Indecision and The Question that Drove it Away: How I Made up my Mind to Sail South

If action is the basis for success, indecision is the birthplace of failure. And dear god, have I been indecisive this last month...To be fair, I have always considered myself a pretty resolute person; I typically know what I want and go for it. I follow my gut - which usually leads me in the right, or at the very least, an interesting, direction - and I've never been one to hem and haw and change my mind, which is why this past month has been...well...driving me batty.

***

Ever since our last boat and most of all our worldly possessions were taken by Hurricane Irma last summer, we knew that our next boat would not be left in the path of harm (aka: hurricane alley, which is where we happen to live). The storms of last season took away a whole lot from a whole lot of people, but one good thing they swept away in their wake: complacency. No one wants to be caught with their pants down this year (and probably for the next few following) and neither do we. So our plan: sail ourselves south for the peak hurricane months of August and September and haul our boat in Grenada, where storms are "statistically" less likely to strike (knocks on wood). This way, we can enjoy time back with friends and family with relatively little stress (watching hurricane Irma on her death march to our home was pure agony) and our boat will not be a sitting duck in the water. For months this has been our plan; re-visit our former island-hopping cruising days for a short while. The girls are older, they are all great swimmers, and our boat - a Hallberg Rassy 46 - is a legitimate thoroughbred on the water. She loves to sail. This was our plan since we returned in January and I was all about it.

Until the time to leave grew closer and indecision set up shop in my brain.

My first guest was doubt... I turned over a million scenarios in my head and came up with as many excuses why sailing south wasn't really a good idea: "Is our boat really ready?" "Are the girls really ready?" "Would it cut too much into our time back home with friends and family?" "What if the twins get sick and don't sleep well?" "We really need more fans...." "Our dinghy leaks air..." "We don't have solar power or a water maker, we should have those to cruise..." "What if we get into shit weather and I have to help Scott, what will the girls do?" and (shameful to admit) "What will I do without regular wifi!?"  these questions, along with a myriad of others plagued me day and night and opened the door for indecision. Do we stay or do we go? Ultimately (hindsight being the best magnifier) - it was fear that caused me to make the "chicken out" decision to flying home from here - though I didn't think it at the time. I had made up my mind, we were opting out of the sail.

But for some reason the decision was not sitting right.

If I was honest, it did feel very much like a cop-out, the idea of flying home. Sure I had all the excuses and everything sounded hunky dory, but I knew the truth. Scott and I would have a chat, he'd convince me that all would be fine and it would be fun, he'd beg me to come with the girls, and then I'd say, "Okay! We are in!" Two days later, doubt would creep back in and I'd back out again. This flip-flopping happened no fewer than 15 times people! It was driving me (and Scott) crazy. WHY COULD I NOT MAKE UP MY MIND!? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GIRL WHO KNEW EXACTLY WHAT SHE WANTED?! WHY ON EARTH WAS I HOLDING BACK ON THIS?!

I still don't exactly know what my indecisiveness was about or where it was coming from. I suspect a nice chat with a therapist could uncover that, but ultimately, after talking on the phone with my sister and best friend no fewer than thirty times combined, and going over ideas and scenarios with Scott, I - at Scott's urging - looked at my options and thought to myself: what will I regret not doing? Would I regret not flying home a little early to see friends and family while Scott sailed our home south, or would I regret not taking this opportunity to show our girls an adventure, do some traveling, and spend some time at sea? Once I posed the question to myself in that way, the answer came clear as a bell: adventure.

I chose adventure.

And until making this final decision (and, yep, it's final now!) I had no idea how badly I've been craving a little adventure. Call it wanderlust, call it fernweh, call it whatever you want - but that insatiable urge for change, travel and life experience, I have it. It went a *tiny* bit dormant while the kids were small and I had barely any time to come up for air, let alone dream and scheme, but that fire that once was inside and drove me toward the unknown is beginning to flicker again. And I am so excited.

The plan right now is to head to St. Croix on Tuesday to drop off a bunch of stuff we had in storage for friends, and from there we're going to make the 35/40 hour hop to either Guadaloupe (my absolute favorite!) or Dominica. We'll spend a few days in that area and then continue island hopping down the chain, stopping where we feel, finally ending in Grenada where we will haul our boat and fly back to Chicago for fun with friends and family.

This decision feels good. It feels right.

