Just a few more days

25th Apr 2006
Just a few more days

Well, just a few days left until we move aboard. I attended the Offshore Emergency Medical training offered by Wilderness Medical Associates last week and weekend. Interesting class. Teaches lay people how to treat trauma and common illnesses when doctors and hospitals are no where in sight. We meet again with Baylor Travel Medicine (St. Luke's) on Friday morning to get scripts for the recommended drugs. Several antibiotics, epinephrine and some major pain meds, like morphine and Toradol. Curious to see what they are really willing to prescribe for us from the list that I faxed to their office this morning.

I just received a phone call from an old neighborhood friend and learned of the death of her husband. So very sorry to hear of his death. Bill and I think of them often because we had such a great group of people in that neighborhood back in the 1980s. This just brings home the reality of "do it now" because you might not be able to do what you dream of if you wait for the perfect time.

Still lots of last minute things to finish up this week. Bill used Maxsea and planned our route from St. Thomas to Grenada. That trip won't be as leisurely as we would like, but we will have 3 full weeks so it won't be too hurried. We must be in Grenada by May 31st so that Bill can fly back to Houston for work the first week of June. I will stay on the boat in Clarkes Court Bay Marina while Bill is at work. Anxious to finish up these last few days and get started.
Judy

Just a few more days

25th Apr 2006
Just a few more days

Well, just a few days left until we move aboard. I attended the Offshore Emergency Medical training offered by Wilderness Medical Associates last week and weekend. Interesting class. Teaches lay people how to treat trauma and common illnesses when doctors and hospitals are no where in sight. We meet again with Baylor Travel Medicine (St. Luke's) on Friday morning to get scripts for the recommended drugs. Several antibiotics, epinephrine and some major pain meds, like morphine and Toradol. Curious to see what they are really willing to prescribe for us from the list that I faxed to their office this morning.

I just received a phone call from an old neighborhood friend and learned of the death of her husband. So very sorry to hear of his death. Bill and I think of them often because we had such a great group of people in that neighborhood back in the 1980s. This just brings home the reality of "do it now" because you might not be able to do what you dream of if you wait for the perfect time.

Still lots of last minute things to finish up this week. Bill used Maxsea and planned our route from St. Thomas to Grenada. That trip won't be as leisurely as we would like, but we will have 3 full weeks so it won't be too huried. We must be in Grenada by May 31st so that Bill can fly back to Houston for work the first week of June. I will stay on the boat in Clarkes Court Bay Marina while Bill is at work. Anxious to finish up these last few days and get started.

Judy

Whew!!! That was close!

5th Apr 2006
Whew!!! That was close!

This is why every boat needs to be fully insured!!!!

Received an email this morning from Mike, the manager of the marina in the BVI where our boat is currently docked. There was a fuel accident at the catamaran charter company that is located 2 docks east from where our boat is docked. A fuel truck exploded while filling the charter company's fuel tanks. The truck driver was critically injured and nearby buildings and cars were totally destroyed. I feel truly sorry for that truck driver; I doubt that there is a first-class burn unit located anywhere near Tortola.

Mike said they moved as many boats as quickly as they could, and used hoses to wet down those that couldn't be moved quickly. As the wind almost constantly blows from the east in that area, the burning embers were blown directly to the dock where our boat lies. Several boats had holes burned in their biminis, but Mike said that S/Y Security is fine -- just covered by a layer of soot.

We had already scheduled a haul-out to be done in St. Thomas on May 3rd. They are planning to acid wash and wax the boat before doing the bottom job/paint. So a little soot is really not a problem at all. We are so fortunate because the situation could have been much worse.

Only 3 1/2 weeks until we move aboard. As we have already sold our home and our cars and almost everything we owned, it would have been devastating if our boat had burned up now.

Got our captains licenses

1st Apr 2006
We are both captains now

Last month we took classes at Capt. Roy's Marine Training in Seabrook, TX. We highly recommend Capt. Roy's classes if you are thinking of obtaining your USCG captains license. We attended class for 20 hours each weekend for three consecutive weekends. We both passed all our exams and our physicals. Now all we have to do is bring all the paperwork down to the US Coast Guard Regional Center; and we each will be granted the use of title of Captain. We did the OUPV (six pack) licensing. Both of us know that we could also pass tests for Masters license if we attended the additional days at Cap. Roy's school, but we don't have time to do that before we move aboard May 1st. Besides, the OUPV captains license is sufficient for us. We just wanted to have something in writing as proof of competency when entering foreign countries, and the USCG is recognized worldwide. We also hope that this entitles us to a discount on insurance. How will life be on a boat with two captains?
Bill's sister, Helene, moved to Houston at a most opportune time. She was burned out with the traveling of her previous job, so she quit and accepted a position with a business in the Houston area. Rather than move all her furnishings from Dallas, we gave her furniture and kitchen items to furnish her new apartment. This way, her son gets to continue to use her furniture in Dallas; plus we will still have some of our furniture if and when we return to a land-based home in Texas. Good deal for all of us.

Bill also attended the Mack Boring classes in February for our Yanmar diesel. He lucked out because we must have a slightly unusual model Yanmar engine. In these classes, you must disassemble your model engine and reassemble it and it must run correctly. Bill was the only person working on the Yanmar 100hp. There were 7 other guys working on two engines -- having to share the work. I think it was a far better experience for Bill to do all the work solo rather than work with 3 or 4 other guys on one engine. Only disappointment was that they did not have a 100hp turbo diesel, just a standard Yanmar 100 hp diesel. So Bill did not have the opportunity to work with the turbo part of the engine. Mack Boring gave him some additional manuals, so hopefully he won't have difficulty working on whatever problem might arise.

