A day in the life

Some of you have wondered what we do all day and some have wondered (my non boating friends) how we live on a boat and what that would be like. Well, here's a little of my day.

I usually wake up around 6:45 because one or both of the cats has decided it's breakfast time. Them fed, I make my way to the computer to do a little reading. We must be frugal on energy, as we are not tied to a dock and don't have a constant supply of electricity. Currently we are making power with our solar panels. I tell you this, because my computer is the most energy efficient and most days Scott and I share it, don't worry we have several computers, it's just mine has the best battery and we spend a lot of time on the computer. Once I'm done with my daily reading of the computer, I turn over to my Nook for an hour or so some pleasure reading and Scott takes over the computer.

I make a light breakfast and putter around the boat doing a little cleaning. Today actually is laundry day on the boat. That means I'll load up 2 or 3 weeks of laundry and put it in the dinghy. Then I take it and the soap ashore to the public pier. It's about 1/2 mile away by boat, then the laundry is 2 blocks away. I have a rolling cart to get everything there. It's usually a 3 hours process. The one nice thing is I can get all the loads done at once. Then I return all the clean things to the boat and hope that it doesn't get splashed. A little saltwater on something and it never fully dries until it gets washed with fresh water. Another "household" chore that is different are dishes. When Scott and I met I told him I didn't do dishes by hand. I love and miss my dishwasher. Well that all changed. Today we don't have hot water on the boat, it's not totally uncommon in the boating community. Heating hot water is a deep draw on the batteries. Most people will heat water when running the engine, but most boaters only run the engine about 10% of the time. So that means a lot of time without hot water. No problem, I have a wonderful invention called a tea kettle. Not only do I do dishes by hand, I now boil the water to do the dishes with. If it's a hot day I set  the kettle in the sun for a few hours. It's black and the sun heats it up enough to do the dishes in about 3 hours. Simple things on a boat take planning. We also have a fair amount of stainless steel on our boat. Mostly on deck. The elements are pretty brutal to the exterior of a boat. I spend time after each cruise wiping down all the stainless. It still can get pitted if the quality of stainless isn't quite what we thought it was. It takes be about an hour with Windex and a couple of rags. I do have one time saving little item, I actually have a vacuum on board. Not quite your mother's old hoover, but it works great. It's actually a small, cordless wet or dry vac. I love it. With two cats there is a lot of extra hair. It makes quick clean up. It is battery operated. The batteries are charged during our once a week starting of the engine to top off the main battery bank of the boat in the event the solar panels didn't fully do their job, or we used more electricity than normal. Once a week I wipe everything down with soapy water. We live in a very small space and cooking produces a lot of grease in the air that lands on everything. Some weeks it's not possible if the weather is not cooperating and we can't open up the boat to let it air out.

Some of my other duties are filling the water, propane, and general provisioning. Currently our water tank holds 35 gallons of water. We take showers onshore, so the only consumption of water is drinking, cooking, and cleaning. Doing dishes doesn't take as much water as you would think. About half a tea kettle usually does a days worth of dishes for the washing part and just a drizzle out of the faucet for rinsing. I've very careful to turn off the faucet when not using it. To obtain water is fairly easy. When ever I take out the trash I also carry along two 5 gallon water cans. I bring them back and into the tank. I try to bring back 10 gallons every two days. To get the water I dinghy over to the pump-out station where they have free fresh water. BTW- a pump out station is where most boats go to empty the head (toilet) on the boat. The pump out station is very sanitary. The waste goes to the same place your on land waste goes, public sewage. As for propane, we use that for cooking as well as heating. The boat has a small propane furnace and a three burner stove with oven. I try to grill outside as much as possible. This helps keep oils and smells out of the boat, but it doesn't always work out that way. It was raining so hard the other day I had to choice but to cook inside. That was fine but propane puts off a lot of moisture, so it's raining outside and it felt like it was raining inside. I didn't allow for that, next time I'll do better on checking the weather and it'll be sandwich day! We have two 20 pound tanks and each time one empties I start looking to fill the empty one and we switch to the full tank. Filling a tank without a car is a challenge. You can't take it on a public bus. They think you are a terrorist and planning on blowing it up. Taxi drivers are a little suspicious, but they just shrug and take off. I have learned that most of the time the propane filling station is nowhere near the marina. Also strapping a tank on the back of a bike doesn't really work either, it throws off the balance. Propane is usually the biggest pain we have when we don't have a car. Provisioning is usually my favorite. Scott and I are frugal and we enjoy looking for a good deal on things that we like. I know some people who buy something just because it's a good deal. Not us! I have found that most grocery stores near a marina are either expensive or expensive! The good deals and best selection are usually miles inland. We've been lucky, most places have had a good public transportation system. Los Alamitos Bay near Long Beach, CA is one of our favorite places for provisions. There are 3 major grocery stores right across the street and a Sunday Farmers Market in the parking lot. Once I get my groceries I have to bring them all back to the boat via the dinghy. So, let's see, I've got me, Scott, 35 pounds of cat litter, 50 pounds of ice for the ice box, a 20 pound tank of propane, a couple bottles of wine and a weeks worth of groceries, plus whatever treasures we found at the local boating store we couldn't live with out. That's a lot of stuff for a 7 foot long 3 foot wide dinghy. I usually try to get rid of any packaging as well. If it comes on board I just have to dinghy it back out later.