***

If I've learned anything - particularly in the wake of Irma - it's that life and circumstances can change very, very quickly.  My grandfather - a true hedonist and man who lived a life of travel and adventure - always said: if there's an opportunity, take it. And for most of my life that little snippet of advice has carried me to some pretty amazing people, experiences and places. Sometimes it's scary and vulnerable to take a leap into the unknown, but we all know the little venn diagram about comfort zones and where the magic happens (hint: it's outside of it). So we are going to take this opportunity and we are SO excited. I'll be keeping our Facebook and Instagram pages updated where we can, so follow us over there if you want to keep up with us, though my posts will likely be sporadic.

Time to get back to our cruising roots, for a little while at least...

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!

Will We Be Seeing you at the Boat Show?

For land-locked boating enthusiasts who are kept from the water for one reason or another (in our case, arctic cold and operation "supersize our family"), there are few things more exciting than ogling new boat designs, perusing useful boat products, and - in general - wading through a virtual sea of what many of us like to call "boat porn".  Yes, people, I am talking about attending boat shows...and this weekend our home port of Chicago just so happens to host one of the very best.

Strictly Sail takes place every winter here in Chi-town and before we became cruisers, Scott and I spent many, many hours navigating the aisles of this stellar show as we fed our dreams and plotted our course to the future.  Anyone who loves sailing can enjoy walking around to see what it has to offer and if you are an actual boat owner, well, be prepared to drop some coin as there are often great deals on awesome products from ground tackle to galley equipment and everything in between.  It's all here and racers, day sailers, bare-boaters and cruisers will run around like kids in a candy store trying to see the myriad of booths and vendors that cater to each of them.

Before we set out cruising, Scott and I were particularly fond of the free seminars that would be offered.  They cover a whole host of topics on all things boating and cruising and there is definitely something to tickle the interest of every caliber of sailor from the newbie to the old salt.  One look at this year's seminar list and you'll see it's a virtual who's who of the nautical world with presenters like Nigel Calder, Lin and Larry Pardey, John and Amanda Neal, and John Kretchmer to name a few.  Pretty awesome if you ask me.  It's not every day you get to rub shoulders with the likes of those folks!

This year we are particularly thrilled because, as luck and fate would have it, we have been invited by our wonderful friends, Paul and Sheryl Shard of Distant Shores, to be guest speakers during their Friday seminar "Earning While Cruising" (ironically, the four of us also contributed to a recent blog post on the same subject).  While the presentation is all Paul and Sheryl (two of the nicest cruisers you can ever hope to meet, by the way) - they will be giving us the floor for a bit to talk about our experiences funding our dream as well as being a part of their Q&A session with audience members at the end.  So. very. cool!  

We are totally flattered and honored to be a part of this and we're looking forward to meeting a few of you wonderful folks as well!  If you plan to be at the show tomorrow, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for us and - if you have the time - stop by room 313 at 3:30 and have a listen (yep, Isla will be there too!).

OH! And in case you don't recognize us without out swimsuits and lovely tans, I'll be the one sporting the giant Buddah belly! (33 weeks pregnant today!!)

Expectations, Experience and Equipment: A Recipe for Successful Cruising?

A while back, I wrote a blog post about two separate boats whose cruising dreams came to an end for various reasons.  I received a comment on that post that rang so true to me and I have been ruminating about expanding on it ever since.  The commenter noted that the two misadventures I highlighted in my post could be attributed to three things:  expectations, experience and equipment.  While I don't know enough about the two boats and owners mentioned in my post to agree with him in regards to those situations, after much thought I absolutely do agree that those three "E's" - expectations, experience and equipment - are three key ingredients in the recipe for happy and successful cruising.

Expectations.
I have always said that realistic expectations are crucial to enjoying a life on the water.  If you think that sailing off into the sunset is going to be a magical cure-all for whatever ails you, well - you have another think coming.  Yes, it can be incredible, inspiring, beautiful, magical, eye-opening, empowering and wonderful.  But it's also very challenging and requires a lot of hard work and sacrifice.  It is not an "endless vacation" like so many perceive and it is certainly not easy.  People who sail off into the sunset unprepared for the stark realities of cruising often find themselves quickly disillusioned and lamenting out loud, "I had no idea it would be this hard!"  Realistic expectations are key to enjoying a life of cruising.  This is not to say that there is no place for positivity, because how you handle the ups and downs of cruising are also significant to success.  There is definitely something to be said for a "can-do" attitude and hoping for the best, but there is a difference between being positive and being completely naive.  Keep it real and you will enjoy the experience much more than if you idealize it.

