Asante is FOR SALE: Blue Water Brewer 44 READY TO GO in Tortola, BVI!

As most of you know, we bought a new boat. It is awesome and it has been a very welcome change for our family. But...we still have our old boat. It's been a stressful (and fun) few months with work and the general chaos of life with three small children, but we have finally gotten around to giving our old boat some TLC with a deep interior cleaning and hull polish, and thus have finally created our listing. Please see the downloadable/printable FULL SPEC SHEET PDF of our amazing Brewer 44, and *PLEASE* share! We don't want to own two cruising boats much longer!

She is ready to go in beautiful Tortola, BVI at the Nanny Cay Marina!

In a nutshell:

ASANTE is a well-appointed and proven blue-water capable Brewer 44 Center Cockpit currently Tortola in the British Virgin Islands - the perfect starting ground for live-aboard cruising! She has been listed among the 10 Best Center Cockpit Cruising Boats by Jordan Yachts and boast many, many features ideal for live-aboard cruising such as:  two cabins, two heads, a cutter rig, center cockpit, swim scoop, lots of deck space, and the ability to control all sails from the cockpit...She has a gorgeous interior with a nice, spacious layout, a u-shaped galley, an aft suite with a king size bed, an awesome aft deck shower and TONS of storage. In other words, the bones of a great family cruising boat. To learn more about why we chose her, read this post.

She has a navy blue hull, Raymarine electronics, full center cockpit enclosure, bow thruster, in-mast main furler, air conditioning and low hours on the main engine. In 2012 she benefitted from a soft refit and was converted to a cutter rig boat, which makes sailing her a dream, particularly in high winds. Her cockpit is huge and offers a great place to socialize, nap and sail underway. ASANTE has many upgrades including new SSB with Pactor 3 modem (2012), Rogue wave wifi booster (2012), custom 3” & 4” stainless dinghy davits (2012), 280 feet of galvanized chain (2012), and a high output 30 GPH Cruise RO watermaker (2013). She was upgraded with full-time live-aboard cruising in mind and therefore has all the comforts of home, with the full functionality of a well appointed cruising vessel. To see a  list of all the work we did to her when we bought her, please see our post about the mini-fit which outlines all the work we put into her.

We have been live-aboards for the past four years and are only selling because we needed a bigger boat to accommodate our family of five. She has been lovingly and very well maintained by and is ready to go sailing today. She comes VERY WELL EQUIPPED and we'd love to see her sail off to another horizon.

We are listing her "priced to sell" at $129K.

Interested parties please email windtraveler09 (at) gmail.com

That's her in a nutshell, now for some pics:

The main saloon. TONS of storage abound.

The galley, again, TONS of storage. Also boasts a front and top loading refrigerator, and an ample top loading freezer.

The nav station with new electronics and new control panel.

Forward head with two access doors so v-berth is en-suite.

The v-berth, again, TONS of storage. There is a large hanging locker to port not pictured.

Looking aft from the v-berth

The walk-thru to the aft cabin.

The control panel, easy access - it pulls down so working on wiring is easy.

Engine room access that most boaters DREAM of. Nothing was out of reach. Such a bonus.

Aft cabin with king-size bed and plenty of storage. 

Looking forward from aft cabin

Aft head with new corian countertops (2016)

Looking forward from walk-thru

Bright and airy main living area. Love all the light!

Lots of opening ports and hatches makes this boat super comfortable at anchor.

Roller furling boom makes Asante easy to singlehand.

She turns heads!

Miss this cockpit - so much space to play, hang out and entertain!

Aft cockpit is roomy making for loading and off loading the dinghy a breeze.

Foredeck

Trusty windlass with foot switches (and a helm control) and 280 feet of chain. Great set up.

We LOVE the cutter rig. We'd be hard-pressed to buy a boat without one. So many sail options and easy to change sails in shifting conditions.

The davits!! They are custom and amazing. Super ridgid and strong, and make hauling the dinghy up and down a breeze.

The layout of Asante.

If you are looking to toss off the dock lines and go cruising in the Caribbean - this could be your vessel!! She is a great boat and has made our family very happy and safe the past four years. Please feel free to share this post and any interested parties should email windtraveler 09 (at) gmail.com. Thank you!

Our last boat sold in less than 50 days after we listed her on our blog, please help us break that record and get another great family out on the water! SHARE!

