Life and Death Versus Lunch

Vero Beach Public Library
NoLL

Look carefully at the above picture. See the two little fish, one of which is about to be eaten? They are the subject of a little drama.

I was walking past the boat launch ramp. I saw a pickup truck pull up and a man jumped out holding a bait net. I stopped to watch.

The man cast the net out directly in front of the ramp. He was lucky because he caught his bait on the very first cast. The man reached into the net, grabbed two or three fish that he wanted for bait, kicked some leftover big fish into the water, jumped in the truck and sped away. That man was in a awfully big hurry for some reason.

I looked down. There were two tiny little fish overlooked on the concrete ramp. There were also two hungry looking birds approaching. I grabbed my camera and moved in closer to get a shot.

Because of my presence, the birds were scared away. I stayed fixed. The little fish were flipping and flopping. With each flip they moved a bit down the sloping ramp. In less than a minute they would regain access to the water and swim away.

The imminent escape of the fish did not escape notice from the birds. Emboldened by the urgency, the birds overcame their fear and walked out close to me and the fish. I snapped the picture just as the boldest of the two birds was about to get his reward -- fresh sushi for lunch.

Drinking While Driving

Vero Beach
NoLL

Aha! I have a new invention. Yesterday, I was rowing back alone from the cruiser's pot luck Thanksgiving Dinner. My belly was distended from eating a huge dinner with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, breads, vegetables of all sorts, all topped off with three pieces of pie. There were about 150 cruisers at the dinner and 75 dishes. It wouldn't be polite would it to not sample each?

Libby had an errand at the marina so she asked me to row over there and meet her.

After such a big meal the only thing on my brain was NAP. My eyes were drooping. Therefore, I grabbed a cup of coffee before leaving the dinner and went out to the dinghy. Hey! I found out the hard way that it is completely impossible to drink a cup of coffee while rowing a boat. Neither could I drink anything else, or use a hands-on cell phone, and certainly not text. (I discount extreme measures such as hard-hat-beer-holders-with-sipping-straws.) All those dangerous things to do while driving aren't possible while rowing.

There's my invention. We'll convert all the cars, trucks, trains, and planes to use hand-powered rowing machines rather than fossil fueled engines. No need for strict laws, tickets and court appearances for reckless driving. As a side benefit, rowers emit almost zero greenhouse gasses while rowing. Thus my invention will save the world from climate change as well.

I'm sending in my patent application today. All the rest of you can send me your applications for license agreements tomorrow.

Above, the parking lot for the cruiser's dinner. Someone asked me if it was a rubber boat convention.

Above, the cruiser's pot luck before the opening gun.

Thankful

Vero Beach

27 39.77 N 080 22.37 W

Libby and I compared notes this morning. We think it is fair to say that the past 4 years, 10 months have been among our happiest years; if not the happiest years of our lives. We are very lucky and very thankful to have had those years. To whom or what?

Thankful for good health, without which we couldn't live this life.

Thankful for our family which has been totally supportive of our retirement and a source of joy when we visit. Each of our children has created independent, happy and stable lives of their own. That brings us great joy and allows us as parents the freedom to look out for ourselves.

Thankful that we had the financial wherewithal to retire at age 60, and the wisdom to choose a frugal life style which matches those limited wherewithals.

Thankful that we live along the East Coast of North America. For those like us who summer at 45 degrees latitude and winter at 25 degrees latitude, there is no other place in any hemisphere so hospitable, varied, and interesting.

Thankful that we stumbled across sailing as a hobby. It is so suitable as something for Libby and I to do together, and to become a life style just by doing it full time.

Thankful for the boom years of the 1970s. During that boom, capable, affordable, and durable vessels like the Westsail 32 emerged. The excesses of the 70s were not sustainable, yet we still benefit from them. If our choices had been limited to sailboats built after 1994, we could not have afforded to start.

Thankful that we enjoy each other's company enough to live sustainably in such tight quarters and with so little opportunity for time alone.

Thankful for the coincidence of timing that made us decide to retire early. It was not a long-term plan, but rather an impulse. It just so happened that in late 2004, I finished a very long project, had no plans for a new project, and was forced to wonder "What should I do with the rest of my career?" I had been dreaming about cruising and reading about it. The idea just popped up, "Why not do it right now?" I'm quite sure that if I had my toe in the water to begin just one more big project at work, that the idea of cruising would have stayed suppressed for another 5 years.

Surprise! Unexpected Guests

Vero Beach

NoLL

Yesterday I wrote about my dismay for Tarwathie's appearance on top and my unpreparedness for the fact that Libby invited guests for dinner. Ha! That was only the beginning.

