Having a Grand Old Time

We've really been enjoying our time here on Anna Maria Island.  I know this isn't the case for everyone, but for me being with my family is always fun.  Throw in a deck of cards, a few bottles of wine, some decent tunes and let the good times roll.  The fact that we're a stone's throw from this beautiful beach doesn't hurt either...

Giddy

Every now and then I get this crazy surge of excitement about shoving off.  It usually happens when I am editing photos, checking back on our blog or responding to an email from a wannabe/soon-to-be cruiser.  The feeling bubbles up inside me and my body goes all haywire for  a couple seconds as endorphins rush through my veins and images of what our life will soon be flash before me.  I smile, I feel elated and I become positively giddy as my imagination runs wild.  I'm guessing it's the same feeling drug addicts are constantly chasing, but lucky for me no illegal substances are needed for my high.  So much cheaper...

Anyway, today's particular surge was due to an email I received from Walker Bay telling us our new dinghy will be arriving on the 7th.  This is one of the last pieces needed to complete the "puzzle" of making our boat ready to cruise.  I am so excited.  They also threw in an inflatable stand up paddle board (SUP) which I am positively ecstatic to use.  With our kayak, Scott's kite board and now this SUP, we will have no shortage of toys aboard Asante.  This is a good thing because with a baby on the boat, we plan on cruising at a much slower pace by staying a bit longer in the places we visit.

If the stars align as they should, we'll be shoving off in about a month!

Merry Christmas!

May you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with love, laughter and new horizons.  We are incredibly grateful for all this year has brought us and look forward to another one full of adventure.  Thank you for being a part of our lives and following along on our journey! Asante sana!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

We cannot deny the fact that he is pretty cute!

...and while there might not have been a creature stirring all through the house,  there is a very strong possibility that there is mouse creeping around on our boat.

It all began the other night when my friend Melody and I were enjoying a meal in the cockpit.  We were talking in between mouthfuls of pizza, when all of a sudden I saw a black flash along the deck of the boat next to us.  My face must have registered something, because when I looked back at Melody she said, "Okay, you saw that too, right?"

Yes,  I had.  Neither of us could explain it or knew what 'it' was.  It was almost like a flash of light along the toe rail - it moved that fast and effortless - except it was black, like a shadow.  We pondered what it might be be for a few minutes and then decided it must have been some weird shadow phenomenon and was probably nothing.

Twenty more minutes of exuberant conversation followed and we had all but forgotten our little mystery and then, like a flash, I saw the black shadow zip by again.  "Okay!" I exclaimed "there is definitely something on that boat!  I think it's a mouse".  We went to the dock and tried to view the decks from various angles but saw nothing.  We shrugged it off again and continued with our evening, keeping a keen eye on our neighboring boat.

The next day the North wind piped up and it got cold.  Really cold.  Our new boat has no heat and after I made sure Isla was all bundled in the v-berth with extra clothes over her jammies and tucked under her blanket, I jumped into bed and kicked and squirmed until I could find warmth.  It was hard to sleep.  It was so cold I was physically shivering and the wind was howling in gusts causing the sounds of squeaking fenders and stretching dock lines to fill the boat.  Just as I was finally managing to drift off into a chilly slumber, I heard it:  the teeny-tiny, oh-so-faint pitter patter of feet on the deck above me.  It was so faint that it was almost inaudible.  So muted that I could almost convince myself it was my ears playing tricks on me.  Had I not witnessed the scurrying shadow the night before, I would have thought nothing of it.  But I had seen that damn shadow, and after straining to hear, I was pretty sure there was a mouse on deck.  I did not sleep well that night.

