C Is For Catamaran | Nancy Drew Investigates {A To Z Challenge}

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 Anchor" and ending with "Z is for Zodiac." Each post is an installment of "Nancy Drew Investigates the Case of the Missing Anchor" - so, in order to follow along with the story, you may want to read the posts from the beginning (click here for the first post and here for an index of all the posts). At the end of each post, you'll also find some random thoughts on the day's particular topic. If Nancy isn't your thing, feel free to skip the story and go straight to the end.  

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When we last left you, Nancy and her friends had discovered that several other boats had items stolen from them. As they were chasing a suspicious looking man through the boatyard, he suddenly pushed Nancy down to the ground.

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“Nancy, are you okay?” asked George as she helped her up from the ground. Nancy brushed dirt off of her navy blue cotton cardigan, adjusted her pearls and said, “I’m fine. Did you see where he went?”

“There he is!” shouted Bess as she pointed to the man climbing up a ladder onto a white catamaran with a blue dolphin painted on the side underneath the name Party Time.

Bess noticed that the catamaran looked different from the other boats she had seen in the boatyard. It had two hulls, instead of one and was much wider than the others. She remembered that her cousin, George, had told her that catamarans didn’t heel over like monohull boats did. Looking up at Party Time, she wished that the boat they would be sailing on in the Grande Isle Regatta this weekend was a catamaran instead of a monohull. Bess wasn’t looking forward to being on a boat that tipped over from side to side.

Nancy marched up to the catamaran, knocked on the hull to get his attention and called out, “Hey, we want to talk to you!” When he didn’t respond, she knocked louder and then started to climb up the ladder.

As she got partway up, the man came out onto the deck and glared down at her. “Get off my boat, missy,” he hissed. “This here’s private property. You should know better than to board someone’s boat without being given permission.”

“You’ve been following us around the boatyard and eavesdropping on our conversations. Then, you pushed me to the ground. Do you want me to call the police and tell them that?”

The man scratched his scraggly beard and looked nervously about. “There’s no reason to get the police involved.”

“Good. Then, why don’t you come down here and talk to us.”

He adjusted his baseball hat, shrugged his shoulders and then climbed down the ladder. “Okay, what do you want?”

“We want to know why you’ve been following us,” said Nancy. George stepped in front of him, crossed her arms and stared at him. “And we want to know why you pushed my friend Nancy. She could have been seriously hurt.”

“Look, I didn’t mean any harm. It was just an accident,” he huffed. “I haven’t been following you about either. This is a public boatyard and I’ve got every right to walk around here.”

“I don’t think it was an accident, but we’ll let that go,” said Nancy. “Why don’t you start by telling us your name and what you were doing last night. There was a string of robberies at the marina. Did you have anything stolen?”

The man walked forward until he was looking down at Nancy with his beady eyes and said, “I don’t need to tell you my name and what I got up to last night is none of your business.” He brushed her aside, got into a blue pick-up truck parked next to the catamaran and drove off in a hurry through the boatyard.

Bess stared after the truck and said nervously, “Maybe we should just drop it and let the police investigate things. That guy looks like real trouble.”

“Nonsense,” Nancy said. “The police are so busy with everything else that I’m sure they would welcome our assistance. Remember, we’ve helped out solving cases before like The Secret of the Old Clock. After all, look what we’ve found out already. Did you see that truck as it drove away? The tarp on the back flew up and I'm sure I saw a Rocna anchor, an inflatable dinghy and other marine equipment. Maybe he was involved in the robberies.”

Nancy walked over to the side of the catamaran, looked down on the ground and exclaimed, “Girls, look what I found! It’s a business card that says Xebec Charters and on the back there’s the name Pete written down, along with a phone number. I wonder what that’s all about.”

Tune in on Tuesday for the next installment of Nancy Drew Investigates – D is for Ditch Bag.

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One of several Gemini catamarans stored at Indiantown Marina. Note the yellow tie-down straps, just in case a hurricane or severe storm blows through.

If you ever find yourself at a marina potluck and feel like the conversation is starting to be a bit dull, here’s a sure fire way to liven things up. Just throw this out there – “So, what do you think is better, a catamaran or a monohull?” – and watch the fireworks start. Monohulls are just that – sailboats with one hull. Catamarans have two hulls. There are pros and cons of the two types of sailboats, although fervent supporters of monohulls would tell you that catamarans are for sissies who can’t stand it when a boat heels over, while rabid fans of catamarans would brag about the fact that they can leave a bottle of wine on the galley counter while they’re sailing with no worries about it tumbling down and breaking.

