Closer to Nature

Living on a sailboat, you find yourself much more aware of your natural surroundings. When I lived in my apartment, I only noticed that it was raining when the drops would hit the windows loudly. I was really unaware of what was going on in the world around me.

In the sailboat, I am very aware of any changes in the weather. When the winds blow from a different direction, the docklines will creak as they change the direction of their loads. The wavelets will slap the hull from a different side, making a slight lapping sound. The slightest of changes are made blatantly clear when you are living in a boat. 

These changes can be easily ignored if you so desire, but they are much more apparent then when you sit in a brick apartment.

My favorite part is seeing the wildlife that is so close to the boat. We have different birds and jellies that come by, displaying themselves in the wild.

When on the hook, these features in the natural world are even more impacting. There is nothing more amazing then waking up at anchor in a secluded creek with no other boats around!

Back story

I didn't grow up planning to live on a boat, nor did I ever dream of owning a sailboat. I grew up on a Caribbean Island called Puerto Rico where the water was a part of daily life. My whole family loves power boats, I'm the odd one out.

When I was very young, my family had a 13 foot Dell Quay Dory (looks very similar to a 13 foot Boston Whaler) and we would go out on it every weekend. We would tie up to a reef islands and explore the mangrove or snorkel in the corals.

Then when I was a young teenager, we upgraded to a 23 foot Four Winns. This was a huge upgrade since now we had a cabin and could sleep anchored out instead of returning to shore before sunset. This is when I decided that I wanted a boat when I was older so that I could sleep out as much as possible. 

When I was 13 years old, I learned to windsurf rather quickly. The concepts of how to harness the wind to move me came naturally and I was covering great distances in no time! While I was never formally taught the finer points of sailing at this time, basic concepts just made sense to me. I knew I could hit my fastest speed on a beam reach, running was slow, and you could never go directly into the wind. I would play with the dagger board and explore new reefs that I had never visited with my family before! This opened a whole new world to me and I loved the wonders that could be discovered at the next reef over. Some reefs had higher sea urchin populations, others had more starfish or conch shells. Every reef was a new adventure waiting to be discovered and observed. 

When I got a bit older, my parents got me a kayak and the windsurfing came to an end. I would paddle around the reefs and explore, just as I did with the windsurfer, but the shallower draft allowed me to get further into the reefs without fear of grounding. Once again, I was enthralled with the new places that I could go; albeit at a much slower pace.

Being very pale, my skin would burn in a matter of minutes under the strong tropical sun. I would wear a long sleeve rash guard to protect my arms, along with gloves and a hat; but my legs would always burn up! I decided to cover my legs with a bed sheet which led to my rebirth of sailing. 

 

In the mornings, I was in charge of taking our dog to land for her to do her business. Instead of going to the land of the reef we were on (top map), I would paddle out to the reefs on the horizon (bottom map).

 

In the early hours there was no wind and the swell was very minimal. By the time we made it to the reefs and she was finished running around, the sea breeze had picked up and we would return to the boat. 

I found that the sheet I carried for my legs could be tied to my paddle and raised in the shape of a square rigger! I would sail back to the boat from the horizon in the morning and enjoyed every moment of it. I experimented with different ways of tying the sheet to the paddle to sail on various points of sail. Being how the kayak had no keel, I was never able to do more than a beam reach. I pretty much paddled upwind and sailed back to the boat.

In the past, my sister would run the jet ski next to me while I sailed to estimate my speed. My top speed on the windsurfer was 45mph, and only 18mph on the kayak. While it was considerably slower than windsurfing, it was still much faster than paddling back!

As I grew up, I still looked forward to my weekends on the water! We would visit the same few reefs but what we would find there was always different. I had planned to live in Puerto Rico when I was older, somewhere out in the country where I could still go out on the water every weekend; but then the political situation on the island changed and we left.

We moved to Maryland when I was in college and stopped going out on the water. Once I went to dental school in Baltimore, MD, I began making choices about how I wanted to live once I graduated.

I knew I wanted a boat that I could sleep on so I could once again experience the waves rocking me to sleep. Many of my classmates were buying houses and I began to look at where I could live after I graduated. This ended very abruptly when I saw the price tags on these houses! If I bought one of these homes, I wouldn't even be able to afford a dinghy! 

I was experiencing a dilemma. I wanted to have a boat, but couldn't figure out how to afford one while paying for a house. The solution was simple: No house! At first I thought this was ludicrous. I didn't think that people lived on boats! I looked around the internet and came to find that living aboard was actually a thing! This opened up a whole world of opportunity.

I gave it some thought and decided that I didn't want a power boat because I couldn't relax while thinking about the fuel costs to operate a motor yacht. The choice was simple, I would live in a sailboat!

