Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Happy Valentine's Day
Dear Friends and Family,
Checking in with another update. I’ll write weekly again until we lose our internet and I am un able to do so.
Last Thursday night was our first trying experience on Sanibel. 50+ mph winds swept through Charlotte Harbor. Unbeknownst to us it knocked our anchor lose and we drug several hundred feet towards the bridge, which our mast does not clear. When Jimi got up to check on the anchor he realized our position and took action. He started the motor moving us back to a safe distance and began to reset the anchor. I was doing fine laying in bed as we bounced all over the place. I felt like I was in a snow globe and someone was shaking it. I got up to use the head and that did it for me; I was queasy. The TV was flopping back and forth, so I held on to it until I could get myself together enough to secure it all while I leaned over the galley sink throwing up. After a few minutes, I was fine and I secured the TV with the first thing I could find – Jimi’s apron. I went above to the cockpit with Jimi for a while before going back to bed. Jimi stayed in the cockpit rest of the night monitoring our position. It was a rough night, but we weren’t in any real danger. Now, at least, we have a ‘story’ to talk about. J Jimi has since hooked up an anchor alarm. If our anchor moves , an alarm goes off and we’ll know something is up.
Molly is doing so well, we are impressed. She climbs the companion way stairs to go out. She hangs out in the cockpit, walks the perimeter and likes to stare out the bow (sometimes the stern). She jumps and investigates all over the cabin like nothing. She going to be a great boat kitty.
We got to shore on occasion trying to make the best use of our time, dingy rides, and dingy fuel. We take our trash every time we go, collect more fresh water to keep our tanks full and try to think of everything we can or need to do on shore when we go, like pick up a few staples, do laundry, take a hot shower, go to the bank etc. Everything we need right now is within walking distance of the park where we park the dingy. Even though we still have the truck, we haven’t used it much.
Jimi still works of stuff now and then, but not like before. We are on island time now and he can finally relax. He’s ready to head south now, but we can’t just yet. Daniel is flying in to see us on the 19th of February and we are super excited about that.
The computers Jimi purchased to run on 12volt are not performing as needed, so he purchased a Dell from someone off Ebay, however, sadly it arrived damaged and we must return it. The is disappointing since we are on a strict timeline. It will all work out in the end.
Our time for internet and phones is quickly coming to an end. We’ll disconnect everything sometime in early March. We’ll be sure to let you know when it happens and will then keep in touch via email, Facebook, and our blog as often as we are able.
Speaking of our blog: We think the spammers have been removed from our blog; however, he’s still troubleshooting and he’ll want to install a cool theme like we had before.
Jimi is making a video giving everyone a tour of Sanibel and how things work. I’m not sure when he’ll have it finished, but we will be sure to let you know.
A cold front is coming through today, so we are buttoned down on Sanibel for at least today and tomorrow. Jimi has several projects he wants to work on and I can finally get started with some of my own.
My matron of honor Tammy left two bottles of Champaign here, which we were going to toast when Jimi and I moved aboard. Unfortunately , Tammy has been unable to come back to Florida, so my ex-neighbor Monica willingly volunteered to spend the day with us so we could toast our future with Sanibel. Here are a few pictures. Tammy, this is for you – we missed you!
Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Floating!!
Love everyone,
Lorie & Jimi
Checking in with another update. I’ll write weekly again until we lose our internet and I am un able to do so.
Last Thursday night was our first trying experience on Sanibel. 50+ mph winds swept through Charlotte Harbor. Unbeknownst to us it knocked our anchor lose and we drug several hundred feet towards the bridge, which our mast does not clear. When Jimi got up to check on the anchor he realized our position and took action. He started the motor moving us back to a safe distance and began to reset the anchor. I was doing fine laying in bed as we bounced all over the place. I felt like I was in a snow globe and someone was shaking it. I got up to use the head and that did it for me; I was queasy. The TV was flopping back and forth, so I held on to it until I could get myself together enough to secure it all while I leaned over the galley sink throwing up. After a few minutes, I was fine and I secured the TV with the first thing I could find – Jimi’s apron. I went above to the cockpit with Jimi for a while before going back to bed. Jimi stayed in the cockpit rest of the night monitoring our position. It was a rough night, but we weren’t in any real danger. Now, at least, we have a ‘story’ to talk about. J Jimi has since hooked up an anchor alarm. If our anchor moves , an alarm goes off and we’ll know something is up.
