Month: February 2012

There’s a hole in the boat, dear Liza, dear Liza, a hole!

There’s a hole in boat (bucket), dear Liza, dear Liza.  There’s a hole in the boat, dear Liza, a hole.  Then fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry.  Then fix it, dear Henry, the hole…   You know the song, but seriously what do you do if there is a hole in the boat

Contingencies and doomsday scenarios

Like anything in life, things can go wrong.  Since we have more time to think (and less time to do projects) being approximately 3,278 nautical miles away from the boat right now, one of the projects on our plate is to do thought exercises on 1) what could go wrong on a boat, and 2)

If we must use the motor…

I dislike motoring a lot.  I don’t like the noise, it is boring, and I don’t like the pollution.  While there have been numerous boats that have circumnavigated without a motor, to go without now requires the utmost patience, and really you have to not need to be anywhere ALL the time, no exceptions.  That

Retrofit: Project #1 complete!

There is no denying that Shearwater could use some TLC and some upgrades, but we knew that going in, and the upside is that when we are done (Ha!  Who are we kidding, we’ll never be done with projects), she will be much more new than the typical 1997 J/120.  One of the biggest projects

Reading material nowadays

I think that living abroad really does make you think differently about things and expand your horizons a bit, in all aspects of your life.  Consider magazine subscriptions… Ten years ago, I don’t think it would have ever occurred to us to consider getting a subscription to a non-US magazine to stay up to speed

Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink

It’s a funny thing being on a boat surrounded by water and having to wonder if we have enough freshwater to get by.  Alas, it is a concern, particularly if one plans to spends days away from shoreside facilities like while crossing an ocean, for instance.  For our purposes we have some decisions to make

Comments now working…we think!

Sorry – we just realized that comments were not working properly.  We would love your feedback and suggestions, so feel free to post them!

But why a J/120?

Good question.  Thanks for asking. It’s been almost 10 years since we were boat owners.  Our priorities have changed only slightly, with much of the change based on our experience with Earendil, our trusty 1977 Valiant 32 that we lived on for almost 5 years.  Prior to 2011, while living in Texas, we decided that

Where are we?

Knowing where we are at all times on a boat is a big deal.  It is very helpful for avoiding running into things and for crossing oceans and actually arriving at the intended destination.  We’ll be carrying paper charts of all the areas we sail, and relying almost solely on GPS to know where we

Decisions…bottom paint #2

For us, choosing an “environmentally-friendly” versus “traditional” paint really isn’t that hard of a choice.  We will do what we can to minimize our impact, and if that means we have to clean the bottom of our boat more often and/or haul out to repaint the bottom more frequently, then so be it.  So, what

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