Life Lately At Indiantown Marina

It's been ages since I've done a >>Life Lately<< post. Over the past three weeks our life lately has been consumed with boat projects.

We're trying to plow through our very long list of projects that we need to do before we head to the Bahamas for the season. But for every one item we cross off the list, two or three more seem to take its place. Things haven't been helped by the fact that we had some serious engine issues, which derailed us for a while.

I'll update you on the engine later this week, but in the meantime, here's some of the other things we've been up to lately.


The Sponge Wars

Even after 25 years of marriage, there are things Scott and I still don't agree on. Like sponges. I think they're stinky, vile little creatures. Scott is under some delusion that they're man's best friend.

Let's face it. Sponges smell bad after just a few uses. Especially when you live in a hot climate. While Scott was away, I switched from sponges to these awesome Lunatec scrubbers. They don't smell, food doesn't cling to them and they're safe to use on non-stick pans. When I need to mop up spills, I use a microfiber cloth. Carolyn from the Boat Galley recommended them, so you know they have to be good. Kelley from Sailing Chance agrees and mentions them in her post on must have galley products.

For some reason, Scott hasn't seen the light and insists on using sponges. I hide them from him, but somehow he finds them and puts them back by the sink. {Sigh}


Hello Neighbors, Goodbye Leaks

That's the view of our neighbor's boat from one of the portlights in our aft cabin. There's not a huge amount of privacy when you live in a marina. Fortunately, most cruisers are exceptionally nice and fun people and our boat neighbors are no exception.

One of the things on our project list is stopping our portlights from leaking. That's a new seal you're looking at around the window frame. It took us two hours to take the old one out, remove the old sealant and install the new one.

Two hours is crazy. You can bake multiple batches of chocolate chip cookies in that amount of time. Considering the fact that we have five more portlights, let's hope we get more efficient at this process.


Five A Day

Sometimes you have to take a break from more serious boat projects and do something simple, like hanging up a hammock for fruit. We have very limited space on our boat so this is a great solution to free up storage for other important things, like beer. I figure it's a great reminder to eat our five a day, especially as I have to duck under the hammock whenever I sit down.


Feeling Foolish

This is our propane cooker. For some reason we thought it was a Force 10 model.



It's original to the boat, which makes it 30 years old. While 30 years is young in human terms, it's pretty old for a cooker. We knew we needed to refurbish it, so I sent off emails to various marine suppliers inquiring about what burner replacements were available. As you can see, we really need to replace our burners. One of them has completely rusted out.



I got back a very politely worded email letting me know that it's not a Force 10, but rather a Plastimo Atlantic. How embarrassing. But at least now I know what model of cooker we have, which narrowed down the search for replacement parts. Unfortunately, it looks like you can't get replacement parts anymore which means we may need to buy a new cooker.

Those of you who have boats know what that means - saying goodbye to a big chunk of change. Or maybe we could just embrace some sort of raw diet and stop cooking our food.

 
What's been happening in your life lately?

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L Is For Life Lately

This is not the boat we're looking to buy. I just like the picture - nice reminder of our time in Key West. If only we had been on the water enjoying the sunset, rather than watching from Mallory Square.

During April, we're participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Every day (except Sundays), we’ll be doing an alphabet themed post starting with “A is for Adventurous” and ending with “Z is for Zinc”. We've got a theme for every letter sorted except for Y. If you have any ideas for the letter Y, please leave a comment or email. 
 
I bet you’re wondering what we’ve been up to the last few weeks while we’ve been posting all of these A to Z Blogging Challenge posts. Okay, maybe it hasn’t been top of mind for you, but you’re in luck anyway as it’s time for one of our “Life Lately” posts. Because L is for "Life Lately"!

Most of our time lately has been consumed with the process of buying a boat. Or the process of trying to buy a boat, to be more precise. In case, you've never bought a boat before, here's how the process works:

1 - Spend a lot of time looking at boats online. Scott's cup of morning coffee goes hand in hand with checking out the usual sites to see what new listings there are. 

2 - Spend a lot of time checking out boats in person. Looking at boats online and reading all the specs is great, but it can't replace seeing a boat up close and personal. We've seen some boats that we thought we might like, only to realize they don't tick some of our boxes once we've seen up close and personal. 