Molly is doing so well, we are impressed. She climbs the companion way stairs to go out. She hangs out in the cockpit, walks the perimeter and likes to stare out the bow (sometimes the stern). She jumps and investigates all over the cabin like nothing. She going to be a great boat kitty.
We got to shore on occasion trying to make the best use of our time, dingy rides, and dingy fuel. We take our trash every time we go, collect more fresh water to keep our tanks full and try to think of everything we can or need to do on shore when we go, like pick up a few staples, do laundry, take a hot shower, go to the bank etc. Everything we need right now is within walking distance of the park where we park the dingy. Even though we still have the truck, we haven’t used it much.
Jimi still works of stuff now and then, but not like before. We are on island time now and he can finally relax. He’s ready to head south now, but we can’t just yet. Daniel is flying in to see us on the 19th of February and we are super excited about that.
The computers Jimi purchased to run on 12volt are not performing as needed, so he purchased a Dell from someone off Ebay, however, sadly it arrived damaged and we must return it. The is disappointing since we are on a strict timeline. It will all work out in the end.
Our time for internet and phones is quickly coming to an end. We’ll disconnect everything sometime in early March. We’ll be sure to let you know when it happens and will then keep in touch via email, Facebook, and our blog as often as we are able.
Speaking of our blog: We think the spammers have been removed from our blog; however, he’s still troubleshooting and he’ll want to install a cool theme like we had before.
Jimi is making a video giving everyone a tour of Sanibel and how things work. I’m not sure when he’ll have it finished, but we will be sure to let you know.
A cold front is coming through today, so we are buttoned down on Sanibel for at least today and tomorrow. Jimi has several projects he wants to work on and I can finally get started with some of my own.
My matron of honor Tammy left two bottles of Champaign here, which we were going to toast when Jimi and I moved aboard. Unfortunately , Tammy has been unable to come back to Florida, so my ex-neighbor Monica willingly volunteered to spend the day with us so we could toast our future with Sanibel. Here are a few pictures. Tammy, this is for you – we missed you!
Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Floating!!
Love everyone,
Lorie & Jimi
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Anchored
Dear Friends and Family,
Here we are with a quick update of our progress and whereabouts.
We motored Sanibel from the dock at All American Boat Yard on Monday to the Charlotte harbor in Punta Gorda, FL. Our friend Ray came with us to offer his help and support. As we motored, we used out autopilot, which worked well and kept us right on course. The 25 mile trip took about 4 ½ hours in all. We are anchored and doing well. Some of our systems are having problems, but they just need some adjustments and tweaking. We are still organizing and reorganizing, which is to be expected.
We are just about a quarter of a mile from shore, which makes for an easy dingy ride. There is a place here for us to park our truck, as well as free water, and lots of places to get groceries and whatever else we need.
The water has been calm so far. Jimi said it got pretty rough our first night, but I slept right through it. A rocky boat is soothing for me and I don’t mind it one bit. We’ve been cooking on our gimble stove and we tried out our new grill once. Despite minor things like getting used to minimal electricity after dark, limited fresh water and no hot showers, etc. all is well.
Molly is doing well. She didn’t like the engine noise while motoring. She stays below mostly and is comfortable with moving about the cabin, eating, drinking and such. She likes to explore the deck at dusk and sunset, but otherwise is still a little skittish up above. She’s coming around though and soon enough will be well acclimated.
We’ve updated our SPOT location, however, our blog website has been taken over by spammers. So, if you go to our website you will more than likely be told “Congratulations, you’ve won. Take our survery”. We urge you not to do it, as we don’t know what will happen. Our host company and Jimi have tried to fix it with no luck. Jimi still works on it, as time permits. We are hopeful to be able to get it back eventually. More to come.
