Day 1 - Right, Wrong and Sideways

Poseidon has been a real joy. He was outside in his harness and life jacket all morning, spent the afternoon napping with me, and has learned to catch himself when the boat rolls while crawling/cruising. He may already have better sea legs than the rest of us. He is currently curled up in bed with his cousin while I get ready to take the first watch. Daddy will swap and the two kiddos will get to sleep through the night. I will be on watch until 0130.

The appliances - They all work, but require AC power. We started the engine when the wind died (think .8 knots) so I was able to make a loaf of bread and re-seal all of my vacuum containers. As soon as the bread is done baking, the engine is going back off. It was a two hour recharge.

The stores - We have enough right now. They try to attack you as you open cupboards, and I forgot regular sugar. (Have the super fine stuff so we'll survive!) Had to replan meals since I didn't have pre-made French bread. I forgot we needed the AC for the breadmaker. It looks like French onion soup is tomorrow night, and we did Mexican Monday chicken burritos tonight...complete with homemade guacamole!

The boat - Other than forgetting the fuel pump switch prior to the engine start, all has been flawless. Yes, we had to bleed it already, but no issues now. The main has a reef in it for the night and the jib is in. Mizzen is still up.

I am enjoying every second of this trip, though am looking forward to the warmer weather as we get further south. Miss everyone, but wouldn't trade this for anything.

Well, watch time for me. Bread is done and we are going back to sail power only. Will post more tomorrow!

Posit: 32 21.102N 118 04.383W

Day 1 - Underway!

We are heading out of the channel right now, and this is posting via Single-side band radio! Poseidon woke with us at 0600 to facilitate a 0815 departure from our old marina, and home of 5 years (and his entire 10 month life). So, after a brief stop at the fuel dock to fill up in case we need the engine, we are ENROUTE TO HAWAII!! To follow our track in a map, and a short update from my husband daily, check out http://www.sailblogs.com/member/heartstrings.

I'll blog the rest of the first day this evening...until then...

Day 0 - Delay

When you finish stores on-load at Midnight, and there is still a mess on the boat when you wake up, you just add a day in port.  I am so glad we did as I am getting ready to head to bed for a full night's sleep with a bellyful of lasagna.  It was supposed to be the first underway dinner, but we had to eat it early as there was no room in the freezer for it.  It thawed in the oven overnight.  The boat magically (ok, well thanks to the hard work of my mother who is in town just to help and the rest of our sailing crew) looks as if we didn't change a thing from last week.  Inside and outside of the boat are beautiful.  In fact, there are parts of the boat that I haven't seen in a while.  That being said, our waterline has disappeared.

Also, remember that post about Poseidon not being able to get out of the boat anytime soon?  Well, today he was climbing the ladder (with me behind him) and made it to the cockpit.  For 10 months old, I will consider that quite an accomplishment...and start pulling out my hair.  His car seat is on board in case the seas get too rough, but we are not sure where it is going to reside.  His jumper had to come down from the mizzen mast halyard as well, and, unlike our one day to week-long ventures, I'm debating on putting it back up somewhere while underway.

Heading off to watch a movie with the family.  Will write a note once we cast off the lines...

More in the morning...

...just finished the stores on-load.  I am going to bed.  Updates to come as we finalize the boat and head out in the am.  Would write more, but I am passing out at the keyboard.  Yes, it's that tiring, but it's also that exciting. :D  WE'RE GOIN' TO HAWAII!

5 Days...sounds more melodramatic in my head

I am a chicken with it's head cut off...5 days...ok, 4.5 days...and I still have to finish the stores onload or we all starve half-way to Hawaii.  Actually, the way the boat looks now...maybe we starve tonight.