By this point Scott and I are back to the boat and doing projects to get her ready for our cruise to Mexico. Scott usually spends a couple of hours working while I'm doing the general housekeeping. I try to keep myself available for him when he needs help. It is a small space so sometimes cleaning while he's working doesn't work well for us and I have to put off what I'm doing until the project is done. By the end of the day, I'm ready for a glass of wine and to throw something on the grill and watch a movie. We are usually in bed by 9pm, sometimes we stay up, all the way to 10 pm! Living Wild!

Another Recipe: Cashew Chicken

OK, so I've been neglectful in adding recipes. Last nights dinner was really good and I thought I'd throw this out there for y'all.


Cashew Chicken: adapted from one of my cookbooks
Ingredients: cubed chicken
2 tblspn vegetable or olive oil
1 tblspn sesame oil
1 cup raw unsalted cashews
2 cloves minced garlic
minced ginger to taste (we like a lot of ginger, I think I diced around 3 inches)
4 scallions chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tblspn shaoxing wine (sherry is a good supstitute)
2 tblspn soy sauce

1) Mix shaoxing, broth, soy in a bowl
2) Mix ginger and garlic in a separate bowl
3) Brown chicken in a combination of both oils. When done remove from oil.
4) Add nuts, garlic, and ginger and cook for about 30 seconds.
5) Add scallions and liquid mixture. Let cook for a minute.
6) Return chicken and allow to cook the rest of the way. About a minute or two.
7) Serve over rice or noodles.

I hope y'all enjoy it as much as we did!

Attempting to Add Photos

I've begun to add some photos. The one up top is Scott at the helm as we are going under the Golden Gate Bridge on a beautiful sunny October day. The other photo, which is at the very bottom, is a sunrise taken last week here in Newport Beach, CA. I'm still figuring out how to do this, so be patient while I start adding photos. LOL!

Newport Beach

Here we sit, Newport Beach. We've been working on the boat getting her ready for Mexico, and getting ourselves ready for Mexico. Some of you have ask why we are waiting to head south, well, truth be told, we are collecting our thoughts. The last 6 years have been so full of work that we just want to enjoy ourselves. The effort to get down here with just the two of us, was a little more than we thought it would be, so a little break and rest is doing us good. The preparations on Reisender are moving ahead, but it was time to enjoy the "fruits of our labor" so to speak. The days are spent reading, grocery shopping, taking walks, and getting little projects done. The biggest adventure I have in Newport is getting the water tank filled (not as easy as it sounds).

Well, last weekend was a treat. Our friends, Nancy & Sam, came for a visit. We last saw them in Portland the day their boat took off in August of 2010. We helped them cast off and their adventure has been such motivation for us. It was a real treat and I think after talking to them last weekend about the year and a half they've had, Scott and I are starting to get antsy again. Reisender will be on the move again soon and we all are getting excited. We've ordered a few items that should be here within the week, then watch out San Diego here we come!