We vaguely toyed around with the idea of getting a catamaran once upon a time. If truth be known, I don’t like it when the boat gets all tippy. Intellectually I know it isn’t going to tip all the way over, but in reality, it’s something I worry about. Scott tries to reassure me by saying things like, “If the boat happens to get knocked all the way over, it will roll right back up all the way around.” For some reason, I don’t find this reassuring. What happens if the boat does go under water – how long can I really hold my breath? (Check this post out for some strange ramblings from me on the topic.) So, I thought a catamaran might be the perfect solution to the tippiness issue. However, logically, a monohull was a better fit for us. Darn logic.

If we had gone down the catamaran route, I would have been interested in checking out a Gemini. They’re small catamarans, tiny enough to fit in a standard size marina slip, and they seem to have a nice layout. They’re quite popular coastal cruisers and can often be had for a decent price. There are a number of Geminis at Indiantown Marina, like the one pictured above which is in the storage yard. I think it misses its owner and wishes they would come back and take her to the Florida Keys or the Bahamas. (If you want to know more about the catamaran vs. monohull debate, check out this post I wrote a couple of years ago.)

What's your preferred mode of travel - boat, RV, train, plane, camel or something else?

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B Is For Boatyard | Nancy Drew Investigates {A To Z Challenge}

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 Anchor" and ending with "Z is for Zodiac." Each post is an installment of "Nancy Drew Investigates the Case of the Missing Anchor" - so you may want to read the posts from the beginning, in order to follow along with the story (click here for the first post and here for an index of all the posts). At the end of each post, you'll also find some random thoughts on the day's particular topic. So, if Nancy isn't your thing, feel free to skip the story and go straight to the end.

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When we last left you, an anchor had been stolen from The Scarlet Slipper, the sailboat that Nancy Drew and her two friends are going to be racing on during the Grande Isle Regatta.

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Nancy turned to the police officer and asked, “How could something like this happen here? I thought this was a secure marina with locked gates and a security patrol at night.” The police officer tore a form off of his clipboard and said, “Sorry, miss, we don’t know how it happened or who’s responsible yet. But, don’t worry. We’ll be conducting a full investigation.”

He handed the form to Marvin. “Sir, here’s a copy of the police report for your records. I understand you’ll be leaving the marina on Friday?”

Marvin ran his hands through his short cropped gray hair and said, “Yes, that’s right, we’re participating in the Grande Isle Regatta this weekend. It’s a three day event with a race from Pine View Bay to Grande Isle on Saturday. On Sunday, there will be a number of social events on the island including a barbeque that night. Then on Monday, we race back to Pine View Bay with the prize giving that night at the clubhouse.”

Marvin looked over at his boat, The Scarlet Slipper, and frowned. “Somehow, I have to get a hold of a new anchor before the regatta starts.”

“Well, feel free to call the station at any time for an update on the investigation.” The police officer shook Marvin’s hand and walked down the dock to his patrol car.

“Shelley, we better head over to the marine store and see about replacing this anchor,” Marvin said. “Girls, I’m so sorry about this. Why don’t we catch up later this afternoon and we can take you through a safety briefing. You’ll need to be prepared in case anything goes wrong during the regatta.”

“Will you be okay until we get back?” asked Shelley.

“Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. I thought we might walk around the boatyard and check things out,” said Nancy. “Come on girls, why don’t we head over that way.”

As Nancy led the way, Bess nudged her cousin George and whispered, “A safety briefing. See, I told you sailing was dangerous! How in the world did I ever let you and Nancy convince me to participate in the regatta?” George shook her head and said, “You’re such a worrywart, Bess. Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

The three eighteen year old girls walked down a short path which led into the boatyard. Bess looked around in amazement at all of the boats in the yard, resting on their keels and propped up by metal stands. “Gee, what would happen if a strong wind blew through? Wouldn’t they all tumble down?” Bess asked with a worried frown on her face.

When no one answered, Bess looked around and realized that George and Nancy were over talking to a couple of guys wearing white disposable coveralls, goggles and plastic gloves, who were in the process of painting the bottom of a boat nearby. She hurried over to catch up with them.