Experience.
I have written before about what sort of experience I think is helpful for cruising, but there are plenty of folks who have cast off their dock lines with almost no knowledge of boating whatsoever.  Sailing is NOT rocket science.  We've met our fair share of folks on the water and some of these "cavalier" cruisers are incredibly impressive in their ability to learn on the fly and become excellent mariners while others have made us wonder how in the heck they are still afloat.  Then there are the truly experienced cruisers; circumnavigators, folks who've sailed oceans beyond oceans who will get struck by lightning, hit a reef or some other awful calamity.  No one is immune.  We all rely on a fair amount of good, old fashioned "luck" out on the water, but for it to be all you have on your side is not advisable.  While you certainly don't need spend gobs of money to complete every offshore sailing course, read a gazillion books on the subject of sailing and crew on every boat that crosses your path - a little know-how can go a long way.

That said, if you don't have much in the way of experience - I would recommend starting with baby steps...I have said many times that I think a large part of why Scott and I were successful in our transition from landlubbers to cruisers was because we allowed ourselves a very gentle learning curve (which I realize is an oxymoron when it comes to cruising) as we honed our skills.  Sure, we were experienced sailors beforehand, which helped a lot, but daysailing and racing are very, very different from live-aboard cruising and taking baby steps was really the biggest factor in making the transition smooth for us.  We left from our home port of Chicago, sailed the Great Lakes, traversed the ICW while also popping in and out to experience some Atlantic ocean sailing, cruised the Bahamas and every new "land fall" from there to Trinidad gave us opportunity to learn our boat, fine tune its systems and build on our skills at a comfortable pace.  Sure, there is something to be said for "just going for it" but when it comes to cruising, you will probably find you have a much more pleasant time starting small as opposed to trying to cross an ocean when you first head out.

Equipment.
Lin and Larry Pardey - two modern day cruising legends - have a very famous quote and give this advice to wannabe cruisers: "go small, go simple, go now."  While I do agree this is good instruction for some (but not all), I think it is often misconstrued.  I believe some read this quote and think it gives them license to buy the cheapest boat they can find (often ill-equipped for long-term cruising) and shove off.  Then the problems arise.  The engine fails constantly.  The sails tear beyond repair.  The halyards bust at the worst possible time.  Energy management is a constant problem.  The rigging gives way to the wind.  The electronics work only some of the time.  And then they learn the awful truth that fixing these things on a boat takes 2, 3, or 4 times longer than expected.  Sure, these things happen on even the most "prepared" cruising boats, but usually not all at once.

While there are some that truly enjoy cruising on spartan, simple boats with few to no integrated systems (other than the systems to make the boat move) - I don't believe the average person would enjoy living like Slocum or Moitessier (I certainly would not).  Scott and I are among the types of cruisers who believe that the more comfortable you are, the more pleasant the experience.  Yes, this does mean more money and more maintenance but it's a trade off that we are able and glad to make (having a very handy husband helps tremendously in this regard).  Of course this is our perspective;  like anything, what is "comfortable" to us might not be for you.  Our standards could be seen as downright basic and primitive to some, or maybe luxurious and unnecessary to others.  Everyone has different requirements.

We love our high output water maker and the ability to wash our boat or shower as regularly and freely as we please, we love having a cockpit mounted chart plotter with AIS overlay (although always carry paper charts as well), we love our sound system and the fact that all lines lead aft to our cockpit making our boat very, very easy to single-hand (a necessity if you sail with a baby on board unless you plan to take on extra crew all the time).   Our windlass has made life so much easier and we sure do enjoy the benefits of being able to re-locate without having to haul up over 300lbs of ground tackle manually.  We love our water toys and our RIB dinghy with powerful outboard.  We personally love our generator and the ability to make a bunch of power on the days our solar panels can't keep up.  None of these things fit the bill as "simple" - and many, many boats happily cruise without this stuff - but we'd be hard pressed to do without them.  To us, comfort is synonymous with happiness when it comes to cruising and sometimes that means having equipment.  It may or may not be the same for you.

Budget, of course, might dictate that you can have only a couple or maybe even none of the above systems/gadgets or toys - and that is okay too.  There are many ways to make your boat "comfortable" without having to spend a ton of money on fancy equipment and "bonus" gadgets.  But making sure the equipment you do have (sails, running and standing rigging, plumbing, wiring, engine, ground tackle etc.) are functioning properly and viable before you head out is key.  It is inevitable that things will break down so having the adequate spares for those systems (more equipment) and the manuals or know-how to fix them on the fly is also important. A big component of successful long-term cruising - in my opinion - is preparation.  Ya gotta have equipment, baby.