Bill has also passed the exam for Element 3 for his HAM General Technician license. All he needs now is the Morse code. I have given him 2 CDs of Morse code training. He plans to listen to these while driving to and from work for the next 3 weeks, 45 minutes each way daily. The local ARRL will offer a Morse code exam the week before we move aboard. Hope he can accomplish this. Still cannot believe that the US is the only country in the entire world that still requires Morse code for the HAM license. So ridiculous; so obsolete. But it is their game so we must play by their rules.

Our flight down to the boat is one month from today!! We still have much to get rid of or to move to storage in Bill's brother's attic or to his sister's storage room at her apartment. As we have dwindled down our belongings, I am finding it more and more difficult to decide what should be discarded and what should be kept. The movers will be here next Saturday to move our china cabinet and bookshelves to our younger son's home and our bedroom furniture and buffets to our older son's home. Those two rooms of furniture were just too expensive and irreplaceable to sell or donate, so our kids will use this furniture during our absence. Or forever if we chose not to return to a dirt dwelling.

My brother is buying my car, and a business acquaintance is buying Bill's car. Each of these will go on our last weekend in town. Only large item left to dispose of is a really nice, huge desk. Need to find a home for that. I hope to have a final garage sale on Saturday, April 15, to get rid of as many final items as possible. That will give me 3 days to take the remaining items to Goodwill or somewhere as donations.

I go to the Offshore Medical Training in Connecticut the week and weekend of April 22. Then the final week at home; Bill's "Sail Away" luncheon on April 28; final inspection of our house with new owners on April 29/30; and we are out of here early Monday morning, May 1st. Just wish Bill's employer would get everything settled so that we could leave free of job obligations instead of having that hanging over our heads. Bill will probably be required to travel back to Houston for business, and I will be left alone wherever we are anchored for awhile.

Guess we really can't complain since we will be in sailing paradise. The job situation just is what it is. Far better than not having a job at all.

Judy

We are both licensed captains now

1st Apr 2006
We are both captains now

Last month we took classes at Capt. Roy's Marine Training in Seabrook, TX. We highly recommend Capt. Roy's classes if you are thinking of obtaining your USCG captains license. We attended class for 20 hours each weekend for three consecutive weekends. We both passed all our exams and our physicals. Now all we have to do is bring all the paperwork down to the US Coast Guard Regional Center; and we each will be granted the use of title of Captain. We did the OUPV (six pack) licensing. Both of us know that we could also pass tests for Masters license if we attended the additional days at Cap. Roy's school, but we don't have time to do that before we move aboard May 1st. Besides, the OUPV captains license is sufficient for us. We just wanted to have something in writing as proof of competency when entering foreign countries, and the USCG is recognized worldwide. We also hope that this entitles us to a discount on insurance. How will life be on a boat with two captains?

Bill's sister, Helene, moved to Houston at a most opportune time. She was burned out with the traveling of her previous job, so she quit and accepted a position with a business in the Houston area. Rather than move all her furnishings from Dallas, we gave her furniture and kitchen items to furnish her new apartment. This way, her son gets to continue to use her furniture in Dallas; plus we will still have some of our furniture if and when we return to a land-based home in Texas. Good deal for all of us.

Bill also attended the Mack Boring classes in February for our Yanmar diesel. He lucked out because we must have a slightly unusual model Yanmar engine. In these classes, you must disassemble your model engine and reassemble it and it must run correctly. Bill was the only person working on the Yanmar 100hp. There were 7 other guys working on two engines -- having to share the work. I think it was a far better experience for Bill to do all the work solo rather than work with 3 or 4 other guys on one engine. Only disappointment was that they did not have a 100hp turbo diesel, just a standard Yanmar 100 hp diesel. So Bill did not have the opportunity to work with the turbo part of the engine. Mack Boring gave him some additional manuals, so hopefully he won't have difficulty working on whatever problem might arise.

Bill has also passed the exam for Element 3 for his HAM General Technician license. All he needs now is the Morse code. I have given him 2 CDs of Morse code training. He plans to listen to these while driving to and from work for the next 3 weeks, 45 minutes each way daily. The local ARRL will offer a Morse code exam the week before we move aboard. Hope he can accomplish this. Still cannot believe that the US is the only country in the entire world that still requires Morse code for the HAM license. So ridiculous; so obsolete. But it is their game so we must play by their rules.

Our flight down to the boat is one month from today!! We still have much to get rid of or to move to storage in Bill's brother's attic or to his sister's storage room at her apartment. As we have dwindled down our belongings, I am finding it more and more difficult to decide what should be discarded and what should be kept. The movers will be here next Saturday to move our china cabinet and bookshelves to our younger son's home and our bedroom furniture and buffets to our older son's home. Those two rooms of furniture were just too expensive and irreplaceable to sell or donate, so our kids will use this furniture during our absence. Or forever if we chose not to return to a dirt dwelling.

My brother is buying my car, and a business acquaintance is buying Bill's car. Each of these will go on our last weekend in town. Only large item left to dispose of is a really nice, huge desk. Need to find a home for that. I hope to have a final garage sale on Saturday, April 15, to get rid of as many final items as possible. That will give me 3 days to take the remaining items to Goodwill or somewhere as donations.

I go to the Offshore Medical Training in Connecticut the week and weekend of April 22. Then the final week at home; Bill's "Sail Away" luncheon on April 28; final inspection of our house with new owners on April 29/30; and we are out of here early Monday morning, May 1st. Just wish Bill's employer would get everything settled so that we could leave free of job obligations instead of having that hanging over our heads. Bill will probably be required to travel back to Houston for business, and I will be left alone wherever we are anchored for awhile.

Guess we really can't complain since we will be in sailing paradise. The job situation just is what it is. Far better than not having a job at all.

Judy