“Bess, there you are. Wait until you hear this. These guys had their outboard motor stolen last night,” Nancy said. “They also said that some other folks had stuff stolen as well. There’s definitely something mysterious going on at the marina.”

One of the guys pushed his goggles off of his face and Bess noticed that he had attractive green eyes. “Why are you painting your boat?” she asked.

“We put anti-fouling paint on it regularly to keep barnacles, algae and other things from growing on the bottom. It helps us go faster in the water if we don’t have stuff on our bottom,” he said while admiring her long blonde hair and blue eyes. “Are you a sailboat racer too?” Bess looked up at his impossibly green eyes and thought maybe sailing wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. “I’ll be participating in the Grande Isle Regatta this weekend. Maybe I’ll see you out there.”

George tugged on Bess’ elbow. “We should really let these guys get back to their bottom painting.” As the guys turned back to their boat, Nancy said, “Come on girls. Let’s go see what we can find out.”

The girls walked across the boatyard, stopping to chat with people and watching them work on various boat projects. They could hear the noise of electric tools buzzing across the yard, watched a crane take a mast off of a boat and heard a couple arguing about the best way to install new hatches on their boat.

In talking with people, they discovered that items had been stolen from several boats, including a new galvanized anchor chain, an inflatable dinghy, winch handles and a chart plotter.

As they were walking around the yard, George noticed that a man with a long scraggly beard seemed to be listening in on their conversations. He was wearing tattered khaki shorts, a ripped t-shirt and a red baseball hat which had Xebec written on the front.

George motioned to Nancy and Bess and said, “See that man over there? I think he’s been following us around and eavesdropping on us.” As Nancy and Bess looked over, the man took off and ran across the boatyard, ducking behind a row of boats to their right. Nancy shouted out, “Come on, let’s follow him!”

Bess said, “Are you sure? He could be dangerous.” George grabbed Bess’ arm and pulled her along as they followed Nancy through the boatyard. Just as they made a sharp turn around a row of boats, the man lunged out and pushed Nancy to the ground.

Tune in on Monday for the next installment of Nancy Drew Investigates – C is for Catamaran.

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This is our boat, Tickety Boo, up on the hard in the boatyard at Indiantown Marina last year. Note the rickety ladder? How did I survive getting on and off the boat without breaking something?

I can get where Bess is coming from – I can’t for the life of me figure out how boats stay upright in the boatyard in general, let alone during a storm. See how our boat is propped up with metal stands and balancing on her keel on top of wooden blocks in the picture above? Now, imagine high winds barreling through the boatyard, pushing against the boats perched there. If the winds were strong enough and in the right direction, poof, down your boat goes, toppling others along with it, like a row of dominoes collapsing.

When boats are stored long-term at Indiantown Marina, they make owners secure them with tie-down straps to prevent them from falling over. It's happened before when a hurricane made its way through Indiantown years ago. Who's to say it wouldn't happen again? This is where liability insurance comes into play. Would you want to be responsible for the damage caused if your boat toppled over?

The other thing that strikes me about the boatyard is having to climb up and down ladders to get to your boat. I have a friend who fell off the ladder on their boat last year and ended up in the emergency room. She was one of the lucky ones - nothing broken. Another guy fell off his boat this year and broke his leg. Somehow, despite my clumsiness, I managed to survive our time in the boatyard without breaking anything.

What about you - have you ever broken anything? Did you get everyone to sign your cast? Do kids even do that anymore?

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A Is For Anchor | Nancy Drew Investigates {A To Z Challenge}

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 Anchor" and ending with "Z is for Zodiac." Each post is an installment of "Nancy Drew Investigates the Case of the Missing Anchor" - so you may want to read the posts from the beginning in order to follow along with the story (click here for an index of all of the posts). At the end of each post, you'll also find some random thoughts on the day's particular topic.

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“I can’t believe we get to participate in the Grande Isle Regatta this weekend!” Nancy Drew’s blue eyes sparkled as she looked around at the sailboats in the marina. “This is going to be so much fun." She turned to her two friends and asked, “Aren’t you excited?”

George Fayne grinned and said enthusiastically, “I can’t wait to try out the new spinnaker you were telling us about. Imagine how fast we’ll be able to fly across the water. We’ll definitely win the race.” George nudged her cousin Bess Marvin and pointed over across the water. “See those sailboats out there. That will be us this weekend.”

