November 13, 2008
More bananas! ...see our new article in the November issue of BWS
Yes, we hear your pleas! Here's to hoping this will be the first of many new Tuesday Teasers now that we are in port ...
Check out the current issue of Blue Water Sailing, on stands now in a store near you (unless you live in Homer, Alaska, that is). You can read our article about living aboard over winter in Valdez here.
And if you haven't seen the last article, check it out here
Posted by Susanna at 1:25 PM
October 9, 2008
Homer! Yea!
We have officially arrived in Homer! The summer was amazing. We spent three weeks this spring working on Bluewater. We removed her ceiling liner and insulation to paint the underside of the cabin with a mixture of super-toxic 2-part epoxy paint and microbeads. The microbeads are super-tiny hollow glass spheres that add just enough R-value to stop the steel from condensing—so small that we wore super-duper respirators so as not to accidentally inhale the little beads!
As usual it was a bigger job than we expected and had a few hidden surprises. Most notably, a spot in the deck that I suspected of being thin was so thin that the grinder ate right through it! The beauty of steel is that it is easily repaired. The welder that came to fix the hole inspired me to learn to weld…that and the bill! Much more welding and I could buy my own welder. Fortunately, our good friend Bruce is learning to weld and owns all the gear, so with his help we added a mount for a new bow light and I was further inspired to learn how to weld.
We departed Valdez the first time this season with Sara and Jasun, who visited from PA to experience Alaska. Their trip was amazing—even if we dubbed it Voyage of the Plague Ship. Sara keeps promising that she will write a guest post for everyone to read, but it has never appeared. So my loyal readers, please email her some encouragement. You can reach her at: saralego{AT}gmail.com. Please send her a nice note and ask her to finish her guest post so the world can share her and Jasun’s adventure!
Sara, we are all waiting!
Posted by Michael at 3:30 PM | Comments (0)
August 5, 2008
Westward HO!
After a brief stop in Seward, having filled up on bananas, Cheetos and ice cream we are headed west into Kenai Fjords National Park and beyond. We will be traveling through places with names like Aialik Bay, Taz Basin, Northwestern Fjord, Thunder Bay, on to Gore Point and in to Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay arriving in Homer -- the home of people like Tom Bodett, Jewel and soon the crew of Bluewater.
Here is larger version of the map of our plan.
So expect lots pictures and stories in September when we are connected to the world again and remember that cats are proof that not every living thing has a purpose.
Posted by Michael at 11:41 PM | Comments (0)
August 4, 2008
Magazine Article Pays for a Bunch of Bananas!
Pausing in Seward for fuel, water and fresh bananas. Then on to Homer and expect to arrive by middle September. Got word my article for Blue Water Sailing is on the stands in the August issue. I still have yet to see the paper version, so online will have to do. Take a look here.
Posted by Susanna at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
April 8, 2008
Happy Birthday
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
ee cummings
Today is Susanna's 40th birthday! I remember when she said to me: "You know, soon I will be 35!" Oh she thinks she is so old, but if she only knew! She is just getting started!
Happy Birthday Wife!
Posted by Michael at 2:07 AM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2008
Tuesday Tease: Sea-Fever
Today the sun came out, the mountains stood tall and bright against a blue sky. A chill still hangs in the air, a vivid reminder of winter. The harbor is skinned over with a thin sheet of ice, but spring is coming. Tonight it will snow, then say the mystical weathermen, another sunny day. TWO in a single week. We are in heaven. The sea is calling and I must go. Soon I croon to the Siren. Yet she still sings…
Sea-FeverI must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.By John Masefield
(1878-1967)
Posted by Michael at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
March 6, 2008
There before the grace of you, go I
My Dearest Fuzzbutt,
Seven years ago you leaped into my lap and licked my ear. It was love at first kiss. To this day I am amazed at how your body wiggles with such vigor as you wag your tail upon my return. No matter how long I have been gone, be it 30 minutes or six weeks, your joy at our reunion has always been, and will always be a blessing.
Continue reading "There before the grace of you, go I"
Posted by Michael at 9:46 AM | Comments (0)