Well, I don't really have much to say on this one, but we are rested and preparing. We'll probably be here a couple more weeks...

My Annual New Year's Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

Well it appears that 2011 is behind us and what a tumultous year she was. We've seen everything from Earthquakes to Tsunamis to revolution. Scott and I have personally out-run a snow storm and lived through one hell of a wind storm out on the ocean, but all that in time. What ever you've lived through this past year, you are better for it, I am better for it, and we will only be able to handle the challenges that lie ahead of us that much easier. I'm hoping that the best of 2011 will be the worst of your 2012!

Now, on with what we've done this year. It truly has been a year filled with activity for us. We rang in the New Year in Atlanta, one of our favorite cities (it's where we met). Atlanta is such a special place for us. I got to see my favorite aunt on my mother's side, Aunt Esther (yes I do have an Aunt Esther). It'd been almost 20 years and it's been great catching up with her. Scott now knows where I get my chattiness from. After 2 weeks in Atlanta, we returned to my mother's in SC. We only stayed a few days as a snow storm was coming in and we didn't want to get caught there, besides we had sunshine and 70 degree weather waiting us in Palm Springs, which was our next destination. We left SC a day early due to the storm and we were just a few hours ahead of it. By the time we found a hotel in Slidell, LA the edge of the storm had reached us and was just solid rain that far south. The next 2 days we drove across Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. We came into Palm Springs and had made arrangements to stay at a guest cottage of our friend, Harold. Harold is one of our dearest and closests friends. We've known him from when we bought our first boat. We've been close ever since. It rarely slows down for Scott and I, our first weekend there we were off to LA to visit with some of Scott's friends. It was the 40^th birthday of one of his friends from the east who was in for a visit. Well, Sandy and Eric, the hosts, decided to throw a group birthday party. It turned out there were 3 or 4 birthdays around the same time. Scott was thrown into the mix as we were celebrating his 50^th birthday. The party was great, they even hired a tarot card reader. Scott got to catch up with friends he hasn't seen in 10 years. Well, back in the desert we started helping our friend with a few renovations and I was still healing from my surgery so we started taking our walks again. I wasn't up for running yet, but the walks were nice. We even hiked through one of the canyons. The scenery was amazing. Our time in Palm Springs was just what we needed warmth, friendship, and cocktails on Sunday at our favorite little bar. Trent, my best friend, flew in on business and we took off to Orange County for a visit, but as always it was way to short.

It was finally time to return to Portland, we had an offer to house/cat sit for some friends, and it was the perfect situtation for us. We needed to do some work on the boat and it was rather messy, so this allowed us to be off the boat while we did the work. Being cat people, we fell in love with Buddy and Molly. By the end of March we were back aboard Reisender and really getting a lot of work done. It seemed like everyday another project was crossed off our list, but our departure date still seemed to be getting further away, for every project finished it seemed we added 2 more. April was my turn to celebrate, I turned 40. I thought it would be hard, but it felt easy. Turning 30 was a nightmare for me, but somehow I'm in a much better place and maybe that was the difference. Scott and I celebrated by heading down to San Francisco by train, we adore train travel. Five days away from the boat and projects gave us a much needed break. Well, the next 2 months flew by and the boat was ready to leave the marina for the first time. We asked our friends, Val & Jeff, to come along for the “just in case” scenarios. We were only moving to the other side of the island to watch the fireworks, but I was still nervous. If you are a non-boater you need to realize we were moving our home with everything in it, including the cats. It tends to make me nervous. The fireworks were wonderful and our cookout was the hit of the marina. Scott and I spent a few more days between Columbia Crossings Marina and Salpare Bay Marina, and then decided to go and test our anchor system for a few days. Well, we got to the anchorage just in time. The fuel injection pump went out just as our anchor grabbed. That could have been bad if it had been a few moments earlier. We sat there for 2 weeks getting it fixed and working on more of our check list.

