Up and Down and Up again

I must admit that I really don't like heights... standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon gives me the willies. The kids seem to love hoping from one perch of "instant death" to another, and make any excuse to scare me to the point of nausea. I guess that having no fear is a benefit of being young and carefree... because I do remember falling out of a few trees in my youth.

But, if you have a sail boat, then getting comfortable going up the mast is essential. There are three reasons to go up and swing around like a rag doll... the first is to make sure that everything is in good shape and ready for sailing, the second is to fix anything that's not. The third and most important reason is to become comfortable going up and down and up again, not just you but your crew. Going up on a dead calm day is one thing, swinging about in a light breeze is another, but you can guarantee that when something breaks and you have to go up, you'll be rocking about in the middle of the ocean somewhere.

So, in this case I had to lash the spreader tips, sew on the leather boots that Doreen had so lovingly cleaned, and check all of the new rigging and attachments before we head out to tune the rig and do a bit of sailing. There was a lot of work to do, so we did several ups and downs, and took the opportunity to find the best route through the rigging, the best pulling points for the one going up, and most importantly to give the crew/family some winch time to get experience in the safety procedures and confidence in holding someones life in your hands.

It's just as important that the guys doing the winching are as comfortable as the guy going up. Doreen isn't good at letting you down, she doesn't like letting the line go through her hands and trusting the winch to do it's job.  Devon on the other hand is as smooth as silk, as long as he stays focused and doesn't get distracted.

Before anyone goes up, the crew should confirm calls, hand signals and exactly what each persons job is. It's safe when everyone knows what's going on and actually a lot of fun when it goes smoothly.

Winching doesn't mean that you winch all the way up. The guy going up needs to pull their own weight and the guy(s) on the winch pull by hand and take up slack quickly. It's the fastest and most efficient way up because trying to winch up a dead weight is very tiring, and to be honest it's uncomfortable for the guy going up.

I prefer using a halyard that's on a rope clutch so that if something goes awry with the winchers, I'm not coming down all of a sudden. But there are times when it's not possible, so choose a halyard that will take you up on the right side to do the work. Spinnaker halyards are good because they're on a free swinging block at the mast head and allow you to move easily from side to side.

Some stuff on the mast is sensitive, so care needs to be taken to work your way around things like self leveling radar and with any electrical wires etc. Also, spreaders are designed to be strong for horizontal compression and not rigid vertically, so don't sit, hang or bounce around on your spreaders, you can step on them close to the mast.

With sailing I've found that anything that's tough to do or requires a lot of effort, ultimately has a great reward. The view is always amazing and being suspended is very relaxing... time to think.

I'm sure it will be a different story in 30 knots, with a pounding ocean and a jammed mainsail halyard... but we'll be as prepared as you can be. The "we" is important, and everyone on the crew should go up and down and up again, just in case there's a time when they have no choice.

Kids Happy Hour

Social drinking and children don't mix. Whichever way you look at it alcohol makes you dumb, more social yes, but you still pay by loosing your faculties, common sense, balance, and in extreme cases the ability function at all.

So, what does this mean for cruising children? Well, even though the general attitude to social drinking in the US seems to be frowned upon these days, once out in the world you'll find that drinking is a highly popular activity. I'm not sure if American's feel released from the social pressure back home when they get across the boarder, but the peer pressure from cruisers of other nationalities is difficult to ignore... boy those South Africans can drink.

Needless to say, Happy Hour is extremely popular in the islands and with cruisers, and just about every drinking establishment offers dollar beers and two dollar mixed drinks on a rotating basis, so you can drink yourself into oblivion every day of the week... for the cost of a big mac meal.

Now we're not big drinkers... a glass of good wine with diner, a rum and coke at sunset, or cold beer at the beach, all on different days of course... that's social enough for us. But our three kids need social activities, and there are loads of kids stuck on boats while their parents get... well, social. There are island kids whose parents have set down roots or taking a break from sailing, so there is no shortage of children who love to have fun with other children.

It's wednesday at the Turtle Pier and it's cruisers night, and our first big Coffee and Ice cream kids happy several hours event of the season. We hold smaller events off season, but between December and March the volume of children arriving on the island increases dramatically. This year there are very few older kids, 10 to 16 yrs... if any at all, but no shortage of the younglings. I think it's because there are less US based seasonal cruisers sailing this season, the US economy may be to blame, or cruising with teens may be a bad idea... we're still in debate about that one, having two teenagers and one on the cusp. Simon (our youngest) sincerely promises not to turn freekyteen next year... that's what they all say.