The next morning I took to the deck to see if I could find any sign of our light-footed nocturnal intruder and sure enough, there it was:  Poop.  The telltale brown oblong pellets of mouse poop, to be specific. Since there was no one around for me to lament to, I took to our Facebook Page where over fifty of you wonderful folks gave us advice on how to deal with this little issue.  Now, I must remind you that there is no sign of a mouse (or mice) INSIDE the boat (so far...gulp).  At present, it seems it/they were only on deck and eating some seeds that had blown aboard.  Despite this fact, an overwhelming number of you suggested we get a cat.  For real.  Like buying a creature who's 12-14 year life expectancy (and dependency on you) is no big deal.  Like inviting an animal onto a (relatively) small sail boat requires no forethought.  Don't get me wrong, I like cats and all (I had one I adored much of my early adult life), and I know that they're actually great boat pets and excellent mice killers, but impulse buying a cat because of one measly little mouse is not on the agenda.  I learned early in life never to say "never", but at this point - mice or no mice - we have ZERO interest in getting a cat.  What we need to do is get off the dock.

As luck would have it, my brilliant friend Carolyn over at The Boat Galley wrote a post on this very subject a while back and reposted it yesterday.  Because I am no expert in pest control - I will turn you to her article and, if our mouse turns out to be more than a Christmas visitor, I'll be following some of her suggestions as well.

So...may your night before Christmas be as it was intended; critter and creature free.  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Back in Lauderdale-Land...for now

Isla and I managed to get out yesterday before the big snow storm hit and enjoyed a pretty uneventful trip.  Little missy had a couple minor meltdowns for a few minutes here and there (both her naps were screwed with, mind you), but over all - she was her sweet, squirmy, adorable little self and made friends with all the people around us by popping her head up over the seat, grabbing the hair of the person in front of us, making eyes at the guy next to us and being 100% cute in general.  This marks the second flight where random people have whipped out their smart phones and taken her photo in a "Oh, she is so cute!" fashion.  We landed here in Florida and were immediately greeted by a blast of warm air and sunshine, glorious sunshine!

While it wasn't my first time traveling with her alone, it was my very first time travelling with her outside of the newborn sleeps-like-a-zombie stage.  I have mentioned before that she is a SUPER active (almost) nine month old and non-stop energy in motion.  She is so curious and just loves to use her little legs, arms and fingers to explore everything around her.  Being that there is not much to explore from a coach plane seat I was a little nervous about this trip.  Luckily, she was plenty entertained by (eating) the pages of Sky Mall Magazine and my arsenal of baby snacks.  My secondary fear of managing all our luggage (a car seat, a large duffle, diaper bag, purse and baby) was for naught as well.  The Ergo baby carrier coupled with my general consensus that people are good and helpful proved to be the secret.  Strangers assisted us every step of the way from ushering us right through security to helping with my bags, entertaining Isla with smiles and coos or just a lending a hand so I could get a cup of coffee.  Those small kindnesses make a world of difference to a mama travelling alone.  As if that wasn't enough, my sweet-as-pie friend, Melody, went above and beyond by not only picking us up at the airport, but helping me schlepp all of our stuff onto the boat.  As a "thank you" I bought dinner and Melody and I celebrated the coming apocalypse over pizza, wine and great conversation in the cockpit.

Buuuut...the apocalypse was a no show, which I for one am happy about.  Turns out the Mayans just ran out of paper...or rocks, or wall space or whatever it was they were making their calendar on.  And you know what that means?  There's still a lot more sailing and travelling in our future, and for that I am VERY thankful.

Tomorrow, we drive across the state to meet up with my family who's spending Christmas in the Sarasota area.  We're travelling fools...just not "wind" travellin'.  But soon enough...This boat and it's crew are itching to get moving again!

Back to Florida we Go!

Santa who?!?

Sorry for the lack of action around here.  Isla and I have been busy spending time with friends and family and we even braved the mall a couple of times in (failed) attempts to see Santa (waiting 2 hours to see Santa for a baby who has no clue who he is?  No thanks).  Aside from the holiday hubbub, I've also come down with a nasty cold which had me all but bedridden the past two days.  No bueno.  After a zillion cups of peppermint tea, countless bowls of chicken noodle soup and two nights of twelve hours of sleep I'm on the mend, which is good.

Asante is doing great and sitting pretty as ever in her slip.  Leaving a boat in the water for any length of time can be worrisome.  Despite the fact that I prepped the boat well by closing all the seacocks, shutting off our batteries, and battening down all the hatches there are still the "what if's" that float around in your head.  Luckily, we have two friends who periodically checked on her which brought peace of mind.  And I'm happy to report that I received word that the leak in the aft cabin is no more after re-bedding the pushpit!  Hooray for small victories.  Wily boat leaks are the enemy...