Our Boat Interior: A Photo Tour

I love taking a look inside other people’s boats given the opportunity. Each one is so unique and I love to see the different ways people make their boat's their home. I think this desire to “look behind the curtain” is pretty common among boaters, as most sailors love a good peek 'down below'; there is always a new boat hack to be learned, interesting gadget to check out, and, lets face it, there’s something intriguing about seeing how folks make the most out of a tiny space. I always enjoy how people express themselves in the decor (or lack thereof) of their boat, and the stories their boats tell.

And so now I want to show you ours.

As our boat is not only a cruising boat, but our home, I have done my best to make it first and foremost, functional, but also comfortable and welcoming. I have written about the art of making a boat a home before, but times - and decor - have changed since then, so I thought I’d revisit. It's been a work in progress and I really love how she looks and works down below. As comfy as she is, her decor is also super functional...when we are sailing, everything stays put and we don't have to worry about projectiles and general mayhem down below. Living in this boat's belly is cozy and, despite being a pretty tight space for a family of five, enjoyable.

For more technical information about our boat like what make she is and why we bought her, please visit this page. But for the grand photo tour of how she looks today, stick with me.

Ready? Let's go...

We’ll start at the pointy end and work our way back...

Starting from up front, this is called the "v-berth" and is where the twins, Haven and Mira (Meer-ah) sleep. You can read more about how I designed our girls' sleeping arrangements here, but the twins really enjoy sleeping and playing up here. I wrote about decorating their room, specifically, here. I really, really love how it turned out. They seem to like it, too.

Here are some more pictures of their sleeping space. To the left (port side) is where both girls sleep, together. They have a few stuffed animals (including their beloved lovies) and snuggling blankets in there. It's roomy and cozy. On the right (starboard side), is a small gear hammock for their books and a few stuffed toys. The mirrored cabinets above this are where all of their clothes are stored. I have a portable changing pad that I put down in this space to change diapers as well. Who says you need a changing table?! 

Connected to the v-berth is an ensuite bathroom, or "head" as we boaters like to call it - which can be accessed from both the v-berth or the salon (there are two doors to it). It's small and simple, but it works and has plenty of storage for most of our medicines and spare toiletries. It is also where my most favorite quote in the world lives. If you don't know this quote, you should definitely read Desiderata. 

Moving aft of the v-berth is our main living space, often called the "salon" or "main cabin". I love how bright and airy it feels, something that's not always easy with a monohull where you are technically living "below ground". To the left are all our physical books which are mostly reference guides and children's books since Scott and I have e-readers. Underneath and behind all those white cushions you see is storage. Tons of storage. We keep food, beverages, spare parts and all sorts of stuff in those compartments. Also worth noting (because everyone who sees pics of our boat asks "How do you keep those cushions white with small kids!?!), the cushions are made of vinyl (starboard) and ultra-leather (port), meaning anything that gets on them - from markers to spaghetti sauce - wipes right off, piece of cake. Pretty clutch if you have small kids aboard. (Note: They are different materials because when we reconfigured the salon seating, ultra-suede was too expensive so we opted for vinyl).

Here are some more pictures of our salon. The picture on the left is looking aft (back) from the v-berth, the others show the salon from other angles. "A place for everything and everything in it's place" - that's my motto down below. Keeps life tidy and simple.

This is our kitchen or galley. The two rectangles you see are our fridge (left) and freezer (right). Since we eat vegetarian on our boat we don't use our freezer and it, too, has become more coveted storage space. The open cupboard to the right of the stove is a new pantry area we made by removing our old microwave that we used exactly never. So nice. Our boat does not lack storage, and we love her for that. Can you spot my trusty copy of The Boat Galley Cookbook? (wink)

Here are some other views of our galley. As much as I really hate cooking and everything related to it (provisioning, grocery shopping, food prep, meal planning, etc.) I do really love our galley. For being the size of a small hall closet, it's very functional and has a great layout with plenty of counter space.

This are is directly across from our galley and is our navigation station, "nav station" for short. Our SSB radio, VHF radio, FM radio, modem, inverter controls and battery monitor live here. As do all of the children's toys. What you see there is just about all of them, minus the craft stuff which lives in a cupboard. We keep the boat tidy and organized by keeping a policy of cleaning up after ourselves before moving on to the next toy. It works. Sometimes. Either way, the kids can keep themselves pretty well entertained for chunks of time in this area. The drawers to the left are huge and deep and we keep electronics in the top two, and the bottom is a huge file-like cabinet where we store our onions and potatoes. All our cupboards drawers and cabinets latch shut so the boat is more or less baby proof in this way, which is nice.

