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.