Knot Tying in Everyday Life

One of the many skills needed to be an awesome mariner is that of knot tying.  I can remember years ago after we had purchased our very first boat ever, but not yet taken in out on the water as a family.  Only my husband and his friends had taken it out up to this point.  The few days before the planned outing Outdoor Dad and I sat around the dining room table with some rope and tried to figure out how to make a few very basic knots that we would need to know.  Thinking back to those evenings, they were fun and it was exciting to think about the adventures that might be in store for us.  However, with the benefit of hindsight - the two or three knots we practiced (while they got us through the weekend) were woefully inadequate for living on a sailboat and sailing it around. 

We have managed to learn a few more, and can now generally tie the 'correct' knot for the situation.  Or at least a knot that another sailor could recognize and be able to untie and not think we were completely clueless.  But, we have decided that the kids are not going to suffer from the same fate that we have.  And so we have been teaching them a few knots.  Outdoor Boy will probably be pretty far ahead of any other Tiger Scouts at a minimum, I would be willing to bet when the time comes.

Life back in the Pacific North West

It has been quite a while since previous posts, I keep telling myself that I am going to work on it.  And I truly hope to.

Sparing everyone the back-story, I will just start with this week.  We are in the middle of purchasing a 42ft Catalina tri-cabin - woohoo!  It is all but finished, just crossing 't's' and dotting 'i's' on the final documentation and on Saturday we will do the official handing over of the keys and can commence transforming it into our new home.

Yes, you heard that right, we are planning on moving back aboard.  Not sure where we are going to have it moored, somewhere in the Puget Sound should hopefully work, not planning on venturing out to the Pacific and beyond just yet.  :-)  

This is a pretty good reflection of what we have been doing so far.  Re-grouping and enjoying our time back as a family while planning for the next adventure.  Putting all the moving pieces back together while building a new picture of how we want our lives to look going forward. 

Books we have and are reading 2013-2014 school year

I have decided to post an on-line journal of the books that we have finished (and what we are currently reading) for the 2013-2014 school year that we read as a family.  Without further delay, here they are:

Ginger Pie -  Eleanor Estes
Where the Sidewalk Ends - Shel Silverstein
The Cat in Numberland - Ivar Ekeland
Sarah, Plain and Tall, Caleb's Story, and Skylark - Patricia MacLachlan
The Boxcar Children - Gertrude Chandler Warner
Encyclopedia Brown Boy Detective - Donald J. Sobol
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Robert C. O'Brien
(currently) The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster

Sailing on Lake Mead

Outdoor Dad and I were able to go to the sailing weekend class this past weekend.  It was nice to get on some other boats and see how they sailed.  We were able to go on a J/29 and an Ericson 25 - it was interesting to see how things were both similar and different from our Cal 29.  And also how different Lake Mead is to Puget Sound.  Here was the first view of the lake.

The wind difference from coming off an ocean and around islands vs. over the edge of a cliff.  I am sure there are all kinds of technical explanations and models, but I don't really know what they are.  But it seems to boil down to - it is windier near the edges - lol.  Quiet helpful isn't it?  Neither day that we were on the water have very strong or steady winds.  Maybe up to 5 knots of wind with a good strong gust, and not sustained.  Which I know that the winds certainly can be much stronger and nicer, just not last weekend.

Another funny, for us, experience, was that the owner of the Ericson offered to beach the boat so that we could jump out and go swimming and explore one of the coves.  The boat has a swing keel so that it can be retracted up.  The moment that the boat hit the beach Outdoor Dad and I just looked at each other with disbelief, did this just happen on PURPOSE?  It was all we could do not to laugh, it was just such a surreal experience to hit the bottom on purpose.  I will admit that we have been on boats in the past that have touched the bottom, but in the Puget Sound, most of the time, this is not done on purpose and is generally the beginning of a sad and/or costly boating story.  But, here, we all just hopped off and splashed in the warm water.  Then pushed the boat off and went on with the rest of the afternoon.

Another adventure was seeing the back of Hoover Dam for the first time. 

Best Regards,
Outdoor Mom

Big Changes

Hello - it has been a while since I have added a blog post.  Life has been quite the whirlwind.  Last update we were living on the sailboat and touring the Puget Sound.  We are now living in a 'mansion' - 25 times bigger then the sailboat, we figured this out during a math lesson one morning - in the middle of the desert - no ocean to be found.  However, there is lots of wind.  And, we are living next to a small man made lake that has a few dinghy sailboats on it.  Maybe that will be the next water adventure, or maybe not, who knows.

