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!

Heads and Tails

Our Head (toilet for you landlubbers). We have a vented loop to prevent flooding when we're heeled over. When you flush, you put a finger over the little hole on the top of the loop to allow sea water into the bowl, then you take your finger out to pump it dry. It seems complicated, but John has it totally figured out!

Adjustment

Living aboard a 43' sailboat is an adjustment. A BIG adjustment, especially after living in a sprawling house in Northern Michigan for 4 months. A sprawling house with a gourmet kitchen, I might add. Well, our little family is in the middle of the adjustment period. Poor John hasn't wanted to use the potty (the seat is 'too told *cold* on John's bum!!'). Jeff is currently finishing our refrigeration shelves (boats are truly a work in progress). We are pulling up floor boards and pushing canned food into every available inch of space. The waterline on our Last Paradise has sunk down into the water a few precious inches (inches that we need in height to get under bridges, so its a good thing!) But things are coming together. John is *remembering* not to push buttons, and has a new phrase when he gets scolded "sorry mama, mama hugs?" who can get mad at that? I'm organizing my 'space' in my little galley, everything within my reach. Jeff has cleaned out the chart table, tightened a few bolts and followed a little water trail to see where we had a deck leak. All in all, we're doing pretty well.

And our family is thriving on the little things. Cuddling in bed together on a cold morning listening to John tell us about his dreams (eating cookies). Watching a family movie together before bedtime, and enjoying evening walks on the dock- to get the wiggles out. We're home.


John looking out the window in the aft cabin- Jeff was running the engine and John was sure we were going sailing. John watched the whole time to see where we were going!

Back Aboard

Well folks, we made it! We are back on board Last Paradise, or as John says "PooDooIce" (its really the cutest thing!)

Driving for two days with a two-year-old can be a challenge, but since we've been doing long car trips all of John's life he is an old pro at it now. He was a champion- we only had to resort to watching 'Bee Movie' once! We managed to find NPR stations the whole way too, lucky for us! I have an old friend from when we lived in Florida who is living in Louisville, KY taking care of his ageing father. We managed to get in touch of him and he (finally) got to meet John! We stayed over night there and then had a leisurely morning in the hotel. There was a pool, but it was closed for repairs, shucks, John would've loved a swim!

We pulled into Holt, Alabama where LP has been docked at the Eagle Cove Marina last evening, in the pouring rain. As luck would have it, the batteries were nearly dead. Jeff found the engine key and went to try to start it up to charge the batteries, but the starting battery was dead as well. DOH! Luckily we have a battery charger and 110 system on board so Jeff got out some extension cords and plugged us into shore power. Things would have been fine if it had not been so overcast and rainy for the last 2 months- we have 4 solar panels to keep the batteries at least a bit charged!

About 2 months ago, Jeff came down here to check on things and to set off some 'bug bombs'. We were a little squeamish after finding some dead roaches in our car trunk- we really did not want an infestation! The bombs let off a sort of powdery mist- the poison I guess. Well, for some reason mildew decided to grow on this powder, so Jeff and I spent about an hour wiping down all of the wood with vinegar (especially in John's room!) Lesson learned I suppose- but whenever you leave a boat for an extended period of time you can be sure that there will be a few surprises when you come home! We managed to get cleaned up and I made cheese omelette's for dinner, we didn't have much else! John fell asleep like a champ, I think he was excited to see his 'own' bed. After all of this

Even will all of the little hiccups in getting back aboard, watching John react to things was tremendously rewarding. He spent a lot of time in his little 'toy area' and even discovered the potty (he pooped in it right away!!!) Watching him remember everything was pretty cool, and listening to him be able to communicate so much of it was awesome! Jeff is running errands and John is taking a good nap now, leaving me some quiet time to process all of this newness.

Oh, and by the way... we seem to have brought the cold weather south with us- its in the 50's here today! BRRRR.