Windtraveler

Decommissioning a Boat is No Easy Feat

2012-02-10T04:03:00.000-06:00

This is what our "task list(s)" looked like this week...those of you who follow our Facebook Page have seen it; but I wanted to re-post it here on the blog because, well, I think it's pretty impressive. We put a lot of hard work and care into storing our boat for the next seven months or so. To some of you this might seem like overkill, and only time will tell what we did right and wrong, but the idea of doing all of these things is that we'll come back to the same boat we left. The tropical sun combined with the salty air, heavy rain, humidity and near-perfect breeding conditions for just about any bug all have a way of making things deteriorate at a rapid rate down here. If left without proper consideration or attention we could easily return to a boat full of insects, mildew, bubbling decks, damaged halyards, rotting wood, nests in the boom and God only knows what else. Hopefully, all this TLC we put into Rasmus this week will ensure we return to our little beauty in the condition we left her in: pristine. I will post the full list of exactly what we did in detail with more explanation when I have time, but for now I must gloat at how much we accomplished. The other day a woman who works the front office here at Peake's said to Scott and I, "You guys just look like such a perfect couple...Watching you with each other you can see it... you seem like such a great team". I'd have to agree. We do our fair share of high-fives, not going to lie...

We should be landing in Chicago late this afternoon. I only wish I could've prepared myself for the next few months as well as we prepped Rasmus! Brrrrr...

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Time to Take Pause

2012-02-09T06:24:00.001-06:00

Scott's grandfather passed away yesterday...we were all worried it was coming - he was 94 years old and his health had recently started to fail; Scott had a planned visit to see him in ten days time but unfortunately that was not to be. Norman passed away quietly in his sleep, in his own bed, in his own home. He was a wonderful man who lived a full life surrounded by people who loved him. We should all be so lucky.

Life doesn't always work according to plan and as such Scott and I will be flying home Friday instead of Monday in order to make it to the wake and funeral in Michigan this weekend. My dad always says, "Weddings you can miss, they are happy occasions - but you should never miss a funeral. Funerals are when people need you. It says a lot about your character". I couldn't agree more.

We've been burning the candle at both ends, working very hard to prep Rasmus for hibernation. The amount of work we have done is incredibly exhausting and it's mind boggling just how diligent a boat owner must be to properly store a boat. Again, I am working on a more detailed post about exactly what we have been doing and why, but for now - we're just going to take pause and slow down.

Rest in peace Norman.

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Cool Currency

2012-02-08T05:10:00.000-06:00

One of the (many) tasks we did this week was to clean out our "nav station"...that is area on the boat usually set aside for "navigating", but on Rasmus it's become a something of a junk drawer containing all sorts of goodies: spare locks, motor keys, head-lamps, "every day" tools (much easier to keep these close rather than have to get out the tool bag every time you need a flathead screwdriver), quick reference guides, boat cards, index cards, sharpies, pens, pencils...you get the idea. We clean it out every couple of months, but it always gets messy again in no time.

Anyway - also in this nav station, we had a little container full of change that we have been accumulating since the beginning of this trip. Scott gave me the task of sorting it. Oh joy! While picking through it all, I realized I that I was really looking at the coins for the first time. Caribbean coins depict everything from tall ships to starfish, from sailboats to porpoises and even pineapples. Making note of all the unique pictures stamped in silver and bronze made sorting them a little less boring. We had coins from approximately six different countries in that little bin! Pretty neat.

Ironically, later on in the day when Scott and I were enjoying a cup of coffe at our favorite local cafe - he mentioned how interesting the Trini money was. So we investigated our bills a little further and splayed them out on the table (yeah. we're SUPER savvy travelers. laying all our money out on a table and all). Sure enough - they tell a little story about Trinidad. Each bill features a significant part of the culture or economy here; an oil rig on the $100, steel pan drums on the $20, a ship yard on the $10, market vendors on the $5 and an oil refinery on the $1. It's a story, it's art and it can buy you a latte. Not too shabby.

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Top 10 Tuesdays: Top 10 Items We Got Rid Of During the Mass Clean of 2012

2012-02-07T04:44:00.000-06:00

Sometimes it gets messy before it gets better.

Today is the day that our Rasmus is being hauled out. In fact, she's probably already out of the water and sitting pretty on her jack-stands as you read this. It's been a busy week around here preparing for this day. Hauling a boat for storage is no small feat. I'll get into specifics in a later post, but suffice it to say - it's been full steam ahead these past few days.

One very important part of this process is removing unnecessary "stuff" from the boat. We have been in major cleaning/de-cluttering/organizing and REMOVING mode. Scott and I went through each and every locker, cabinet and compartment and cleaned it out. We took stock of what was in there, kept what we used and got rid of what we didn't. We have lightened our load considerably and man-oh-man does it feel good.

So, for your future (or current) cruisers out there who might be able to learn from this, here are the

Top 10 Items We Got Rid of During the Mass Clean of 2012

Heavy duty foul weather gear - granted, we did wear our "proper" foul weather gear during the first couple of months of this trip because we were sailing in November, but ever since we crossed to the Bahamas - it's just been taking up space. I know I wrote about this once before, but for all you cruisers who plan on island hopping in the Caribbean, save the $500 on fancy foul weather gear and just get a light rain coat and waterproof pants and pocket the savings.
Books - Scott and I gave away about forty books that were taking up a LOT of space on our boat. I know I've sang e-readers praise before, but honestly, these things are fantastic for cruisers. Of course we still have a pretty impressive collection of sailing related how-to and reference books, but just about anything that was "pleasure" reading has been digitized. POOF!
Shoes - We packed a LOT of shoes. Deck shoes, dinghy boots, sailing shoes, dressy sandals...etc. We wore flip flops. Almost exclusively. Sure, there was the rare occasion I wore my fancy sandals and Scott did sport his Sperry's on a few occasions, but we'll return with less shoes for sure.
Cleaning supplies - I know, I know...I told you I love the cleaning product aisle. Well, apparently I didn't realize how much I love it. We had a LOT of cleaning supplies and got rid of about half of them. Do yourself a favor and limit yourself to just a few. I wrote about our top 10 cleaning supplies here. Try to keep your cleaning products under 20. We had about 35 on board. This is too many, even for this neat-freak.
Extra bathing towels - we had a lot of big, bulky, beach towels on board. We got rid of them. Not only do they take up a ton of space, but they are a HUGE pain in the butt to wash by hand and take forever to dry on a line. Not to mention they seem to absorb sand. We have streamlined our towel inventory to four Tektowels which pack small and dry fast. In addition, when we hit the beach we do not use "towels" but sarongs to lie on and dry off with. The sand falls right off them, they dry in an instant and you can hand wash them in a jiffy.
Blankets/Bedding - I bought a lot of sleeping-bag style "boat bedding" before we left. This was unnecessary. Not only is it really bulky (are you seeing a pattern here? Bulk is bad) but it's HOT. Down here in the Caribbean we just have a blanket on the bottom of our bed and if we cover ourselves (which we usually don't) I use a sarong blanket my good friend Sharon made for me.
Boat Gimmicks - what I am talking about here is the equivalent of "As Seen on TV" junk. If it seems gimmicky, it probably is. Self-tailing winch add-on thingys, "miracle cloths" and that bulk order of Sham Wows I got suckered into while watching late-night T.V. before we left were all in the pile of things to say "buh-bye" to.
Clothes - It's hot down here. Most of the time, we're wearing as little as possible and it's only in the past month or two that I have busted out my long-sleeve shirts in the evenings. We have given away so many clothes and still it seems we have too many. I did write a post about what to pack way back when, and I think it's pretty spot-on.
TONS of food - seriously, it's become something of a joke how much food we have uncovered in the bowels of our boat. I cannot even begin to tell you and, actually, it's pretty embarrassing. Scott looked up at me as we uncovered yet another stash and said, "Well, we could cross the Pacific, like, three times and still have food left over". He was right. I don't know who got it in my head that we needed to hoard food like we had been doing, but it was excessive to say the least (Note to self: No more freeze-dried meals). Luckily, we got on the cruiser's net* here in Trinidad yesterday morning and found a lovely man in need who came and took all of it. It made my week to know that a) all this food wouldn't go to waste and b) it went to a fellow boater who truly needed it and was so grateful for it. Warmed my heart!
General accumulated crap - everyone can relate to this one, boater or not. You know what I am talking about: it's the stuff in that dreaded "junk drawer" that everyone hates cleaning out, it's the collection of empty sunglasses cases, random key chains and mis-matched earrings in that box at the bottom of your closet, it's those items that, for some reason or another, we don't want to throw away so we tuck away somewhere and we feel better knowing that we didn't "waste" it. Well, I have some advice for you: THROW IT OUT. These things have a tendency to multiply! We got rid of at least one large garbage bag full of this type of stuff; random pieces of wood, half-shackles, fiberglass drill-outs of our hull, old bits of frayed line and random wire to name a few things. Seriously, if it's questionable - you probably don't need it.