So you might be wondering, what? What happened?  Well, the short story is that Outdoor Dad has a new job and we had to move so that he could take it.  It is a great opportunity for him career wise, and we are expecting many more outdoor adventures even here, once it cools down a bit that is.  We are a few hours from the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, and lots of other interesting places that we have never had the chance to visit before.

There is actually a sailing possibility here as well, the main spot is at Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam.  In fact we Outdoor Dad and I are taking a sailing class there next weekend.  I know, taking a sailing class after we have sold our boat and been up and down and around Puget Sound.  And we are not buying one here, which might turn out to be famous last words.

In closing, here is a photo of our new community swimming lagoon.  The kids have enjoyed it a ton and named the small islands that they build Mermaid Isle.

Summer School? You bet!

We decided that since we love to learn, and because really, the learning never stops, that we were going to keep up our routine over the summer months and still do 'formal seat work' in our homeschooling.  One exciting thing, is that Outdoor Boy is also going to officially start joining us.  He is really growing up!

I thought I would give a little glimpse into our daily routines and see what we have been studying this week.  In addition to all the interesting life stuff as well.

Here is Outdoor Girl doing some reading (while we crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca).

This is the cover of the summer reading log that she has started.  She is so, so excited to participate.  Outdoor Boy is also doing one, but you can tell he is just doing it because his older sister is as well.  We are not going to be here long, but in the four days that she has been enrolled she has managed to complete 6 of the challenges, and received a new Rainbow Fairy Book!!!  As well as a grab bag, shave ice, flexible flier, and other stuff - how is it all going to fit into her room?  I don't know.

We decided to take an inter-island ferry one day.  It goes around to Orcas, Shaw, Lopez, and Friday Harbor and is free to go around the circuit on.  One of the things they enjoyed was doing puzzles that are set up at the tables that anyone can help put together.  This one they finished, you can see another one in the background of the second picture while they decided to take a break and work on writing (Outdoor Girl) and math (Outdoor Boy).  We were waiting for loading and unloading and not moving was not quite as exciting on the ferry as being underway.

Here they are working on some math, learning about square numbers.  And the best part - mini chocolate chips!  They were so funny.  I told them they had to wait till we were done to eat them, and that they could only eat those that they made a square with.  At the end we didn't have enough blocks to make a complete square, so they came up with the idea of putting the chocolate chips where they would be as if we had enough squares to finish so that they could eat more.

Cheers,
Outdoor Mom

Going on a Shrimp Hunt

The diversity of sea life in and along the Puget Sound is really amazing.  This past year of living on the boat we have learned so much on our multiple times daily walk along the piers looking over into the water.  The sea life changes with the seasons, and also with the locations.  I know, really no surprise, but watching it unfold day by day right before your eyes and under your feet can really be a humbling experience.  I have learned more about Jelly Fish in the past year then I ever expected.  This is a picture of a Lion Mane Jelly fish we saw one afternoon in Olympia.  Just hanging out outside the door.  Good thing we were not in a hurry to get anywhere that we got to stop and really look at it.  Underneath, is has all kinds of orange and yellow tentacles, this picture in no way shows the awesome beauty and we watch him/her swim for probably 20 minutes marveling in it. 

But this post is supposed to be about Shrimp.  We did not see shrimp even once in Olympia that I can think of.  But here, here they are everywhere!  And they are exciting to try and catch with a net.  I had never attempted this before, it is an art, and it is kind of fun.  One thing we have learned, is that they come out in the evening but that you can find them all the time.


We started our search with the net that we had on the boat.  However, while our net is great for getting crabs in Olympia, we found that it did not work so well for shrimp in Friday Harbor.  The docks in the marina for one thing are quite a bit higher from the level of the water.  And secondly, the shrimp like to be much deeper.

We managed to procure two of the official 'child shrimp catching nets' that are sold in town and things became much easier.

But while we were still using the smaller net we managed to get some.  Here is Outdoor Dad helping to transfer the catch into the bucket.

Our prisoner.

Where am I?????

Here is Outdoor Boy getting into the action.

And here was out take from about 30 minutes or so of trying to catch them.  We counted about 30.  We decided to let them go this time.

But stay tuned, you never know, there might be a post about having them for dinner . . .

Cheers,
Outdoor Mom

A Beautiful Sunday!

What a nice day.  We are spending it with family that came over on the ferry.  I just thought I would put up a few pictures and try to do fill in with some more details later.