3 - Finally! Let me say that again - FINALLY! We find a boat that ticks many of the boxes in terms of livability, safety and sailability. (We're realistic - we know that no boat is ever going to tick all of the boxes.) 

4 - Get super excited!

5 - Calm down - it may not work out.

6 - Go see the boat.

7 - Get super excited again!

8 - Calm down - it was just an initial look. More research and another look required.

9 - Try to make arrangements to see the boat again. Uh oh, the boat has developed engine problems which need to be addressed.

10 - Wait.

11 - Wait some more.

12 - Go to the Florida Keys and Everglades to pass the time.

13 - Get the news that the engine issues have been resolved.

14 - Try to make arrangements to see the boat again. Doesn't pan out.

15 - Make an offer conditional on seeing the boat again, along with the usual survey and sea trial.

16 - Offer accepted.

17 - Get super excited again!

18 - Calm down and remind yourself that it still needs to pass the survey and sea trial.

19 - See the boat again. Some issues, but overall seems promising.

20 - Spend hours trying to find a qualified surveyor who is available in a reasonable timeframe, along with a place to haul the boat out. Tear your hair out with all of the logistical nightmares and schedule changes.

21 - Get everything organized and scheduled. Get moderately excited (you've learned by now that boat buying is full of twists and turns and lots of drama and it's best not to get too excited). 

22 - Conduct the survey and sea trial.

23 - Get super disappointed. Some major issues identified by the surveyor. In it's current condition, the boat is not safe, seaworthy or insurable. YIKES! Definitely not the result that either the owner or we were looking for.

24 - Enter into discussions with the owner about how to proceed.

And that's where we're at. It's a bit like a soap opera - how will the story end? Will Ellen and Scott become boat owners or will the boat search start all over again? To be continued...

What's been going on lately with you? Any major purchases lately like a boat, or an RV or a house?

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Life Lately At Indiantown Marina

It's been ages since I've done a "Life Lately..." post. I'd say it's about time we had one, wouldn't you? so here's a few pictures and a few words about what's been happening lately at Indiantown Marina.

We had a fun Women Who Sail get-together on Halloween (the guys joined later). I was in awe of the culinary creativity of the ladies. Why yes, that pumpkin really is vomiting guacamole.

The bats on these deviled eggs are adorable. Just make sure you don't think they're edible. A couple of people made that mistake.

Our marine toilet is broken and we've been trying to decide whether to switch over to a composting one. Our friend Sandy on s/v Ragtime Gal built one and gave us a demonstration of their system. Yes, this is the kind of thing cruisers talk about. Just normal chit-chat about pee and poo.

Boat projects are in full swing. We've in the process of redoing our portlights (three down, one to go). Goodbye leaky boat.

This guy's name is Tick Tock. Alligators don't freak me out like they used to.

Before you know it, Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is on its way. Notice the use of the palm frond for the turkey's tail? That's how you do things in sunny Florida.

 
The marina throws a week-long Thanksgiving celebration with music, food, and drink. Seats are at a premium, but our friend, Michele, is the best when it comes to saving seats for everyone. You know what's better than Thanksgiving turkey? Thanksgiving ham! Who would have thunk it.

What's been going on in your life lately? What do you think about composting toilets?

The latest Mollie McGhie cozy sailing mystery is now available! Pick up a copy of >>Bodies in the Boatyard<< at:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (CA) | Amazon (UK) | Amazon (AU) | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Apple iBooks | Google Play

Paperback available at: Amazon

Find out more at ellenjacobsonauthor.com 

Life Lately At Indiantown Marina

Today's blog post is a glimpse into what life's been like lately at Indiantown Marina here in hot, muggy, rainy southern Florida. It's been a while since I've done one of these "Life Lately" posts - bits and bobs about about what I've been getting up to and what's been on my mind.

1 - Tree Frog Poo

I spent hours on Saturday scrubbing the decks - cleaning off the mildew, getting rid of dead bugs and ridding Tickety Boo of all of the poo the tree frogs leave behind. I never really thought too much about tree frogs until we came to Florida. My first up close and personal kind of encounter was when one got stuck in the fan in our Scamp travel trailer. Scott got him out and set him free. One of his legs looked a little mangled so I'm not sure how long his freedom lasted before an alligator got him.