Sigh. I feel better already! Knowing that we made so much space in our boat and got rid of so much unnecessary clutter feels really good. The bottom line is this my friends: Boats can swallow an ungodly amount of crap if you let them! Get it under control and you (and your boat) will feel a lot lighter.

Love,

Brittany & Scott

*A "Cruiser's Net" is an organized group of cruisers in a specific place who commune daily or weekly at a scheduled time on the radio (can be either VHF, SSB, or HAM). These "nets" can either be very small and casual and last only a few minutes, or very large and organized and last longer than an hour depending on how large the anchorage/harbor and how many announcements are made. It's a place where cruisers can communicate and get advice, trade goods, get local information, find someone to help fix something, tell a story, lend a hand...or announce that they have tons of food to get rid of that is free for the taking!

The Far Reaches of a Little Blog

2012-02-06T05:46:00.012-06:00

The other day, I got this email from "Uncle Al":

Today I was in West Marine getting a few things for my upcoming sailing trip. As I was checking out, I mentioned to the man behind the counter how I was heading to the islands to sail from St. Lucia to Grenada.

He said - "Oh, that's where Brittany from Windtraveler is". (Sorry Scott - that's what he said). Of course I had to tell him you all are now in Trinidad, etc., but he knew you were headed there, pregnant, and on the way home. He said he started following you around the time you stopped by Hilton Head as he had heard about your blog from someone at the Windmill Harbour Yacht Club when Rasmus was there. He said he read other sailing blogs, but your was the "best by far".

Of course by then I had to tell him I sailed with you two, and had to say that Scott was part of the team too. Anyway, it was interesting running into a fan - one of many I'm sure.*

It's no question I spend a lot of time on this blog, probably an average of two to four hours a day, depending on how "inspired" I am. I love it - it's as much as passion for me as beach combing, crocheting or photography is to someone else and it enriches this experience for me that much more. I think the fact that I write so extensively about this journey forces me to constantly reflect and see the world with fresh eyes. It heightens my awareness of the world around me and I am able to find beauty, humor, and/or interest in even the every day "mundane" things as well as the spectacular. In other words, writing keeps me present. It makes me appreciate what I see and live just a little bit more.

We get a lot of wonderful emails from friends and followers. People often say things like "I feel like you're my best friend" and "It's like I've known you guys forever" which is a huge compliment. We get a lot of praise as well; people give us accolades for the writing, the photos, the general "vibe" of the blog and many tell us that ours is their favorite sailing blog stating that "I start every morning with Windtraveler, it's the first thing I check when I wake up". It's wonderful to hear.

The flip side of this is that we don't know many of you. In fact, we hardly know any of you. While we do get quite a bit of email, we probably only hear from less than 5% of you. Which makes this kind of a one-way relationship, which is the nature of the blog beast. So, when we get the opportunity to meet some of you - well, it's just plain awesome.

Before we left Grenada we had two separate encounters with blog followers who came up to us after recognizing us from the blog. One follower, Shannon, approached us as we were getting up from our dinner at The Aquarium restaurant - she was so polite and so contentious: "Brittany, I am so sorry to bother - you don't know me - but I love your blog..." she started. She's an awesome sailor chick from Annapolis and was in Grenada racing for the Sailing Festival. She had no idea we were still in Grenada because, last she had checked before she left, we were leaving for Trinidad two days earlier. "It's a real honor to meet you, your blog is a huge inspiration". Another couple, Lesiya and David, approached us as we were just about to shove off for Trinidad, "Brittany" Lesiya began timidly, "We absolutely love your blog. It is our absolute favorite - it is just so lovely... In fact," she continued, "We bought our boat in large part because of you and your blog". Both of these encounters were incredibly humbling, soul-lifting, heart filling and such a pleasure. I was so grateful that both of these women approached us to tell us a little bit about themselves and let us know that they're "out there". As a blogger who writes from behind a computer in a small boat, it's so easy to forget how far my words might travel and who they might effect. To hear it first hand from the mouths of our readers, well, that is the greatest gift of all and makes all the time and effort I put into this blog worth it.

This is Shannon, an avid sailor from Annapolis. She was in Grenada racing in the Grenada Sailing Festival.

This is Lesiya and David, they bought a boat in Grenada on ebay and are planning to cruise the UK with her!

So I just want to take this moment and say thank you, thank you, thank you dear readers. Whether I know you or not, whether you are a silent participant or a super fan, it's an honor to be read by each and every one of you.

Love,
Brittany & Scott

*Hi West Marine guy!! Bet you never thought you'd end up on the blog, did ya? ;)

The Exclusive Mt. Cinnamon Resort

2012-02-04T06:41:00.005-06:00

Private Beach on Grand Anse. Image courtesy of Mt. Cinnamon Resort

Savvy's Restaurant. Image courtesy of Mt. Cinnamon Resort

Room interior. Image courtesy of Mt. Cinnamon Resort

One of the perks of having a modestly popular blog that enjoys about 70K page views a month and over a thousand visitors a day is that we sometimes get nice little 'perks' (like great sponsors) because of it. Well - here's an opportunity where we get to pass a perk back to YOU, our lovely, wonderful, faithful readers! The other day, I mentioned how we were invited to the exclusive Mt. Cinnamon Resort for a private event at the Savvy Restaurant. After meeting and mingling with the lovely Stacie Mills, we thought it might be nice to partner up and use our blog to offer our island-loving readers insight into this beautiful place and a chance to experience a slice of Caribbean luxury...

The resort is, in a word, fabulous. Conceived and designed by the famous investment visionary (and sailing enthusiast - he's a former America's Cup Sailor and also the man behind the Port Louis Marina!!) Peter de Savary, great attention has been paid to every minute detail from the bright, Caribbean decor to the lush flora surrounding the grounds. The eco-friendly resort features a gym, a yoga studio, a private slice of beach along Grand Anse, and a lovely beach side restaurant. They've left no stone unturned and authenticity and quality is the name of the game for this Caribbean experience. If you are looking to "get away" and want to experience the magic that is Grenada (and trust me, it will captivate you!) - this would be a fantastic way to spend a night or two...or more!