So there it is...

There's a business saying that clients can have something good, fast, or cheap.  They can choose two, but can't have all three.  You can have quality and speed, but it will not be cheap.  You can have fast and cheap, but the quality will be lacking.  You can have cheap and good, but it will not be done fast.  You get the picture.  I believe this can apply to other areas of life as well - including cruising - and perhaps the three "E's" fit into this somewhere.  Life is all about balance.  Perhaps if you have two of the three E's you'll be gravy, but if all three are lacking - you will suffer?  I don't have the answers but what I do know is that in order to follow and live your dreams, there has to be a little give and a little take.

Thoughts?  What would be your recipe for happy cruising? Can you boil it down to a few key attributes or is it more complex?

Your Life Raft Might Not Save Your Life...

Image found here.

...in fact, it might not even inflate in your hour of need.  And I don't think I need to tell anyone just how badly that would suck considering the general rule of thumb is not to step into a life raft until your primary vessel has all but sunk from underneath you.

One of the perks of this blog is the fact that we have some pretty savvy followers who have advised, assisted and helped us on more than one occasion.  Many are active cruisers and sailors and pretty keen to share pertinent information with us when they see fit, and we have benefitted many times thanks to the brains of others.

Brian, a blog follower turned friend who actually helped us deliver our boat from the Bahamas to the BVI's back in May, just sent us the following excerpt from a thread on life rafts in an Allberg 30 forum he belongs to.  Knowing that we have a canister life raft stowed on the deck of our boat, he thought we might find it "of interest".  I most certainly did find it interesting and I think you will too so I am reprinting it here for you.  The following is reposted with the permission of the author, Gord Laco, who happens to be a marine historical consultant with a very interesting and very impressive resume.  In fact, I would very much like to meet the man!

Good day - 

My only direct experience with life rafts was when I served as a consultant on the television show 'Survivorman' in which Les Stroud is sent into various environments and copes for five days with what one might expect to have at hand. Sometimes he's been in the desert, sometimes a swamp, the one I did with him was assuming he'd had to abandon a yacht at sea and live in a life raft for five days. 

The production company made a deal with a popular life raft company for the use of one of their four person life rafts; but they backed out at the last minute suggesting that a five day test of a life raft was unrealistic...their representative said 'in this day and age anyone anywhere should expect rescue in two days'. 

I reckon he doesn't read the news nor books much. 

We were in a pickle; there we were in Belize about to set Les adrift but without a raft. I hit upon the idea of renting a raft from a yacht actually on a voyage; there were several yachts around, I knew people would probably be glad of the cash and it would add an interesting story point to be using a 'real' raft in the midst of a voyage. 

The first two rafts we tried (and you can guess where this is going) which had both been stored in on-deck canisters, inflated correctly when the lanyard was pulled. The first literally fell to pieces before our eyes. You should have seen the look on the owner's face. The glue had perished and the raft sank as a bunch of sheets of hypalon rubber. 

The second raft didn't quite fall to pieces, but it leaked so badly that we couldn't use it. You should have seen the look on that fellow's face too. 

The third raft blew up and...and.... Stayed inflated. However, when we opened the emergency kit, we found twice the amount of food in the container, but no water. You should have seen the look on that fellow's face. 

Each of these rafts were by name-brand manufacturers you'd all know. The first two were older, past their first and second "re-pack" cycles and had been stored in deck canisters and I reckon baking in the sun is what did them in. The first one was three years past it's repack date, the second one year past, as was the third. 

We gave Les a very old Zodiac inflatable boat (editor note: to use in conjunction with the third life raft) reckoning that it was reasonable to assume a sailor abandoning ship would bring his dink. 

Les ended up living during the day in the life raft to get out of the sun, but he had to work steadily to keep it inflated and also bailed out. It leaked through it's bottom. 

The ancient Zodiac however, performed flawlessly and he slept in it at night. Which was fine except when it rained in which case he really suffered. 

So what did I come away from that with? Always observe the repack dates. And with regard to stowage - most certainly on-deck stowage is best with regard to getting the raft over the side; but beware the effect of the sun baking your raft while you're sailing. I'd suggest only putting it out on deck when you're making a passage. 

Well there's another long message, I hope it's interesting.

Gord

So there you have it.