Outdoor Mom

 Outdoor Girl has been working on her knot tying, this is her first attempt at Monkey's Fist.  Outdoor Dad has promised an ice cream if she can get it and do it well without using the card at all.

 The start of a sailboat race in Port Townsend.

Lots of days spent like this one.  Playing on the beach.  Outdoor Kids made up a new on-going game where they each have empires and have many adventures with the different people, stores, and treasures in each of the empires.

A Week in Port Townsend, WA

We spent one week in Port Townsend, it was the second week that Outdoor Dad was telecommuting but the first that we had spent in 'unfamiliar territory'.  From my perspective it went well.  Trying to figure out how to organize our days on the boat, how for him to organize his days, and just how to get things done without stepping all over each other.

We spent several nights at anchor, and several nights at the city dock.  The nights at the city dock were interesting in how different they were.  The first one, no issues, just like being at any other dock.  The second, the waves were ferocious.  After several times getting out of bed to re-tie lines and mess with things we finally let out a ton of slack into the dock lines, and put out several extra fenders and tied those to the dock instead of to the boat.  Then seemed to do the trick as far as our boat hitting the dock where there were no fenders and causing possible damage.  Not a very restful night however, we were wishing we were at anchor, but didn't want to go about moving in the dark.

As far as activities, the beach was a HUGE hit.

 We went to several different ones.  In the picture below, Outdoor Girl and Boy are very involved in a game of 'Empire'.  This lasted for days and was very elaborate.  It consisted of making lands called empires, and then filling them with people and making towns, industries, and shops and then playing out their lives.

One day we met up with friends and had a grand time playing at the beach.  In this picture they found some rope that had washed up and were trying to untie it.  They also enjoyed making and playing in forts made out of all the drift wood around.

In the afternoon we hiked over to Fort Worden State Park and explored the old bunkers.  As you can see, both enjoyed making my blood pressure rise as they explored and climbed everywhere.  

On our walk we came across this statue.  We didn't make it, but I am very happy that someone did and that we were able to enjoy it.  Outdoor Boy decided that it really needed a baby, and that he could build a baby one.  So, he put the small stone on the left side and that is that baby.

Another day we spent visiting all of the toy stores in town.  That was quite a hit.  Here they are enjoying several of the games to try.

We had a nice week.

Cheers,
Outdoor Mom

Day Two

Today our membership in the local sailing club finally paid for itself.  One of the benefits is being able to get reciprocal moorage at many different places.  And today, the free moorage benefits exceeded a years membership dues.  Always a nice feeling.  And I am glad we are tied up because the winds are gale force according to the marine forecast, they are pushing us around quite a bit and we have messed with the halyards several times and can not seem to make, and keep, them from banging.

Today we saw Orca, or killer, Whales.  Very cool.  We saw them for a good three or four minutes before they dove and were not spotted again.  We didn't even try to get a picture though, they didn't come up at regular predictable intervals like the dolphins, and those were insane hard to get the, not even very good, picture that we got yesterday.

Today's bridge photo was taken under the Port Townsend Canal bridge.  It was actually scarier then the Narrows, MUCH closer and no way to not go through once we entered the canal.

As you can see, we once again were going directly into the wind.

We plan on sticking around here for the week so that Outdoor Dad can work  at his day job, we have a plan to visit all the toy stores as well as several of the museums and parks.

Cheers,
Outdoor Mom

Day One - Ice Cream Curise vs. Cruise to Nowhere

We made it - day one is down.  15 hours moving the boat.  I can't really say sailing the boat, although we did have the sails up some of the time.  The entire day the winds blew against us, we decided to motor instead of tack.  Since we were a little further away then our preferred destination due to the engine issues, we decided that we just wanted to slog through as quick as we could and use all available daylight to our advantage.

We left at first light, about 4:30 AM, here is our last pictures of our last official home port:

And Dad, this photo is just for you, do you recognize it?  I promise, the only reason we were this close was because it was tied up to the dock, engines off   :-)

The day progressed with out any incidents.  We even saw several groups of little spinner dolphins.  Outdoor Boy saw them and promptly told us it was good luck, just like in a story we finished listening too.  The picture was kind of difficult but here was the best one.  You can just barely see the fin of one of them sticking out of the water.  They would travel in groups of 4-6 and we saw several different groups.

You can just make out the Narrows Bridge in the distance.

Here we are going under the Narrows Bridge.  WooHoo! - going with the current and some wind, making good time.

But then, the tiny wind was gone.  The kids had fun being our look out.  Making sure we were not going to run into anything and being dolphin, sea lion, other wild life, and train spotters.

Making waves - East of Bainbridge Island.