We also had a tree frog get into our air conditioning unit on our boat. We had no idea he was in there until we started noticing an incredibly foul stench. Scott's such a trooper - he opened up the air conditioning unit and got the frog out. Dealing with dead frogs isn't really my thing. Scott put screening around the air conditioner to keep the frogs out. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop them from hopping around your boat at night and leaving their calling cards everywhere.

Did you know rat poo and tree frog poo looks pretty much identical? There you go, something to work into your next cocktail party conversation.

2 - Thanksgiving in September

A couple of times a month I run into Okeechobee with a friend of mine to get groceries at Walmart. When we were last there, he decided that what was missing from his life was turkey. He got all the fixings for a proper Thanksgiving dinner and had me over for lunch yesterday. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn etc. You name it, he made it. Kind of a strange experience to have Thanksgiving in September, but a nice treat.

3 - Who's Your Favorite James Bond?

I just finished reading Thunderball by Ian Fleming as part of the Around the World in 80 Books Challenge (it takes place in the Bahamas). Having seen all of the James Bond movies, it's kind of strange to read one of the books. It wasn't until about halfway through, that Fleming describes what Bond looks like and it got me thinking about who my favorite Bond is. I'm going to go with Pierce Bronsan, followed by Daniel Craig. Who's your favorite?

"He was about six feet tall and somewhere in his middle thirties. He had dark, rather cruel good looks and very clear blue-gray eyes that were now observing her inspection sardonically. A scar down his right cheek showed pale against a tan so mild that he must have only recently come to the island."

4 - Stupid Hatches

If you follow us on Facebook, then you'll already know how much I hate our hatches. We've been having torrential rainstorms lately and our hatches just aren't holding up their end of the bargain. They're constantly misbehaving themselves. I keep telling them to shape up, but they don't listen. They just laugh, stick out their tongues and let water drip all over the place. As punishment, I made them wear these ugly plastic covers, which I taped down with silver duct tape. That will teach them to get water all over the place.

So guess what happened after I put the plastic coves on? Yep, no more torrential downpours, just the usual afternoon thunderstorms. For all you Floridians out there who were getting tired of the rain, you can thank me and my plastic sheeting for making it stop.

5 - Out With The Old & In With The Garishly New

I made new curtains for our head/bathroom yesterday. The old ones were in decent shape and if you like sailboats and lighthouses on your curtains, then these would be right up your alley (you can see what they look like above). But why have tasteful nautical themed curtains, when you can have something really eye-catching, some might even say garish? When I go to brush my teeth in the morning, I'm tired and I want something that will really wake me up. I'm thinking our new curtains are going to do the trick. Now, I just have to find fishing line (which is hiding somewhere in the boat) so I can hang our new curtains up. This should teach Scott to let me pick out fabric unsupervised.

So that's what's been happening lately at Indiantown Marina. What's been happening where you are?

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Life Lately From Coast To Coast

Things have been crazy since my last Life Lately post. Let's see. . .when I last left you it was the end of November. What's happened lately since?

After all of the Thanksgiving festivities, we tried to cut back on pigging out so much, but then we went for Ethiopian food in West Palm Beach. How can you not pig out when you're eating delicious sambusa, doro wat and miser wat? We took a bunch of people with us who had never eaten Ethiopian before. Thankfully, they loved it. Or, at least they said they did.

Then I took off for Portland, Oregon to visit my family (mom, sister, and two nieces). I made it out of the Charlotte airport in the nick of time before everything shut down due to a winter storm. Thankfully, I had packed lots of socks, mittens, and a hat. Once you get out of southern Florida, it's pretty darn cold.

We went on several fun excursions, including one to the Mt Angel Abbey and Seminary. If you're ever in that neck of the woods, definitely go pay the monks a visit cause there's a cool library, a fascinating museum, and the brother who works at the gift shop makes a seriously delicious mocha.

When your sister is a library person, this is what you do when you visit. Take a tour of a library. This one was designed by the famous Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto. We also toured the Portland Central Library and saw what happens behind the scenes.

The monk leading the tour, Brother Simon, really talked up the book sale they were having. So we bought a book plus a tote bag with the Abbey logo on it. I thought it might come in handy for my sister to take to work or the grocery store. Instead it's become a very coveted cat bed.

That's Georgie about to pounce. I think she was trying to make it very clear to Sebastian that it's her bag, not his.

This is Sebastian. He had to settle for napping on the bed. Yes, I got my Crazy Cat Lady fix while in Portland.

