7.09.2012

It's time for another Raft Up Blog.  This month the question is  "Do you think your view on travel and sailing has changed at all since you started? and How does the boat help vs hinder your ability to travel?"  Since I think that Steve and I will have very different takes on this subject, we're going to each have our say in a she says/he says blog. 

She says:  I never sailed until I was 42 years old.  In fact, I was never even on a sail boat until the day we moved aboard Celebration. We bought the boat, moved to Florida and then took sailing lessons. But even after our lessons and taking our own boat our a lot, I was never comfortable and I never felt like I knew exactly what to do or what was going on. Sailing was confusing, loud, scary. For me it was something to be endured to get from point A to point B.  (Point B was always going to be some tropical fantasy land, filled with sun and fun, close to a wonderful grocery store and a clean laundromat.) I used to get so anxious when we were headed off shore, that I would get sick. 
It took me a couple of years to figure out that I was making myself sick.  My anxiety came from a lack of working knowledge about sailing and about the boat in general.  I decided to fix my ignorance and hopefully in the process, get over being sick with worry.  I took a Captains Course and got my 6-Pack license, I spent 2 days going solo down the ICW in Florida, I asked A LOT of questions.  I got some confidence that I really could turn the boat around and get Steve if he fell over (IF he was wearing his life jacket and IF it was a perfectly calm day and IF I felt like it). I have for the majority of the days, gotten over my sea sickness.
So,  to answer the question, my view on travel and sailing has done a 180.  After 9 years I can now enjoy sailing for the ride itself and not just the destination.  Sailing has opened up the travel world for us.  We couldn't afford to go and as we did last year, spend a month in Martinique and then a month in St Lucia and then a couple of months in Grenada and then a month in Trinidad if we were paying for a hotel room every night and eating out every day. Being able to live on Celebration keeps the costs where we can afford them.  It allows us to spend big chunks of time in a country, really get to know the people, explore, and taste the foods.

He says:
Sailing verses Traveling
 SO my thoughts, is this sailing or traveling? Clearly it IS both, but what of our priorities or which do I prefer might be the question.

Sailing: I love the sailing, and even more so when the sailing is great. You know the right wind, low seas, not too hot, or too cold. But the best sailing is usually when there is little in the form of schedule or sailing with several good destination options. To a sailor this should be obvious, but to others less so. Without schedule we can sail off the wind, never having to motor. If we can't get there because the wind is blowing from the wrong direction we have options, more so options that are comfortable, don't overstress the gear or the crew. We can tack(zig-zag) with the wind on our beam (side) taking all day or all week/month perhaps to get there, wherever "there" is. Or without a hard destination or as mentioned several destination options, we simply change "there" to be somewhere we can sail to instead of going toward the wind to reach. Again making it a comfortable, fun sail instead of straining us or the good ship Celebration. Frankly the easiest sailing is when we are far offshore. Bad wind, bad seas become so much less bad with a simple course change they can even become good seas and winds.

Traveling: Yup, love the traveling too. For us however it seems to be more of seeing places in depth over seeing more places. When we arrive in a port we like we tend to stay planted to the bottom for a longer period than most, A month or more is common, allowing us to see more of the place, learn a bit of the culture, how to get around, meet some of the people, and become a regular on the streets and in the markets. There is a comfort for us in spending more time, but trading off the stopping in every port possible as we've moved north/south with the seasons and storms.

I guess in the end the sailing as a way of traveling is a good match for me. No schedule, no return flight, no deadline for seeing what I wish to see then racing off to another land or back "home" for our home is here. If there is work to do, or more to see we simply stay put a bit longer...then move when the wind is forcast as right for our next destination, accepting another if the forcast isn't quite right.


The rest of this month's raft up participants:

7.08.2012

Land Cruising

      It's been awhile since blogging; Lot's to catch up on so I'll hit a few highlights.  It all begins by taking the boat out of the water. Never comfortable as your home is hanging by a couple straps as it' lifted, washed, then moved over land to some precarious looking stands and blocks to rest out of the water for a while. This time we expect around three months.
The Haul


First stage was a week to prepare her to sit that long without use and do a bit of basic maintenance:
Our Home Away From Home
Cleaning out/defrosting the fridge, changing the solar controller,pulling the prop and sending for a re-pitch, removing all the sails and awnings, marking, and grinding out a few fiberglass blisters.




Next stage roughly two months poking around the US to visit our girls, attend Mom's 80th birthday party, see the rest of our parents, and visit a few friends. The last stage will be returning to Celebration to re-glass in the blisters, install the prop, fix the bent anchor Lynn mentioned, and put on a few new coats of anti fouling bottom paint.

 
Bursing? Adjima Was Very Supportive but No Cash,
 Have to Keep Practicing

     So far so good. The first stage is long done and went without a hitch. Next we spent five days heading west camping along the way. Nice since we took five days to do this trip what we usually do in around two.




Made it to Minnesota by driving all small roads. With the exception of around 25 miles going north from Iowa City we drove no Interstate Highways. All in all a nice, slow trip winding through the Blue ridge Mountains where we saw many deer, a black bear, and across the heartland seeing parts of the country we haven't ever taken the time to see.
Not Sails, But Looking up at the Tent is the Closest We'll Get



We stopped in Iowa City to see our friend Jeff Hazzard who is working there this summer and one of my military brothers (and Dream Team member) from my Mac Dill assignment (now Major) Randy Larson.  Two cool.



Lynn, Me, Mom (Jean Kauffmann), Daughter Amanda
   

On the 4-5th we went into the "Twin Cities" to visit our daughter Amanda and Lynn's brother Tom where we had a BBQ, played a little guitar and got caught up....at least a little after all these years. Now back at my Moms in Glencoe MN and celebrating her 80th birthday which is actually the 10th but the party is on Saturday 7 July. Soon of to Lynn's parents in North Dakota and off to her families reunion. Should be a lot of fun! I'll have to post more updates later.....