Update on the Madness

This pic pretty much sums up how much stuff we have left to do.

It always seems as though there's plenty of time to get things done - that is, until you realize that the project you thought would only take an hour actually took 10. Strange how that works. Anyway, I'm sure you'll all be happy to know that the flurry of activity surrounding our departure is culminating into some real results. Yesterday, we got our shots (which I totally forgot about until last week!!), registered the eprib, stowed more stuff, got the solar panel installed, and thanks to Vlad's dad who is here helping us we now have a new homeport on the stern. I also passed my next level ham test, still without having any clue as to how to use the radio. Nevertheless, I keep trying to get Vlad to salute me while saying, "General Hamster." He hasn't been super cooperative on that front, though.  

Today, I get to finish the bimini top, while Vlad gets the engine in tip top shape and his dad does some general maintenance on our batteries. And then, I get to vacuum seal all of our dry goods. It's all coming together somehow, someway and despite my increasing panic attacks. One good thing about all this extra stress is that I haven't been able to feel the least bit anxious about heading out into the Gulf. Everyone around here describes it as an uncomfortable ride, akin to being tossed about in a washtub, but to be honest that sounds kind of nice and relaxing right now.

Oh, and a huge thank you to Vlad's dad who has been a machine. Because of his hard work, we've been able to get our shots and do a couple of other errands without completely falling behind.

Our Trip to West Marine

Look at all that stuff. 

We have officially almost completed everything on our "to buy" list (not so on our "to do" list!). Overall, we shelled out $4,200 on outfitting Bettie from West Marine. Our lovely dinghy took up $1,700 of that. Out of the $2,500 left, we purchased automatically inflatable PFDs with harnesses, two rearming kits, two tethers, a handheld marine GPS, a handheld VHF, two foul weather jackets, one pair of galoshes, oil, 4 oil filters, 200 feet of galvanized anchor chain, a macerator, a 500 gallon an hour bilge pump, a new washdown pump, a sump pump for the shower, spare headlamps, a giant spotlight with rechargeable batteries, a spare set of jib sheets, 80 feet of Vectran line (to use as backup rigging), 30 feet of shock cord, epoxy sticks, a fan, and 2 winch handles. Can you guess which of these things cost the most? The galvanized anchor chain, which came in at $600. Who would have guessed that out of all that equipment the most costly was basically a big hunk of metal?

I would like to give a big, humongous thank you to both of our families. They were all super generous to us for our birthdays. Our moms helped out by buying us safety gear, and Vlad's dad got us an extra VHF radio and light raincoats. My dad is helping us keep clean and caffeinated with a solar shower and a stainless steel coffee press. Thank you all so much for your love and support!

Not to give West Marine all the love, we've also outfitted through the Boaters Resale Shop in Kemah, REI, Home Depot, Sailrite, Amazon and Costco. I'll give a detailed summary of all the things we bought for the trip and where we got them in a bit. Here's a post from S/V Totem, a family who is currently cruising in the Pacific. They detailed their must haves and tips to finding good deals on expensive items, useful information for sure. 

To be honest, this is the largest spending spree I've ever been on in my life, and it's been a strange experience. At first, it felt kind of good to get all the stuff we needed after a period of extreme frugality. It was comparable to avoiding sugar for weeks and then eating a big, scrumptious slice of chocolate cake. Initially, there's a rush of excitement, that endorphin burst that comes with the first bite or with breaking through whatever budget prison you've locked yourself into, but eventually you just want an apple and to not spend your cruising kitty on an endless array of boating products.

Foul Weather Gear

Check out our new foulies!

While in Arkansas, my sister mentioned to me that she had a cardboard box labelled "foulies" tucked away in her apartment and that maybe, just maybe, there might be something we could use on the boat in it. She used to live up in the Pacific Northwest with her dad, who is a big-time sailor and took her on various boating excursions off the coast of Washington state. When I got to her house, she opened the door wearing this magnificent Henry Lloyd jacket from the 70s or 80s and a pair of white bib pants made out of PVC. She looked like she stepped right off of a Japanese fishing boat.