My nieces are seriously talented. My mom and I picked up one of them at her school. Miranda has been painting these great murals on the walls. Why didn't I go to a fun high school like that where they encourage you to turn boring white walls into artwork? Here's one she did with some friends, Kale, Sophia, and Taesha, last year.

And here's one she's working on by herself this year. Notice the underwater theme? Maybe she'll want to come sailing with us one day.

Miranda is also a published writer. I think her sales are probably better than mine. {grin} My other niece, Simone, is an extremely talented photographer. Check out her Flickr page. And they both get great grades and have gorgeous hair. Nothing like my high school days, that's for sure.

I also spent a lot of time visiting my mom at her new digs. She lives in this awesome building with really nice, interesting, and super active seniors. They're so active that I ended up doing back-to-back exercise classes with my mom one morning and couldn't keep up with the 102-year old lady next to me. You know someplace is a great place to live when they have a Crazy Cat Lady & Gents Society. The members get together once a month, drink wine, and talk about their cats. Sounds like my kind of place.

While I was away, Scott hauled out our sailboat on his own. Well, not exactly on his own. So many of our wonderful friends pitched in to help. Yay for wonderful friends! Tickety Boo is now in the workyard for repairs. But let's not talk about that anymore, shall we? It's all too depressing. {Photo credit: Tina Riley}


 
What's been going on in your life lately?

Thanks for stopping by our blog - we love it when people come visit! We're also on Facebook - pop by and say hi!

The latest Mollie McGhie cozy sailing mystery is now available! Pick up a copy of >>Bodies in the Boatyard<< at:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (CA) | Amazon (UK) | Amazon (AU) | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Apple iBooks | Google Play

Paperback available at: Amazon

Find out more at ellenjacobsonauthor.com 

Yet More Life Lately In Florida

It’s been a while since we’ve had a “Life Lately” post. Basically bits and bobs about what we’ve been up to lately. We’re still in Florida and enjoying it despite the cost, traffic nightmares and the bugs. One look at the weather map will give you a big hint as to why we like it here – it’s sunny and warm, unlike most other parts of North America this winter. Who knows, maybe we’ll never leave. 

Anyway, here’s what we’ve been up to lately in Florida.

Searching for the Perfect Sailboat

A Tayana 37 at Indiantown marina.

As some of you may know, we’re currently traveling around the States in our Scamp travel trailer looking for our next sailboat. We’ve checked out some more sailboats lately, but still haven’t found the perfect one for us yet. It’s a pretty big decision, so we want to make sure we make the right one, even if it means waiting a while. Having done most of our sailing together in New Zealand and with Scott having sailed in Europe, neither of us is very familiar with American sailboats, so it’s been interesting being able to see different types of boats up close and personal. We’ve crossed a couple of boats off our maybe list – like the Tayana 37 (Bob Perry designed boat, built in Taiwan). They’re beautiful boats, with classic lines, but they just don’t have the livability factor that we’re personally looking for (way too much teak to maintain and I’m favoring a sugar scoop over a canoe stern). Oh well, the search continues.

This Ain’t My First Rodeo

A very blurry photo of the mad calf scramble

I saw my first rodeo ever in Moore Haven near Lake Okeechobee! Seeing a rodeo has been something I’ve always wanted to do, not sure why it took so long to make it happen. The rodeo we went to was billed as a “ranch rodeo” - no professional cowboys, just hands from the local ranches. Real, authentic cowboys and cowgirls on their horses, wrestling cows to the ground, saddling and riding wild horses and trying to stay on some crazy bulls. It was an incredible evening. And a bit bizarre at times too. At one point, the emcee asked all the children between 5-11 years of age to come down into the arena. There must have been at least 100 of them. They all gathered around at one end of the arena looking excited and then they released three tiny calves with bows tied on their tails at the other end. And then we had the calf scramble. Crazy, excited kids running after the calves trying to grab one of the bows. It was complete, utter madness. The three kids won got cash prizes. I guess it’s never to early to start training the next generation of ranchers. 