Turtle Pier is a great place to hang out, not just for parents and especially for kids. They have loads of Parrots and Monkeys, as well as a beach area and of course a bar. There used to be turtles swimming around the dock, but due to the growth of industry and condos around the lagoon, the turtles are long gone (I'll do another post on that subject).

The children had loads of fun with arts and crafts, creating all sorts of unique things and generally getting messy. I'm constantly amazed at how awesome cruising kids are... well behaved, unspoiled, socially accepting without the uneducated judgement of others. The "attitude" that is so prevalent in the kids back home and in Europe is depressing to witness, but these cruising children give me faith that our kids will be alright in our modern world. Yes, they have most of the trappings of modern day life, video games, cell phones, huge libraries of films, music and books (they're Kindle addicts). But, they seem to have their own style, an independence and will that's not effected by peer pressure... maybe some solitude is a good thing.

Janien and Chris from s/v Ijubane are key organizers and do beach days during the week for kids and moms who can also find themselves stuck on the boats for long periods. Remember that cruisers don't have cars, we have a dingy. So, if Dad is onshore picking up parts for the generator or working to build up some cruising cash or the weather is foul, you can get stuck aboard with no escape.

All in all the Coffee and Ice cream event was a huge success and we have to thank our donators. Heidi Davis is a repeat offender and donates whenever she can. Heidi is one of our most cherished friends as is all of the Krenz family, and you won't find a more compassionate soul. Doug Smith and of course Rowena, as well as the Kashmanian family are all supporters and their donations pay for the crayons, paint, pool noodles and of course the coffee and ice cream that go into these events. Without the generosity of these amazing bastions of humanity, these kids would pass each other in the vast openness of the ocean completely oblivious to the fact that there are thousands of cruising kids like them... all waiting to have some fun.

What do you do on Christmas day?

Waking up with the sun is the norm when you live on a boat, and so is going to sleep early. But this morning was different, not because we got up late, but because it was Christmas Day.

The day before we were playing with sails, raised the main sail again... practice makes perfect and the sail drop was a thing of beauty, no hangups and the whole family working like a well oiled machine.

Christmas Eve morning was also very beautiful... still as a lake and the mega yachts that had bumped us from our prized dock looking... well, Mega!

But this morning was normal in many ways, Doreen checking email with her first cup of coffee, the kids whipping up breakfast, but today there was more... prezies. Christmas on a boat is just as festive, but in much smaller ways. No tree but we have some decorations, presents are small too and more personal... apart from the money from family overseas, which is smart considering the cost of shipping.



What to do on Christmas Day?... easy, go to the beach. The wind blowing from the North East means that our favorite beach is off limits. You need to go by dingy and the swells make it impossible unless we get a west wind.

We checked out the beach across the road from Coupecoy... big swells had taken over, and the only choice was to hike a mile or so to Mullet Beach where the waves would be safer.

The crew surveying the situation.

Isabel taking the plunge.

Where'd the boys go?

We had so much fun getting thrown around by the waves and even Isabel made some bold moves. But, the price to pay for such frolicking with the beach is several pounds of sand stuck in your bathing suit.

Hiking back to the boat was really nice as the warm sun began it's dive back to the horizon. Fortunately, being in a swanky marina means a huge swimming pool to rinse out the sand and have even more fun.

Now... what about Christmas dinner?... We'll, our friend "Guy" was out fishing the day before and dropped off some fresh Mahi Mahi and Wahoo steaks, and we had just picked up some whole squid on the French side of the island "the legs for fishing and the bodies for grilling" so it's going to be a seafood Christmas on Odessa.

Merry Christmas everyone, we hope you have your own amazing day.

Shower Power, there's no room for modesty on a boat.

When we first lived full time on Odessa we had to take showers in the cockpit on the back of the boat with a garden hose. At first it was lots of fun, and even kinda cool. But, after six months it seemed to lose it’s luster. On sunny days it was nice, looking down at the fish swimming around the boat in crystal clear water. But on windy days it can be cold, and forget rainy days, way to cold. I remember there were times when it would rain for a week or more and the kids would not go out and spray themselves down with the cold hose. Three teens with out showers for more then a week, stuck on a boat with the hatches closed... not nice. Allan says we should just strip down and use the rain water and a bar of soap. But, that's men for ya and not feasible when you share a dock with others.