Moving aft beyond our companionway stairs is the walk-thru to the aft cabin. This is also where Isla sleeps, but each day we break down her bunk and stow it because this is also a high-traffic and very functional area as this is where Scott stores pretty much all his tools. You can see the mast steps Scott installed so Isla can climb up to her bunk in the picture on the right. The counter top of this area flips up to expose what has become our sort of "junk drawer". We store all sorts of things from battery chargers to simple everyday tools to charts in this area so we need access to it daily. The large opening doors you see on the port side are our engine room access. Plenty of space to do oil changes and work on our generator and engine. Big bonus.

Here's what the walk-thru looks like when it's all set up as Isla's little bunk bed. She loves it up there and the set up and break down takes all of three minutes.

Emerging through the walk-thru is our aft cabin, or the master suite where Scott and I sleep. Our bed is more or less king size and the fact that all sides but one are contained mean morning pile-ons with all the girls happen here...a lot. The large top drawer you see in the center is where all of Isla's clothes are. The bottom one is where our air conditioning unit lives. The mirrored side cabinets are more clothing storage.

More shots of our aft cabin.  The picture on the upper right is looking back to the walk thru from our bed, and the two bottom pictures show where Scott and I keep the bulk of our clothes (mine are kept in the cabinets pictured left, his in those pictured center - yes, I have more storage space than he does - but only slightly so!)

This is our aft head or "bathroom". It's pretty small and cramped and if I am to be honest it's my least favorite room on our boat, but it works. And, hey, it's a bathroom so big deal. We have a separate sit-down shower stall which we hardly ever use (we chose to shower off the back of our boat unless we are at a marina) and it works well enough when we need it. Not much more to say about this room. Lots more storage, blah blah blah.

And here is our cockpit where we spend a huge amount of our time. It's our front porch, back porch and living room all in one. Ours is pretty spacious, super comfortable and kind of perfect for little ones. We love it. The views are great. 

So there you have it, our boat from front to back. Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our home!

The Liebster Award: A Bloggy Good Chain Letter

I remember the letter well. It was in a nondescript envelop from a close friend of mine and addressed to Isla. "Hmmmm...." I thought, "I wonder why my friend is sending Isla letters?" It didn't look like a birth announcement, a card or an invitation.  I opened it and there it was: a legitimate chain letter that promised Isla sheets upon sheets of stickers as long as I sent it on.  I groaned, cursed my friend for roping me in and complied.  After all, it was for the kids.  Isla got some new stickers out of the deal and mama swore it was the last time she'd partake in such a ruse.

Until now.

Our blog has been graciously nominated for a Liebster award which, as far as I can tell, is the bloggers version of a chain letter.  I answer ten questions, then come up with ten questions to send to ten other bloggers, they answer my questions, come up with their own, and send them on to ten others.  And so it goes.  Luckily there is no threat attached to this "chain" so it would have been easy to pass up, but since blog posts are thin these days and some of these questions are the ones we've been getting a lot from followers, I thought I would partake in the fun.  Not to mention it's very kind to be nominated.  Since I have been nominated a few times, I will answer all thirty questions in one fell swoop. Thank you to Lyndy at Homeschool Ahoy, my dear friend Genevieve over at It's a Necessity and Tammy from Things we Did Today for the love!  

Here are the answers to the questions that were given to us:

From Homeschool Ahoy:

