NUTS & BOATS
The twice monthly newsletter for to-be and already-are cruisers Volume 2, Issue #15 - August 2, 2004
Publisher: Trish Lambert
www.takehersailing.com
(C) P. Lambert 2004
Welcome to our new subscribers! IN THIS ISSUE
If you would like to get your own free subscription, use the box at the right to subscribe. OUR PRIVACY POLICY
AUGUST SPECIAL 50% off Half-Hour Cruising Teleconsultation They don't show up on the products list at the moment because until recently I've been too busy to offer them, but things are back to being organized, so I'm getting ready to relaunch the Take Her Sailing Cruising Teleconsultations on the web site in a new "Services" section. For the month of August, I am offering a half-hour teleconsulting session for $23.50, half of the normal rate of $47. This is a chance for you to get burning questions about your cruising plans answered through a real time conversation with me. Here's what the whole package looks like: - I will send you a pre-session questionnaire via email that will ask you to pinpoint the topics you want to discuss. This will help me frame the session so that you can get the most value from the time we spend on the phone.
- We will set a specific appointment for our call.
- I will tape our phone session, and will send you audiotape of it within a week of the session.
- As with all the Take Her Sailing products and services, I offer a no questions asked money back guarantee. If you don't get value from our session, let me know and I will refund your money immediately!
BUY A HALF HOUR SESSION NOW FOR $23.50 Want more info about THS consulting services?
CRUISING STRATEGY
When the Hurricane Cometh by Trish Lambert Comes the first of August, and the first of the tropical cyclones has been spawned in the waters of the Atlantic. The Pacific has already had some action this year, but Alex is the first visitor off the U.S. east coast and the Caribbean. Fortunately, it appears that he will stay offshore, so the coast won’t get the full force of the storm. Though many of you reading this issue are well outside of the annual hurricane zone, many others of you either live there yourselves or keep your boats there. If you are a member of the latter group, chances are good that, like me, you are paying closer attention to weather forecasts. You may even (also like me) subscribe to the National Hurricane Center’s (NHC) e-mail notification service so that you can keep track of what’s going on stormwise. And, like me, you may be thinking “What if?” What if a tropical storm, or, worse, a hurricane is on the way? What would we do with the boat? With ourselves? There are any number of hurricane preparation documents on the web. Not surprisingly, all of them counsel proactive forethought. And much of the advice offered is pretty common sense–strip the topsides to reduce windage, find a protected hurricane hole and dig in, don’t stay aboard during the storm. There are other issues raised, though, that I hadn’t considered or planned for, and, thinking that perhaps some of you might be in the same boat (haha), I have created a summary that deals with these issues in a practical way: Know your marina. Are the docks and/or pilings capable of sustaining storm surge without breaking up? Will your boat remain tied in the slip during high water, or are the lines likely to slip loose? Does the marina have specific policies and procedures in place regarding tropical storm preparation?
Know your area. Storm surge, winds, and waves will affect different areas in different ways. It has to do with topography and orientation to the storm. Study a map of your location and figure out the likely wind/wave/surge scenarios for storms coming from different directions.
Know your insurance. Study up (if you haven’t already) about what is and isn’t allowed by your insurance company, and make sure your hurricane plan adheres to their requirements. Take photos of your boat inside and out, including key pieces of equipment, and keep these photos with your important papers. (While you’re at it, make copies of your important papers and either stash them in a safe deposit box or with a friend or family member).
Know your neighbors. Whether you are a liveaboard or an absentee owner, your dock mates are your life line. Exchange contact information with them; better yet, talk about how you want to deal as a group with an oncoming storm.
Know your plan. With all of the above in mind, make sure you, your family, your marina, and your dock mates know your plan. If you don’t already have it, get and stow whatever gear you will need to execute the plan (chafing gear, extra line, extra anchors, for example). Know what evacuation route you will take once the boat is battened down, and know specifically what you will take with you when you leave.
All of the mariners I know do some degree of pre-season planning -- some more, some less. In the next issue of Nuts & Boats, Skip (my skipper husband) will share his plan for Nehalennia if a cyclone decides to visit the Florida Panhandle this year. Note: Boat U.S. has a hurricane brochure, a useful planning worksheet, and a hurricane tracking chart posted on their site. All are downloadable through their hurricane site.