So, I skipped the post yesterday to work on my stores program.  Yes, I built a program for it.  No, you can't have it.  Maybe when it is done I will post it or sell it or something.  I wish I could do something half-way at times.  It would add hours to the day.  Alas, the program is amazing.  You input your 52 week workout schedule (I know this has nothing to do with sailing, but it's important to me.) and your weight, and then do this for each crew member (Yes, I skipped their workout inputs.)...use the weight you "should" be...feed the body you want.  Then, select items from the downloaded USDA list (think all of those little nutrient labels on cans in one spreadsheet) 7540 exactly.  Though, I did have to add Nutella...oh well.  7541 in mine :)  It fills in the Carbs/Protein/Fat from the items you are using to build the meals, and compares it to your daily and per meal requirements based upon your weight (according to published standards).  Then, it takes your meals and publishes a grocery list.  Next step is to tie it in with MS Access and my Intelliscanner.  I know, people have been sailing for years without this.  But, think of it this way: The British used to eat salted pork and they would run out of that.  Now that Grandma is in town, COSTCO here we come.

As for the little man who is central to the story, he is out with Daddy at West Marine yet again.  Yesterday, they mentioned that they would miss him (and us).  Definitely been there too much lately.  His favorite attraction is the Caribe dinghy display.  The ones with consoles are on little trailers, so I set him in there and let him crawl around the dinghy while waiting for parts at Customer Service. He bangs the side and tries to move the wheel.  I try to figure out how we could fit one on the back of the sailboat.  Yes we have davits and an old Caribe, but these are 12' with fiberglass.  My husband reminds me we are on a sailboat.  I ask him what that has to do with it...

Poseidon's "cruising" (aka walking while holding onto things) has netted him a couple of bumps, a hand stuck under the handle of the sewing machine case, gently smashing his own fingers repeatedly in the trash can lid and a dent in my new bake ware.  At least all appendages are still intact, and he hasn't gouged out an eyeball, and we haven't had to call poison control.  As much as everyone worries about the boat being baby/kid-proof, I am beginning to believe it is much better than a house.  All outlets are above counters or behind latching doors.  All doors latch, some twice.  All drawers must be lifted to pull.  And, the only way out is up.  He won't be able to accomplish that for a long time yet.  Though cat is quite distraught that he can now stand on our bed on tiptoes and reach her bed.  Not quite the quiet nap she had imagined after all.

Alright, enough for now.  Today starts the daily posts.  Tomorrow I will try the auto-post from the sailblog site to here.  I am off to fold laundry and relocate my shoe closet for the medical kit.  Yes, it's a sailboat, and, yes, I have a shoe closet.

Two weeks notice...minus a few days

Patience is a virtue when I am in an organizing mood, and the entire family had enough to get through the weekend.  It's definitely started sinking in that we are under the two week mark; and we are still finalizing everything.  Is it bad when they know your kid's name in West Marine?  Parts are sorted, bagged and tagged...still have to get through the tools and stores.  Poseidon and cat chased each other around giggling, which made preps easier.  He has learned to use the cat toy, much to my amusement, and perhaps to cat's chagrin.

Legos and the stackable bowls (a replacement for the stackable rings we all grew up loving) are still the winners, but his new alphabet books end up scattered across the floor by evening.  All 26 of them.  I think the combination is going to last a while as well.  I have moved the bowls onto the table in a row at the edge.  He can reach them on tiptoes and has definitely increased his confidence in balancing...chortling when he gets one down.  Legos are hauled around as if they were a teddy bear, which is fine by me.  When it's his playtime during the week, I build things and he demolishes them.  Bionicles are not too far out.  How young is too young for a breadboard and some NOR gates? :)

I am pretty sure that he can tell something is going on, and not just because our cabin was off limits (even to us) for two weeks during the re-awakening of the RO (watermaker) and the subsequent sorting of storage areas.  There is an excitement in the air and I am so glad he is coming with us on the trip.  Even knowing that he is too young to remember it, I know he will enjoy it.  The ability to interact with his world is expanding exponentially right now.  He has moved on to clapping and is starting to progress from two words to attempts at much more.  It also looks like he may be walking without holding onto the furniture by the time we leave...definitely going to keep us on our toes.

The plans for next week include trying to make it through more than one day in a row with real food alone, no milk allowed.  We'll see how Poseidon takes that.  While he has 5 teeth now, and the ability to digest almost anything (though a part of a stress ball came out intact), he is not wanting to give up the free meal ticket he sees in me.  To help with the schedules, I am hoping he will cooperate and we'll be feeding four adults and the two kids (one niece) at the table for every meal.  Which leaves the kitchen shake-down and the exterior to go...

See you next week...It's pre-cruise party time!