We spent the next 45 minutes trying on her two sets of jackets and bib pants as though we were playing dress up in our mom's closet, except this time it was foul weather gear instead of high heels. Needless to say, I took the whole box back to Texas. I mean, who can pass up free foul weather gear steeped in family history? Not I. Unfortunately, Vlad's arms were too long for the jacket, and the other jacket had a bum zipper. But the bibs fit perfectly!

We're topping it all off with a couple of jackets that were on sale for $99 from West Marine, and we should be set. According to the Cruisers Forum, there's foul weather gear available for $85 on Overstock.com. I believe our fellow cruisers in training over at Sundowner Sails Again got their foulies at Overstock, and they seem pretty pleased with them.

I realize that we're not going to be using this gear often as most of our sailing will be in tropical climates. Even so, there are no substitutes when we do need them. So I want to give a shout out to my sister Emily. You saved us a bundle of money on something that will keep us dry on the stormiest of seas.

And the Parade Goes On

Vlad's daughter Natasha came to see us, arriving 45 minutes after Sally, Apache and the two dogs left. Natasha got to experience the mad scramble our life has been lately as we try to get ready to leave in something like three weeks, but thankfully she seemed totally relaxed with the madness and the scramble. She also got to experience what life looks like after you buy a ton of stuff from West Marine - basically filled with cardboard, navigation tools and the touch of shame that comes with spending that much money.

Vlad and Natasha are expert dinghy unpackers.

And she made some rocking waffles with Vlad's prized waffle iron. Natasha is going to take good care of the waffle maker for us while we're gone, and she's going to come visit us on some tropical island. We just haven't quite figured out which one yet. Thanks so much for coming to see us, Natasha!

Back to the Boat

My mom and Bob. 

I finally made it back to the boat after a lovely time in Arkansas with my family. My mom and her boyfriend Bob were kind enough to give me a ride to Texas, quite the drive especially if you stop for delicious fresh bread at random bakeries in backwoods Arkansas which, obviously, we did. It must have been February in Texas, though, because we had rain and unpleasant weather the entire time right up until an hour before they left on Sunday. Then, of course, it was beautiful.

So no sailing for us. But we did go to West Marine, always an adventure, and my mom accidentally dropped a winch handle overboard while demonstrating to Bob how you tack. My brother also dropped a winch handle overboard when he visited, so Vlad is thinking that this is somehow genetic and that soon I'll be tossing the chart plotter off the starboard side while letting the autopilot slip off the stern. Let's hope I dodged that DNA bullet!

I was incredibly happy to have my mom aboard Bettie. She sailed all over the world in the 70s, filling my head with tales of storms in the North Sea and coral atolls in the Pacific. A true traveler, through and through. She and Bob have a trawler now and are planning to do the Great Loop in a year or so. They have a blog that's on a bit of a hiatus here, but they'll be back at it soon enough.

Aren't they adorable?!

A Trip Home

A snow day in Arkansas.

Before the beginning of any voyage, there is always the goodbye, and on Sunday, I rolled back across the Arkansas border to say mine to my family and to drop off my car with my little brother who will be keeping it safe and happy (right, Aleks?!?) while I'm gone. It's been wonderful to hang out with my brothers and sister, though we did see Star Wars Episode I in 3D and it was still horrible. In 3D.

I had to abandon my wonderful man and my wonderful boat on this trip. Vlad had to keep working, and Bettie doesn't travel well over land. But Aleks and his boyfriend Jon distracted me with a trip to Crystal Bridges, the new American art museum sponsored by the Walton family. I was skeptical of it at first, but I have to admit it's a pretty incredible collection and an amazing piece of architecture nestled back into the hills. Aleks says the building looks like a humpback whale and a turtle died in an Ozark holler, and my mom's boyfriend Bob described it as a group of marauding roly polies. If you happen to find yourself in Northwest Arkansas, you've got to see it.

This sculpture is right outside the entrance.

I'm glad we don't have seagulls like this in Kemah.

If you're interested in what kind of artwork is on display there, Jon has created a great website that covers the entire collection.