We are able to offer our readers a rate of $300 per night (plus taxes and service charges) if you make your reservation direct through the Mt. Cinnamon reservations department. You can do this one of two ways: either call 1-473-439-4400 or email GM@mountcinnaongrenada.com and mention "Windtraveler Cruising Blog". While we understand $300 isn't 'cheap' by any means, the typical rate is $700 a night so this is a steal for such luxury! We know many of you are longing to enjoy a little fun in the sun but might be without a boat and we sincerely hope that some of you will be able to take advantage of this fantastic deal.

If you book your trip for next November, you might even get to meet up with us and our little sea-monkey. Let us know and we can make arrangements! How fun would a "Windtraveler weekend" be?

See you in paradise!

Love,

Brittany & Scott

*Unless otherwise noted, photos are my own.
*We are not benefitting financially if you book at this resort - this is simply an exclusive offer for our blog followers, not a business transaction for us.

Women Make the Market (and the World) Go Round

2012-02-03T06:11:00.000-06:00

"A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water." - Eleanor Roosevelt

When I lived in Africa, my mom made a profoundly simple observation...we driving around my adopted town of Arusha, Tanzania and she said "It looks like it's the women here who do all the work. The men just seem to...sit around". I laughed out loud at this acknowledgment, because not only was it funny - it was 100% true. Women do make the world go round. I don't mean to throw men the world over under the bus or anything, but if you travel extensively - you'll quickly see that it's the women who seem to be doing the lion's share of work in a lot of places. Idleness is not in our genetic makeup. We are multi-taskers, we are silent warriors and we get things done. We might not get all the glory and (globally speaking) we might not have all the power, but no one can deny that the world would be lost without us and our work.

My Uncle Tom made a similar observation about women at the Spice Market in St. Georges, Grenada. Women young and old are doing it all - selling, wheeling, dealing and making things happen. Some are hawking their goods like used car salesmen, while others sit quietly; patiently waiting by their produce for the right buyer. Of course plenty of men are off doing work as well, but if you look closely, particularly here in the Caribbean, it's women pushing things forward. There are a disproportionate amount of homeless men to woman begging in the street, you'll rarely (if ever) see a woman sitting at the bar whiling away the daytime hours getting drunk and you'll almost never see a woman who is not in some way, shape, or form working . I truly believe that if society's listened more closely to their women, this world would probably be a much nicer place. Just sayin'.

I love the market mama's the most. Their faces and hands tell a thousand stories.

Love,

Brittany & Scott

Savvy Restaurant at Cinnamon Hill

2012-02-02T06:01:00.001-06:00

Last week, we were invited to a private event at Savvy's Restaurant at the Mt. Cinnamon resort...what a treat! Not only were we honored to be invited to this fabulous event - we got to meet the wonderful Stacie Mills, who is a strategic partner with the resort and property. We'll tell you more about Stacie and the exclusive Mt. Cinnamon resort in a later post, but first some pictures of our fun night out...

While the Mt. Cinnamon resort is private, the Savvy restaurant is open to the public and offers a fabulous fine-dining menu and spectacular views of Grand Anse Beach and St. George's below. If you find yourself in Grenada and want to treat yourself to a lovely night out, Savvy Restaurant should top your list. If you don't believe me, just read the reviews. I think they speak for themselves. will be offering our readers a very special rate at this fine resort - so stay tuned for that as well!

Love,

Brittany & Scott

Passage from Grenada to Trinidad

2012-02-01T12:17:00.002-06:00

90 miles and 16 hours later, we made it to the shores of Trinidad!

We have arrived in Trinidad!...After a fantastic four days of Grenada exploration with my dad and Uncle Tom, we set off from Grenada bound for Trinidad at 5:30pm on Monday night. The weather forecast wasn't ideal, winds were predicted to be in the low to mid twenties (we prefer to leave for long passages in forecasted winds of 15 knots or less if possible because almost always winds are higher than predicted) and seas were estimated to be eight to ten feet. We turned to our weather guru, Chris Parker, who told us that conditions would be moderating as the week progressed and the later we could wait, the better. Being that Tom and my dad were flying out on Wednesday, Monday evening was the latest we could leave. We readied Rasmus and prepared for what was sure to be a fast and bumpy ride.

Just as we were pulling out of the slip our engine made a bizarre noise. Everyone looked alarmed. "That's not right" Scott said. We all knew it. Please don't let this be a serious problem I hoped silently. Scott tried the engine in reverse again. The noise grew worse. "Tie the boat back up" Scott ordered. We did. It was investigation time and we were burning up daylight. "Something is probably around the prop" I suggested. Scott and our friend Felix went down to check the prop shaft. It was then that Felix's girlfriend, Louisa, noticed the marina's Mediterranean mooring leader line... going right under our boat. Bingo. Not the worst thing in the world - a line around the propeller could be fixed quickly - but not the most auspicious beginning either.

Knowing we were already slightly behind schedule (we were hoping to leave at 4pm) and not wanting to wait for the marina diver, Scott jumped in the water with a knife and got to work. Fifteen minutes later we were free to go, and quietly backed out of what had been our "home" for the past seven months. It was sad to say goodbye - but we were ready to leave and knowing that we'll be back next November made it just a little bit easier.

As we left the marina, the light of day was slipping quickly down the horizon and as Grenada gifted us one last sunset, we raised our sails and headed south on a beam reach. We shut off the engine didn't turn it back on until we entered Boca de Manos on the way into Chaguramas Bay. As predicted, once we were out of the lee of the island the seas kicked up and the wind built to over twenty knots. We were flying under full jib and double-reefed main and averaged just under six knots the entire night. The seas were bumpy and the boat pitched and lurched wildly but sailed well. Thankfully, the guys let me be the "floater"- and being such, I didn't have to stand watch but remained available if necessary. I hunkered down in the v-berth and hoped to God I didn't no into labor. Baby girl endured a WILD ride!

Sixteen hours and ninety miles later we arrived, slightly bruised and battered, into Port of Spain, Trinidad - guided by a large pod of dolphin. It's incredible how exhausting sailing through the night can be - especially when conditions require physical and mental concentration and hand steering (our autopilot doesn't do well in wind over 20 knots and seas on the beam). The boys did a fantastic job keeping Rasmus sailing well, I did a great job of not going into labor, and other than a fat lip on Scott from a rogue glass that went flying through the cabin in the night, the trip was uneventful.

Just call him "Angelina".

After clearing into the country, the four of us clamored onto shore, enjoyed a nice, big meal and crashed. Hard. It was a well-earned rest!

We have been very warmly welcomed by our new friends and sponsors at Peake's Yacht Services and we know without a shadow of a doubt that we made the right decision coming here. This is an top-rate facility, with an incredibly accommodating and friendly staff who have already taken excellent care of us - and we haven't even been here 24 hours! I'm looking forward to telling you more about this great facility...but for now, Scott and I are enjoying the benefits of having a nice, airconditioned hotel room for a night!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

PS. If you want to see some great photos of the past five days with my dad and Uncle Tommy - please check out our latest album on Facebook!