1. Introduce us to your live aboard family, how many in your crew and how old are they? We are Scott (38), Brittany (35), Isla (2.5) and twins, Haven and Mira (6 months). That is four girls to one guy if you are counting.  We have what some might call "girl power."
2. What sort of boat do you have and would you recommend it for other families hoping to live aboard? Our boat is a Brewer 44. We're not sticklers on what sort of boat a family might need (many would say catamaran), but as monohull sailors we have found a center cockpit layout and a boat that's easy to single hand key features in our experience of cruising with a baby.
3. How did you come to the decision to live aboard? It was something both Scott and I always wanted to do.  It came up on our first date.  Kind of sealed the deal for us.
4. Where are you now and what are your sailing plans, if you have any, for the future? For the upcoming season with our little ones, our plan is to island hop in the British Virgin Islands.  We also plan to sail the Bahamas again in the near future, it's pretty perfect for so many reasons and would be great to cruise with kiddos.  We also would love to cruise the East Coast and Scott would love to cruise the Pacific Northwest.  I'd love to see the Mediterranean, but we don't want to cross oceans until the kids are older.
5. What’s the best learning experience your kids have had since living aboard that you could pass on to other sailing families for them and their children? Gosh, there are so many.  Cultural exposure comes to mind, but that's a no brainer.  Once thing that I think is great about living aboard is the fact that boat kids learn to self entertain and are very creative.  Kids these days have so much (toys, activities, television time, etc.) so I think there is ample learning for kids where there is less.  The natural world is a fabulous playground.
6. What style of education do you prefer for your littlest crew members, are you homeschooling/world schooling/un-schooling… or eclectic like me? Have they ever been or will they ever go to a traditional school? Our kids are too young to make this decision, but we are strongly considering homeschooling for a myriad of reasons, our nomadic lifestyle and the desire to maintain it being the big one.  The jury, however, is still out.  
7. What’s your best memory from the last year? Growing our family from three to five.
8. Name the most challenging experience you have had whilst living aboard and what did you do to overcome it? Hmm...domestic disputes could get ugly, Scott and I are both pretty stubborn.  We learned (and are still learning) the best ways of dealing with these in tight spaces is to communicate, set expectations and give each other space.  Constantly fixing things can get old too, but you don't "overcome" this - you just deal with it.  And take really good care of your stuff.
9. Will you always live aboard or is this just one of the many adventures you hope to share with your family? I think we'll always have a boat and we'll always cruise whether it be a week here and there or a two year sabbatical, but there are so many adventures to be had in this life.  Not to mention we want our girls to be able to rip on skis so we'll have to head to the mountains at some point and, sadly, cruising season and ski season are the same.  If they weren't, this world would be a perfect place. 
10. What motivates you to blog and what tips can you offer fellow yachty bloggers?  I love to share stories and connect with people.  The fact that I actually inspire people here and there was an unexpected bonus to this.  I love it and I love all the good stuff that has come from it.  Writing is my passion and it is my greatest form of expression.  If I don't do it I don't feel right.  My blogging tips are here.

From (my good friend Genevieve at) It's a Necessity:

1. Describe yourself in 5 words. No more, no less.  Live life to the fullest. 
2. What do you blog about? What do you NOT blog about?  I blog about whatever tickles my fancy but usually it's related to sailing, travel, living one's dreams and children.  I don't blog about things that would be considered "airing dirty laundry."  Some things are sacred.  Like dirty laundry.
3. You have $10 US to spend, what is the first thing you buy? I wish I could say something cool like "train ticket," but the true answer would be coffee since sleep is the only thing I really lack these days (#twinfants).  Large drip with a shot of espresso, 2% milk and a lot of sugar is my current poison.  In one coffee shop this concoction was called the "ticker kicker."  I liked that.  Since that would probably only cost $5, I'd buy two of them.
4. What is the worst travel spot you have been to?  Definitely not the worst spot, but my worst travel experience was in Amsterdam.  It was a comedy of errors and I didn't even get to smoke good pot in a cool coffeehouse, but did end up staying with a very kind map maker who took pity on my travel partner and I.
5. What is your favorite saying/slang/term you have picked up through your travels? I like the term "lime" from Grenada.  It means "to hang out/chill out" and can be used as a noun and a verb.  As in: "we're limin' by the water" or "come join us for a lime on the beach." We like to lime.
6. If you were invited to a dress up party what costume would you wear?  I love the 1920's so I'd try to find a stellar flapper get up.
7. What is your favorite drink (alcoholic or not)? Wine.  Specifically any sauvignon blanc from the Marlborough region of New Zealand.  Chilean sauv blancs are a close second.  Favorites:  Brancott and Kim Crawford.  Nectar of the Gods.
8. How much wine is too much?  If you ask me this sober, the answer is "there is no such thing as too much."  Ask me after a bender and I will say "two bottles."  That second bottle always does me in, but it usually means a really good night was had.
9. What are you afraid of? Not living up to my potential.
10.  If you could have one wish granted, what would you ask for?  Healthy, happy, long lives for our children.