Just like everything related to cruising, there are vast and passionate arguments on the necessity and/or practicality of having a dedicated "life raft" on board (some say a dinghy will do just fine and that to spend so much money on something that is akin to potentially bad insurance isn't worth it or that having one is false security and might cause you to "abandon ship" when, really, you should not).  While I am certainly glad we have our life raft on deck (and, yes, it is current) - this definitely gives us something to think about... (and yet another "action item" on our to do list: make sure life raft is regularly serviced).  Safety gear is something we have plenty of on our boat (we are, after all, super conservative cruisers) and it's sort of assumed it will work as planned, but there are many stories of such items (including inflatable PFD's) not working properly - or at all - when they are needed most which is a very good way to make a really, really bad situation infinitely worse.  Not sure what the answer is, but it's definitely something to be mindful of before you head out to the big blue and begin selecting your safety gear.

Thank you, Gord Laco, your knowledge and findings and thank you, Brian, for sharing them with us. 

Bedding with Butyl Tape

Leaks.  They are, quite possibly, one of the more (if not the most) annoying malady to befall the cruising sailboat.  If they are below the waterline, they can prove catastrophic (as in; your boat can sink).  If they are above, they can be madness inducing, teak-tweaking and gear-ruining.  Lucky for us the leaks we have had have always been topside, and - even luckier - their origins have always been obvious.  There are plenty of accounts of leaky boats who's sources are nothing short of a mystery.  It is not unusual to see water coming into, say, an aft hanging locker - only to trace it all the way to a poorly bedded cleat up on the bow days, weeks or months later.  Water, being what it is, has a way of migrating before entering the interior of the boat and playing detective in this regard has been known to cause some cursing.

Speaking of bedding (and, no, I am not talking about the new queen set that you found on overstock.com), the majority of topside leaks will come from poorly bedded deck hardware.  For those who have no idea what I am talking about, the art of "bedding" deck hardware is mounting and installing it to the deck.  Cleats, portholes, chainplates, stanchions..etc.  Don't be fooled though.  This is no small task!  There are literally hundreds of holes drilled into our deck for various pieces of hardware which means there are hundreds places that water can potentially enter our boat, so the job must be done with painstaking care.  Nothing will make you curse the previous owner of your boat more than discovering what a crap job he/she did bedding deck hardware and, for better or worse, the attention they paid to this crucial job is pretty indicative of the way they maintained their boat.

So far, our only leaks have come from our portholes (aka 'windows') in our cabin.  We need to re-bed about six out of fifteen.  I have mentioned before that being a full-time boat mommy has pretty much nixed my ability to help with boat work (dang!) but one thing I am still very, very good at is research.  When investigating the best bedding compound, I discovered (and kind of fell in love with - in a deep respect sort of way) "Maine Sail" of Compass Marine.  He is all sorts of awesome and his site is full of how to do a litany of boat projects the right way.  It was through him I learned the beauty of Butyl Tape.

Scott got to work removing our old porthole, and discovered that it was bedded with the dreaded silicone.  Silicone SUCKS.  Say it with me people, "silicone sucks" and, in our opinion, has no place bedding deck hardware.  After spending a few hours painstakingly scraping away all the silicone remnants, he epoxied the inside of the window cavity (so that if any water gets in, it's not absorbed by the core) applied the butyl tape around the edge of the porthole, and wedged it in.  He then - for good measure - applied some 3M 4000 UV to the outside casing of the porthole and put the thing back together.  Between the epoxy, butyl tape and 4000, we are 100% leak-free (and yes, it has been put to the test!)

Since we're far from experts, that's about as step by step as I want to go, but if you are curious about using butyl tape to bed your deck hardware the proper way*, please check out this article.

*There's more than one way to skin a cat and I am sure plenty of you have leak-free boats that swear by other products, but for us butyl tape is the way to go for bedding deck stuff from now on.

The role of butyl tape

Scrapey McScraperton.  This is the most annoying part of the job for sure.

So it helps to have a very good friend around for moral support.   Ben Affleck and Jake Gyllenhal in the Hiz-OUSE!

Applying some butyl.

Peek-a-boo! Clamping the porthole into place.

The outer edge of the window was sealed with some UV400.

Tools of the trade.

Look, ma!! No leaks!

Making a Boat a Home: The Art of Decorating A Boat

Many of you write us asking what the inside of our boat looks like.  I've got some older pictures posted on our "Boat" page, but - as I mentioned back in the British Virgin Islands - we have been doing some redecorating, so things look a little different.