Bess tucked a lock of her long blonde hair under her pink sunhat and gazed out at the boats anchored in the sheltered bay. She looked nervously at Nancy and George and asked, “But, what if something goes wrong? What if we hit something and our boat starts to sink? What will we do then?”

Nancy smiled at Bess and said, “Don’t worry Bess. The people who we’ll be sailing with are really experienced sailors. They’ve even crossed the Atlantic twice. We’ll be in good hands. Why don’t we go over to their slip now to meet them and then you can see their boat.”

The three girls walked down the dock to the far side of the marina, which was located in Pine Tree Bay on the outskirts of their hometown of River Heights. Nancy and George were regular visitors to the marina where they crewed on a friend’s boat during the weekly Wednesday night races. They had tried to convince Bess to join them, but the thought of zipping along on a sailboat while it was heeled over at an uncomfortable angle was too much for her and she signed up for a cooking course instead.

While Bess was busy daydreaming about the various pastries they would be making at next week’s class, Nancy pointed over to a white boat with red racing stripes. “Look, there she is. She’s called the Scarlet Slipper. Those are the boat’s owners, Marvin and Shelley, over there.” They saw a distinguished looking man with dark brown eyes and closely cropped gray hair standing next to his wife, a petite woman with green eyes and blonde hair streaked by the sun.

“It was really nice of my father to ask them if we could sail on their boat during the regatta. Marvin and Shelley have been his clients for years,” said Nancy. “Wait a minute...it looks like they're talking to a police officer. I wonder what’s going on.”

Nancy hurried over to Marvin and Shelley and asked, “Is everything okay?”

“Oh, hi there Nancy. It’s nice to see you again dear,” said Shelley. “And, these must be your friends. Unfortunately, you’ve come at a bad time. We’ve had something terrible happen.” Marvin put his arm around Shelley's shoulders. “Don’t worry honey. The police will catch the guy.”

Nancy turned to Marvin and asked, “What happened? Are you guys okay?”

Maurice walked over to the boat, pointed at the bow roller and said angrily, “Would you believe it – someone stole our brand new Rocna anchor!”

Tune in tomorrow for the next installment of Nancy Drew Investigates – B is for Boatyard. 

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That's our old Rocna anchor, which we used on our old boat in New Zealand. One of the first things we bought for our new boat, Tickety Boo, was a Rocna anchor. They might be pricey, but they bring good peace of mind when you're anchored.

Last summer, a bloggy pal asked me to take a picture of her boat, which was in storage at Indiantown Marina. By the way, if you’re new around here, I live aboard a sailboat at a small marina in southern Florida, east of Lake Okeechobee, smack-dab in the middle of alligator infested swamps and sugarcane fields. Why am I here? Well, it’s a long story – you can read about it here. But, let’s get back to the photo of my bloggy pal’s boat.

Other than the grime on the decks from the continual burning of the nearby sugarcane fields and the usual mold and mildew, which you can’t really escape in southern Florida, everything seemed fine when my bloggy pal initially looked at the picture of their boat. That is, until she had a closer look and noticed that their Rocna anchor was missing from the bow.

Yep, someone stole their anchor. That sort of thing will piss you off on several levels: (1) Rocna anchors aren’t cheap to replace; (2) the folks who stole the anchor probably knew a thing or two about boats, which means they were one of us, fellow boaties and cruisers; and (3) stealing stuff is just bad form.

Someone else had an outboard motor stolen from their lazarette and I wouldn't be surprised to find other folks had stuff stolen as well. Perhaps it was some sort of midnight raid by bad people who went around plucking all sorts of goodies off of unattended boats. I can only hope one or more of them stepped in an anthill full of fire ants and suffered for days afterwards with a painful allergic reaction to the tiny burning bites.

More likely, they just flogged the stuff on eBay and Craig’s List and then spent the money on beer and cigarettes somewhere in the Florida Keys. You’ve probably seen them hanging around in their dinghy somewhere in Boot Key Harbor, smoking, burping and scratching their fire ant bites (and other parts of their bodies which really aren’t polite to scratch in public).