From Things We did Today:

1. What is the one thing you wish more people knew about you? Don't be afraid to brag here... this is your chance!  This blog paints a pretty one dimensional view of me. People think I am some sort of Pollyanna. People closest to me would find this hysterical. I swear, piss me off and I will cut you (wink). I am a former "wild child" and "bad girl." That doesn't really come across on this blog which became clear when several people assumed I was a peppy cheerleader in high school (I wasn't).  Also, I literally just learned that you only need one space after a sentence and this is killing me because it will take me at least four years to do that without thinking about it. Grammar has never been my strong suit in case you didn't notice.
2. If you could have EITHER five minutes with a crystal ball OR five minutes with a Genie... which would you choose and what would you ask for?  I would choose a Genie because Genie > Crystal Ball, and see number 10 above.
3. What would you say is your partner's greatest contribution to your success as sailors/cruisers?  He amazes me with his ability to get things done and make things happen. No such thing as a "honey do" list for him. He has no fear, can fix anything and he's one hell of a sailor. He's also an amazing, very hands-on daddy. Priceless qualities in a (cruising) mate. We make a very good team.
4. When will you/did you REALLY consider yourself to be a Cruiser? What does the word "Cruiser" mean to you?  Not sure.  I think after we got past the "Thorny Path" we felt pretty good.  A cruiser is anyone who travels by boat. I think it's that simple.
5. What do you think will be the thing that ends your Cruising journey? And why?  Our cruising journey will always stop and go I think - but we will always be sailors and I think we will always have a sailboat.  Things that will end it for certain: a) if we are not enjoying it anymore b) we can no longer afford to do it and c) we find some other adventure to sink our teeth into.
6. What was it like the moment that you "decided" to go cruising? What was the catalyst? Or was it a more gradual thing that just happened?  For me, I read Maiden Voyage when I was thirteen or so and when I finished it I thought, "I want to do that."  I have been known to be impulsive.
7. How did your current boat get its name? Have you ever thought of changing it?  The story behind our boat's name is here.  We love it.
8. What size boat do you/will you cruise on? And if money were no object... would you buy a bigger one?  We cruise on a Brewer 44.  If money were no object we would absolutely buy a bigger boat.  It would be a three cabin monohull in the 48-53 foot range.  Ideally it would be a Hallberg-Rassy 53.
9. It is often said that before you leave, everyone says they will come visit you, but most never do. Who would you MOST like to come visit you on your boat and why?  Richard Branson.  He seems like he would be awesome to hang out with and he could go kiteboarding with Scott.  Or my best friend because I KNOW she's awesome to hang out with and loves wine as much as me.  But, really, we can't have visitors these days since we have no more room!
10. Thinking back to before you tossed the dock lines and how you thought cruising would be, what in reality was your biggest misconception? What was your biggest surprise? What was your biggest disappointment?  Misconception: you can sail around the world in two years. (you can, but you're moving faster than we'd ever care to)  Surprise:  how little we actually move under strictly sail power. Disappointment: rolly anchorages.

Thank you humbly for the nominations friends, but the buck stops here.  Since pretty much every single cruising blog I know of has already been nominated multiple times, I will just redirect you to the blogs that nominated me (links above) and have you take a look at their other nominees.  There are thirty of them combined, so that should keep you busy for a while! Enjoy!

And...She's Out: Asante on the Hard

Yesterday was a sad day for our beauty of a boat.  She was plucked from the water and is now sitting on jack stands where she will say for the next twelve to eighteen months (give or take) while we focus on "operation twinsanity".  Scott and my father worked around the clock the past few days removing sails, halyards, all loose deck hardware, fresh water flushing all systems and - in general - working to decommission our boat which, let me tell you, is not an easy job (huge "thank you" to my dad for his help.  Words cannot express our gratitude).  Scott and I have been down this road before and we are incredibly meticulous about the way we put a boat to bed, particularly if it's going to be for an extended period of time.  Doing things the right way now ensures that we will return to our boat just as we left her later.  That's the idea, anyway.