Top 10 Tuesdays: 10 Things We'd Do Different

2012-01-31T06:05:00.005-06:00

While we did a lot of things right when we shoved off a year and a half ago - we would be remiss if we didn't reflect on our time away and make a note of the things we didn't do right or, rather, would have done differently if we could have. There were a lot of extenuating circumstances that led us to make many of the decisions we did (I got pregnant, Scott got a job...etc) but here are some things that we would have done differently if we lived in a "perfect" world (which, we do not!)...

Ten Things We'd Do Different

Left earlier - this isn't really fair because there was work to be done and there were factors beyond our control that played into our timing, but in a perfect world we would have left for this trip earlier. Leaving from Chicago in September was 'pushing it' timing wise. While we left as soon as we could and it wasn't that big of a deal, it would have been nice to have been able to take more time going through the Erie Canal and down the East Coast without the threat of snow looming over us each and every day stopped to smell the roses. We have vowed to return to both areas to explore under less of a time constraint in the future because both areas were incredible.
Provisioned like we were crossing an ocean - Note to new cruisers: Don't provision like you are crossing an ocean unless you are crossing an ocean. I don't know who got it in my head that we had to provision like it was the dawn of Armageddon and we were readying our bomb shelter for years of underground living but it was not necessary. Scott and I gave away about forty pounds of food in cans and bags the other day - most of which was leftover from our initial provisioning trip in Ft. Lauderdale! Not only could we have saved ourselves some precious space on our boat - but we could've saved ourselves some coin too. Seriously, if you are island hopping, don't go nuts like we did. Believe it or not, they actually have grocery stores and eat food just about everywhere and, if you aren't too picky, you'll be just fine.
Spent more time, more places - This sort of goes hand in hand with numero uno, but we felt like we rushed through some places that we wished we didn't. We spent over two months in the Bahamas, and by the time we left there - we had to really cover some ground to make it somewhere "safe" for hurricane season. Particularly, we would have liked to have spent more time cruising Puerto Rico (for example we only spent 2 days in Culebra, and easily could've spent a week) and we just skimmed the surface of many of the islands down here due to timing. Luckily, we're going cruise the Windward and Leeward islands extensively next season - and much talk has been had about enjoying doing this at a much slower, steadier pace.
Explored shore more - One of our "whoopsie" mistakes was leaving without any guidebooks (well, we did have one from 1982 but that was used more for comic relief than anything else - I mean, what were people thinking in the 80's with those outfits?!?!). This made shore exploration difficult. Sometimes it really is best to do a little homework on a place and find out where hikes, hot springs, waterfalls and other attractions might be. Having guidebooks for reference really helps out in this regard. We are happy to report that we are now proud owners of updated guidebooks for the entire Windward and Leeward island chain and we plan to explore more with our baby girl strapped to our backs next season. We also bought a Caribbean hiking guide that lists hundreds of hikes and walks throughout the island chain and we're looking forward to strutting our stuff all over the place with our baby girl.
Do more research on places - See #4. In addition - if you do your homework, you can time your trip with cool festivals and local events that are happening in these islands (of which there are many). This is a GREAT way to really get involved and get to know a place when it's at its best. For example, you might want to make it down to Grenada for Carnival, or to Bequia for the Bequia Music Festival or St. Maarten for the Heineken Regatta. All this can be achieved with a little research and a flexible schedule.
Meal planning - I'm not a cook. For those of you who have been long time followers you know I have really been kicking it up a notch, but I still have a long way to go. I tend to find something that ~~I like to~~ is easy to make (i.e. soup, beans and plantains, rice and beans, toast and peanut butter...) and make the heck out of it. Next season we're going to focus on having a more varied diet that explores more than four recipes. Plus I'll be a baby food making machine. Look out people!
Sat idle for six months - while we LOVE Grenada, we have no idea how people can sit here for six months every hurricane season year, after year, after year...While this was more or less out of our control because of planned visits back to the USA and Scott getting a job (which will allow us to keep cruising for a LONG time now), when we come back next season we're going to try to plan our timing a little better and either find areas we can cruise during the hurricane season, or do something else like rent a little beach house in Costa Rica and spend three months exploring and learning how to surf with our little beach baby. Who knows? You'll just have to keep reading and find out where we end up!
Left with a better dinghy - this was a BIGGIE. We left with a twenty-five year old 2hp motor and an even older dinghy. This is not an ideal cruising set-up. We had so many dinghy problems the first eight months of this journey that we could do nothing else but laugh. In all honesty, however, it really hindered us. Not having a reliable dinghy is a serious handicap out here. There were times we had to stay in marinas because our dinghy motor wasn't working, times we couldn't explore certain places because were weren't sure our dinghy would make it there, and - overall - a lot of missed opportunities all because of a dodgy motor attached to a heap of inflatable hypalon. Obviously, we're all sorted now thanks to our sponsor Island Water World, (we have an 8ft Caribe hard bottom dinghy with an 8hp Mercury 2-stroke outboard) but for those of you planning a similar trip - do not brush the dinghy issue under the rug. It will impact your trip in a HUGE way.
Not worry so much about hurricane season - we rushed through the Windwards and Leeward islands mostly so we could get down to Grenada in order to fly out for two weddings we were in this past summer but we also rushed to be here by the June start of the "hurricane season". One of the perks of not having any insurance is not having to answer to anyone about where we need to be and when (insurance companies often deem that a boat must be at "x" place by "y" time in order to be covered). We rushed south just like everyone else and we really didn't need to. While hurricane season is not to be taken lightly and cruising during this time should be done with caution, LOTS of people continue cruising throughout the hurricane season. I'm not saying you should cruise through hurricane season - so please don't take this as a suggestion! I am just saying that, for us, we would have slowed down a bit and taken our time (with prudent weather monitoring through our sponsor, marine weather guru Chris Parker, of course). A huge reason we didn't cruise more, however, was also due to the fact that Scott got his fantastic job with Island Windjammers (he has now been offered a permanent position in the rotation and we'll time our cruising around it!!). We all know that the cruising kitty is as essential to a journey like this as a reliable vessel and we consider ourselves VERY lucky that work and play seem to work symbiotically!
Refrigeration - our next boat* will have refrigeration. Been there, done that, bought the tee-shirt. We want cold beer. Do you blame us?

All that being said, do we have any regrets?? HECK NO! But if someone else can learn and benefit from the things that we would have done a little different, then our mission is accomplished. If those people also happen to be us being better prepared for next cruising season, then all the better!

Love,

Brittany & Scott

*Yes, many of you who follow us on Facebook know we are looking at bigger boats. It's possible that this "hiatus" home will be filled with new boat talk and possible trips to visit potential contenders. We'll keep you posted. Exciting things are in the works, that is for sure!

Porcelain: A Caribbean Video Interlude

2012-01-30T05:58:00.000-06:00

Made another little video the other day to another one of my favorite songs...

This one is to Porcelain, by Moby. I could listen to him all day long.

Hope you enjoy this little kick-start to your week!!

Love,

Brittany & Scott

PS. We will be leaving for Trinidad this evening - sailing through the night and hoping to arrive sometime tomorrow morning (between 6am and 10am depending), so if you are interested be sure to check our SPOT tracker page.

Buzz of Regatta Weekend

2012-01-28T06:05:00.006-06:00

The time has come for the 2012 Grenada Sailing Festival and let me tell you - things have been kicked into high gear around here!

Scott was originally going to race in this regatta (and I was hoping to be on a spectator boat), but due to our change in plans (namely going to Trinidad to store Rasmus instead of staying here) the timing didn't work out. C'est la vie! Lucky for us we get to sample a little taste of the action...okay, and the Mt. Gay Rum (the main sponsor of this and practically every other sailing event in the world).