Isla and I are travelling back to the boat tomorrow.  It will be the first time I'm travelling alone with her and it should be interesting considering this one of the craziest travel weeks of the year and there is a winter storm barreling towards us (which our early flight will avoid).  While I'm sad we're going to miss the season's first big snow, I'm excited to be greeted by the warm Florida sunshine on the other side!

The Power of Positive People

This little person has effected my life in so many positive and profound ways!

We've all heard about the power of positive thinking:  the theory that your thoughts can shape your life, the idea that whatever the mind expects, it gets.  I subscribe wholly to this mindset and credit positive thinking and visualization for many of the successes in my life (along with hard work and dedication, of course). Also known as the law of attraction it's the belief that like attracts like, and by putting good energy out there into the world, more often than not, good energy will come back to you.  Sure it's a little new-agey and hippy-dippy, but what can I say?  It's worked for me.  But there is more... What about the power of the people around you?  Can they effect you?  Do they have the potential to influence your thoughts?  Steal your energy?  Zap your joy?  You betcha!

We hear from a lot of people who share our dream of cutting ties from a "normal" life and living on their own terms.  More often than not they mention how people in their lives don't support their dreams and aspirations.  I'm not suggesting cutting ties with well-meaning friends and family who simply don't understand your choices, but perhaps it's time to take stock of the people who surround you.  Are they positive people?  Happy?  Do they enjoy life? Are they fellow dreamers who do exciting things?  They say that married couples should spend time with other happily married couples.  That, somehow, spending time with people in healhty and successful marriages will effect your marriage in a positive way.  So it follows suit that if you are a dreamer, perhaps you should spend time with other people who dream?  Or better yet, other dreamers who do...

There are so many people in this world doing incredible things, large and small, and living their dreams in their own ways.  They need not have climbed mountains or circumnavigated the globe to be an inspiration; maybe they started their own small business, trekked the Inca trail, or transformed themselves from a couch potato into a marathon runner - in one way or another, no matter how big or small, these people took a risk and accomplished a goal.  These are the types of people who you want to spend time with - the kinds of people who believe that "where there is a will, there is a way".  There plenty of people in this world who have nothing but positive energy for those around them; they invigorate you, excite you...they inspire dreams and awaken possibilities within. These are the kinds of people who, when you tell them your dreams, they listen excitedly and nod YES.

Of course, you will inevitably meet people that will steal your joy and zap your energy.  They will try to make you insecure, make you doubt your plans and question your motivations.  Some are very obvious, while others are wolves in sheep's clothing.  Beware of these people.  They are fake, disingenuous, insincere and despite what they might think, they are pretty easy to spot.  When you spend time with these folks they don't lift your spirit, they make you feel badly about yourself and they leave you a little heavier than before.  They're passive aggressive and often manipulative.  They're usually some combination of bitter, jealous, angry and/or scared.  I have a few acquaintances of this sort in my life (we all do), and several more read this blog and some make nasty comments from time to time.  I limit the time and energy I spend on/with these folks.  I simply hit "delete" and move on.

There's this popular belief called the "Average of Five" which states that you are the average of your five closest friends.  It's an interesting concept that says the five people closest to you have a tremendous impact on you mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally.  Of course it goes without saying that we all have our bad days.  No one is perfect and can burp sunshine and fart rainbows all the time, but I'm speaking generally here.... Who are your closest five? Are they making your life better or dragging you down? Are they positive Polly's or negative Nancy's?  An even better question is who are YOU?  Do you enrich the lives of others? Are your motivations positive?  Do you allow the people around you to dream?

