Week one, I feel fine!

CB 19 May, 2013
[4] comments

The life of a World Explorer is not 24/7 excitement. But, it beats working. There is, as I’m finding out alot of down time (Yay). As a result of this down time I’ve been doing alot of thinking (not really). One of the fruits of all this thinking is a new word! Well, I hope it’s a new word. It’s new to me. The word is “GloBo”. It’s short for Global Hobo. Not sure if I like it or not yet. I’m not gonna commit and put it on my calling cards, but I may get a T-shirt made.

We’ve spent the last week hanging out in the San Juan Islands and we have been a little surprised at the number of boats that are up here. It is no where near as crowded as it would be in July or August, but again, not as vacant as we thought it would be.

Anchored out on Jones Island, San Juan Islands.

If your following our tracker you’ll know where we have been so far. And by “know where we are”, I mean EVERY god damn 10 minutes! An update every 10 minutes seems like a bit of over kill, but unless I have the tracker turned on and my phone turned on with GPS AND Bluetooth enabled, 10 minutes is the only choice I got. If I turn on all that I have more control, but that means I got to keep my phone on and charged up. So, I think we are just gonna stick with the 10 minute updates, at least over the summer. May just do an once or twice a day update later on when we do the bigger trips down the coast this fall. If you have not been following along and don’t know what I’m talking about, you should take a minute and check it out….go ahead: https//:share.delorme.com/KevinMidkiff

Nothing insanely exciting has happened so far. Although we did see 30+ knots of wind while we were anchored out in Liberty Bay (Poulsbo) and as a result lost the cover to our auto pilot control panel.

Out of 8 days of moving about we’ve gotten approx. 3 days of sailing. Not full days, but something is better than nothing.

We have officially conquered six islands, in our quest to dominate s/v Bella Star.

Tawn bags a big one. Sucia Island.

On San Juan Island at Roche Harbor.

CB…

Posted in Big trips, CB, Palarran | 4 Comments

Whew!!

CB 12 May, 2013
[8] comments

That was a lot harder than I thought it would be.

All the projects, researching and work we’ve done on the boat over the last couple years were easy in comparison to saying goodbye (2 and 3 times) to all our good friends here in Seattle. I know we’ll see them again someday, somewhere. But god damn, I’ve had a lump in my throat for the last week.

But this is it!! This is what what we have been working towards for so long.

I thought when we left I’d know the exact time we cut the lines…..I have no clue. Sometime before noon and after 10am is my best guess. But cut them we did, and did a quick sail/motor over to Eagle Harbor for one last goodbye party/raft up with some awesome friends.

Pulling up anchor, leaving raft up.

We left Eagle Harbor and sailed over to Poulsbo (where we are anchored now), Just gonna hangout here for a day or two, get our bearings, and let it all just sink in. We have a little more organizing to do and get a few things stowed in better places. Probably pick up some emergency sausages while we are here too.

I’m just gonna end this post now. I’ve written and deleted about 15 paragraphs of sappy shit about how much I’m gonna miss my friends. Nobody wants to read that crap anyway.

Posted in Big trips, Palarran | 8 Comments

Ancient traditions of Mariners.

CB 2 May, 2013
[1] comment

There is an ancient tradition among seafarers that takes place after years of hard labor preparing their ships for extended voyages across oceans. They would gather on beaches or wharfs, build a fire and drink rum or beer, and burn their old work clothes they wore during many long hours getting their ship ready to leave.

When tossed on the fire the clothes would burst into colorful flames and burn with an incredible intensity. The sailors of old, being a bit superstition believed that the colors and intensity of the flames were the blood, sweat and tears of all the hard work they put into getting their ships ready. They also believed that the heat and smoke from the flames would reach the heavens and become the winds that would propel them across oceans.

***FUN FACT***
Since these men were tradesmen, that is where the term “trade-winds” came from.

The truth of the matter was their clothes would be covered in paint, tar, grease and many layers of grime, which aided in the colorful display when they caught fire……..

So a week before we are to take off on our trip, Me and Tawn took the dinghy out to a secret beach, built a fire and burned our old work clothes in keeping with this ancient tradtion.

Mah Pants!!!

***ANOTHER FUN FACT***
Almost everything written above is complete and utter bullshit! :) We did go out and burn our Carharts.

Two years ago when our friends Dawn and Pea sailed away on their boat (Deep Playa) we went down to Golden Gardens, built a small fire and they burnt their old Carharts and a other “boat project” clothes. They tried to get me to do it, but since I was not leaving yet. I could not bring myself to part with my old hoodie or dirty Carharts, I still had work to do.

But that is no longer the case. Boat is ready, and so are we. And as the picture above shows, I am down to only one pair of Carharts.

So, here’s to starting new traditions.

Posted in CB, Palarran | 1 Comment

This stupid little thing will save me hundreds of dollars.

CB 31 January, 2013
[3] comments

If there is one thing that drives me nuts, it’s buying a tube of 4200 or Sikaflex or some other expensive tube of sealant but only end up using a small portion of it. Then trying to come up with a way to seal the tip so the rest does not go to waste.

It never works. A few weeks later, I’ll pull out that tube of whatever for another project, only to find the thing will have solidified and I’ll have to make another trip to the hardware store and buy another tube…..until now.

Just look at that beautiful little bastard.

It cost $8 bucks on Amazon for a pack of two. Click here Prazi Usa PR-1600 Seal-A-Tube, 2-Pack Or on the picture above to get your own.

Posted in Tools | 3 Comments