I still get mad thinking about the anchor incident. Not just because it happened to a really nice couple, but because, if you refer back to point #2 above, it was likely one of our own. Cruisers (like RVers and other nomadic traveling type people) stick together. They help each other out. They have each other’s backs. Except for those yahoos who helped themselves to other people’s stuff. They’re not worthy of the cruiser label.

If I was mean-spirited, I might hope that their dinghy springs a leak and they find themselves slowly sinking in alligator-infested waters. A dinghy that they probably stole from somebody else, I might add.

If only we had had someone like Nancy Drew around when the "Case of the Missing Anchor" took place. Nancy would have solved the case in no time, all the time while looking immaculate in her twin sweater set, pearls, faux alligator pumps and matching handbag, without ever breaking a sweat (which is next to impossible in southern Florida). The anchor would have been recovered and justice would have prevailed. Even the alligators would have bowed down to her poise and intelligence.

Instead, my bloggy pal and her husband had to shell out for a new anchor. On the bright side, it inspired my theme for this year's Blogging from A to Z Challenge. An odd theme, but there you have it.

If you want to read the real account of their stolen anchor, check out the scoop here.

Have you ever had anything valuable stolen from your home, RV or boat?

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Cost Of Living Aboard Our Boat | February & March 2016

It’s time for our regular cost of living update, which I do every two months. You may have noticed that this one is a tad early – March isn’t even over – but, I don’t plan on spending any money today or tomorrow and there isn’t room in the schedule to post this next month due to the A to Z Blogging Challenge (check back on Friday for the first installment of "Nancy Drew Investigates the Case of the Missing Anchor").

We've been tracking how much it costs to live aboard our boat, S/V Tickety Boo, at Indiantown Marina in southern Florida, where we were initially laid up during hurricane season and where I'm now living while Scott is working overseas. While Scott has been in Scotland, I've been staying on our boat and slowly ticking things off of our project list. So, our live aboard costs are pretty much just that - cost of my daily living aboard our boat and occasionally buying stuff for Tickety Boo to keep her happy.

You can find links to other cost updates from ourselves and others on this page. If you want to know how much we spent over the past two months, have a look below.

Cost of Living Aboard | February & March 2016


Overall, we spent $2,450 during February and March which is up around $275 from the previous two months.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details of what we spent, here are a few things to note:

1 - All costs are in US dollars.

2 - Not all expenses are included - here's what we've left out:

(a) We don't report how much we spend on alcohol. I remember reading some horrible, judgy comments in a blog post a few years back about how much someone spent on booze, so I left it out when we first started tracking our cruising costs back in New Zealand. For consistency's sake, I've continued to leave it out when tracking our cruising and RV costs.

(b) We haven't included costs related to storing our Scamp travel trailer ($21 per month) because we track the cost of our RV and cruising adventures separately.

(c) We've also left out our costs for medical insurance. We didn't think it made sense to include insurance costs as they can vary so widely depending upon your nationality, where you cruise, what level of coverage you want and can afford etc. In case you are curious, while we're back in the States, we do have insurance through the health insurance marketplace (aka ACA/Obamacare), primarily to protect our assets and cover us in case of a catastrophic medical condition. After spending a pretty big chunk of change for health insurance during 2015, we were in a bit of a quandary about whether we should go ahead and get coverage for 2016 or take the risk and pay the tax penalty for being uninsured. In the end, after weighing up the potential tax penalty, possible tax credits and risk of being uninsured, we ended up getting insurance for 2016. If you want to know more about our health insurance options and quandary for 2016, check this post out.

3 - Scott has been in Scotland taking care of some work projects and tending to some other matters, so grocery and entertainment costs are less than they would be normally.

4 - I've included any shipping and taxes we've paid in what we report. Florida has a 6% sales tax. Boo.


GROCERIES | Total = $240.36

This category includes everything we put in our bodies in terms of food and drink (excluding booze) that we prepare ourselves. It doesn't include things like paper towels and ziploc bags, which I know some people would classify as groceries. Sure, you could probably eat them, but they wouldn't taste very good.

I spent about $216 less on groceries in the past two months than I did during December and January. This is due in large part to participating in the Eating on $4 a Day SNAP Challenge during February and trying to continue to keep food costs down during March.

PERSONAL & HOUSEHOLD | Total = $38.33

This is the category where we include household things (like paper towels and ziploc bags) and personal hygiene items (like soap and shampoo). We also capture items for the "home" here - like ant traps, a necessity in southern Florida ($3.98).

