Monthly Archives: May 2012

But who would mind waiting for the spin cycle here?

We went to the storage locker today determined to find the rest of my saucepans and Jack’s general tool bag. Every time we open the door, we have to move the bikes out of the way, then start at the top of a tower of boxes and work our way down, opening each box to see what’s in it (why are they all labeled “boat misc?”) Then we have one of three options: pack into the car, throw in the trash or put it back into storage with a groan and a hope that the boat fairies make it disappear before we come back the next time.

We did find the box with the saucepans. It was labeled “kitchen misc, bike bottles” in Jack’s handwriting. The bike bottles are two plastic water bottles marked Cannondale, and apparently Jack wanted to be sure he could put his hands on them in a hurry. In any case, I now have all my favorite pots on board.

Jack’s tool bag is very heavy so we hefted a few boxes until we found one weighty enough to be it. Success! Now all the tools have found a home on board. I think.

We also made a list of things to sell to other boaters. First on the list was a set of nesting cookware that we bought for our previous boat. This new boat has much more storage space, so I can use my regular cookware. No sooner did we post the sign than we got a call from one of the people working in the marina office wanting to buy them. Pots off.

Jack is gradually sorting through the various bits of media technology on board. We decided we don’t need a VCR so that got de-wired today. Drew told us we don’t need a separate digital TV antenna so we returned the one we bought and fished out the antenna cable that we think goes up the mast. That gave us perfect reception, although we still don’t get the local PBS, CBS or NBC stations.

We’re still working on the settee cushions. It’s so humid that the foam isn’t quite dry but we’re hoping maybe tomorrow we can sit more comfortably.

…beats a good day at the office. I discovered yesterday that it’s true. We woke up with good intentions to get through more of the storage space and do more boat cleaning and organizing. But Jack noticed a small wet spot on the upholstery and said, “What’s that?” I bent down to sniff and discovered that the cat had peed on the settee. She never does that.

I sniffed and wiped but before long I realized that the pee had gone down into the foam and all along the seams of the covers, so I had to deconstruct the cushions, take each component out on deck and wash it, then treat it with the enzymatic pet odor eliminator we were glad we kept with us just in case. I told Jack with a sigh that this would be my week, and it’s not far from the truth. Imagine how long it takes for a big chunk of foam rubber to dry in the Florida humidity.


All day I went out on the trampolines and picked up each piece and sniffed every square inch, retreating anything that still had a lingering odor. I’m sure our dock neighbors were amused, but even as I was doing it, I kept thinking, “I’m on a boat!”

We don’t know why Izzy did it. We suspect that she may have tried to go to her litter box, but the door may have been closed. We have it located where you have to go through the guest head to get to it, and if someone is in the head with the door closed, she may have been thwarted and had to go elsewhere. We’re going to work on that.

We didn’t get to the storage space at all, but we emptied out the space under the kitchen sink, cleaned and inventoried and reorganized everything there. I can report that we will never need to buy dish detergent, all-purpose cleaner or soft-scrub ever again.

I also washed under the sink in the guest head, and that seems to have taken care of the boat funk we smelled every time we opened the door to access the toilet paper.

Day by day, little by little, we are making Escape Velocity our home.

We went to the storage space today and tossed out tons of crap and marked another pile for the marina exchange table. We’re definitely making headway, although we haven’t put our hands on my saucepans or Jack’s main tool bag which makes cooking or fixing things nearly impossible.

It’s funny how quickly our perspective has changed. We just don’t need much to be happy.

Another couple of trips and we might be able to extricate the dinghy. The question is, what will we do with it?

The day dawned placid and serene, without a breath of breeze on the bay. In the midst of all this quiescence my heart rate was already elevated because deep in my psyche I knew that today was the day. The day we planned to extricate Escape Velocity from D-8 at Sunset Bay Marina, executing a classic pivoting maneuver utilizing EVs twin screws set 21′ apart, and a large fender and line, with Marce at the bow. Safe to say I had never done this before, I had never been at EVs controls before. The theory is to use the outboard diesel in forward and, in a delicate balance, run the inboard diesel in reverse. Pivoting on a large fender.

