The Beauty of the Storm

Check out the raw, amazing beauty that is this storm that passed over us in Key West the other day. Simply breathtaking...

Monday 11-16-09

Position is 25deg. 33.94'N and 86deg 07.26'W

All is well aboard. After taking NO NAP yesterday John was falling asleep eating his dinner last night. He slept soundly all night though, which allowed Jeff and I more rest. Ships have become the new 'squall' on Abby's watch (read previous posting about squalls only on Abby's watch!) Last night we had to alter course twice to avoid ships, both times on my watch!

We got a bit of sailing in yesterday, spinnaker up and water generator out- sailing along at 7 knots AND making power to boot! Unfortunately the wind died, and has continued dying... Today we tried our hand at sailing but we were crawling at 2kts and not keeping our course- eek. So we are motoring again. It is frustrating having to motor so much, especially after being on the rivers so long- we are a sailboat after all! BUT, we are having some nice calm weather to re-acclimate ourselves to life on passage. And, I'm able to cook up some pretty good boat fare for us on these calm days too, a real spirit lifter!

John took a good nap today and then we sat in the cockpit and had a snack of popcorn. Its a bit too sunny for J to stay up there this afternoon, especially being 'Johnny No Pants'- we're afraid of certain areas getting burned (insert a groan by all men here). John and I will listen to some music and play trains for awhile before indulging on cheesy pasta for dinner.

*XOX*
Abby, Jeff and John

Sunday 11-15-2009

Good Morning! Well, we made it through our first night! At 0900 local (CST) we were at 27.50'N and 87.03'W We are motoring at about 6.6 knots and all is well.

Last night we had pizza for dinner and about 15 minutes after eating John proceeded to vomit it all up. He slept fairly well over night, woke up at 4:15AM and stayed with me on watch until 4:45 when he went back to his 'cozy bed' until 7:30. This morning we had pancakes and he ate heartily, and seems to be doing fine now! In the past he has always been sick the first day out, fingers crossed that its over now! Worst part is everything landed on blue bumbee (his blankie) so I'll be washing it soon I suppose!

::::::A little note on preparedness:::::::
Before we go sailing Jeff and I have a sort of mental checklist that we go through. There are certain things that I do now every time, learning from past experiences. For instance, I hard boil eggs. They are a great midnight snack during that long last hour of a 3-hour watch. I pre-chop carrots and onions for stews. Who wants to be trying to brace themselves in the galley with a sharp knife chopping onions at sea?! If they don't get used on passage, I will always use them in something later. Jeff and I pull the dinghy out of the water and secure it on deck. Jeff runs the jack-lines from the bow to the stern to clip our tethers into for any foredeck work. We dig out our harnesses and tethers and have them ready- at sea we ALWAYS wear out harnesses and are clipped in- its a boat rule even to clip in before leaving the companionway into the cockpit (happy mom?). I ready the pilot berth- this is the 'couch' that is used as a bed on passage. I rig up the lee cloth to make it a kind of crib and get our pillows, sheets and blankets ready.
I'm sure there is more, but this is the basics of our preparation for a passage at sea.
Stay tuned for more!

TTFN~

Abby, Jeff and John
XOX

Setting Sail

We are in a marina at the south end of Mobile Bay. We took it easy on the river the last few days- only going a few miles every day (usually at naptime, the motor really helps the sleep!) and anchored by 3PM most days. Dinghy rides, nice family dinners at the table and oh-so-many lego towers, train games and Dora 'epsisodes'.
It feels a little like we were doing all of this in preparation for this leg, our longest sail to date with John. Tomorrow we will resume the routine of 24-hour-watch-keeping, sleeping in the pilot berth and meals in the cockpit. Our *tentative* destination is Grand Cayman. We were there last winter and so are familiar with the Island and the check-in routine. From there we'll likely head down to Providencia, Columbia and then to the San Blas Islands (Kuna Yala) off of Panama before transiting the Canal sometime after Christmas.

Whew.

Fair Winds and Following Seas and all that stuff... I'll try to update as I can from onboard. The weather looks fairly light for the first few days at least!
Tomorrow I'll be chopping onions and carrots and putting them in bags ready for pressure cooker stew, cross your fingers we won't need it! I'm also going to make a few pizza crusts that I just have to roll out and 'dress' before cooking at dinnertime, the less time spent in the galley the better!


Fishing (notice a no pants theme here?)


ARRRGH!


John and Jeff 'rowing' to shore- a little shore leave is necessary for John once in awhile!

Pesky Ida

Hi everyone! Just a quick note to assure you everything is fine here aboard Last Paradise. We are still on the Tenn-Tomm waterway, about 75 miles from Mobile Bay. Tropical Storm Ida is headed (well, she's here, really) our way. We had a snug anchorage at MM 99 last night, setting 2 anchors in the mud to hold us against any large gusts. Toady we are moving downriver about 20 miles because we were concerned about the river level rising too high to let us pass freely under a bridge.

We were so lucky last night to share an anchorage with our friends Josh and Jessica and their son Will. We were the only 2 sailboats at the Mud Island Marina in Memphis, TN. That was back in October and November of 2007! Since then little Will was born- what fun it was to catch up and share a hot meal on a rainy night! Good Luck Josh, Jess and Will on your next adventure!!

We are nearing our anchorage, John is occupied watching Dora the Explorer (the new favorite- uggh) so I'd better go help Jeff- he's bundled up against the wind and rain while I type in our cozy and warm cabin. I'll try to check in again soon.

Cheers!

Rollin'

Rollin' down the river... We left our cozy little slip on Holt Lake and headed South on the Black Warrior River. Today we pulled into Demopolis, Alabama and splurged on a slip for the night, a nice break from a week of anchoring on the river! John had a bath tonight and Jeff and I had takeout Chinese food for dinner- Yum! John has had a blast on the boat so far, here are some photos of the trip.


Trains in the cabin.


John checking out the full moon in his 'telescope'


Climbing the binnacle


Handsome boat boy


Fishing