Back to the Florida Keys

Sunrise at Curry Hammock State Park in the Florida Keys

After two fabulous weeks at our secret boondocking campsite in southern Florida, we headed back down to the Keys. We managed to snag a last minute cancellation at Curry Hammock State Park near Marathon. While we really liked our stay at the Jolly Rodger when we were last down in the Keys, Curry Hammock is heaps better. It’s a small campground (only 28 sites) with huge sites (which look even bigger when your rig is only 13’ long) right on the beach. Plus it’s relatively inexpensive (for the Keys that is) – $43 after taxes a night with electric and water hook-ups. We had a great time hanging out at Sombrero beach, catching the sunset at Key West (unlike last time), walking along the old Seven Mile Bridge (and seeing over a dozen stingrays and two dolphins), trying conch fritters at the Seafood Festival in Marathon (once was enough for me) and basically lazing about and soaking up the sun.

In Search of More Alligators

This gator must be over 12 feet. That's more than twice as big as me. Yikes.

By the time you read this, we’ll be camped out at Flamingo at the southern tip of the Everglades in search of more alligators. Alligators scare the crap out of me, so I’m hoping we don’t see any. Scott, on the other hand, gets thrilled every time he sees one. Some people have told us that camping at Flamingo is a once in a lifetime experience. You do it once and you never want to do it again because you’re covered in mosquito bites. But other folks seem to love it and rave about the ranger-led cycling and canoe trips. Hopefully, we’ll love it too!

What’s been happening lately where you are?

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More Life In Coeur D'Alene Lately

We've been in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for a while now, so I thought it was time for another installment of "Life in Coeur d'Alene Lately" - see here for the original post. 

Scott has been doing more sailing on other people's boats. He has been racing pretty much every weekend out on Lake Pend Oreille in North Idaho. 25 races in six weeks isn't too shabby. I'm not too sure how many races they've won, but I know he has been very happy to be back out on the water. Scott also got the opportunity to tag along while a new racing buddy of his checked out a boat that he was thinking of buying. As we're starting to look for our next sailboat, it has been great experience for Scott to watch someone else go through the boat buying thought process. (If you don't have a boat and you want to get out on the water, check out this post with some thoughts from Scott on how to sail on other people's boats.)

We love Ethiopian food. This isn't your ordinary love. This is the real deal - we really, really, really love Ethiopian food. I think you get the idea. And guess what? One of my sisters-in-law loves Ethiopian food too! She took us to Queen of Sheba in Spokane, Washington the other night for dinner. It was delicious! I was so excited about the fact that there is an Ethiopian restaurant in this neck of the woods. When the food came, we all just started snarfing it down so fast that I forgot to take a picture until after a fair bit had been devoured. So the picture above isn't really the best. But it does give you an idea of what the food is like. You eat with your hand (right one only please!), scooping up the stewed lentils, vegies and meat with injera bread from a communal dish. If you haven't tried Ethiopian before, you had better get yourself down to your local restaurant pronto and order some doro wat and miser wat. Once you do, you'll be hooked. (If you want to read more about our love for Ethiopian food or if you want to sail to Ethiopia one day - check out this post.)

We've been going out for drives lately. We have the worst maps ever, so usually we just end up driving around back roads without a clue where we'll end up. Not knowing where you're going is often the best way to explore an area. You never know what you'll end up seeing. Like these two llamas standing by the side of the road. They were really focused on something over in the distance. The goats, chickens, cats and other critters came over to check us out, but the llamas ignored us completely. Maybe they're camera shy. Or maybe they're just rude.

Do you know what this is a picture of? If you do, you probably grew up in North Dakota or Minnesota - the land of the hotdish. Hotdish is a type of casserole which usually has some sort of starch, meat, frozen or canned vegies and canned soup.* Being married to someone from North Dakota, I've heard about hotdish, but I've never actually seen one before. That is until the other night, when we had a tater tot casserole. Yes, that's right - tater tots. If you're not American and you don't know what tater tots are, they are these weird little tubular hashbrown concoctions that you got served at the school cafeteria. If you're American and you don't know what tater tots are, then you've led a very sheltered life. If you've never had them before, run out and get some. They're delicious. Grease, sodium and potatoes generally are. 

It was thanks to a friend of another one of my sisters-in-law, that I got to experience hotdish culture the other night. She very kindly brought over a couple of casseroles for the family. She's from Minnesota - they're nice folks out there. In addition to the tater tots, she also brought us a chicken curry hotdish topped with toasted Rice Krispies. Yes, you read that right - Rice Krispies. Not sure that it is a traditional topping which is served with curry in India, but, surprisingly, it works.