In Darkness we must seek Light

I had a different post scheduled for today.  It was about the power of positive thinking and the effects of having positive people in your life.  It was edited and ready to go, and just as I was about to hit "post", the news of one of the deadliest shootings in US history began to roll in.  Connecticut.  26 dead.  Elementary school.  Children...suddenly, my post on positive thinking just didn't seem right.  The fate of the little children who lost their lives today had nothing to do with positive people or negative thinking.  No "attitude" brought this on these families.  What happened today was an unspeakable tragedy that simply cannot be fathomed by anyone with a heart and soul.  Being a new mom this news hit me hard.  It was impossible not to shed tears as the details unfolded.

So many people ask why Scott and I want to take off on a boat with our baby.  Days like today punctuate the reason.  Days like today make me want to sail away forever and keep our baby far, far away from here.  What is wrong with the world today?  What has become of our nation when we cannot send our kids to school without fearing for their safety?  What sort of society do we live in where a twenty year old man is so irreparably broken that he can kill innocent little children?  I know that violence has always existed.  That there are and always will be outliers.  It's statistics.  But doesn't it seem that tragedies like this are happening more?  That somewhere, somehow we have taken a turn for the worse?  That the moral fiber of our society is thinning out at an alarming rate?  I don't know if it's media, violence on television, chemicals in our food or the breakdown of the family unit - but something isn't right and something must be done.

Now, more than ever, is a time to focus on the good in the world.  We need to turn our eyes to the everyday, unsung heros who do NOT make our world ugly.  They are everywhere.  They might not be on the news, and they won't get famous for their deeds but there are millions of tiny acts of kindness and love happening right now.  Raise them up high and sing them from the mountaintops.  There are wonderful things happening that are making this world a better place.  Despite the unspeakable, inhuman crimes of people like the monster today, this world is still a beautiful place.  Do something kind.  Help someone in need.  Lend an ear to a friend.  Smile at a stranger.  In the wake of this tragedy, let's all shine a little light of goodness in honor of those innocent children who lost their lives today.  Are you with me?

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. 

- Mahatma Ghandi

Home is where the Sleep Is

Not much to report over here.  Isla and I have been enjoying time home with family and the slowed pace has been incredible for me.  I have been catching up on lost zzzz's by sleeping in past 6am and, metaphorically speaking, we've gone from a crazy Kenyan five minute mile to a more manageable "weekend jogger" ten.  I actually hopped on the scale yesterday out of curiosity and, much to my surprise, I have lost ten pounds since moving to Florida.  Ten pounds!  I now weigh less than I did before I had Isla which is crazy.  I don't write that to pat myself on the back, make enemies of my fellow women or brag about ten pounds lost, but to reiterate just how crazy busy we have been down there in the sunshine state.  Lugging around a seventeen pound baby while running at a mile a minute does a body good, I guess.

This little break up North has been so nice, like a big, fat SIGH... but it is only that, a break.  The frenetic pace will return in January when Scott returns and we begin to prep the boat to leave the USA... for good.  It's going to be hectic, for sure, but it will all be worth it when I am posting bloggy blogs from the beauty of the Exuma Islands again!

So yeah, it's nice to be home.  Despite the fact that it's the holidays and historically a pretty hectic time of year, it's smooth sailin' over here and the calm before for the (awesome Bahamian tropical sunshine) storm for us!

Keeping in Touch Abroad: Whatsapp

Scott's view yesterday, sent via Whatsapp

Even though Scott is approximately 2,500 miles away in the Grenadines, we are in (almost) constant contact via text message.  The ship has a Blackberry that Scott uses and I have an iPhone, but despite the fact that we send at least four texts to each other a day, we pay nothing for it.  That's right, texting to the Caribbean is F.R.E.E.

We do this by using Whatsapp, a "cross-platform mobile messaging app" which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay.  The only requirement is a data plan because the app uses the internet to connect.  Data plans are fairly easy to come by in the Bahamas and the Caribbean and you can usually purchase one for a short amount of time as opposed to the USA where you are usually locked into a two year contract or something similar.  In the Bahamas and the Caribbean, you simply sign up with a local carrier (Batelco in the Bahamas and Digicel in the Caribbean, for example) by purchasing a SIM card and you can minutes to your phone by purchasing "top up" cards which are sold just about everywhere.  It's a great system and when I was a land traveler, I used one little Nokia phone over the world; Africa, Southeast Asia, South American and Central America.  I simply got to a new country, bought a SIM card, purchased some minutes and was good to go!