ENTERTAINMENT | Total = $134.12

One of the great things about hanging out in Indiantown is that there really isn't all that much to spend your entertainment dollars on. It's a pretty small town and things are really quiet at the marina, so there's not a lot of temptation.

In terms of drinks and eating out, this includes everything we don't prepare ourselves, even if we get something to go and eat it back on the boat. We also track how much we spend on books, magazines, movies etc. in this category.

COMMUNICATIONS | Total = $160

Our cell phone is actually one of our biggest non-boat related expenses. I have a $60 monthly GoPhone plan with AT&T which includes 5GB of data and unlimited calls and texts. Normally, 5GB of data isn't enough for us, but we have a WiFi adapter/antenna gizmo which helps us get the marina Wi-Fi at our boat and minimizes the use of our cellular data. Lately though it's been hard to access the marina Wi-Fi as there are so many people here, so sometimes I end up buying additional data. While Scott is away, I've also added on a $10 monthly international call plan so that we do our daily phone call.

BOAT FUEL | Total = Nil

Because our boat hasn't left the slip, we haven't needed to spend anything on diesel or gas.

LPG | Total = Nil

I've been primarily using our microwave and crock pot for cooking, so haven't needed to top up the LPG tanks.

MARINA COSTS | Total = $1,160.70

Keeping Tickety Boo in a slip is one of our biggest expenses. The monthly cost of a slip with electricity at Indiantown Marina for a 34.5' boat is $572.40. The guys at the marina will also come pump out our holding tank on demand - $5.30 for each visit.

BOAT STUFF | Total = $131.89

This category is for all the stuff we've been buying for the boat. We've got a long list of stuff we need to get for Tickety Boo - some upgrades, some maintenance related items, equipment etc. I'm trying to spread the costs out because I simply find it too painful to spend so much money all at once.

During the last two months, I’ve bought a few bits and bobs like an inspection mirror so that we can see into the various nooks and crannies on our boat ($7.49), some storage containers to hold all of the various bottles of solvents, cleaners and other assorted marine products ($12.05), a Luci light which is charged by the sun ($16) and waterproof Gorilla glue to fix our teak shower grate ($4.78). We also joined the Moody Owners Association so that we can connect with other Moody owners and pick their brains. ($28.46).

In case you're wondering why there aren't any charges for boat insurance, we paid these up front for the year in April (you can see the details here) and we’re in the process of deciding what we’re going to do for insurance when it’s up for renewal next month (read about it here).

TRANSPORT | Total = $61.68

This category is for costs related to our vehicle, mostly for gas to keep it going and drive into the nearby "big city" of Stuart for errands. Gas is so cheap these days that I've really been able to keep these costs down. My mom ended up paying our car insurance for this coming year so that we can treat ourselves to something that we wouldn’t normally buy with the money we would have spent on it. Thanks mom!

MEDICAL EXPENSES | Total = $242.64

This category includes medical expenses outside of our monthly insurance premium (which aren't included here - see section on exclusions above), like over the counter medications, prescriptions and things for our medical kit. It also includes the costs of doctors visits and medical tests which aren't covered by our insurance. You’re about to see the costs in this category sky-rocket next month as I had an unexpected medical issue to deal with during March.

OTHER | Total = $281.08

In this category, we break out how much we spend on clothes and travel expenses. We also include a catch-all miscellaneous group for stuff that doesn't fit neatly anywhere else - things like laundry ($3.25 for a wash and dry at Indiantown Marina).

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3 Silly Things, 2 Observations & 1 Pretty Picture

I don't have time for one of my more normal blog posts (not that any of them are really that normal) because I've been swamped with getting my Nancy Drew posts ready for the A to Z Challenge starting this Friday. Plus, I've been a bit tad under the weather which means not only am I ignoring boat projects, but I'm also not putting a lot of effort into today's post. 

So, instead, I present to you - 3 silly things, 2 observations and 1 pretty picture.


Silly Things

Old sailors never die. They just get a little dinghy. 

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He would have become a sailor but he didn't want to make waves.

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I have a deck but no backyard.
I have a bow but no arrows
I have a wheel but I'm not a car
I have a beam but I'm not a light
I have a stern but I'm not serious
I have a crow's nest but there are no birds

What am I? 