Just after I posted yesterday's blog in the sailor's lounge, someone interrupted me. I looked up. It wasn't another cruiser, it was Mary Ann, a family friend from Grand Isle Vermont. I was really caught by surprise. It turns out that Mary Ann was traveling from Vermont to Key West. She was in touch with our daughter Jenny, and Jenny told her how to find us. What a nice surprise. I rowed Mary Ann out to Tarwathie to see Libby. We had a nice time chatting for two hours. Libby kept up her part of the conversation while she cleaned house, and also made lasagna for dinner. "Would Mary Ann like to join us for dinner too?" "No," she said, "I need to drive to Miami before dark."

The next event was to meet for drinks on Waves of Grace, the new Catalina 42 that belongs to friends Walt and Pat. We met Walt and Pat in the Bahamas two years ago. Also coming was Derek from Y-knot, the boat we are rafted with. Pat and Walt and Derek were to be our dinner guests. Libby rode in Derek's dinghy, as I took Mary Ann back to the dock to see her off.

Waves of Grace is a beautiful boat. We all Oh'd and Ah'd over it. Also joining us was Frank from another boat rafted up with Waves of Grace. Of course we invited Frank to join us for dinner too. He said, "Yes." I began to worry about having enough space in the boat and enough food to eat, but Libby assured me that it would be OK.

I took Libby back to Tarwathie. The others would join us in a few minutes. Just then double surprise, who should show up to say hello? It was Al Hatch and Tonya. They are the former owners of Tarwathie. We last saw them in 2005 when we took possession of the boat and they moved to Wyoming. We thought we'd never see them again. Their darling little girl, Madeline was with them. I think Madeline is about 4 years old, and cute as can be. We wanted very much to spend time with Al and Tonya but they were leaving Vero in the morning. Libby said, "Would you like to join us for dinner?" They said, "Yes." I was dumbfounded, 9 people for dinner!!! With only 5 minutes warning???!!! We've never had more than 6 on board before!!! I feared that we would run out of food or that people would be too crowded or uncomfortable. But Libby was unruffled. "It'll work," she said.

Well it did work. The lasagna dinner was delicious. There was plenty to go around. Pat even brought some delicious home made brownies for desert. I cranked up the fans so that the cabin didn't get too warm. Everybody had a good time, the conversation was fantastic, and Madeline was very well behaved. After dinner Al and Tonya and Madeline had to leave, but the rest stayed to play games until midnight (sailor's midnight that is, 9 o'clock).

Amazing. It really did work. Libby was right all along that she could make it work. Kudos to Libby for her skill and bravery.

This morning, I'm working to repair the only casualty of the day. In her scramble, Libby put back the companionway step that I had just varnished. The varnish was dry to the touch but still soft. All the foot traffic embedded grit into the soft varnish. Today, I'm sanding it down again to start afresh with the varnishing. Not a bad price to pay for all the fun we had yesterday.

Surprise surprise surprise.

Our Sorry Look

Vero Beach
No LL
I'm sorry to say that Tarwathie looks like a junkyard at the moment. No, that's not correct. She looks like a typical front yard of a house in Fairbanks, Alaska where my son David lives. It is those front yards that look like junkyards.

You see, the problems is that the boat is not only our house, it is our garage, workshop, shed, and paint locker. While here in Vero I'm working on varnish. Therefore, all the painting stuff is out on deck, as are the objects being painted, plus generator, sander and extension cord. plus other things that we store on deck. Add to that the dust and flakes of varnish that I removed from the tiller yesterday that refuse to rinse away on our new non-skid deck paint, and the fact that Libby invited guests for dinner tonight. All in all, I'm quite dismayed about her looks

When we have company it is worse because then we have to empty out half of the attic (sorry I mean V-berth, not attic) to make room for company to sleep. The attic stuff then gets added to the clutter stored on deck.

Right now, I'm also varnishing one of the companionway steps. That makes it extra hard for Libby and I to climb up and down. I can only do one step at a time, and 18 coats of varnish takes time to do.

I wouldn't be so distressed about the clutter except for the fact that we love Tarwathie as a sea worth vessel. She's not sea worthy today. One can't walk anywhere on the deck without tripping on something.

Wait, didn't we do varnishing and painting last summer? Yes, we painted the non-skid part of the deck, and varnished a hatch and the companionway, and two of the steps, and the cabin sole (floor). Now I have two more steps to do plus some really tough projects; the boomkins and the bowsprit. To do the boomkins I'll have to dismount them. That means removing he monitor self-steering rig and storing that on deck and finding a way to hold the mast and the stern pulpit up while varnishing. Then, we have a whole untouched chapter to open up -- interior varnish.

You see, most people do such work on boats when they are up on the hard, and empty of all belongings, and when the owners are living somewhere other than on board. The way we're doing it is ten times harder and takes ten times longer. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. It can't be avoided if one lives aboard full-time. I'm apologizing for making Tarwathie look like a junk yard. It is also part of the explanation why we stay in places like Vero for so long. We need the stability and security of a mooring, plus on-shore showers and activities to make it possible to disrupt the on-board environment so much.

Below are some pictures of the mess.