Many Americans have never actually seen a SIM card.

The catch is you must have an "unlocked" phone.  Most phones in the USA are "locked" to a specific carrier (you can purchase unlocked cell phones online with Best Buy, but not in the stores) so they don't work abroad unless roaming which is VERY expensive.  Luckily, "unlocked" phones are the norm pretty much everywhere else in the world and to buy one that is locked is the exception abroad.  Scott and I bought an "unlocked" Blackberry in the Bahamas and we have used that phone in just about every country with a local "SIM" card to connect to the local carrier, make calls and (sometimes) get internet.

While many of us live this lifestyle to untether ourselves from our phones and sever the constant connection with technology, having a way to make calls - at least locally - definitely comes in handy if you ever need to find a local vendor for something.

How do you stay connected?  I'm sure there are other cost-effective ways (for example, we Skype from our computers if we get a strong enough wifi signal)...what do you use to connect when cruising?

Dinghy Davits

Our new davits are a thing a beauty.  Those of you who aren't really boat people might not recognize this fact, but for those of you who are: please, take a moment to appreciate the stainless steel art that is hanging off the back of our boat.  Sigh.  I am so excited how this turned out I cannot even tell you.

I first approached UMT Marine because when it comes to custom stainless steel work, they are the best.  Their expertise, however, comes at a price.  We were beyond ecstatic when they agreed to partner with us to design and create our dinghy davits.  We had considered buying pre-manufactured davits but were concerned about the look and strength of them.  Not to mention, our pushpit (back of the boat) is unique and quirky because of two bucket seats back there.  We love those seats and didn't want to compromise their comfort or functionality with davits that got in the way.  Enter UMT.

The designer and artist, Rafal!

I literally cannot sing this company enough praise.  They went above and beyond for us from the get-go.  Their sales rep, Dominik, was fantastic to work with and was always available to answer our questions or help us out.  The designer, Rafal, well...he is not only a super nice guy but a true artist.  I was a little nervous how these would turn out because they looked positively GINORMOUS in the shop, but Rafal kept assuring me that they'd look great.  I trusted him.  After all, you don't get a reputation for being the best if the proof isn't in the pudding, right?

As I wrote in a previous post, Scott and I wanted to preserve the beautiful, elegant lines of our new boat and we wanted the davits to reflect that.  We also wanted them to be strong.  Really strong.  We've pounded head first into enough heavy squalls and storms to know how powerful mother nature can be and the last thing we want to worry about at sea is if our davits are going to hold up (note: for long passages we lash our dinghy up on the bow, but shorter hops we secure it to the davits). UMT delivered exactly what we wanted.  Custom crafted from 3" stainless steel tubing, our davits are strong enough to hold approximately ten of our new dinghy and they continue the lines of our boat seamlessly.  I could not stop looking at them as they were being installed, they are things of beauty!

HUGE thank you to the team at UMT for going above and beyond the call of duty for us (they needed to buy and construct a raft for the installation because our slip doesn't allow enough room for backing in!) we are SO pleased with our new davits and can't wait to use them!

A Manifesto to Live By...

I posted this to our Facebook Page a while ago and it got a ton of great feedback, so I thought I'd share it here too because I know not all of you are on Facebook.  This is a manifesto created by the company Holstee which is a project that was started back in 2009 by two brothers and a friend.  Their goal is to "design with a conscience, and offer a place for mindful individuals to find meaningful products".  Anyway, I love this company and their manifesto and think that these words pave a path to a full and happy life.  If you are interested in buying a poster of this, you can find it here - thanks to fellow blogger Verena for finding it's origin!

If you were to create one, how would your manifesto read?