Finally, the day to leave Portland had arrived. August 11, 2011 we crossed under the I-5 bridge and headed down river. That time on the river will be a special time for us. All sorts of friends that we had made over the years in Oregon came to say “goodbye”. Some planned, like Jeff and Val, others stopping by when they heard we were on our way out, like Jim, others completely by accident, like Phil. The most special was seeing Harold's former boat, The Grande Ronde Place. That boat will always have special memories for us. A special thanks to Mike, Courtney, Linde, Ken, and Scott who all came to see us, again some by accident and some planned. Our friends Linde and Ken emailed to say to stay put in Cathlamet for a few extra days, the Sea of Cortez cruisers rally would be that weekend and we were welcome to come. We met some great people and I got all sorts of notes for our trip. Thanks to all of the cruisers at the rally, you really made us feel welcome and wanted. Our final stop on the river was Astoria. I don't recommend the Maritime Museum if you are about to cross the Columbia River Bar! There have been over 2000 shipwrecks in the 200 years of navigating the bar. I don't like those odds! We had a couple more surprises for us. Our friends, Eric and Diane came on on Legacy, there boat for the weekend. We had a wonderful time catching up. Then we were walking down the street and another friend, Phil, popped up. He had bought a house out on the coast and invited us to dinner. Again, it was a great time catching up with an old friend. It was time to cross the Bar. Monday, September 6, 2011 at 3pm we crossed over into the Pacific for the first time on Reisender. It was her first time in salt water in over 7 years. We were doing projects right up until we cast off the lines. Scott was wiring in the compass light less than 2 hours before we left.

It was a slow crossing, but we made it. We broke out the rum and toasted the sea gods for protection, and old sailor tradition. Everything was going along fine until around 10 in the morning...FOG!!! We motored right into a fog bank and we hoped it would clear before we came into Newport, OR. It didn't! We didn't have our radar installed yet, but the GPS and chartplotter worked great. All the buoys popped out of the fog right where they were supposed to be. Once we were tied off at the dock I took four slugs of rum. It was decided that radar had to be installed before our next leg. Our friends, Becky and Dan, were in the same marina and we had a great two weeks working and crabbing. Our much loved Northwestern Mama Sherry came for a visit. Sherry we miss and think about you often. We got another pleasant surprise, one of Scott's cousins was living new Newport and worked at the Marine Research Center. Thanks for the behind the scenes look Sarah! Another crusing boat, Ventured came in a few days before we were to leave and moored in front of us. Erlin and Jen we will catch up sometime.

Scott and I headed out to Coos Bay, Oregon after two weeks in Newport. Actually we stayed in Charleston, OR. The mooring for us was rather tight when we got there, but I was so proud of Scott, he slipped us in between two boat ala Captain Ron. Ventured came in about 8 hours after us. Both boats were ready to go two days later, but it wasn't in the cards for us, our muffler had a crack and needed to be welded. That took to the first of the week and then we were stuck for a few more days due to weather. Once the weather broke it was like some one left the barn door open. The number of boats heading out of there was amazing. I think there was somewhere in the neighborhood of almost a dozen. Everything was fine until the evening of the second night out. The wind started building out of the south. We were off Cape Sebastian and the wind was blowing 25 with gusts of 30 to 35. Apparently the storm was not predicted and we found that out a few days later. There wasn't a close port so we headed a little further out to get away from land and see if the weather was any better. It was, but not by much. We were only making 1.5 knots and couldn't really see much of anything. I've never been so greatful for the light of days as I was on October 1^st. After refueling in Crescent City we anchored in the bay. Crescent City had been the hardest hit by the Tsunami in March and the marina we being rebuilt. It was time for some much needed rest. We were finally in CA. The next leg wasn't very eventful, but I was nervous most of the passage just the same. It was a short trip, only 12 hours, but it was a night approach and it would be our first with Reisender and completely alone. It went smoothly and the next morning we awoke to a beautiful day in Eureka, CA. However, the following 3 days were horrible. It rained, no it was more than that, IT POURED for 3 days. Everything was soaked and our nerves were getting frayed. Why were we doing this? Was it ever going to be fun? Well, only thing to do was push on, and that's what we did. The weather broke and we headed to Bodega Bay, CA. It's one of the most beautiful places we've been. The trip was fine except for some wind just as we were rounding Bodega Head into the bay. Safe and sound we broke out some wine and watched The Birds by Hitchcock (it was filmed in Bodega Bay).