Outdoor Girl thought of a new hairstyle and had me put in it, she was very excited about it.

Good Night.

Sailing Away???

This blog has been very much neglected, sorry about that.  Life was just so interesting and fun and exciting that I didn't manage to blog about it as I had intended.  I am trying to work on that.

So, the big exciting thing, we are casting off the dock lines and setting out to sail.  Yes, a whole summer of sailing.  Outdoor Dad has a job that is allowing him to telecommute for the summer and we plan to take full advantage of it.

We have spent the last few weeks getting ready.  Purchased a new life jacket for Outdoor Boy who is growing so fast, made sure that all the emergency equipment was up to date, working, and where we wanted it.  Took out the dehumidifier and put back in the toilet (it is really, really, nice to not have so much rain).  Even gave the boat a good scrubbing and it looks much nicer.  Then we brought the cushions for the cockpit out of storage.  Gave the electric system a bit of an upgrade so that we are able to have power without being plugged into the shore power.  We now have a solar charger, a solar trickle charger, and an inverter to run off the outboard engine.  We decided to forgo the generator and just use an inverter because we didn't want to add another engine.  We also took off the electric over and replaced it with a two burner propane stove.

We think we are about ready to cast off.   We have been speaking with the kids a lot lately about how sometimes you just need to be flexible and go with the flow.  That just because X, Y, and Z are on the agenda for the day, sometimes A comes along and takes precedence.  And Y or Z just have to wait, or maybe you decide to not do Y or Z after all.  What does this have to do with sailing you ask???  Well, we had planned to leave yesterday.  But, something came up (uggg, carburetor issue with our engine) and we had to delay.  Our new plan is to leave tomorrow now that it is fixed.

Today, we attended an event with quite a few of our friends.  An event that had we been sailing, we would of not been able to go.  At the conclusion of it, we are discussing what our afternoon plans were and if we had time to do X, Y, Z, M,N, O, and P (no possible way to fit all of these things in) Outdoor Girl tells me "I'm so glad our plans changed and we could come today, it made me happy to see my friends and give them a hug good bye.  Sometimes plans change for the better." And I have to agree.  In some ways, I am glad we had another day here.

And really it was a nice day.

Here is Outdoor Dad putting the engine back together, it works!!!!

Bon Voyage.

The topic of our living situation naturally comes up in conversion with a host of people at work, church, the playground etc. A surprised "Oh" is their typical response, especially when they discover that we have two small children. Typically, the conversion progresses to something like "I could never do that", or "My wife would never let me do that" or "what a great experience this will be for your kids" or "How do you manage in such close quarters?"

Well, much easier than living in an Army tank with three other grown men.

In a tank, the driver lays reclined down in the front of the hull while the gunner, loader, and commander are in the turret behind two feet of armor in a cavity about the size of a space capsule. On a boat, you're not competing with a 120mm smooth bore cannon for space. The back deck of a tank is nice and cozy to sleep on at night, if sleeping on top of a running 1500 horsepower turbine is your thing. So we usually slept inside, upright in our seats. For pillows, we just kept our helmets on and rested our heads up against the cold steel. When you're sleep deprived, you can sleep in just about any position.

As with a tank, I think it must take time for boat and crew to get acquainted. At first, you're always forgetting where you put your flashlight, electric razor, leatherman, map, etc but with time, things have a way of finding their ideal location to where you can grab them even in the dark. It's imperative to know where everything is so that you're not fumbling around in the heat of the moment; simple little things like tying your map to the machine gun mount so that it doesn't blow away and having it situated in such a way to be able to read the GPS and efficiently plot coordinates on the map while moving at 30 MPH over undulating terrain, at night. In that respect, I think sailing and tanks have a lot in common, especially in rough seas. It makes me want to stow every last bit of our earthly possessions, down to the tea and spices that decorate the walls in the salon. We're obviously just starting out, but I'm already looking forward to one day sailing at night. I like the idea of being outside in the cold, piloting our boat up the Sound, while my family is down below comfortable, warm, and safe.

We actually sailed for the first time today, with just the main sail. The wind was barely blowing but just the simple act of hoisting the sail and watching it fill with wind, felt like a major step. After an hour, we anchored and the kids and I explored a small inlet in our kayak while V napped.

Pictures of inside the boat

Everyone keeps asking for pictures.  So here we go, not too many though.