Well, that's more of life lately in Coeur d'Alene. What's been happening where you are? Have you had anything interesting for dinner lately?

*Note: Scott will claim that the term "hotdish" only refers to a particular type of casserole his mom made with ground beef and elbow macaroni. Other folks use the term more generally. 

Life On The Road Lately

If you're one of our regular blog followers, then you'll know we're on a crazy little road trip from Portland, Oregon to Ray, North Dakota and then on to the East Coast to look for our next sailboat. If you're new to the blog, well now you know that we're on a crazy little road trip. And that we like sailboats. We used to own one in New Zealand and we're desperate to get another one. {You can read about our old sailboat here.} In any event, I thought it was time for a little one of our "Life Lately" posts - basically little tidbits of what's been going on lately for us. So, here we go...

Like all good plans, this one has changed. Originally, we thought we would head down to San Francisco for a few days after spending some time at the Redwood National & State Parks. After San Francisco, we only had a few National Parks picked out that we definitely wanted to get to. However, since we headed out on the road, we decided to skip San Francisco and our trip has somehow evolved into a quest to visit as many National Parks as we can between Portland and North Dakota. So far, we've been to the Redwoods, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park, Zion National Park and Bryce National Park. Plus Mojave National Preserve (not technically a park, but part of the National Park Service). That's nine parks and one preserve so far in a little less than three weeks! While we wish we could spend more time in each and every place, it has been amazing to have the opportunity to just see the highlights of such vastly different places. This really is an incredibly diverse country with amazing scenery! The picture above is from Joshua Tree National Park. We hadn't planned to go there originally, but I'm so glad we did. Fortunately, we have a little more than two weeks before we have to be in North Dakota, so we should be able to cram a lot more in! {You can read about our original plan here.}

We've been trying to do a bit of camping while we've been on our road trip. Two reasons - it is a lot cheaper than staying in motels and who doesn't like a campfire at night. Plus it is pretty amazing to wake up in the middle of the park, rather than have to drive in and out each day. The picture above is from our campsite in Death Valley. Not sure if you can tell, but the picnic table is made out of metal. Who else thinks it seems like a bad idea to have metal picnic tables in a place where the temperature routinely goes above 120F/49C in the summer? Fortunately, we were there in November when the weather was much cooler!

As much as we like camping, sometimes sleeping in a tent sucks. Like when it is pouring down rain or the wind is blowing or it is freezing in the morning and it is a real challenge to make breakfast while wearing mittens. After just a few nights of tent camping, we've recently become seduced by tiny campers. One small problem, our vehicle doesn't have the biggest towing capacity out there - even for the tiniest of travel trailers. Or so we thought...then we discovered the Scamp travel trailers. They're ultra-light and even our old Nissan Pathfinder can tow the 13' one. Scamps are made to order in Minnesota by a small family business. Now we're thinking about joining the cult of Scampers. 

Although bears scare the crap out of me (see here), I was so glad I got to see one on the Tioga Road as we headed out of Yosemite. As soon as we saw this little fellow on the side of the road, we screamed "Bear!!!", Scott pulled over quickly and we jumped out to watch him forage for food (from a safe distance of course). In addition to this little fellow, we've seen some other amazing wildlife like tarantulas, mule deers, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, fox, elk, coyotes and lizards. Awesome!

So that's life lately on the road. What's been happening where you are? 

Update as of 7 November 2014

Saturday Spotlight | Sailing Book Reviews

In addition to the usual blog posts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday about our eccentric travel adventures and day-to-day life living aboard a sailboat, I also occasionally post on Saturdays, focusing on things related to writing such as cover reveals, book launches, reviews, interviews with authors etc. So if you're a bit of a book nerd like I am, check in on Saturdays - you never know what might pop up.

* * *

Today, I'm featuring three sailing-related books focusing on quitting the rat race for a simpler existence living aboard a boat. Even if a sailing and cruising lifestyle isn't for you, you may find inspiration in these books to make changes in your own life and lead a life less "normal" and more fulfilling.