{Courtesy of Pun of the Day and Riddles for Kids}


Observations

When you make something in a slow cooker, the wee beastie inside tantalizes you with wonderful aromas until you crack open the lid to try some long before it's done cooking. Then, because you let all the heat out, you have to add more time on for it to be fully cooked. Today, I'm making tortellini and bean soup. Will I be able to resist the tantalizing smells of onion, garlic, tomatoes and Italian herbs and leave it be until suppertime? Place your bets.

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Why does everything sound better when said with a Scottish accent? Sure, they might be telling you to get out of the way (Ye mak a better door than a windae) but it sounds lovely when they say it. Perhaps, I've been watching too many old episodes of Monarch of the Glen lately?


Pretty Picture

In much of the Northern Hemisphere, spring is in evidence all around with flowers and pleasant weather just right for strolling in the garden. In southern Florida, however, we've skipped spring and jumped right into summer with scorching hot weather, so I have to content myself with looking back on pretty pictures from more temperate climates.

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Random Bits & Bobs Brought To You From Indiantown, Florida

Have you ever thought to yourself, I wonder what's been happening lately at Indiantown Marina? Well, here's your chance to find out. Yes, that's right - it's time for some random bits and bobs brought to you live from Indiantown, Florida.

Nigel, I’m sure you’re a nice guy and good fun at cocktail parties, but your book is kind of a snore.
 
Our engine isn’t working, so I’ve been reading Nigel Calder’s Marine Diesel Engines book. The cover promises that you can “be your own diesel mechanic.” What the cover doesn’t tell you is that you’ll die from boredom reading the book before you even get around to trying to fix your engine.

Scott sounded befuddled when I told him my views on Nigel’s book. He thinks all of his books are fantastic because they’re so detailed and technical in nature. Well, there’s the problem right there – they’re technical. Scott’s technically minded. Me, not so much. When I read a book, I’m looking for mystery, romance or aliens from outer space. I’m not really looking for dense text in small font and illustrations of fuel filters and glow plugs.

But, I’m soldiering on and plowing through Nigel’s book. This weekend, I’ve got fun things planned thanks to Nigel. I’m going to check out our air and fuel filters. I can barely contain my excitement. When I asked Scott where the air filter was he told me to look for a blue hairdryer shaped thingy-magingy. He knows how to translate technical speak into words I’ll understand. I think this is it.

Why buy something new, when you can repair what you already have. 

Our teak shower grate kind of fell apart, so I’ve been trying to repair it using waterproof Gorilla glue to reattach all of the slats. Usually, I love doing arts and crafts projects. Give me a bottle of glue, markers, sparkly glitter, construction paper and a pair of scissors and I’ll happily sit for hours making things. I kind of thought fixing our shower grate would be along the same lines, minus the sparkly glitter. Well, so far, it isn’t looking all that great, but at least it’ll be functional. I was thinking of using sparkly glitter to camouflage the areas where my gluing technique kind of fell down, but for some reason, I don’t think Scott is going to go for that idea.

Reality often looks better through the eyes of an artist.

A couple of weeks ago, some ladies from Stuart were at the marina as part of their plein air group (which is fancy French talk for painting outside). Here’s what I love about art – you start with reality, see it through your eyes and put your own spin on it. Oftentimes, what artists come up with looks so much better than reality, like this painting that one of the ladies did of the boat storage yard. Trust me, it looks a lot better in her painting than it does in real life.

I used to take painting courses when I lived in New Zealand, but don’t really have room on the boat for all the tubes of paint, supplies and canvases required. I’m looking for a new arts and craft hobby which doesn’t take up much space. I was thinking embroidery or needlepoint – any other ideas you might have?

I keep seeing dead fish floating around my boat. And they stink.

There have been a number of dead fish in the marina and for some reason they all end up down near my boat. Take some dead fish in stagnant water, add temperatures in the mid to upper 80s and you have a recipe for some really bad smells. Not sure what caused them to die – possibly toxic runoff from Lake Okeechobee into the St Lucie waterway? Fortunately, after a few days, they end up sinking to the bottom or getting eaten by some creature who isn’t too fussy about its diet. But, unfortunately, as if by magic, a new one appears shortly thereafter.

I won the lottery!

