Sailing
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Storm prep…Hurricane is coming!
As I am writing this, Hurricane Helene is barreling toward the big bend of Florida. The track looks like it’s going to take it right over Tallahassee, or nearby there. The width of the storm is over 400 miles and we will catch the outer edges of the storm sometime later in the evening. Daily, Continue reading
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Knowing there’s always more to learn!
When I was writing last week’s post about the trip that ended (for me) in Key West, I had a few people ask me, “What made that trip worthwhile?” I tried to answer that question . .while I was writing about the importance of keeping up with the weather. It became too much and too Continue reading
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Headed for a hurricane!
Keeping up with the weather is critical in the sailing world. I know that sounds obvious, but it’s really true. As we all know, things with the weather change, sometimes very rapidly and you have to have a plan for when things change. In late June I joined a boat, we were supposed to go Continue reading
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We found out how good our anchor is!
One night, on our second time at anchor, we discovered the significance of being able to anchor properly and have good ground tackle. Dark had just settled in, and I noticed the wind picking up. The stars were no longer as visible as the clouds rolled in and the boat began to shudder as the thunder clapped Continue reading
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Navigating Setbacks: Restoring and Testing the Sailing System | The Great Wander
When we set out on this adventure, my grandmother warned us that my grandfather was always out there working on his sailboat. Everything is always breaking she said. He was always buying parts for it and going out to the dock to fix it. She’s not the only one to have said that. I’m pretty sure that every YouTuber Continue reading
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Refit to Ready!
Last week, we had the electricians on board for one last time, maybe not quite the last time, but really close. Our electrical panel is now all lit up at night, and we have a functional navigation station as well! In fact we even started up the engines for the first time in seven months! That went Continue reading
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Currents of Progress
Once we found the Mobile Marine Electrical things started moving. In fact, now we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for electrical work. They have been great, in fact even coming out here on a Saturday to make sure that we had a solid battery charging system. While they have done a lot Continue reading
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Progress!
I’ve been writing a about our difficulties. Lightning strikes, no power, stuck at a dock. I was beginning to think my blog about sailing was going to be about boat repair and that was it. I am happy to write this time, though that we are making headway! We are beginning to think about weather windows, not quite there, Continue reading
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Boat repairs…again
Last time I wrote, I shared with you the rotten bulkhead. Some Lagoons are known for bulkhead issues, but I’ve never heard that the 410 had bulkhead issues. Having said that, once we got into it, it was clear that the issue was going on for some time and it’s a hard one to diagnose without ripping Continue reading
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Rotten Bulkhead!
There is still a lot about the summer that I want to share with you. Traveling through the national parks in the west was truly awe inspiring and as I look back now, I want to go back through more of the parks and spend more time at some of the parks. Like I said before, it Continue reading
The Great Wander 