Let me start by saying that I am the type of person who revels in her surroundings.  I need to live in a nice space.  It doesn't have to be expensive or fancy or perfectly coordinated, but a clean, cosy and organized living space is a must for me.  Some might call it a a trait of the "fairer sex", but believe me when I say I've met several women who could care less about their boat's interiors.  To each his own.  But for me?  It's gotta look nice and it's gotta be comfortable.  To me, comfort is synonymous with happy cruising.  Call it OCD, call it 'being anal' call it what you will - but clutter and chaos make me edgy, antsy and all out of sorts.  Luckily, we bought a boat with so much storage we still have a load of empty spaces, so being clutter-free is not a problem for us.  Point for the bigger boat...

Even still, when living on a boat function must always take precedence over form, so the phrase "interior decorating" is laughable.  While there are plenty of ways to personalize and get creative, when it comes to a boat's insides, for the most part, what you see is what you get.  There's no moving things around or rearranging furniture and your affinity for feng shui will have to fly out the porthole. You must be very mindful of anything frivolous and non-essential that you mount, place or hang, lest they become projectiles on a rough passage.   That said,  the inside of a boat and how "pretty" it looks should be the least of your concerns when boat shopping, but still - gorgeous interiors have sold more of their fair share of shoddy boats so it goes to show that not everyone is all function out here.

I like to think of us as a little of both (form and function); sure Scott could care less about our new throw pillows or the colors of our bedspread, but he also knows these things make me happy and so he let's me go about my meager decorating attempts with little resistance.  I tend to veer away from the "nautical" theme that so many seem to favor out here...after all, we do live on a boat, I don't think we need lighthouse pillows and seashell wall accents to punctuate it - but that's us.  To personalize our space, we added some cheap non-skid floor mats, some professionally framed posters that have special meaning to us (we are from Chicago, we met and married in St. Joe).  We also added some nice, colorful throw pillows, some custom baskets and storage containers and a few special knick-knacks we've collected here and there throughout the islands.  Everything is mounted either with industrial strength velcro or museum putty (I love the stuff!!!) and we have been in pretty rough seas with nary a casualty.  "A place for everything and everything in its place" as they say...

So with no further ado, here are some pics and a little tour of how we made our boat our home...

Looking forward into the salon from our to our starboard settee which we converted from two seats to one.

The same view, port side.  We made the custom sink cover/cutting board out of starboard.  Extra counter space!

Our navigation station with all of Isla's toys underneath.  We plan on converting this to a forward facing nav station with a seat...to be continued...

Our walkthrough to the aft cabin.  This is where our computers usually live.  We keep the shelf behind here very organized and neat with baskets.  "A place for everything and everything in its place" is our storage motto.

This is looking aft at the expanded view of our walk-through - TONS of storage here.  Full engine access is to the right.

Looking froward through the walk through from the aft cabin.  Note the double doors to engine room.  Awesome.

Looking aft again from the walk through into our aft cabin.

Aft cabin. Again, tons of storage, king sized bed and we each have a built in "night stand" of sorts (not pictured)

Our aft head with separate shower

Another view of the aft head - we have old fashioned rum labels mounted on wood on the starboard side - you can only see one but there are four.  Very cool and brighten up the bathroom.

A view of our main salon as seen emerging from the walk through, companionway stairs to port (left).

Our galley.  As much as I despise cooking, I love this galley.  Huge refrigerator with top and bottom door access as well as a HUGE locker for pots, pans and all the other kitchen equipment I hardly ever use.

Our bookshelf got pared down when we both got e-readers.  But reference books are best kept in book form in our opinion.  Ganesh, the "remover of obstacles" sits contentedly in the middle.  Our boat full of Hindu and Buddhist influences, we have three Ganesh's throughout the boat and we're also big fans of the "eye of Rah".

Our little Buddha sits happily atop the small desk light in the nav station - thanks to museum putty.

The "om" symbol is affixed to the door of Isla's room.  It carries with it a lot of meaning and symbolism, but suffice it to say it embodies the "essence of the entire universe"

Isla's room.  The one place where clutter reigns.  She loves her little area and we are firm believers that while you CAN have too many toys, you can never have too many books!

Her collection of books and binkies.  She is almost paci-free now, only for naps and bed.  Baby steps...

The forward "guest" head.  Very light and roomy.  Again with tons of storage.  A full length mirror is on the left.

This is what I remind myself of always.  It is hanging in our forward head.