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.

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.