Race crews are flying in by the droves proudly wearing their red hats* and strutting their stuff in high-tech sailing shoes, fancy embroidered sailing shirts and donning the shiniest of mirrored Oakley sunglasses. They're loud, they're proud and these folks are here to have a good time. Sails are being schlepped, rigs are being tuned, battens are being pushed and the excitement in the air is palpable. Scott and I are familiar with the racing scene - it's something we spent a lot of years involved with in Chicago and while we prefer cruising, the racing "vibe" certainly has it's appeal! Despite the fact that the scene here is more tame and on a smaller scale than some of the larger regattas Scott and I have participated in - it's still about the sailing, and when it's about sailing - it's all good.

While we're sad we're not going to be able to partake in the fun - it's nice being a fly on the wall for a bit!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

* These "red hats" are the famous Mt. Gay Rum hats that are given to just about every sailor during a regatta and are the "calling card" of the racing sailor. Some people collect and wear these hats with a pride that is a little out of proportion with the fact that it's, well, just a hat. You've really reached the holy grail if you have a really faded, old, jalopy of a hat from a really 'cool' race like "Antigua Race Week" or the "Chicago Mac Race".

Scrub a Dub Dub

2012-01-27T10:05:00.002-06:00

The importance of a clean bottom cannot be denied...especially when it comes to a boat.

Racing sailors know this all too well, and cruising sailors usually learn it the hard way; like when they're slogging along the Northern coast of the Dominican Republic pounding into head seas going 2.5 knots after spending ten days in the cesspool that is Luperon wondering "Why are we so damn slow?!?" Well, I'll tell you why you're slow. You've got a virtual aquarium living on the bottom of your boat. Barnacles, algae, sea grass and mollusks will all be found living and clinging for dear life to your underhull and believe me, it will slow you down. A lot.

Sailboats aren't known for being the zippiest form of transportation around in the first place, so when you lose a knot or two of boat speed - it makes a big difference. Therefore, bottom cleaning should be a part of every cruising sailor's routinely scheduled maintenance. Tropical waters are famous for breeding sea life aplenty and if you don't move regularly (like sitting at anchor for a week or more), the speed at which life will grow will be much faster. Usually, Scott and I would dive our boat every couple of weeks in a nice anchorage somewhere with some scotch brite pads and give our boat a scrub. However, here in the harbor - it would take a pretty lucrative ($$$) dare to get either of us to get in the water and do this (we've seen everything from hypodermic needles to dead rats float by our boat).

Enter our buddy Martin!!

Not only does he not mind getting in the water, but he's got a scuba set up which means he can do a much more thorough job, much faster than we could. For a $100 even - we get a pristinely scrubbed bottom (we've checked his work before and he does a great job) and the peace of mind that we have potentially managed to escape nasty case of giardiasis. Sometimes, money spent is well worth it and in this case, we're happy to hand over a Ben Franklin, thankyouverymuch.

We should enjoy a nice, fast ride to Trinidad now. Here's hoping!!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

The Sponge Man

2012-01-26T06:27:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, at the beach as Scott and I were lounging in the soft, white sand reading our (respective) Kindle and Nook...I heard the call, "I am the sponge man"! Always interested in unique sales pitches, I turned up my gaze and saw this guy. "Loofas! Natural loofahs!" he called out. While I don't need a loofah - or luffa as the genus is more commonly known - (I'm a synthetic "bath poof" girl myself) I did think these were really interesting, particularly because he had a few that were still in the raw - meaning they were contained in the pods they grew in.

Despite my original supposal that these products come from the sea, the loofah is actually from a plant that grows on land called "cucurbits" and grows like a gourd from a tree. A tree!? All my life I wrongly assumed these things came from the ocean! Am I the only one who was in the dark here? Pretty interesting stuff really. For you trivia types out there, you can learn more about the natural loofah and how it's harvested here. You never know when Jeopardy might call!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Next Steps...

2012-01-25T06:51:00.006-06:00

Lots of questions coming in about our next steps these days!

When we announced that we were having a baby back in September, I also mentioned we would be going home to have her around the beginning of the new year. Well - believe it or not, here we are!

After much deliberation, we decided to bring our beloved Rasmus to Trinidad for the seven months or so that we will be away. While there were a lot of reasons contributing to this decision (more in a later post) we also got a fantastic deal on high-security storage with our newest sponsor Peake Yacht Services, the Caribbean's largest and most comprehensive yacht haul-out facility. We are honored and excited to partner with such an esteemed yachting facility.

So, weather permitting, we will be sailing for Trinidad this coming Saturday. Being that I am eight months pregnant we thought it might be nice to have another hand on board in case things get dicey (as they do from time to time on the water) and I threw out an invitation to my dad. Lucky for us - he took the bait and booked a ticket. Seeing the news on Facebook, his best friend (and the best pseudo-uncle there ever was) called him up and said "I'm coming too". So now, we will be a motley crew of four and having my dad and uncle Tom along will make what will be a bitter-sweet journey err on the "sweet" side.

Once we're in Trinidad, Scott and I will be thrown back into "work mode" prepping the boat for long-term storage (again, more on this in a later post!). From there, we will be flying back to Chicago where we will live with my parents (believe it or not, all parties involved are excited about this!), have our baby (due March 21st) and remain home with our little sea monkey for the 2012 hurricane season as we adjust to being parents. Scott will get a part-time job to make more money for our cruising kitty and will also be returning to Grenada for five weeks in July to work for Island Windjammers. We have lots of places to visit and people to see while we are home, so we're going to be busy and if the past year and a half is any indication - time is going to fly!

We plan on returning to the Caribbean next September to complete some projects and continue cruising full-time. There is talk about getting a bigger boat, and we're exploring our options on that front. We'll keep you posted. We will remain here in the Windward and Leeward Islands and we'll probably head south to the ABC's (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) or somewhere else after next season. We're not sure where we'll spend the 2013 hurricane season but we don't want to sit idle on our boat in one place again and we're liking the idea of renting a house in Costa Rica for a few months and surfing every day. Who knows? When two dreamers like us get to talking and planning, just about anything is possible!

Windtraveler is not going away! We're only taking a little break while we amp up for phase two - this next year is going to get really interesting and rest assured, we'll keep you in the loop!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Top 10 Tuesdays: Top 10 Things We'll Miss about Grenada

2012-01-24T09:33:00.002-06:00

Grenada has become something of a second home to us...considering we have been here since June, we have really grown accustomed to this life and now that our time here is coming to an end I've been reflecting on what I will miss about this place. It's hard to believe how fast time flies - I mean, it feels like only yesterday we arrived here and yet, we've been here long enough to grow an (almost) full-term baby. Insane. So, here are the