Trans-Pacific Preparations

Alright, the weekly Sunday post is back!


For those not in the know, we will be making the trek from the fabulous west-coast of the US over to Hawaii in June on our Shannon 50.  Blog updates will come over SSB (single-side band) via Sailmail/Winlink.  So, they will dual post here and on the Sailnet blog while we are out.

Poseidon has been helping with the preparations, very much so for his 10 months.  From assisting in the bubble-wrap of wine bottles being put in lazarettes to trying to reach the boiling water for the RO (reverse osmosis - water maker) on the stove, he is not one to miss the action.  Luckily, though he can reach the dials on the stove, the guard keeps him from getting to the pots and the flames.  (We do have to always make sure the gas switch is shut-off when not in use.)  Since he is pulling himself up on the oven door, we have been trying to determine the best way to keep him from opening it on his head.  I am going to try a bungee and will post how that works here.

Every storage area and void is getting measured, cleaned and repacked only with labeled material.  The Intelliscanner mini is working wonders.  Kitten, kid and I have managed to catalog all of the alcohol and are moving onto groceries.  Yes, it is a three "man" job.  The helpful little man is a one-stop unpacking/relocation service.  The cat is a waste disposal and shredder.  And me?  Well I get all the rest.  Next up is spare parts and tools.  I will have a full boat schematic in mm before we leave, if my cloth tape measure lasts that long.  Kitten attacks it; Poseidon tries to eat it.  We have made it through the V-berth, main cabin and part of the kitchen.  The laundry room/Poseidon's room and master cabin are still to go.

The car seat is going to come along as a last minute place to strap Poseidon in if things get really hairy out there, but the exact location of where is still up in the air.  He is going to be relocated to our bunk for the trip, and his 10 year old cousin is going to get his rack, complete with lee cloth.  Heck, she might even decide not to come out.  Her parents will be in the V-berth cabin as our second watch team.

I think that is enough rambling for now.  Let me know if there is anything you want to hear about.  Otherwise, next weekend is a post on final prep status, stores on-load and kids newest boat-friendly (IMHO) toys!

Thrid Watch... (07.09 through 06.05.10)

Since our 3rd watch has been keeping me on my toes, and up during the night watch at times, I am only going to give a quick update here. Then, I will try going back to weekly on Sunday mornings.

The first month. Most of this time was spent aboard the Tartan, and with room to spare. The biggest difficulty was determining where to put Poseidon's small rocker that more resembled a hammock than a chair. However, it was obvious that moving out of the 37' boat would become essential in the future. I would venture that all would be okay until he needed space to crawl, though we could easily play around the marina if needed. Perhaps essential is the wrong word. Could he be raised on the Tartan, yes. Would it require more sacrifice than my husband and I wanted to make, yes. It would have been more cozy and less comfortable than the 50' Shannon.

Since moving onto our gorgeous home. At the time of this writing, he is crawling, climbing, trying to walk; says "Mama" and "hitty" for the cat.  With the wood floors, I am glad I invested in the full sets of foam squares.  They have overtaken our main cabin, and I have reluctantly left them down even when guests visit now.  Climbing onto the chair last night to reach for a stuffed animal was a new one, though we have taken as many off-water opportunities as possible to teach him to crawl backwards off furniture.  It worked...no bumps!  He is sleeping in a twin-sized bunk in the laundry room.  (Yes, I have a washer/dryer in one.  Apparently you are spoiled when you get to this size of 'yacht.')  The lee cloth is always up when he is in bed, as his latest antics include spinning around, half-sitting up and sticking his head against it in the mornings.  I get about two minutes to hear the process before he starts letting me know he is up and wants breakfast more vocally.

On the sailing side, my husband and I have taken her (boat) out with just the two of us.  The cushions put on the cockpit floor work great to keep Poseidon occupied while pulling away from the pier and tacking.  Otherwise, he naps on our rack where we can see him down the hatch.  We took a week trip to Ensenada for Carnival and Valentines Day with friends, and he was a great sport.  Extra hands meant constant attention, and were a happy relief when the delay at the customs pier forced a night-time arrival at the dock.

More to come later so I can keep this short...as we are in final preparations for sailing to Hawaii!  I will cover that Sunday.  See you then.