We had many, many discussions about what we would do with our boat when we made the decision to come home for more than a few months (which was our original plan when we thought it was only one baby).  There was talk about storing her in Trinidad as we did with Rasmus - it is outside the hurricane zone, and we already have a great relationship with a top notch facility there.  Ultimately, though - we didn't want to start sailing from that point again.  Then we thought that maybe delivering her to Ft. Lauderdale would better; we know the area well, have good relationships there and it would be an ideal place to get some work done.  The other benefit is that it would provide a great jumping off point to cruise the Bahamas again which would be an ideal place to begin cruising with three small kids (no long passages, easy sailing, beautiful and familiar to us...etc) - but we scrapped that idea too.  We even discussed delivering her back to the Great Lakes so that we could do work and sail/cruise with our kids starting much earlier here in Chicago.  But that was a logistical nightmare and we weren't sure the costs associated with doing this would be worth it based on how much we'd actually be able to use her (see: "operation twinsanity"), not to mention the fact that my parents have a sailboat in the city that they have said we can use and cruise whenever we please (as long as they're not, of course)....so where did that leave us?

Up until a few days before I left, we were going to store our boat in St. Maarten, but after looking further into it - Scott wasn't too impressed with the facilities there so we looked across the Anegada passage to the British Virgin Islands.  Ultimately, we decided to store our boat at Nanny Cay Marina on Tortola which is a top rate facility and a natural "hurricane hole" (a big deal as we will be in the "zone" this coming hurricane season).  We heard from one blog follower whose boat endured five hurricanes on the hard at Nanny Cay with zero damage.  That's not a bad track record.  The fact that there are a TON of excellent services (chandlery, sail loft, shipwright, boat guardianage, riggers, fiberglass repair services and custom woodworkers...etc) right on the premises was the icing on the cake.  It's not cheap, but thankfully because we will not be paying rent for a house while we are landlubbing, we can afford it.

Asante will be on the hard in a cradle and will be further secured to the ground with hurricane screws.  Her sails have been removed and will be properly stored in a sail loft.  Scott has commissioned for more hatch covers to be made to keep sun out and he purchased some very small solar panels to trickle charge our batteries (we remove our flexible solar panels and store them) so that our bilge pump keeps running.  A humidifier will be kept inside to keep mold at bay and we have employed someone to do monthly checks on her to make sure everything is as it should be.  Because we might have some custom work done while we are away, we have opened communication with a project management company that can oversee any work we want done.  Overall, we are very happy with our decision.

Another big consideration for us was where we wanted to begin cruising again as a family of five.  We have no disillusions about the fact that this is going to be a huge challenge for us and, in our opinion, spending a month or two in the BVI's to "get our feet wet" when we return in 2015 will tell us what we need to know about cruising with three tots in tow.  We think it will be a perfect training ground to practice living afloat with our three girls without having to do any long passages (hard enough with ONE baby!) and staying close to modern facilities (BVI's are very well developed), but still getting a nice dose of islands, sun and sand.

That's the plan for now.  But as we all know, plans are written in sand around here so who knows what the future holds for us...we're excited to find out.  One thing is for sure, Scott comes back to us on Friday after six weeks apart.  We can't wait to have our family back together again!  Time to hunker down and get ready for our girls to be born....and come up with some names for them (aye, aye, aye).

Mangrove Jungle: Vines, Crustaceans and Birds, Oh My!

In town we had seen signs for "Mangrove Tours" so we figured there was something to see in the mangroves.  Not wanting to spend money on a tour and being a pretty resourceful bunch, we decided to venture out ourselves.  Scott took a look at the charts and noted a sort of river carved through the mangroves about two miles from where our boats lay peacefully at anchor off Les Trois Ilets in Martinique.  He plotted the course and respective waypoints into our handheld GPS (which is loaded with all the charts of the Caribbean) and we were off.  What followed was a perfectly beautiful afternoon navigating our dinghies through the narrow, marshy waterway that meandered through the spongey, vine-y forest of roots.  We saw birds, crabs (Isla's favorite), fish and all sorts of interesting plants and flowers.  The kids were happy, the adults were happy and it was a few hours well spent.

In other news, despite the fact that our router is still on the fritz, we're back online for at least twenty-four hours so I hope to upload some posts of what our past week has entailed, beacause it has been fantastic.  Thanks for the understanding and patience.

* After my last post, many of you wanted to know the camera/photo editing I used for these recent pictures.  Nothing fancy, just the "dramatic" setting on our Olympus Tough Camera (my primary camera is a Canon G12 but the "tough" camera is our everyday camera).  It's fun to experiment and play with settings and filters, for sure.