Well, not really. But I did find $400 hidden away on our boat that I had completely forgot about. It was kind of like winning the lottery. When we went to the Bahamas last year, we strategically hid stashes of cash around our boat, like many cruisers do. They were so well hidden, that I never found one of the stashes until recently. Such a fun surprise! I wonder how may other boats have money squirreled away that the current or previous owners forgot about?

Whatever you do, don’t mention grandma’s underpants.

I started volunteering for an afterschool reading program. The other day I was reading the kids Three Cheers for Catherine the Great by Cari Best and when we got to the page where grandma hangs up her giant underpants on the clothesline, everyone got a serious case of the giggles. Who knew underpants could be so funny? Kids are a good reminder to not take life so seriously.

Wouldn’t you get the giggles if you saw this picture (beautifully illustrated by Giselle Potter by the way)?

What’s made you giggle lately? Would you rather read about grandma's underpants or diesel engines?

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Aliens Squashed The Planet & Other Shocking RYA Navigation Secrets

In my ongoing efforts to become a more productive human being, I decided to dig Scott’s RYA (Royal Yachting Association) navigation books out and start learning more about how to get our sailboat from Point A to Point B without crashing into a reef, the shore or a submerged UFO.

To be honest, I’ve been kind of dreading studying navigation because there’s a lot of numbers, math and weird gadgets involved. But, there is always the worry that Scott could get abducted by aliens while we’re out there on the water and I’ll have to be able to helm the boat back to safety on my own. Yes, fear of alien abduction is one of my key motivators. I used to also be motivated by chocolate chip cookies, but I’ve had to give them up recently.

Let’s all take a minute to think about that…life without chocolate chip cookies. Sad, isn’t it.

So, as I was sitting there munching on carrot sticks and reading through the RYA Navigation Handbook, I came across this passage:

Our world is a ball of rock, just under 13,000 kilometres in diameter, spinning through space…it is also slightly squashed.

Okay, what?! Our planet is squashed? All my life, I’ve been told that our planet is round, like an orange. The models of the Earth they showed us in school were all round, like oranges. I’ve never seen a model of the Earth that’s squashed. Have you? Why have people been keeping this a secret? Why hasn’t the National Enquirer done its civic duty, gotten a hold of this information and shared it with the general public?

More importantly, who did this? Or rather, what did this? Is this yet more evidence of alien interference in our solar system? Did some aliens drunk on homemade hooch distilled from asteroid particles go around shooting up our planet with their ray guns and end up shaving off parts of it?

Folks, this is why you study navigation - to find out the truth. I’ve always heard the truth was out there, but now I know where to find it – in the RYA study materials.

I also found out this other shocking secret about the the development of the GPS system we all rely upon:

To prevent civilian receivers being used for military purposes, the American government adopted a policy…under which deliberate errors were introduced to the CA code signal to degrade its accuracy to about 100 metres.

Yes, the government messed around with the GPS coding so that it would be unreliable for us regular folk at more than 100 metres. According to the RYA, this policy has now abandoned, but the government retains the ability to reintroduce it. Hmm....what else have they done to the GPS system? Are there really satellites fixing our coordinates or are these "satellites" actually alien spacecraft in orbit tracking our every move?

And, here's another shocker. From what I can gather, the big computer systems manufacturers brainwashed us all into believing that knobs and buttons were inferior. It was a deliberate campaign to put the knob and button manufacturers out of business. We should all go out and buy some knobs and buttons to help this floundering industry.

Until a few years ago, radar sets bristled with knobs and buttons. Now, knobs and buttons are ‘out’, and menu systems and soft keys are ‘in’.

But, here's the most shocking secret of all. The chocolate industry is so insidious that they've even blackmailed the RYA into mentioning chocolate while they're talking about how to deal with compass error. Here's the mnemonic you're supposed to use to remember that Variation (V) separates True (T) and Magnetic (M) and that Deviation (D) separates Magnetic (M) from Compass (C).

Cadbury's Dairy Milk Very Tasty

If you've never tried a Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate bar, don't. The minute you try one, you'll turn into a junkie, desperately looking for your next fix. Every single time you look at the compass on your boat -  BAM! - you'll be craving chocolate again.

Who knew that studying navigation could be so interesting. Now, if only I could figure out how to use Scott's Portland course plotter and resist the urge to color in all of the rose compasses on our charts with colored pencils and markers.

What secret government conspiracies have you discovered lately? Or, for the more serious minded among you, any tips to learning navigation?

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