Top 10 Things We'll Miss about Grenada

The market. I love going to the market and shopping for produce and visiting with my favorite market mamas, Theresa and Shirley. The noises, the colors, the smells, and the energy that is the Caribbean market will be something I miss. Somehow, going to grocery store stateside doesn't quite cut it.
Port Louis Marina. This is home to us. While we had no idea when we first got here that we would still be here, we are. We love it here and the marina staff have become friends of ours and take very good care of us - we're going to miss this beautiful (oh-so accommodating) place and will look forward to coming back and visiting next season.
Grand Anse Beach. The Grand Anse Beach is beautiful - probably one of the prettiest in the Caribbean if you ask me. We love it and try to make it over for an afternoon at least once a week. Many a wonderful meal has been spent beach-side at Umbrella's Beach Bar and I'll miss taking dips in the crystal blue water of this idyllic spot.
Walking everywhere. Not having a car makes it easy to use your legs as your main mode of transport. I love taking walks and I probably walk at least three miles a day just running errands and getting to and fro places. Strolling down the familiar Caribbean streets with nothing but my thoughts and my camera to keep me company will be something I miss.
Waking up to the sun coming through the hatches. There's nothing quite like waking up lazily on a boat with the sun in your face and the breeze blowing through the hatches. I can't really explain it, but some things really are better experienced on a boat - and waking up is one of them!
Our friends and the people here. The people in Grenada are, hands down, the best. Some of the friendliest and kindest we've met in the Caribbean Island chain. We've gotten to know quite a few people here and are lucky enough to call them our friends. From the guys that work with Scott on Diamant (Island Windjammers is also based here at the marina) to other locals that we have befriended, it's going to be tough to say goodbye! Luckily though, it's not "goodbye" but "see you later" for us.
My daily run route. I LOVE my daily run route here. The hills, the ocean view, the little school kids who smile and say "good afternoon" as I pass...I will miss it all*. It's my 'zen' time and while I plan to continue running when I get home, running in the suburbs just isn't the same.
The fruits and veggies. I love the tropical fruits and veggies that are so readily available here and the fact so cheap is such a luxury. I'll miss having things like soursop, passion fruit, mango and callaloo on a weekly basis. Next season...sigh.
The weather. I am a summer and sunshine girl. I do not like the dark, gray, cold, and dreary days of winter (unless I am in a ski town out west, of course! Then the snow is FUN). I will miss being able to wear shorts, a tank top and flip flops every single day. It's going to be VERY cold when we go back home - luckily though, we'll have a cuddly little baby to keep us warm and spring will be right around the corner!
Living on our boat. This is what we will miss the most. Me and Scott, together in our own little world, with our own little routine, on our little boat. Brings a little tear to my eye...

Love,

Brittany & Scott

* Okay, I tell a lie. I will not miss the cat calling from rude men.

The Aquarium Restaurant in Grenada

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

When Scott and I first got to Grenada, oh - I don't know - a million years ago...we heard about the infamous "Sunday's at The Aquarium". We went once when my mom came to visit - but because of timing, we couldn't make it on a Sunday and instead went on a week night. We had said we wanted to try out this whole "Sunday" thing but hadn't quite gotten around to it because a) Scott and I aren't really 'foodies' (has anyone noticed that all we've eaten for the past two months is soup?) b) it's a little pricey and c) why spend money on really good food when you can eat home-made soup? (...In case you didn't pick it up that is sarcasm, the lowest form of wit).

Well, lucky for us my brother Kevin and his lovely wife, Stephanie, got us a pretty incredible Christmas present in the form of a very generous gift certificate to this fine restaurant. Stephanie is good like that - she does her homework and finds super cool gifts that impress - like gift certificates to happening restaurants... 5,000 miles away. We were very excited.

Because we'll be leaving Grenada very soon (more on that later), Scott mentioned we should see what the Sunday BBQ was all about while we still could. Boy are we glad we did! The Aquarium is a great restaurant on any evening, but Sunday is the day to go. The vibe and menu are completely different and being that the BBQ is (for most) a daytime event, you can really enjoy the beach-side, laid back ambience they create. The sound of waves crashing into shore blend with live reggae as customers sip their colorful rum cocktails, dig into their juicy barbecue and gaze out into the horizon. Scott and I spent over two hours slowly grazing through our delicious meals of salads from the extensive salad bar, grilled fresh Caribbean lobster and a to-die-for coconut cream cake. Scott even topped off his meal with a creamy Irish coffee. Bon appetite, indeed!

If you ever find yourself in Grenada over a weekend - the Sunday BBQ at The Aquarium is not to be missed. Though it is available from noon until 10pm, I'd suggest going earlier so you can really enjoy the peaceful, beautiful surroundings in daylight (it gets dark around 6pm here). Expect to pay anywhere from $35 to $65 a person depending on what you order and make sure you have plenty of time, as this will be a meal to savor!

Special thanks go to Kevin and Stephanie for a WONDERFUL day! We love you guys!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Sometimes you just need to lie back

2012-01-21T06:03:00.005-06:00

...and realize that when you can wake up to this view while feeling the sun and the breeze on your face every morning, life is pretty hunky-dory. Yes, I will enjoy every second of this while I can.

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Island Jewelery

2012-01-20T06:20:00.001-06:00

I've never been a big "jewelry" person...If it can't weather the storm of an every day active lifestyle, it's probably not for me. I wear my super simple wedding band and a couple of necklaces by Bronwen* that I love (the short ones pictured above) and that's about it. Keep in mind, anything with a silver chain (if not worn every day) will eventually rust. I learned this the hard way...

To be completely honest with you - I am actually not a big fan of a lot of the island jewelry that we see down here but every now and then I see something truly unique and beautiful. The above layered necklace is one such piece.

It's the only one I have ever seen of it's kind and it is simple and lovely. Created in Bequia by a beautiful local gal named Molissa, it's called a "fisherman's" necklace (because it is made of fishing line strung with tiny shells and beads) and can be worn SO many ways. Long, short, layered, as a bracelet...it's versatile, light and comfortable. It looks delicate but is sturdy and goes with just about anything. I only bought one, but kind of wish I bought a few more because they look so nice layered together.

Luckily we'll be back there before too long!

Love,

Brittany & Scott

* This is not a sponsor or anything, just a brand I love. Focused on beautiful jewelry for the active traveler, her pieces are great for land and sea. Gorgeous.

Personal Location Beacons

2012-01-19T06:52:00.004-06:00

Just one of our very expensive items that we hope we never have to use.

We literally have thousands of dollars worth of gear on our boat that we hope we NEVER have to use. It's crazy, really. EPIRB, life raft and our extreme offshore medical kit just to name a few of the biggies. Not to mention all the flares, fire extinguishers, and life jackets we have as well (as required by the coast guard). None of this equipment is cheap. In fact, all of this equipment is quite expensive which is why lots of boaters on a budget forego some of it. We're in the conservative camp of cruisers. We like to have our bases covered. In our minds, it's better to be safe than sorry and we were lucky that we could afford some extra peace of mind with these safety measures. We've met lots of boats who are not in our camp for various reasons and some who believe that things like EPIRBS and life rafts are a waste of money - to each his own, as they say.

The other night over drinks with some new friends who just completed an Atlantic crossing, we talked about their uneventful journey and they told one pretty harrowing tale of a crossing that occurred a few years ago that didn't fare so well. Pretty much the worst thing that can happen on a voyaging boat would be to come up for your watch to find the person who should be on deck, gone. It is my own personal nightmare and I know it is shared by many other cruisers as well. This is exactly what happened to this particular boat. This story was told to me second-hand so the details are fuzzy, but apparently when the one friend came up for his shift, the other was gone. There was no sign of him but the broken shackle where he had been tethered. The skipper had no idea if his friend went over 10 minutes or three hours prior. For those of you who aren't familiar with boating and man overboard situations, finding a person in the water in any condition is very, very difficult. Add in waves, wind, currents, and pitch-black night and it becomes almost impossible. This friend eventually gave up hope and continued on his trip devastated and alone. Luckily, this particular boat had left on their crossing just before the ARC rally and had a slew of boats coming behind them. Unbeknownst to the skipper, his friend was picked up by another boat and they were reunited in the Caribbean. It should be understood that this is nothing short of a miracle. Most people would not be so lucky.