LEAP OF FAITH: QUIT YOUR JOB AND LIVE ON A BOAT by Ed Robinson

The author describes himself and his wife as carefree boat bums and beachcombers and in this book he tells you how they went about achieving a simpler life. He walks the reader through the process of getting rid of all of their stuff, his approach to debt, buying a boat, and living aboard full-time. Throughout the book, he spells out what he thinks is wrong with today's society and why living a “normal” life doesn't necessarily bring one happiness. His anecdotes and reflections provide compelling evidence that working hard to amass possessions, gain a certain social status, and achieve the “American dream” isn't the right path for everyone. His story may provide the inspiration you need to achieve your own dream, whether it's living a nomadic life on a sailboat or in an RV, getting out of debt and not worrying about making ends meet, or just choosing a simpler lifestyle.

Interestingly, I believe the author has just put his boat up for sale. I'm curious to see what new adventures he and his wife have planned.

Find out more about Ed and his book on Amazon | Facebook | Blog | Twitter


KEYS TO THE KINGDOM by Annie Dike

After spending six years as a lawyer, the author turned her back on a lucrative career and the potential of making partner at her firm, instead embracing the freedom of life living aboard and cruising on a sailboat. Dike interweaves stories of her former professional life and childhood with accounts of the her sailing adventures. And she's not afraid to share her misadventures as well and what she learned from them. Whether or not you're interested in a cruising lifestyle, if you're stuck in a career that doesn't bring you joy and are dreaming of a simpler, more fulfilling lifestyle, this book may inspire you to make changes of your own.

Find out more about Annie and her book on Amazon | Facebook | Blog |

OFF THE GRID by Mark Reinhardt 

Off the Grid is an account of one man's journey from working 60-hour weeks and getting nowhere to living life off the grid and finding fulfillment and freedom in a simpler way of life. The author shares how he bought and outfitted a relatively inexpensive sailboat, cleared his debts, and his adventures cruising in Florida and the Bahamas.

One of my favorite sections was about an encounter with a powerboat at night in the Bahamas which had run out of fuel. The author tells us how he towed their boat to the nearest port, but what makes this even more interesting was that he also shares accounts from both the husband and wife on the powerboat where they share their views about what must have been a very stressful experience. I also really enjoyed the diary-style entries where the author shares sections of his Captain's Log in between chapters. Throughout the book, he shares his personal philosophy – the importance of a positive attitude, the law of attraction, and simply having gratitude for all that life gives you. It's these kinds of personal insights which makes this book such an engaging read.

Find out more about Mark and his book on Amazon 

Note: I won copies of all three of these books courtesy of Saving to Sail (a site dedicated to learning how to make money online, while sailing the world) and voluntarily chose to leave honest reviews. 

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What books have you been reading lately? Have you read any of the books featured here today?

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Murder at the Marina - a lighthearted & humorous cozy sailing mystery - available in ebook and paperback format at:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (CA) | Amazon (UK) | Amazon (AU) | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Apple iBooks | Google Play | Book Depository | Books-A-Million

Find out more at ellenjacobsonauthor.com 

Life In Florida Lately

Yep, it’s another one of those “Life Lately” posts. Bits and bobs about what we’ve been getting up to lately. Right now, we’re in Florida. We came in search of warmer weather and our next sailboat. While there has been a few days of nice weather and sunshine, we’ve also had a few days of torrential rain, cold winds and clouds. But, I guess it beats having been caught up in that horrible blizzard the East Coast has been experiencing. Brrr!

So, here’s what’s been going on for us lately in Florida. 

We’ve been absolutely loving the Emerald Coast – the area of Florida’s panhandle between Pensacola and Panama City. Who wouldn’t want to stroll along sandy, white beaches along the Gulf of Mexico. (You can read about our walk on the beaches of the Gulf Islands National Seashore here.) And the water is this amazing color – so clear and green and blue. You wouldn’t get tired of these views very easily. I wonder if this is what it is like in the Caribbean? If it is, I can’t wait until we get our next boat and go cruising down there. 

We found the most amazing boondocking spot at Hagen’s Cove in the Big Bend Wildlife Refuge (which you can read about here). We were never 100% sure if it was okay to stay there overnight, but we took our chances anyway. We loved the solitude at sunset and the watching the birds scamper around in the water the next morning. And of course, we loved the fact that it was free! We also had a mixed bag sort of a boondocking experience at Panama City – you can read about it here. 

