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    Doggie Defense!

    Some our most frequently asked questions are about our dog. How will she go to the bathroom? Is she afraid to be alone on the boat? How will you keep her from falling off the boat? What happens if she DOES fall off the boat? What kind of safety gear does she wear? I find it amusing that I get asked about Sadie Jane’s safety more often than ours. Let’s face it. If one or both of US fall off the boat, the dog isn’t going to help us get back on! But I totally, get it. These are the same questions we asked ourselves, and other cruisers, as we…

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    AIR HEAD

    Boat shows just aren’t fun if you don’t get to bring home a new toy. One year, it was boat hooks. Just last year, it was new windows. This year was especially exciting for us. We have been saving up for a couple of years for this particular purchase. It’s one that we will use now, and will be able to come with us to the big boat later. This is the kind of thing that can make or break any boating or camping experience – especially a lengthy one.  Or it can even be the kind of thing that can take it to what I like to call “Level:…

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    Strictly Sail 2013.. er, 2014?!

    We skipped a year! Well, we didn’t skip the show, just the post. I assure we were there, and soaking up the sights, sounds and info like sponges as usual. Strictly Sail Chicago is hands down one of the best shows in the country for sailors of every kind. Racers? Day sailors? Cruisers? Curious-Georges? There’s is something for everyone! Since we have discovered it we have been faithful attendees.  Every year we purchase our admission tickets and climb around on a display boat or two, attend many hours of FREE seminars on a variety of topics from upgrading your deck hardware to managing relationships, and I never leave without having…

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    KODA FUN!

      So hopefully you all remember the donation we made to the KODA Camp fundraiser. If you didn’t see that post you can read about it here. After a lot of weather and maintenance postponements, and rearranging of schedules we were finally able to take our lucky winners, and new friends, out on the water! Four parents and 4 kids…  oh, wait.. we should be including us in this count. The total was 6 adults and 5 kids! The adults got their party on,  while kids clambered all over the boat! The little ones weren’t too keen on having to don the orange vests of safety, but were immediately pacified…

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    Winter already??

    Wind Affair is back on land again. Where did this year go? Between the extended winter weather and constant rain, we got very little done, and only got out on the water four times. FOUR. And only two of those were actual sailing. Of our project list, only 2 were completed. The windows do look great, though! Evan did a bit of crewing in some of the races this summer, and that was fun. We said we weren’t interested in racing Wind Affair when we got her, even though many have asked us about it. However, now that he’s crewed in a few races, Evan is starting to warm up…

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    Gerry Hughes – Deaf Sailor

    Circumnavigating the world in a sailboat takes time. A lot of time. I would be remiss not to mention commitment, dedication, patience, skills in risk management and self reliance. Now imagine doing it solo. Now imagine being deaf. Gerry Hughes is not the first man to brave the challenges of sailing a solo circumnavigation, (In 1969, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston became the first man to sail around the world single handed, non-stop.) but  he IS the first Deaf man to do it. September of 2012, Gerry Hughes set sail from the Firth of Clyde and set sail on his Beneteau 42 s7, Quest III, for the first leg of his journey –…

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    Current Projects/Future Projects… for now

    Wind Affair was splashed later than anticipated this year due to the forever winter and then incessant rain.  We never found an enclosed storage facility either, so there were a few winter projects that had to wait until late spring… well, now it’s early summer! We have at least four projects going right now, and a few more that we want to get done before we take her back out of the water this fall/winter. Oh, and considering we have only left the dock to actually sail ONCE so far this season, we would really like to get these done ASAP. Good grief. Current projects: Rebedding Leaky Stanchion Bases New…

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    KODAs and Sailing

      As I have stated before, I am an American Sign Language interpreter. As such I am involved in the Deaf community outside of work, too. Recently, I was approached about a fundraiser for KODA camp. KODA means Kids of Deaf Adults. It is also commonly referred to as CODA – Children of Deaf Adults. And the camp is  a place for hearing kids with deaf parents to get together with other kids like them for a time of real bonding, and fun!  They learn about Deaf Culture, they are taught the rules of ASL (American Sign Language), and they get to  participate in KODAtalk – a discussion where KODAs share their…

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    Holding Tank Eviction

    Holding tanks are gross. There is just no getting around it. Humans, like all other living creatures, produce excrement. This is a fact of life with which we must all deal. On land it’s a little easier. Most of us have bathrooms with plumbing that sends our waste to places where we don’t have to think about it anymore. On a boat, it goes into a holding tank. This is something much like a septic tank. Except it’s not buried under the ground outside of your home. No, no…  In a boat, it’s likely hanging out in a compartment directly under your bed. Awesome. On our little 26 ft yacht, the set up was…

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    Another Perspective

    I originally named this post “Inspiration for your Journey.” After some reflection I decided that “Another Perspective” was more appropriate. It is definitely about your Journey, and everyone’s is different. I also hope this will Inspire you to continue to look at yours from another perspective.  A good friend of mine told me once,  “Nothing like a good re-frame to really see the important stuff in any given situation.” (Thanks, Shana Bender!) I recently came across a short video on a friend’s facebook page. There are so many silly little pictures and memes and videos and the like posted on people’s pages these days that I don’t have time to look at or…