I tell this story because it got us talking about man overboard situations and ways to protect yourself and avoid them. First and foremost, the number one rule on our boat is: STAY ON IT. While Scott and I have an impressive array of quality safety equipment aboard Rasmus in the event of an emergency, one thing we do not have are personal location beacons (PLB's).

The Echopilot caught my eye because it acts differently than most other PLB's I have seen. This one is attached to AIS so in order for it to work for you, you must be set up with AIS (we have this on Rasmus and it is for sure one of the best systems we installed). It works like this: instead of notifying the Coast Guard (which is on land and could take many, many hours to organize a search and rescue - days if you are in the middle of the ocean somewhere) or simply sounding an alarm on the boat, it sets of a very loud AIS alarm on your boat and any other AIS boat in the near vicinity and (thanks to GPS technology) gives the exact position of the person in the water, right there on the chart plotter. There are several advantages to a system like this, first of all - the boat that is most likely to rescue the person who has fallen overboard is the very one they fell off of (assuming there is another person on the boat to pilot it). Also, giving that boat the victims exact position doesn't only greatly expedite rescue, but increases the odds of rescue tremendously (never underestimate the power of currents, wind and waves and their ability to make things disappear on the ocean!). The other advantage is that it will also notify all other boats equipped with AIS within a four mile radius. There are several other types of personal recovery systems - but this technology is touted as the "wave of the future" in terms of the evolving sophistication personal location beacons. We shall see.

Like I said, we don't have any system like this on board Rasmus yet, but before we cross an ocean I'm sure we will spring for something similar to the Echopilot.* When it comes to safety at sea, money spent on safety gear can be replaced. Life cannot.

Love,
Brittany & Scott

*As I mentioned - in order for this system to work for you it assumes a few things: 1) That you have a chart plotter equipped with AIS and 2) That there is someone else on the boat who can maneuver the boat to the victim. Therefore, as stated on their website, this system is not ideal for a solo sailor. For a single hander, personal EPIRB is probably the best. After not falling off the boat, of course.

I'm Still Pregnant

2012-01-18T09:44:00.001-06:00

I mentioned the other day we get a lot of email from friends and followers... One thing several of you are curious about these days is this elusive baby I've been growing. Well, despite the fact that I don't write about it much on the blog (this is not going to turn into a "mommy blog" and while we will write about her more once she is here, the focus of this blog will still be sailing and cruising) - we're still doing great and growing our beautiful baby girl, as evidence in the photo above which is me just on the brink of being eight months pregnant (eight months...can you believe it?!). Time flies.

I love being pregnant and I have thankfully enjoyed a beautiful, healthy and very peaceful pregnancy. I managed to dodge just about every pregnancy symptom in the book from morning sickness to food cravings and I actually think I am more emotionally stable than before. Being pregnant hasn't hindered my daily life or slowed me down at all (yes, I am aware parenthood won't necessarily come as easily). I've been eating normal, very healthy meals (lots of soups and all-natural smoothies these days!), I run four miles five times a week, swim, walk everywhere and - in general - just go about life as usual. Well, aside from the fact that I am drinking a lot less wine these days.

Lots of you have requested "baby bump" photos and up until the past few weeks, there wasn't much of a bump to speak of (which, admittedly had me slightly worried for a while - but I measure "perfect" for where I am in the pregnancy and my midwife assured me that every body is different and each woman carries her own special way). At six months pregnant I didn't even look pregnant and I still have yet to have a stranger ask me about being pregnant, my due date, or mention this pregnancy at all. However, I am definitely starting to look more "pregnant" and less "thick" so I'll share with you these little pictures of me at 31 weeks taken this morning...

The pregnancy has brought Scott and I closer together than ever and mornings and evenings always include lots of cuddle time with my belly talking to baby girl and feeling her kick and squirm in utter amazement. Scott makes a point to tell her stories and play her music from my wind-up teddy bear, Corduroy, who sings "This Old Man" and he is also diligently working on perfecting "Rainbow Connection" on the ukelele to play for her. Many hours are spent dreaming and scheming of what she's going to look like, where we will take her, and how much she will enrich our lives...it's such an exciting time. Both Scott and I are preparing as best we can by reading lots of books about birth and parenthood and, while we are acutely aware of the fact that we have no idea what we are in for, it feels good to be pro-active.

So - while I haven't mentioned it much on the blog - all is going well over here! Baby girl is growing, mommy and daddy are as happy as can be and the whole experience has been full of positive energy and love. I feel incredibly lucky and thankful to be able to experience this miracle and even more thankful that I have such a loving and supportive husband by my side to experience it with me. Our greatest wish at this point is that I give birth to a healthy, happy little baby. Everything else will just be gravy after that.

Okay, that's enough of the gushiness...

T-minus 9 weeks till we get to meet our little sailor girl!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Top 10 Tuesdays: 10 Items You Can Not Have Too Many of on a Boat

2012-01-17T06:35:00.000-06:00

Our impressive collection of sunglasses. Excessive? Perhaps.

There are so many items that make living on a boat more comfortable. I've probably touched on many of these items before but I thought it might be nice to consolidate them into a Top 10 Post for reference. These are all items we use pretty much daily and have learned that you simply cannot have too many of them aboard a cruising sailboat. Here are our