We were hoping to do some more boondocking at the Apalachicola National Forest. Turns out it’s hunting season just now and they don’t allow any dispersed camping while folks are walking around the forest with guns trying to kill things. Everyone needs to stay in developed campgrounds, where I assume shooting at moving critters and people is frowned upon. I’m not usually a big one for following rules, but this seemed like a pretty sensible one. The whole forest was crawling with hunters and all of the developed campgrounds were full, so we headed off down the road to the Ochlocknoee River State Campground. Pretty nice place and a good spot to hide out in Scamper during the torrential rains and flash floods that Mother Nature delighted in providing us. There were a couple of hunters at the campsites next to us – guess they couldn’t find a spot at the National Forest either. 

At Manatee Springs State Park, I saw a little creature scurry across our campsite with purpose. Turns out it was an armadillo. They’re such weird little creatures – almost look like unwanted pets that alien visitors to our planet left behind. You know how some horrible people abandon puppies and kittens on the side of the road. Maybe some little green men dumped unwanted armadillos on Earth. Fortunately, they seemed to have thrived on our planet and are now happily spending their days in search of insects to eat. We also saw manatees. They come up and spend the winter months in the springs at the park. They’re pretty weird looking too. And, I’m glad to report that we haven’t seen any alligators, despite all of the signs warning us that they’re lurking about.

That’s what’s been going on with us lately. What’s been happening where you are?

Life On The Road Lately

It's time for another one of our "Life Lately" posts. Just some bits and bobs about what we've been up to since we headed out of Texas and made our way along the seaboard to Florida. So here's what's been going on for us lately.

One of the things I'm loving about our road trip is seeing new parts of the country. We had such an interesting drive from Texas to Louisiana - such interesting scenery and sights along the way. Our original plan was to head straight to New Orleans in search of beignets, gumbo and jazz. But then Scott had a great idea to spend a few days at Grande Isle, a barrier island south of New Orleans. Unfortunately, the weather sucked, but fortunately, we found shrimp which helped improve our mood immensely. We finally made it to New Orleans and had a great time. We stayed at a really dodgy RV park in the city, ate some mediocre Ethiopian food, had way too many beignets and enjoyed the sights. One major drawback of New Orleans - a complete lack of public toilets. If you're middle aged too, you can probably relate.

After New Orleans, we headed down to the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Mississippi. We had hoped to stay at the Davis Bayou campground but it was chock-a-block. The campground host and the volunteer ladies in the visitor center were really helpful and tried their best to help us get a spot, but no luck. So we spent the night at the nearby Shepherd State Park. We tried again the next day to get a spot at Davis Bayou, struck out again and spent the next night boondocking at Walmart. I love free camping! We're keeping track of how much we spend on our campsites and I have an Excel spreadsheet set up which calculates our average daily rate. Our stays at Walmart sure help to bring this figure down.

One of the guys we spoke to at Davis Bayou in Mississippi suggested that we check out the Florida unit of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. I'm so glad that we took him up on his suggestions. Not only was there room at the Ft Pickens campground, the place is gorgeous. We've enjoyed walks on the beach, learning about the history of the fort and having some great barbeques. Scott also managed to hook in with the local racing scene in nearby Pensacola and got out on a boat one day. We also spent an afternoon checking out Pensacola. Such a great little town. And you have to love the fact that you can hear taps and reveille being played at the Naval base across the way from the campground. 

So that's what's been going on with us lately. What's been happening in your neck of the woods? 

Life Lately At Indiantown Marina

This is what life looks like lately at Indiantown Marina for me.

I'm knee deep in wading through beta reader feedback and making the final revisions to >>Murder at the Marina<< before I send it to the editor on Monday. This round of editing is taking way longer than I thought it would, but I've learned heaps in the process.

When I need a bit of a break from editing, I've been looking through my Boat Galley cookbook for recipe ideas.

No, I'm not looking for bread recipes. I'm on the hunt for a fabulous canned meat recipe. Yes, you read that right - canned meat. One of the essential provisions to have on board your boat if you're a non-vegetarian cruiser. We're having a canned meat cook-off this weekend and I want to experiment with a new recipe. Who knows, maybe I'll be just crazy enough to try something with Spam.

And in other news, winter appears to be over in southern Florida (at least for now).

When the real feel temperature hit 89 yesterday, I broke down and plugged in our air conditioning unit. I do feel a little guilty basking in air conditioning, while much of the rest of the northern hemisphere is still battling snow, but I have to say, it beats wearing three pairs of socks.

What's life been lately where you are? Any good canned meat recipes to share?

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