, Capt. Lee came over. He told us how much he appreciated the message and we were totally forgiven. We now have a new friend. Lee is around 60 and has been living on boats since 1976. He has lots of great stories and was kind enough to give us one of his propane heaters. Maybe Sovereign knew that we needed a new friend with lots of experience.