In Chicago

Isla is not impressed with her new winter wardrobe

Isla and I made it to Chicago.  She was a little gem on the plane, which I am pretty certain had everything to do with the fact that we were sitting next to this guy and she was looking to impress.  I'm happy to announce she has good taste in men!  You would never in a million years have guessed that this guy is a professional UFC fighter who beats the crap out of people for a living.  He was so gentle and sweet, so thoughtful and polite.  When I first got to my seat and saw I would be sitting next to a Ryan Gossling/Ryan Reynolds look-alike, I was worried he would't be very tolerant of a lone mamma flying with her baby, but not so.  I could not have asked for a better seat mate.  He was reading "The Power of Now" and we had some great conversations during the course of our three hour flight about life, following dreams, and the law of attraction.  Despite how vastly different our lives are (he a professional athlete in Vegas, me a mama blogger on a boat) we have so much in common, almost to the point we could finish the other's thoughts.  It's a nice reminder that you truly never can judge a book by it's cover...or a person by their profession, for that matter.  It was a pleasure to meet him, and no, not just because he looks like a Calvin Klein model.

Isla and UFC fighter Chris Spang

Isla and I will are here until the 20th and then we head back to the boat for a couple days before driving over to the other side of Florida for Christmas with family.  We're keeping busy so that this time without daddy flies by!

Anchor Locker Evolution

There was far too much chain in this anchor locker compartment, plust the compartment was not well constructed.

After two full days of work by two day laborers from Yacht Carpentry Services, our boat has a new anchor locker!  I blogged about my plans for the new locker and, luckily, I was able to orchestrate and oversee those plans rather quickly.  I told these guys what I wanted and they made it happen.  I was a tad bit nervous it wouldn't all fit, but it did and I think this is going to work very well for us!  The glass at the bottom of the locker tapers to the port side where the drain hole is and I poured about a half gallon of water down there and it drained perfectly, no soggy bottom at all!  We'll keep you posted how our new locker works in practice, but either way, this is DEFINITELY better than it was before.

V-berth sealed off, and compartment removed.  First they had to grind down to the fiberglass so that they could attached the new "wall".  Fiberglass powder is very fine and gets EVERYWHERE and is toxic to breath. Hence the wrapping.

Looking down into anchor locker, bottom all ground down and the fiberglass wall is glassed in.

Picture of new fiberglass wall from the v-berth. Note the fine glas powder.  Use a mask when grinding this stuff! It's nasty!

Once the fiberglass cured, a 1/2" hole was drilled in the very bottom port side corner of the anchor locker (and tested).  Then the entire locker got painted with epoxy, including the inside of the drain hole (to seal it). 

Looking down into the new anchor locker.  You can see the drain hole on the lower left corner if you look closely.  The wall prevents any water intrusion from going into the bilge, but enough room for us to access the chain and/or windlass if we need to.

We loaded the new chain into the locker...

New chain at the bottom of the anchor locker...

The drain hole covered by a "midget vent" (some call it a clam shell)

All buttoned up!

Big Work Day

When it rains it pours.  Nothing like getting some major items crossed off your to-do list less than 24 hours before you leave.  Today we've got two fiberglass workers finishing off our anchor locker and the incredible folks from UMT Marine are here installing our beautiful davits (and yes, they are beautiful!).  Meanwhile, I'm zipping around getting parts, cleaning and prepping the boat for leaving, and making arrangements to finish a few projects while we're away.  The only downside of this fabulously productive and exciting day is the fact that I am running on fumes. I went out for a girl's night last night with my lovely Lauderdale lady friends and, of course, Isla decided to wake up at 5am as opposed to her usual 7am.  Typical.

Anchor Locker Reconfiguration

The "before" picture of our anchor locker.  This will NOT work for us!

Work on a sailboat is rarely straightforward.  It is not unusual to solve one problem, only to run into another.  Such was the case when we beefed up the anchor chain for this boat from about 100 feet to 275 feet.  It became very clear very quick that the current anchor locker configuration wasn't going to work (as evidenced in the above photo).

I looked at it for a while, pondered some ideas and came up with a plan.  I consulted my dad, texted back and forth with Scott and got TONS of great suggestions and feedback from you all on our Facebook Page.  After doing more research and consultation, I have decided how to remedy our little problem and make it even better than before.