The next part of the trip is a right of passage for any west coast sailor, The Golden Gate. This trip was eventful, it rained almost the entire way to the bridge, and then we had the famous bay fog for several miles before the bridge and just after the bridge. Once inside the fog lifted and we had to cross the bay to get to our marina. The traffic was heavy but it was clear and our AIS was working perfectly. We had a lovely week in San Francisco. We got to visit our friends Mike and Frank, and made some new friends, DJ and Joe. Frank accompanied us on our next leg, 7 hours to Half Moon Bay. It was a beautiful day and it was my turn to handle the boat under the bridge. That was our agreement upon entering, Scott got to take her under the first time and I got to take her out again. I definitely got the better end of that deal. Two days later we were off to Monterrey, CA. We saw a sea turtle only a few feet from out boat which was very exciting, until I realized how close we'd come to it. If we had hit it it would have been dead. That was the most excitement until we were almost to Monterrey, it was our first near knock down. The wind shifted and the waves pushed us slightly over so the rail was just in the water. There was no major damage, just stuff everywhere down below and a little dented teak.

From Monterrey we bounced down to Port San Luis and then around Point Conception to Santa Barbara. Our trip around Conception was a treat. It was clear and calm. Conception is considered the Cape Horn of the west coast. I was delighted it was a boring trip. A good passage is a boring passage!

We loved Santa Barbara, and then headed out to Santa Cruz Island. The dreaded Santa Ana winds kicked up and we spent a very uncomfortable night at anchor doing watches. The small bay we were in looked like a washing machine. We kept a keen eye on the edge of the island to make sure we weren't getting any closer. At day light we decided to head back to Santa Barbara. We didn't want to try to retrieve the anchor in the dark with the cliffs so close behind us. Our anchor held perfect that entire night. Back in Santa Barbara we found no slips and anchored out for the night. We bounced down to Ventura the next day, but found it to expensive and headed on to Channel Island Marina in Oxnard. We wanted to get our truck from Portland and found this an excellent time to retrieve the “Beast”. After renting a car we drove up the coast highway and headed back to San Francisco for a night. Two days in Portland, and another two on the road we were mobile again, but only for a few days. The truck was stored in a lot and we were on our way further south. Scott lived in Long Beach for a number of years and we thought it was time to go home for a few days. One of the highlights we'd planned for our trip down the coast was some time in Avalon, CA on the island of Santa Catalina. We spent Thanksgiving week there and it was so special we decided we had to come back. We went to Long Beach for another week and headed back out. We rode out another wind storm on a double mooring while there and got know some of the locals. Avalon is truly a special place. After two weeks we were both getting anxious to see some place new. Newport Beach was our next destination. On the way over the engine was acting a little wonky, so we sailed for part of the trip without the aid of and engine while Scott worked on the problem. It wasn't anything serious. We are still working out a bug in the fuel system, but the voltage regulator started to short out. Scott unplugged it and we cruised the rest of the way not charging our batteries. It was amazing to not hear and engine for the first time and to be pulled along just by the wind. I felt a little guitly that is was I and not Scott who handled the boat for the first time under wind alone.

Well, Christmas has come and gone, and we sit here in Newport Beach watching the fog roll in and enjoying a spaghetti dinner at a little restaurant on Balboa Island every Tuesday evening. To say we've had an adventure this year is an understatement. There are times we've been down right terrified, but I wouldn't change a moment of it. It is the challenges that define us, or rather how we stand up to them. I think we've done all right. We are here.

Where we go from here is up to the winds. We are excited to have made it this far and while we have our plans we'll keep those to ourselves for alittle while longer. Over the years those “plans” have changed so often I can't even count them, but every change has added a little new spice to our lives. It's a good life.

I apologize for the length of this letter, but there was much to tell this year. As every year I look forward to hearing about your lives. The time seems to slip away and there isn't enough of it to call or write as often as we should, but you are in our thoughts and hearts and we look forward to “seeing you down the road” as our friend Ralph likes to put it.

Cheers and Happy New Year!

Jerid, Scott, Linux, Pixel and Reisender