Here is the kitchen, otherwise known as the galley.  In this picture you can see the ice box that we use for our dirty clothes hamper.  You can also see my three hardest working appliances.  The crockpot (with dinner in it), the water heater, and the lovely new coffee pot.  On the far left of the picture you can see our cup holder, yep, everyone get's ONE cup.  You can see that we have one empty space, because Outdoor Girl is drinking tea while she does her school work with her cup.

Here is the other side of the kitchen.  If you notice the pink play silk hanging on the right side, that is the covering to Outdoor Girl's room, otherwise known officially as a quarter berth.  You can see my convection oven sitting above the fridge here as well as the sink.  I have several windows just out of view of the camera on both of these.

Here is a shot from the front of our room forward.  Yes, we have a door, it is not in this picture.  This is the very front of the boat.  The anchor is on the other side of what looks like a white stripe in the middle top of the photo. the angle of this photo is really bad.

Here is from the front of the boat looking toward the back on the inside.  Through the door on the other side, you are looking through the bathroom (we removed the toilet and added a dresser and 2nd row on hanging closet space) and then through the kitchen/living area.  Just past the kitchen you can make out Outdoor Girl's berth, and what you can't see is the living area or the door to the inside.

Here is the bathroom sink all cleaned off.

And here it is in reality.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Getting ready to move aboard

It is Monday evening - in about a week we should have our new home in the water here and getting ready to move aboard.  It is exciting and scary all at the same time.  I keep thinking about the 1 million things that need to be done first.

Today I went into the iMac store at the mall and had a long conversation with one of the sales people about how we can change our 'electronic' life so that it will mesh well with living on a boat.  I feel like technology has gone through about 30 generations since the last time I put any real thought or effort into how I was going to communicate with the world.  I think, maybe, just maybe, in a few weeks we are going to own a smart phone (or two), have a data plan, drop the land line, and go flying into the future.  It is really scary.  I am sure a number of you reading this post are thinking 'about time already'.  I know the kids are excited, they are already begging for an iPad after being in the store for the 20 minutes it took for the guy to try and explain how a phone can power the internet for a laptop to me.

I have also been working on downsizing the various components of our lives.  Today a friend came over and got some of the homeschooling items that I am no longer using.  It feels really freeing to know that the 'things' in my life are going to people who will be able to use them and gain enjoyment out of them.

The living room furniture is also gone.  The kids were playing several board games on the floor and using up all of the available space.  It was sweet to see how they just adopted to not having a sofa in the space and are totally cool with it.  They almost seemed to like it better.  I can't wait to see the changes in adopting to having very little space.  I am hoping it will help to make them more mindful of how their actions affect other people.

Signing off to go de-clutter.

Purchased a sailboat

After looking at quite a few sailboats we have finally settled on the one that we want to buy.  We ended up getting a Cal 29 with 2 quarter berths on either side.  It has already been being used as a live aboard and has had a few upgrades/changes already completed to have it work out nicely for us.  One of the big changes is that the inboard diesel engine  has been taken out and a gas outboard put on.  Where the engine used to be has been transformed into extra storage space.  There is also a heating system and a real fridge in the boat as well which were two things we have been concerned about.  And it is all ours.

Now we just need to get it were we need it to be.  Moving it via the water will take sailing experience grater then what we have available.  We have been toying with the idea of hiring a captain and having them sail it and teaching us as we go, but it seems like their availability and our availability are not going to line up. So we will probably put it on a trailer and move it over the land to it's new home.

Buying a sailboat

I think tomorrow is the day that we join the ranks of people who own sailboats, not just want one.  We have been looking at a number of them, and I think we finally found one that meets our requirements of having a place for each of the kids and the basic amenities for the family within our price range.  It is very exciting.  Hopefully I will have a post soon with pictures and reporting that it is a done deal.

Signed up for marina waiting list today

Today the first step was taken - we put our name and paid the deposit to get on the waiting list for a live aboard slot at the local marina.  No, we don't own a boat that we could actually live on, yet.  But have been looking.  They told us that the expected wait was anywhere for a few months to a year or so.  Not exactly the time frame we were hoping for, but I guess it will do.

Yesterday we went and looked at several local marina's and the one we liked best of course has the longest waiting list.  At the moment we have just decided to put our name on one list, we might talk it over and decide later to do something different.

Our 4 year old is very interested and wants to know exactly: when are we going to move onto a boat?  It is pretty cute, he is trying so hard to get us to say "in X days Sweetheart we will move onto a boat".  I am so sorry, I don't have a good answer for him.

The lease on our house is up in mid-October, and our dream is to move directly onto the currently theoretical sailboat at that time.  We will just keep praying and if this is what is supposed to happen, I am sure it will.