We’ve also experienced some issues with running our computers on 12 volt. It’s not happening. I am currently sitting at a public park plugged in to a 110v outlet and this is how it will have to be until we can figure something out. I’ve still got my Cencorp phone with data and can use that to some degree. We’ll keep you posted on this issue as well.
Here are a few pictures: Image 3 is the lock we had to go through to get from the fresh water canals to the salt water ocean.
Image 6 is Jimi at the helm talking with our friend Ray.
Image 7 is Lorie.
Image 10 is Molly laying in the forward berth during the journey.
And image 14 is the chart plotter Jimi used to get us where we are.
Tomorrow we are expecting 9mph winds steady and are planning to pull the anchor for a day sail. It should be fun.
That’s all for now.
Love everybody,
Lorie & Jimi
Here we are with a quick update of our progress and whereabouts.
We motored Sanibel from the dock at All American Boat Yard on Monday to the Charlotte harbor in Punta Gorda, FL. Our friend Ray came with us to offer his help and support. As we motored, we used out autopilot, which worked well and kept us right on course. The 25 mile trip took about 4 ½ hours in all. We are anchored and doing well. Some of our systems are having problems, but they just need some adjustments and tweaking. We are still organizing and reorganizing, which is to be expected.
We are just about a quarter of a mile from shore, which makes for an easy dingy ride. There is a place here for us to park our truck, as well as free water, and lots of places to get groceries and whatever else we need.
The water has been calm so far. Jimi said it got pretty rough our first night, but I slept right through it. A rocky boat is soothing for me and I don’t mind it one bit. We’ve been cooking on our gimble stove and we tried out our new grill once. Despite minor things like getting used to minimal electricity after dark, limited fresh water and no hot showers, etc. all is well.
Molly is doing well. She didn’t like the engine noise while motoring. She stays below mostly and is comfortable with moving about the cabin, eating, drinking and such. She likes to explore the deck at dusk and sunset, but otherwise is still a little skittish up above. She’s coming around though and soon enough will be well acclimated.
We’ve updated our SPOT location, however, our blog website has been taken over by spammers. So, if you go to our website you will more than likely be told “Congratulations, you’ve won. Take our survery”. We urge you not to do it, as we don’t know what will happen. Our host company and Jimi have tried to fix it with no luck. Jimi still works on it, as time permits. We are hopeful to be able to get it back eventually. More to come.
We’ve also experienced some issues with running our computers on 12 volt. It’s not happening. I am currently sitting at a public park plugged in to a 110v outlet and this is how it will have to be until we can figure something out. I’ve still got my Cencorp phone with data and can use that to some degree. We’ll keep you posted on this issue as well.
Here are a few pictures: Image 3 is the lock we had to go through to get from the fresh water canals to the salt water ocean.
Image 6 is Jimi at the helm talking with our friend Ray.
Image 7 is Lorie.
Image 10 is Molly laying in the forward berth during the journey.
And image 14 is the chart plotter Jimi used to get us where we are.
Tomorrow we are expecting 9mph winds steady and are planning to pull the anchor for a day sail. It should be fun.
That’s all for now.
Love everybody,
Lorie & Jimi
Thursday, January 31, 2013
This is the beginning....
Dear Friends and Family,
It's official, as I write to you tonight from our new home the S/V Sanibel. We are moved out of the rental house and living aboard. Although we had planned to be anchored in Charlotte Harbor this weekend, we have decided to stay on the dock at All American for a few more days. We'll push off on Monday and anchor in Charlotte Harbor for a month. The boat is not quite as organized as we would like, but that's ok, because we still have time.The majority of the push and purging is over, however, just in the few hours we've been on Sanibel we are finding more things to be purged.
My girlfriend, Melody and her daughter, Summer came to visit us last weekend. They helped me pack things up to take to the Goodwill and took a load to Sanibel. We had a nice time. Our neighbor, Monica helped me take furniture to the goodwill and a load to the boat. Everyone's help was much needed and greatly appreciated.
Daniel bought a one way plane ticket for February 19th. He'll stay on Sanibel with us for a week for so and then drive Jimi's truck to Sidney, Nebraska where a new job opportunity awaits him.
Molly is on the boat and doing exceptionally well. She's getting comfortable, sleeping, eating and exploring on occasion.