Showering outside does have it’s up side. On hot days it’s refreshing and it feels good to have a light breeze on your hot skin. The sunset and star filled skies at night can be so pleasing to the eye and soul, and getting clean in the open skies gives you that, "Cleanliness is close to Godliness feeling". 

When we went to Paris we had a “fancy-smancy” shower with “rain shower” heads and all the hot water you could wish for. It was very modern and looked like it came from the pages of a luxury home decor magazine. But, the picky seamen that we are, we missed the sun set and the starry night showers and couldn't wait to get back to them.

Now we're docked in a very luxurious, swanky dock were we cannot uses our outdoor on-deck shower. We must use the pool to get wet and then come into the boat and wash our hair and body in the galley sink. Shaving for girls and boys was a challenge but a small bowl is working just fine for now. 

I think in the near future I will be telling you how showering in the rain is working out and what type of soap works best. We can’t wait to be anchored off some quite beach with only the moonlight gazing at our nudeness as we bare all in the pursuit of cleanliness.

What is a home anyway?

Now that we're closer to our sailing goals, it's time to focus on living. Why did we embark on this adventure in the first place?, Are we making progress?, Have we learnt anything? These are the questions that roll around in my head when I find myself completely relaxed, usually gazing out over the lagoon with a fresh cup of coffee in hand or watching the kids set out on a new adventure.

These questions are often followed by, Are we going to make it?, Are we doing the right thing for the children?, What happens if we fall short? I think that these questions dominate our lives now because we're so much happier and healthier living on Odessa. When we lived in the rat race we were so busy trying to survive every day or caught up in the things we thought were important, that we didn't have time to even think about such fundamental concepts or even each other.

The answers are elusive and the questions serve to keep us on our toes, To be honest, I long for the day when we can be completely content, in the knowledge that everything is going to be alright. That day may never come and I think that these questions are part of what makes us human, but for now we'll rely on faith... faith in ourselves and our ability to figure everything out.

I once read in an airline magazine, that as a husband and father you need only to provide three basics for your family, a roof over your head, food on the table, and an education. Once you are able to achieve these three fundamentals, everything else will fall into place. The article was about peoples inability to follow their dreams because of the brainwashing we all receive from birth. From the influence of our parents fears and insecurities, to modern societies need to keep people in the system earning a wage, buying goods and paying taxes. The cumulative effect is that we've become afraid to step into the unknown, even though we know that there is a good chance that we'd be happier humans living our dreams. But, unfortunately 99% of people stay in the routine defined for them by the series of events that are their everyday lives.

I'll be honest... the trip I was making was to inspect and hopefully buy Odessa and I still had a lot of doubt in my mind about "my" big adventure. The question that haunted me was, Am I doing the right thing for my family? The article simplified things for me and defined the "right thing" as being the three fundamentals, and this did make it easier to say "sold" when the time came.

One year later and I still agree with the author... all you need is a roof over your head, food on the table and an education. All of the other things, the conveniences, happiness and even health seem to fall into place naturally. Once you're disconnected from "society" and it's trappings or dabble in multiple societies, you find a way to maintain only the important additions to the three fundamentals... you find yourself happy, with a real home and far fewer trappings to worry about.

Now this doesn't require a boat, it could be a small holding in some far off land, even a camper in Alaska, and the three fundamentals cannot be considered geographical elements.  But it does require physically being outside the geographical boundaries of modern civilization. Space is at premium in the cosmopolitan cities of our modern world and therefor control is at it's highest. I can feel the changes taking place every time I'm in a major city, the draw of modern life, the influence of the trappings and the need to escape them before they lead me off the path and into the forrest.

This has been a long and necessary way of setting up this post. Because now that we have left the underworld of the boat yard, and accepted the graces of the modern society that we're trying to avoid. This epitome of social standing called Puerto Cupecoy is our new home, for now. Sure it's a pretty world, full of nice things, conveniences and the promise of a wonderful life, so the brochure says. However, we were lured here for very different reasons, cheap dockage, the need for water and electricity, the room to work on our sails and because there are very few places that we can go with our 8' 6" draft (depth of keel), and most of them are several thousand dollars a month. In other words we had no choice and accepted the offer of an introductory $450 per month dock fee with relief.