Now, I’m an old single screw mono huller with a preference toward long keels. Oh, you can accomplish a weak approximation of this using spring lines and alot of shoving. You’d better hope the breeze isn’t against you or you aren’t going anywhere. I had no idea how Escape Velocity would react but I was about to find out in the worst place possible.

Not as I expected. Hemmed in front and rear by some seriously expensive fiberglass, we had a narrow escape. It was a thing of inches. Much back and forthing. Izzy “Adventure Kitty” Katzenbaum found all of this spinning about not very amusing.

After I collected myself, we practiced some maneuvers and found a nice spot to anchor and after moving a second time we got it right. Launched the dingy and quickly found that the Honda will definitely stop running if the little “key” thingie isn’t FIRMLY inserted into the safety thingie. Picky, picky. We were able to get back to the mother ship by running on the battery and quick thinking by the skipper.

After a spot of de-naming by 1st mate, it was back up on the davits for the dingy and still another anchor windlass jam. This won’t do!

After a relatively simple docking for fuel I informed 1st mate that we weren’t
going straight in to dock. We are going out here till my heart stops pounding. For the piece de resistance we added a hair raising pirouette between dock D and C inches from multi million dollar yachts to a gentle docking at good old D-8.

Absolutely giddy, we celebrated at Duffy’s with a few mojitos and another trip to West Marine.

Looks like we’ll stay at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart for two more weeks trying to organize and get Escape Velocity shipshape.

No need for Lawyers, guns or money. This time, at least.

Fair winds Escapees

We’ve been aboard Escape Velocity exactly one week and it’s been wonderful and hectic. Every three minutes or so I have to pinch myself that we’re really here, that this is really our home. And every other two minutes I’m reminded of how much we have to learn. But that’s the fun part!

Two days into our new life we welcomed our first guest. My sister answered our pleas for help in the initial unpacking and organizing and we’re so glad she was here. All work aside, it was important to Jack and me that we share our accomplishment with our near and dear, and they don’t come any dearer. In our darkest days of planning and saving, and especially in the many setbacks and disappointments, Nancy and Dave have been there for us, with a timely visit to Pittsburgh or an invitation to NJ, a Facetime conversation when we couldn’t be together, and always, always, unconditional support. I don’t know what people do who don’t have the kind of family I have. Lucky me!

We were on the boat for a total of four days before our truck arrived and in those four days I got so used to life aboard that I couldn’t imagine what else we could possibly need to make life any better. But oh, then the truck arrived, and there were my Global knives, our coffee pot, our bikes! And unfortunately, so much more.

When we started on this journey we had no idea what we’d need or want on a boat, and we acquired a lot of stuff through the years that now we see we won’t need at all. Like the two full unused bolts of upholstery batting bought at Joann on sale because we thought we’d need to reupholster the seat cushions. Nope. Or the heavy duty battery charger bestowed on us by another boater, and who can turn down free stuff? Or the cute stainless steel Force 10 barbecue we liberated from an old derelict boat about to be chopped up and burned. Or the teak veneer, lumber, trims and plywood leftover from Spellbound and that we’d need to restore a fixer. There’ll be a Craig’s List extravaganza as soon as we get organized. Maybe we’ll at least recover the cost of shipping it all down here.

We also took a lot of things off the boat that were left by the previous owner. Nice stuff, too, but things we didn’t need. Luckily, there’s an exchange table set aside in the laundry room at the marina and as soon as we added a hand mixer or insulated glasses or dishes or utensils they’d be snatched up by another boater. Recycling at its best!

In between unpacking and sorting and organizing our first load of boxes we managed to live the Schulz life, which involves visits to the local cafe for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up, and the minute-to-minute appreciation for where we are right here and now.