Things we could miss - a larger living space, regular hot showers, and TV.
I'll try to write again next week with a quick update.
A couple of weeks ago we tested the engine, the autopilot, the windlass, and the genoa sail on the canals. Here is a short video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55g_cnXsxVo
Love everybody,
Lorie & Jimi
Friday, January 18, 2013
From defense to offense
Out goes some of our gun arsenal. In comes these two trolling reels. With the spear guns we already own, the fish are going to feel our presence. At least once we figure out how to use this stuff.
It was a difficult decision to get rid of most of our gun collection, but much of the world already sees Americans as a bunch of cowboys still in the wild west and the last thing I want to do is show up in Panama in a boat with half-a-dozen guns and be labeled a gun smuggler.
It was a difficult decision to get rid of most of our gun collection, but much of the world already sees Americans as a bunch of cowboys still in the wild west and the last thing I want to do is show up in Panama in a boat with half-a-dozen guns and be labeled a gun smuggler.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
We float
Dear Friends and Family,
Christmas was wonderful especially since Jimi gave me (my very own) digital SRL camera. Yes, that was great, but the better part was just being able to spend time with my family. We soaked up every moment of the five and a half days. While in Nebraska, the weather didn’t get above 15 degrees. Can you believe it? It was sooo cold. After the extremely sad trip home we arrived in Florida to wonderful eighty degree weather. Love it!
We gave our notice to the rental company that we will move out on January 31, 2013. This makes our move official and there’s no turning back now. We have to be ready or at least moved out and with no other place to go, we WILL be living aboard. I’ve lost count of how many goals we have now accomplished – but I know it’s a lot and here’s another one down.
.
On January 2nd, Sanibel was launched. It was an exciting day. Here is a link to the video. (turn your sound on). The video is only five minutes long, but the launch took an hour; And added to that we hung in the slings
I tore the house apart going through anything I could (stuff we weren’t using) and staged a ‘get rid of pile’ and then I began moving anything I could aboard. For example: all the clothes I’m taking with me are aboard, all our towels except one each, and some miscellaneous bathroom supplies, etc.
We took 25 gallons of fresh water the boat everyday to fill up our 140 gallon fresh water tank. We’ll clean the tank with a mixture of bleach, drain it and then refill it with the fresh water we’ll use.
I fought a sore throat for one week from the day we got home until it finally hit me and I had the flu. I was laid up on the couch for three days while Jimi continued work as usual without me. It has now passed though I still have a dry scratching throat and a teeny cough that comes on suddenly out of nowhere. Ricola really seems to help.
Our friends from Colorado, Brad and Ellen had an overnight layover in Miami on Friday the 11th, so we went down to spend the evening and night with them. It’s always so enjoyable to see friends knowing we’re so far away from everyone. We had a great time. They are going South to the Islands for Ellen’s birthday. Happy Birthday Ellen!
Jimi is trying to hook up our self steering wind vain. This is something that couldn’t be mounted until we were in the water because we didn’t know where our water line was. He’s now waiting on a couple of pieces of aluminum to complete the project.
Jimi finally hooked up the stern light and the anchor light. He has tested the water systems; the fresh water pumps and the salt water pump work just fine. We had a slight issue with the routing of the vent hoses for the toilets, but he has gotten that worked out and all is fine now.
We took Molly to the boat – YAY – she did very very well. She explored the inside for about twenty minutes and then walked around the parameter of the deck peeking over the side to the water on occasion. After her 360 tour, she recognized the companionway to the inside and tried to go in. This is a good sign. It shows that she sees that as a safe and preferable place to be.
Jimi has ran and tested the engine in place a few times while tied to the dock. It starts right up, runs well, and changes gears without problem. At this point he is very pleased with the engine. He has plans to take the boat off the dock and motor it up and down the canals to get a real feel for it and let it stretch it’s legs (haha).
Jimi uses his spare time to list items for sale on craigslist and Ebay.
Be sure to watch the launching video and here are some pictures of the inside.
Be sure to watch the launching video and here are some pictures of the inside.
Love everybody,
Lorie & Jimi
Lorie & Jimi
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