Even though there are no guarantees of this dock fee not increasing over time, we have already made plans to escape this trap as soon as possible. It took only two weeks for that feeling of stepping off the path to creep into our lives. Firstly, no internet, no showers, and the worrying part is that there is no motivation to solve these two fundamental insufficiencies, "mega yachts have their own internet and showers" is the response from the resort. This has been closely followed by apparent condo owner complaints about our having a couple of sail bags and lines on the gargantuan mega yacht dock where we are tied up, despite having permission to do so from the dock master. Even thought every condo on our side of the marina is empty, and the yachts in the main marina have anchors, chains and dirty cushions littered all over the place, we seem to be a target as a youngish family living aboard. We are tucked away out of sight, very quiet and you'd not know we were here unless you walk all the way out to the extreme edge of the property... however, this doesn't make us immune to the politics and positioning of modern day citizens in their desperation to feel important.

It turns out the Puerto Cupecoy with all of it's trimmings is exactly the world that we're trying to avoid, and geographically this certainly isn't our destination, but Odessa is a wonderful home full of promise and the ability to take us wherever we wish to go. My family is the happier than I could possibly hope for and I am pretty sure that one day we'll find the geographical element that not only completes our home, but gives us the confidence that everything will be alright.

If it takes longer then 4 hours to raise your mast... is a bad thing.

Odessa is in position, the wind is down and the mast is as ready as it’s going to be. It’s mast stepping day and Odessa will cease being a motor boat and return to her former state as a sail boat.

The process of stepping a mast is not complicated in itself and with a smaller rig it can quite easily be a do-it-yourself job. But, as usual, Odessa being originally built to go fast, has many quirks and complications. Add the fact that we took a risk and changed to new synthetic Dynex rigging with all new fittings, and relied on my ability to measure everything correctly, and you have a recipe for some issues.

FKG Rigging in St. Maarten are handling the job and I must say that I feel very confident in their ability to make it as smooth as possible. FKG is used to handling far more complicated rigs and their huge experience should solve the issues that were bound to encounter. 

Chris from FKG is a quite man, thoughtful and very helpful when asked, we have enjoyed working with him and tapping into his knowledge and experience. He works with Paul and as a team they have a confidence inducing rapport, a quite communication that really helped me keep my cool through the whole process. 

And up she went... it’s quite amazing to see the 75’ long spaghetti of mast and rigging get hoisted in the air and swung into place. Hanging still just above Odessa, who moves under the influence of the water and wind. Slowly the mast drops through the deck, it”s maneuvered through the fixtures below to finally rest on the mast plate (the step). Then there’s actually a bit of a buzz as the lowers and various lines are attached to stabilize the rig. 

This is when I fully realized just how flexible masts are, wobbling like a limp noodle this huge 75 foot pole slowly begins to firm up as rigging is tightened. I was feeling very good about the whole thing, and this is when our first issue arose... everything is very tight and the 4 shrouds are way too short.

Being tight is ok because we should get some stretch out of the rope rigging which has been sat in storage for 6 months, but the “way to short” part is another story. I checked my measurements, looked for a solid alibi, but there was no denying it... I have made a 12” mistake 8 months before.

We lashed the fittings that are too short and tightened everything up to put it under load. With over 3000 lb. of pressure on each line it should work out any stretch and we will be able to attach the lines that are tight in a couple of days. The 4 shrouds that are way too short will need a solution... which I'm sure will come to mind after lunch.


We were on a deadline... leave the yard by Friday to get to our new staging dock at Puerto Cupecoy at the far end of the lagoon. The final solution would have to wait until after the weekend which would also give the rig time to work out any stretch. We spent that night full of happiness listening to the rig sing in the wind, the problems melted away and we cooked a wonderful diner on deck. Even though we're only a third of the way to having a fully functioning rig, it suddenly felt a lot closer than yesterday.


Next stop is Cupecoy, a new luxury resort providing amazing rates to fill the marina while they build their reputation. Quite a contrast from the ship yard and the kids have orders to be on their best behavior. There turns out to be advantages and disadvantages to living the high life for a while... we'll get to that in the next post.