We often get asked if Morty can play on board Wisdom. I find this to be an odd question because a dog will always find some way to entertain themselves. One of his favorite games is where he sticks his head through the portholes and looks in at us. When we call his name, he will pull his head back and run to another porthole to stick his head in again. We only have eight portholes but he will do this game until we get tired of it.
Pet Net
Morty is our Boat Dog, he has stubby little legs and no fear of heights. He will insist on walking right along the edge of the deck, moments away from falling in.
He has fallen over board in the past, but always from the dinghy. This is because he will insist on standing on the very edge of the gunwale.
When he falls off the row boat, it is no problem as he is right there and can be easily retrieved by his life vest. If he falls off of Wisdom, recovery would be much more complicated.
To avoid this situation, I wove a net around the lower lifelines.
The first net was a simple zig zag made out of clothes line. This seemed to serve its purpose, but he would push his head through it and jump off like if it was nothing there at all.
Then I wove a second set, making diamonds. He still popped through the large holes.
Then I wove a third line through the middle, making it a series of triangles that he was sure to not be able to squeeze through. Success!
He chewed through the clothesline. I once watched him do it, taking his razor sharp teeth only 5 seconds to cut the line like a warm knife through melted butter.
When he would make a hole, I would quickly mend the net by tying in a replacement piece. Soon, his favorite areas were more mends than original pieces.
When we changed the lifelines from steel to dyneema, we had to install a new netting, and we decided that we would use dyneema with a very open weave. The idea for dyneema netting was to avoid the chafing that would occur from nylon/dyneema contact as well as to avoid problems with sun degradation. The reason for the open weave is: He will get through it anyways, we might as well not have him cut the dyneema and leave me with more work to do. We figured if he really wanted to get off the boat, he would jump right through it without hurting the netting. For the most part he has behaved himself, and the netting is holding up just fine!
Gardening Aboard
I often hear people say they don't want to move onto a boat because they don't want to give up their gardening. There is no reason you can't have a garden on a boat!
I have a green thumb, so making the plants grow is not hard for me, the trouble was finding a place to grow them on a sailing sailboat!
I began by hanging pots from IKEA on the stern rail and lashing them to the rail so they wouldn't fall off when we heeled over. I also tied the stem of the plants to the rail so if they did fall out of the pot, they wouldn't be lost. These pots didn't let me maximize the available real estate, but they got me started.
Then we had a storm on the Chesapeake which ripped the leaves off of all the plants and then whipped the dirt out of the roots. Needless to say, they all died.
My next version was made out of recycled water bottle felt which was sewn to the rails. They provided plenty of space for the roots with a small opening. The idea was to reduce the amount of dirt that could be blown away as compared to the pots.
The planters themselves were stitched together using polyester line (UV resistant) and the holes had grommets placed in them to keep the line from tearing out the top.
The plants liked it! I was able to grow lettuce, chard, peppers, strawberries, tomatoes, snow peas, basil, chives, and pansies (my favorite flower)
The garden grew wonderfully, but the salt spay we experienced on our summer cruise in the Atlantic killed the garden. They fair well up in the Baltimore Inner Harbor because the water is mostly fresh. If we had flushed the plants more often with fresh water, they might have survived. We didn't want to waste water, so we neglected them. The chives survived, but the rest died.
If you are trying to convince your significant other to move aboard and they express concern about losing their garden, just remember that there is always a way to accomplish your needs aboard.
Rowing Dinghy
As you may know, I don't like using motors. I prefer sails or oars as they will always work when they are put to use, they never fail to start or die on you while moving.
My first dinghy (Easter Egg) was an 8 foot cathedral hull. It was extremely stable, but it did not row well at all. It had a flat bottom and a wide entry to the water. As you tried to row, it would scoot all around instead of moving straight through the water and then come to a halt as you finished the rowing stroke.
While under tow, it would fishtail all over the place. It got up on a plane easily, but presented considerable drag on Wisdom.
Easter Egg has now become my work barge. She is extremely stable, allowing you to stand on one side of her and she will not tip. Now she lives flipped upside down (so she doesn't fill with rain water) on the finger pier next to Wisdom.
This spawned my desire for a good rowing boat. I really wanted a Whitehall, they are gorgeous, row wonderfully and gracefully. I think the builders know this and charge accordingly. I found one for $18,000 built, and a kit for $6,000. Due to the price point, I then diverted my attention towards other row boats.
I came across an abandoned Jimmy Skiff from Chesapeake Light Craft and decided to rebuild it. In it's horrible condition, it still rowed wonderfully and won my heart. The reason this boat was abandoned is because the entire port side was rotten. It was so rotten that it was easier to simply make a new one with no rot issues than to try and fix it. Luckily, a new Jimmy Skiff from Chesapeake Light Craft was only $1300. I began building the boat over the winter season and finally launched it on Labor Day.
We named the Jimmy Skiff "Tooth" to go along with the dentist pun Wisdom-Tooth.
Tooth has a much sharper bow, allowing it to cut through the water when being rowed. The skeg on the bottom makes Tooth track straight as an arrow, and the flat bottom lets Tooth plane while being towed. The longer waterline also makes Tooth have less drag on Wisdom while being towed.
Raising Anchor Under Sail
Anchoring instructions all seem to involve the use of the motor. This is how I do it under sail without the use of the motor.
"Raising the anchor" instructions tend to involve motoring up to the anchor while someone brings in the rode, once the anchor is in the roller, then motor out of the anchorage and then begin sailing.
You don't actually need a motor to raise the anchor on a sailboat.
Light Airs
If in light airs, raise a double reefed main and then begin raising the anchor with the windlass. The main will keep the boat pointed into the wind while the anchor comes up.
As the anchor comes up, the bow will be into the wind and the reefed mainsail will stall, keeping the boat relatively in the same place.
Once the anchor is up, quickly raise the staysail to balance the sailplan and begin powering up the yacht.
With the sails up, fall off the wind a bit and begin sailing out of the anchorage.
Once into clear waters, shake out the reefs and sail away.
In Heavy Airs
If it is blowing rather hard, you will begin drifting as soon as the hook comes off the ground. Make sure you are far enough off the lee shore before you begin raising the anchor.
If you have a lot of leeway, raise the anchor and then raise the staysail to get the vessel moving through the water. Begin traveling on a broad reach as you then raise the reefed mainsail.
After you get all the sails up and set, then set your course and begin sailing towards your destination.
If you don't have much leeway, it may be best to wait until the winds become more favorable. If you have to raise the hook immediately due to deteriorating weather and have little leeway, you will first raise the anchor immediately followed by the reefed main and staysail. Then set the sails and begin working off the lee shore in a hurry before you find yourself on the lee shore.