Then it struck me that I had no idea how to sail a sailboat! When you steer a windsurfer, you tip the mast fore and aft. To steer the kayak, I would put my foot in the water to create drag on the side I wanted to turn towards. Sailboats looked awfully complicated with all the ropes running everywhere! This is when I began my studies into the art of sailing.

Any free time I had between studying for dental school was spent reading about sailing and combing yachtworld for a potential cruising home. I read forums and stories, watched videos on YouTube and absorbed as much information as I could get my hands on. This went on for 4 years while never actually touching the water. 

Once I graduated, I took an "introductory" weekend class on sailing to finally put all the theory I had collected to use. Luckily it all came together for me and I was completely hooked! That weekend I sailed a 23 foot Sonar around the Baltimore Inner Harbor for 2 days. My third time sailing was when I brought my 45 foot Morgan back to Baltimore (luckily that also worked out well).

I bought Wisdom with the plans to take her across the oceans, she just needed some work first! She had a noisy diesel engine that I hated and was in need of a major refit. The sum of these situations is what has led me to become the sailor I am now. I'm always looking for a better way to do things and wondering why things are done the way they are. 

Since I did not grow up sailing, everything on a sailboat is new to me and I question the purpose and function of it all. This leads me to develop a deeper understanding for how and why things are done on a sailboat. Curiosity and the desire to learn have driven me to become the person I am today and will continue to shape me into who I will be in the future.

Turnbuckle Pin

Turnbuckles are typically secured with with two cotter pins to prevent the turnbuckle from rotating and loosening the stay. The problem with cotter pins is the legs can get caught on lines and flesh of passer byes. 

Some riggers will turn the legs around, bent so far that they point into the turnbuckle. This works well and when covered with rigging tape, provides a safe, snag-free, secured turnbuckle. The problem comes when you try to remove the cotter pin. 

The legs have been bent so far that they are hard to bend back to remove the pin. Since the legs were bent so far, they are mangled and will not be easily reused. The excessive bending also runs the risk of breaking the legs, which would make the pins worthless. 

The alternative to cotter pins on small day sailors is to use a single piece of stainless steel welding wire. The wire is bent to look like a "[". The horizontal parts slide through the turnbuckle screw holes and are then bent over to hold the wire in place. 

This single welding wire will hold the turnbuckle in place, while offering no risk of snags. I don't cover the wire in rigging tape because I like to visually inspect the wire frequently. Since it is snag free, the tape is not required!

To remove the wire, simply straighten the legs and slide the wire out of the pins. It can easily be reused over and over. If the legs break from use, another piece of wire can be fabricated to replace it.

Zeno Paradox and Boat Projects

Zeno's Paradox of the Dichotomy proposes a situation where you are going to travel from A to B.

Each step you take will be halfway between where you are and B. The first step will take you half the distance, which is the midpoint.

Your next step will take you half of the remaining distance.

The next step after that will be half of the remaining distance again.

The next step after that will be half of the remaining distance again.

The next step after that will be half of the remaining distance again!

As you approach B, there is still a remaining distance left to cover and each step will again only advance you half the remaining distance. The process of taking steps that only cover half the remaining distance will continue on forever, as there will always be a next step and you will never reach B.

What started out as a quick trip from A to B has become an unending ordeal where progress has slowed and you will never reach the end! 

Boat projects are the same way. What starts out as a quick and easy project becomes more and more complicated as there is always one more thing that can be done to make it more perfect.

When I was building the sculling oar, I could have faired the junction of the laminated handle a bit more. I could have sanded it a bit more. I could have put plugs in the screw holes. I could have polished the wood to really bring the grain out. I could have done engravings on the handle. I could have done mother of pearl inlays on the blades. There is always another thing that could be done to make them more perfect, but instead I went sailing.

The purpose of all this work is to grant you the ability to go out on the water and enjoy the wind in your face as you cut through the seas! Boat projects are to enable you to take your yacht out sailing, not to work infinite hours on minute details that keep you from sailing.

Next time you find yourself sweating about minuscule details, step back and look at the big picture. Remember what the goal is and know when to stop the project before you begin to obsess about the unimportant details that are keeping you from enjoying your boat.

Plastic Trellis for Mildew

The use of battens has been previously touched on to promote airflow under mattresses to avoid condensation and mildew in an earlier post. That was on a much thicker mattress which absorbed the lumps of the battens and still allows a comfortable nights sleep. On thinner mattresses, the battens would be horrible lumps in your back that would lead to a horrible nights sleep.

The use of a plastic trellis will help distribute the force and keep the mattress elevated to promote proper airflow while keeping the mattress elevated yet flat, allowing comfort without moisture under the mattress. 

If you find yourself with moisture under your cushions, this trellis and batten system will be an economical solution to your mildew problems.