Art of Night Time Sailing

After the end of summer on the bays in Texas, I can let the secret out, and reflect on all the cool, relaxing, and solitary evening sails. With normal afternoon temperatures ranging from 98 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit, high humidity, and low wind, we have learned to bide our time in the air conditioning until the perfect hour, nightfall. We love an evening sail.

Somethin' 'bout My Dog

Jimmy Buffett sings it well in 'Somethin about a Boat'...

"Just a-waggin' that tail

Grinnin' that grin

Somethin' 'bout my dog

Makes her my best friend...

That gives a man Hope"

Bud's spot as JT plays his guitar, 9-3-2015

Enjoying the marina by the water

Good Wood for our Boat

Let it be sung in the streets that I love wood.  To me it is warm, strong, firm, hard to bend, my protection, and my shelter,  When we were searching for a sailboat, I love the all-wood deck sailboats like the Cheoy Lee.  JT reminded me of all the maintenance, work, cost, and possible leaks that could come from wood decks.  We found a boat with lots of wood inside and a little wood outside that we must yearly do maintenance on in the Texas heat and humidity.

Run Diesel Run

We love the internal combustion engine, a marvel of human creation.  Listen to her humming along.  Never take her for granted, listen to her, know her sounds, and always maintain her parts.  Having a knowledgeable hands on husband is always a good thing.

Stop Pooping on my Boat

Cease Bescumbering our Vessel with Avian Ordure. 

In Texas we have lots of birds year round due to the warm weather. I accept them and enjoying their sighting, but just not their poop on my boat or dinghy or vehicles. Come migratory season the drenching of ordure on our pier and boat is unrelenting. We choose not a fimicolous lifestyle.

When Bud was healthier and we were living on the boat more, my morning and evening ritual before walking the dogs for their bathroom breaks was to clean off the bird poop on the pier. I stop at multiple sections and use their hoses to clean off the pier as the dogs waited patiently. I did not want to track bird poo and disease onto our boat and especially not in the cabin.

Fire Prevention on Boats

First boat (Boatox) fire of the fall by the Kemah Boardwalk in September

After two fires in the Kemah area this fall (destroyed 3 boats), let's remember some good fire safety rules.  Practice fire prevention and encourage your boat neighbors to do the same. (January 2015, one fire at South Shore Harbor (3 boats burned))

Upgrade your older boats electrical wiring.   We had a certified marine electrician replace the old wires on our boat, but we still had to go after him and tighten everything up.  AC and ice box shorted out.  Be meticulous on the electrical upgrades or hire someone who is a proven meticulous electrician.  Not just because they are marina certified electrician.  We speak from experience.  Look at our worker page for a suggestion. 

Notify boat neighbors if you are leaving your canine or feline on the boat for a few hours.  Safety First is a practice not just a motto.

Check out what happened to Lobo Del Mar sailboat neighbor at Kemah Boardwalk in October. 

Kemah Fire Department: Small Boat and Marina Fires Safety

• Portable fire extinguishers that are properly certified. Make sure that you have a sufficient number of the appropriate extinguishers and that the extinguishers are in good condition.
• A fire blanket may provide an alternative method of extinguishing a cooking pan fire or allowing safe escape from the boat.
• Bucket

Service and inspect your fire extinguisher(s) yearly!!
They can’t help you if they don’t work!

No Blisters in the Sun

First Coat on the Bottom and fixing 4 blisters, not bad for 5 years

With the quarterly scrubbing of our bottom free of barnacles and growth and plus maintaining zincs on our propeller shaft in the hot Texas salty waters, our bottom looks pretty good.

We used 4 coats of antifouling bottom paint, and fixed 4-5 blisters on the hull.  Choose the right paint for your climate and your planning-to-go area.  Interlux is good and common in our area.

Will Rain Fall over Clear Lake

Having our boat between Clear Lake and Galveston Bay for seven years, we had long heard and witnessed the Clear Lake umbrella effect.  Storms would be coming from the west or south and completely miss or slightly brush over Clear Lake.  Tornadoes would be hitting League City and disappear by the time that it gets close to us which is a huge relief.  Understanding the Clear Lake effect is difficult to nail down because it is not a perfect model.  