KEEP AN EYE OUT! I’M HITTING THE SPEAKING TRAIL In addition to THS Teleconsulting in the new “Services” section on the site, I will be adding a “Need a Speaker?” section that summarizes the two talks I am currently offering to yacht clubs, chandleries, boat shows, etc., along with my professional and cruising bios. If you or someone you know needs an entertaining cruising speaker, contact me and let’s talk!
FIRST MATE'S VIEW
Unplug the Boat by Barbara Theisen Note from Trish: Barbara Theisen, another writing first mate with a web site (www.thecruisinglife.com), brings the “family view” to the cruising equation. She has kindly given me permission to share some of her past articles with you. ********** Electricity. It’s amazing how much of our lives is controlled by this steady stream of current. Not that most of us give it much thought. Pay the bill every month and there it is at the flip of a switch. Unless, of course, you live on a boat. My husband Tom, our two daughters Kate and Kenna, and I have been liveaboards for the past seven years. Our first few years aboard Tom still had shoreside commitments (mainly a paying job) and we spent 90% of our time at dock where our yellow “umbilical cord” connected us to the wonderful world of electricity. Sometimes I think it was easy for that shore cord to actually “tie” us to shore. But we knew that someday we’d unplug the boat as we took our first step in what we hoped would become a lifetime of cruising. We looked forward to that day when we left the receptacle box behind for more than just a few weeks. We looked forward to that day when our cord would be cut and our new life would begin. So we tried to make the transition a little easier by becoming less dependent on our shore cord. Basically this meant living without many of the things we baby boomers, who can hardly remember a time without color TV, let alone no TV (heaven forbid no electricity), take for granted. For most people it would be difficult to consider a life without refrigeration, telephone, television, and the washing machine. Some aren’t even sure how they would manage without a microwave, VCR, answering machine, air conditioner, dishwasher, food processor, and automatic garage door opener. Choosing to do away with the majority of these conveniences meant changing our lifestyle somewhat. But for the chance to spend the next 10 years or perhaps a lifetime sailing, experiencing the world, and living life on our own terms, it was more than worth it. Some things were easy for us to choose to live without. My husband’s electric razor was quickly replaced by a blade. What the food processor used to do, I now manage quite easily by hand. The electric can opener? That’s one I’ll admit I never did understand. Give me a manual any day! Out with the microwave. Good-bye automatic dishwasher. Other things took a bit of adjustment. Life without refrigeration required some major changes. We relied on an old-fashioned icebox. We now had to go to the store every day or so for fresh meat and another block of ice. Solar powered fans and a summer breeze provide our “air conditioning.” Our lights are a combination of 12-volt lights and oil lamps. For safety, we do have several electronic devices such as a GPS, a VHF radio, and a depth sounder. And, yes, I’ll admit it. We have an AC-DC TV/VCR (how’s that from some XS acronyms?). It was strictly for Sesame Street and the news of course, although now we’ve matured to the Magic Schoolbus and Wishbone. Of course electricity can be produced in a variety of ways. We thought perhaps a wind generator would provide that extra jolt we were looking for. Right now though, we’ve gone aground in a quagmire of conflicting advertisers claims. Just how much will this “free” energy cost us? Perhaps we’ll harness the wind yet without blowing a mental fuse. For now, we’ve turned to the sun. A solar panel has helped to get that shore cord out from around our necks. With a good array of batteries to store all our energy, only the room on our boat and the money in our packets will limit the conveniences we can have. In other words, severely limited. Naturally, there are boaters out there who would never want to live a life without today’s modern conveniences for more than a weekend. There are “purists” who would never want to live a life filled with so many gadgets they can easily live without. On “Out of Bounds” we just try to strike a balance between what makes us comfortable, safe, and happy, and sailing reality. Reality tells me there’s no way I can have a washing machine aboard. Ah, the very though sends shivers up and down my spine. In fact I recently caught myself giving a washing machine a loving pat and murmuring, “if only…”. However, reality tells me that a notebook computer aboard works great. So I hand wring my laundry like my grandmother used to do while my computer performs functions still incomprehensible to me. Yes, life without an electric flush toilet can be enjoyed. It’s all a matter of perspective – and knowing that 12-volt curling irons do exist. © Barbara Thiesen. Reprinted with permission. | 