Top 10 Items You Can Not Have Too Many of on a Boat

Bungees. Bungee chords are useful for everything from quieting slapping halyards to securing items on and below deck. We have a dedicated "bungee bin" with a wide variety of bungees and shock-chord in different sizes and thicknesses.
Zip-lock bags.We have a LOT of ziplock bags ranging from quart size to extra large. We use ziplock bags to store everything from small electronics (to protect from water and/or salt air) to open packets of cookies or crackers (to prevent from going stale) to flour and sugar (always double or triple bagged!). I aslo bought a big selection of oversized ziplock bags before we left and keep everything from clothes to spares in them (the large are the most versatile). For quart and freezer sized bags, we prefer the Hefty brand with the lockable zipper, much easier to use. We also carry the standard zip-locks as well for everyday things. In fact, it's pretty safe to say if there is a ziplock out there, we've got it on board somewhere!
Flashlights/head lamps. Boats have lots of nooks and crannies in them and boat lighting sometimes doesn't cut it if you're looking for something deep in a locker somewhere. We actually have three airline-grade emergency flashlights that are permanently mounted to bulkheads in our boat which are fantastic for the quick and easy grab and go type stuff but in addition to these we have countless smaller flashlights and about five LED headlamps. We also have two LED high-powered spot lights which are excellent when navigating a harbor or anchorage at night or looking at sails in the dark. We have two because in the event that one runs out of juice (which has happened more than once) we have a backup charged and ready to go.
Line. We have SO MUCH line. Spare halyards and dock lines are a given, but I'm talking about smaller line from twine to line that is the diameter of a pinky finger. We have lots of smaller line which is great for everything from making lanyards for tools, to using for a laundry line, to securing our outboard motor to our motor bracket and much, much more. Keep lots of lengths and sizes of line handy (not just the mooring and docking lines!) and you'll use it!
Bins. I've sung my praise of bins many times before. Just about every locker and lazarette in our boat is fitted with bins that stack and fit perfectly in those spaces. We label each bin with the contents and keep them in their designated places. It makes finding items much easier, less messy, and helps to keep our boat organized and tidy. Aside from those obvious benefits, water-tight bins protect whatever it is that is in them from water, mildew and rust, and also contain any spills that might happen inside them (we once had an oil spill in a locker and because we keep all our oil in a very large bin, it stayed contained and didn't spill all over everything else in the locker). Again, we have a variety of sizes from jumbo to small and keep everything from gallons of oil, to spares, to screws in them. Keep in mind that square store better than round.
Batteries. Speaking of 'bins', we also have a "battery bin" where we keep tons of spare batteries in every size and shape. Each type of battery is removed from the packaging and put into a ziplock bag and labeled so we don't have to deal with packaging and loose batteries when we need them. We also have a small array of re-chargeable batteries on board Rasmus. We stocked up on these in the USA because batteries (especially long-lasting lithium which our SPOT tracker requires) are not easy to come by on all islands and are much more expensive.
Chip clips and Clothespins. Chip clips are great for obvious reasons. Down here, if you leave a bag of chips or crackers open for longer than a few hours, it's stale city. We have a variety of chip clips to help fight the staleness. Some people use clothespins to secure food bags, but I have found they are not strong enough and don't really work well for this purpose, hence the proper chip clips. We do however, use the plain old wooden clothespins every single day to hang laundry or just dry dish towels or bathing suits on the lifelines.
Bags. Tote bags, duffel bags and re-usable shopping bags all come in handy on a daily basis. Remember - bags with PLASTIC zippers are best. We've had to perform surgery on most of our metal zippers and our new policy on the boat is that if we can buy it with a plastic zipper, we do. No more metal zippers on board if we can help it - such a pain in the butt.
Sunscreen and Sunglasses. The sun is brutal down in these parts. If you saw what it does to gear out here (from breaking it down to bleaching it) you'd hate to imagine what it's doing to your skin and your eyes. We use SPF 30 and 50 daily and use UV protected polarized sunglasses and carry lots of both (and yes, we have a sunscreen bin!). Because glasses have a tendency to find their way to King Neptune, it's best to carry a few spares however one need not carry as many as we have. That's just ridiculous. How in the heck did we end up with so many I wonder?!?
Amps. When I asked Scott for his input on this post this was his answer and it is pretty much the best one. "Amps" is slang for "Ampere" which is a unit of energy measurement. Because live-aboard cruising boats are (for the most part) self-sufficient most of us are constantly looking for ways to boost the input of amps into our boats with solar, wind or water power to keep our electrical systems running. If you want to make friends with a cruiser, admire his or her solar/wind setup and ask about their boat's energy maintenance and/or use. You'll be talking for a long time.

Other great items that we also use daily or regularly that folks suggested via our Facebook Page are books (love my Kindle), toilet paper (we pay a little extra and use the quick-dissolvable marine kind that can be flushed in a marine toilet - throwing TP in our garbage is just gross to us), paper towels, zip ties, hair ties (for ladies), bug spray and of course spare parts (stay tuned for a more in-depth blog post on this soon).

What are items you use on your boat daily that you couldn't live without?

Love,

Brittany & Scott

Disclaimer...

2012-01-16T06:31:00.001-06:00

We get a lot of emails from fans and followers...

It's actually amazing, and opening our inbox has literally made my day more times than I can count. Your emails have made me laugh, cry, think and some have even inspired blog posts. Words of praise, gratitude, inspiration, and thanks come us every day and I LOVE them. Along with these very flattering emails are also letters from folks who share our dream but are not quite there yet. These folks have questions...lots and lots of questions.

Questions like:
Do you think I should re-power with X or Y?
If I am traveling from A to B how much fuel will I need?
What kind of bottom paint should I use?
Based on my experience, do you think I could do it?
How many solar panels will my boat need?
How much money do I need?
Is X amount enough for a refit of Y boat?
Should I install a high output alternator on my engine?
What should I upgrade on my boat?
Should I buy a life raft for my boat?
Will my cat enjoy cruising?

First of all, let me say I do not want to dissuade anyone from asking us questions, that is not the point of this post! I love to help people out if I can and if I have an opinion or an answer for you I am more than happy to share it (I mean, have you noticed?). On the flip side, I'll also reply with a big fat "I have no idea" if I cannot help you and will try to point you in the right direction of someone who can. I pride myself in the fact that I personally respond to each and every email we get (it might take a while, but I do) but every now and then we get some really, really serious questions that would be better fielded by experts like Lin and Larry Pardey, John and Amanda Neal, James Baldwin or Tania Aebi (to name a few of the 'big dogs').

Which brings me to the point of this post: We are not experts.

The afore-mentioned people are experts. They really know what they are doing. They have been at it for a lot longer than we have and have sailed hundreds of thousands more miles than us. We, my friends, are newbies. In the high school of long-term live aboard cruising, we are mere freshman.

So... I thought I should write a disclaimer:

All the opinions stated in ramblings on this blog or otherwise are just that, our opinions. They are subject to change and any advice we give might not be the best for you. We might even be flat-out wrong from time to time. We are human, we are evolving, and we're on one hell of a learning curve out here.

When we say we love something, that doesn't mean you will. Similarly, when we say we don't love something, that doesn't mean you won't. I mean, lots of people really like those super weird looking headsets that couples use to communicate with, we just happen to think they are ridiculous (BUT -this is a great example - who knows? Maybe we'll have a set in a year or two and be singing a different tune! Probably not, but stranger things have happend!). While we think a center-cockpit, full-keeled boat is ideal for cruising, it doesn't mean it's ideal for you (our next boat could even be a fin keeled racer-cruiser for all we know). We've all got to find our own way in this world nobody goes through the starting gate with all the answers. I mean, I haven't a clue how to re-wire a boat from 220V to 110V. But I'll bet Nigel Calder does! If you want to talk existentialism, books, and the hilarity that is Sky Mall Magazine however, I am your girl!

So like I said, I am not trying to dissuade anyone from writing us with their questions, by all means - keep 'em coming! But what I do want people to do is take any advice we give with a grain of ~~salt~~ sand. I urge people who are planning a similar trip to ours to use a variety of resources to find the answers to their questions. Personally, I loved (and still love) doing research on the SailNet and CruisersForums. Both of these sites are incredibly helpful and full of great information.

Oh - and if you ask us if you should buy a catamaran or a monohull, the answer will be monohull. Every. Single. Time.*

Love,
Brittany & Scott

* We're purists in this regard (just like all those "big dogs" I mentioned above...none of them have catamarans. Coincidence? I think not). Catamarans, while roomy, just don't feel like sailing to us. Again, just our opinion.

Today is the kind of day...

2012-01-14T06:42:00.000-06:00

...where I just want to sit under a little cabana, on my own private beach, and just chill out with my husband as we soak up the sun. It sure is good to have him back for more than 24 hours! We're back together now for good...well, at least until his next work rotation in July!

Love,
Brittany & Scott

Lost In the Sun...

2012-01-13T05:54:00.000-06:00

I've always loved this song by Keane, it was (for some reason or another) really popular when I was backpacking solo through South East Asia in 2006 and always evokes feelings of nostalgia and wanderlust in me. It came up on my playlist the other day and I thought, "Now that's a song to make a video to!" So naturally, I did! I hope you enjoy.

"Lost in the sun, can anybody find their home?"

- Sunshine, Keane

Love,

Brittany & Scott

Note: You can make the video larger if you click on the grey arrows in to the left of the Vimeo logo in the bottom right hand corner. If for some reason you are having a hard time viewing this video on the blog, try giving it some time to load or visit it on Vimeo HERE.