Sweet Hearts on the Water

Chocolates, Strawberries, Cheesecake, Champagne, and Sailboats for Valentine's Day

FICTION or is it? ABA, Affordable Boat Act

"The Affordable Boat Act"

Sunny Denial is a Busy Place

Just another sunny day on the beach in Nice

My latest dangers feel like the newest drivers in the Houston area; all trying to hit me and never using turn signals. But if I avoid the rush hours and keep a far distance from them, I can make it safe and sound to the boat to relax. 

This spring has been nice and cool so much so that I have not thought about sunscreen much. I got my first redness-burn at the HYC opening ceremony forgetting how bright the sun was. Finally now I am pouring on the sunscreen again. 

 

I had always been good about applying sunscreen since high school. After returning from the pebble beaches of Nice and seeing all the old ladies that looked like the witches from Clash of the Titans, I used sunscreen, big floppy hat, sunglasses, & long flowing hippy skirts with a healthy glow to my skin, not a tan. I tried the numerous chemical tanning creams but they all made my skin smell like meat tenderizer, not a good smell for a vegetarian.

My work put me out in the heat of the Texas Sun 5-6 days a week, but I was always fully covered with the wide-brimmed hard hat and eye protection, knocking back catbriar and saplings. 

So I guess my lapse in judgment for lacking sunscreen is a recent problem and the lack of proper clothing protection since we got the boat. 

I would prefer to stay in a bikini all day long than my old armor of jeans, flannel shirt, steeltoe boots, leather gloves, and hardhat.  Realizing again that the sunscreen is not enough (I was in denial-Egypt I will miss you). This sun and my new age is changing my skin, so back to the proven treatments of hydrate, lotion, sunscreen, hat, glasses, flowing tight dresses, & exercise... 

 

Apparently denial is a busy place:

Tied up in Knots

Boating Knots by AnimatedKnots.com

Raining day so after stopping leaks, I am practicing my Knots for sailing!

Salut to former Latitudes and Attitudes

We will miss L&A and the sea serpent. We read and watched Latitudes and Attitudes magazine and TV show since 2009. We have grown to greatly admire Robert "Bob Bitchin" and Jody Lipkin and the whole L&A crew.

We met them first at TMCA Spring Fling 2011, second at Texas Boat Show in Kemah, and last at Southwest Boat Show in League City 2012. Bob looks and acts in person just how he appears on TV.

Sailboats and Shuttle

Arrival of Explorer, mock shuttle to Space Center, Houston

Close Quarters and Privacy

So close

Downsizing and living on a boat with someone else can be both pleasure and pain and now add children or big dogs to the mix.

Surfing the Waves

Very light winds and extremely calm seas accompanied us on our final leg of our journey.  Upon returning from TMCA 2nd Spring Fling we motored the entire time up the Houston Ship Channel with little traffic, but like all things smooth quickly changed.

Dead Calm or Boat Show

Beautiful, warm weekend in Galveston Bay, we unfurled the head sail and turned off the motor. Sailing north for about 10 minutes, the winds stopped. The wind meter was spinning around like a stopwatch. Was it broken? No, just no wind to direct the windex. So we found an isolated spot in Galveston Bay to have lunch.

What if GPS went away...

Solar Flare, March 6, 2012

If we were out in the middle of sea and the GPS stopped working, could we find our way around?  I better hope so.

Boat and Smoke Alarm with fried Salmon Croquette

The dogs and I are having a quiet evening on the boat with them praying that I drop something. Fried Salmon in the air, pasta in boiling water, heated up enhanced Amy's Tomato soup, all while keeping mosquitoes at bay. Right when everything is done, the smoke alarm started going off.

All my focus is to get through the dogs to stop the smoke alarm, and to open hatches as I go. Apparently I just reached the smoke point for olive oil. I now remembered the last time that I fried croquettes, the smoke alarm went off too. Next time remove the battery before I fry croquettes, because leaving the stove is far more dangerous.

Two Dogs Are Enough.

Update: Hooray, Rescued Golden Retriever, Sadie, adopted.

Weekly I travel this long stretch of 2 lane highway in rural east Texas with 2 dogs to go to the boat. Yesterday was different. I added a third dog from the Polk-Liberty Countyline.

Flash floods and horrible thunderstorms had torn through this area only five hours earlier. There running by herself with nothing but pine trees for miles was an older looking golden retriever (white around her eyes like my Golden). She was carrying a purple fuzzy slipper along this busy highway, smiling and running across the road.  My heart sank.