As you can see, our current locker has a divider in it and a small compartment for the chain on the starboard side.   The idea is to be able to have two separate rodes for two different anchors.  It's a great setup, unless you have 275 feet of 3/8 G40 high test chain which takes up a LOT of space.  As such, it must be changed.  Another aspect of this locker that we dislike is the fact that any water that gets into the anchor locker drains down the length of the entire boat into the bilge.  This is no bueno in our opinion.  Because we will be full time cruising and will be anchoring 90% of the time, we need plenty of room for our anchor chain to sprawl out in and we'd prefer if it drained directly overboard, just because we have a bilge doesn't mean we need to fill it.

The divider and box has been removed, lots more room for our chain to live in now!

Here is what I have come up with: we are planning on glassing a complete "wall" of sorts a little aft of where the currrent compartment is. We will remove the existing divider and compartment, and re-paint with epoxy. The new "wall" will be high enough to contain the chain and prevent water intrusion into the v-berth, but not too tall that we cannot access the chain and/or windlass motor if we need/want to.  Furthermore, we will be drilling a 1/2 inch hole (above the waterline of course) on the port side of the anchor locker so water will be able to drain out.  We will then add a stainless steel "eyebrow" to the outside of the hull where the hole is to help deflect any water intrusion that might enter in a seaway.  I considered two holes, but I think we will start with only one and see how we do.  1/2" should do the trick.  This was the system we had on Rasmus and it never clogged up and worked great.

We will add an "eyebrow" like this (technically called a midget vent) to prevent water from coming in underway

In addition, we have a salt-water anchor wash down hose at the bow, so when I raise anchor I will always hose off the chain to free it from any debris and grime.

Any thoughts on this?  The work is being done as I type so speak now or forever hold your peace!

A Few Updates

It has come to my attention that, while I have been tying up loose ends for Scott, I neglected to follow up on a couple posts that I promised I would...

First, the cockroaches.  It appears my "killer cookies" worked.  Well, actually, there is no telling if they worked because we also fogged twice and deployed about twenty different roach motels throughout the boat.  It's safe to say one of these, if not the combo of all three, did the trick.  It should be noted that I don't think we had a "major" infestation (if you turned on lights you didn't see them scurry away or anything and the roaches we saw were teeny tiny) but we have seen no trace of those nasty critters since moving aboard (and I've been looking under floorboards and all).  Phew.  I will fog once more before head north to Christmas country just in case there are any lying in wait to take over when we leave.

Second, the solar panels.  Many of you wrote requesting pictures of the finished project and here they are.  They look great, don't they?  I love solar panels.  Soaking up the sun for energy!  There's nothing better because there is LOTS of it where we are going.  We have yet to really use these 125 watt flexible beauties in practice (we're still at the dock), but when we first plugged them in they were bringing in enough amps to run the basic systems of our boat on a cloudy, overcast day.  We will keep you posted on how they work.  We're planning on adding another 80-100 amps down the line, but these should be a great start for us.

Lastly, baby Isla.  She turned eight months this weekend and has been plagued with another cold (this is her second for those counting).  This time it's a runny nose and a chesty cough.  As if that's not enough, the poor little thing is cutting at least one top tooth which is no fun at all for her.  She is gumming everything she can get her little hands on these days.  Regardless, she is still her happy inquisitive little self.  She is *this* close to walking, can now climb up a single stair, throws her arms in the air in "soooo big" fashion when you ask "how big is Isla?" and she loves - and I mean absolutely LOVES - peek-a-boo.  She "dances" every time a peppy song comes on and squeals in delight at "Don't Worry, Be Happy" which is hilarious.  We look at pictures of daddy each morning and she lights up like a Christmas tree every time she sees them which is so adorable.  She is a super active baby, very thoughtful and happy and her smile?  Well, it can melt your heart.  Her giggle is music to my ears.  She amazes me every single day.  "Love" just doesn't describe it.

Our davits are hopefully going to be installed this week and I have a few more items on my to-do list before we leave.  Scott is doing great in the Caribbean and loving being at sea again.  Every day I get a text from him stating how excited he is to start cruising as a family.  Isla and I can't wait either!