6/4/14 Wandering Dolphin POS
GMT 1600
17 15.55N 144 05.87 W
COG 285T
SOG 7 kt
DMG 150 nautical miles
DTG 642 nautical miles
Wind: NE 20-22
Temp: 83 F
Pressure: 29.65
Sky: mostly cloudy
Seas:4-6 ft
Sails: double reefed main, single reefed jib, no stays'l
It was sure nice to have sunshine almost all day yesterday. We dried some things out and the batteries got a good charge. It's cloudy again this morning but the wind is blowing from a good direction and we are sailing along nicely.
Someone asked me what type of boat Wandering Dolphin is. She is a custom aluminum cutter built by Steven's Boatworks in Nova Scotia. She was designed by the legendary Gary Mull who was known for his radical and fast hulls. She is flush decked, draws 6'6", has three cabins and two pilot berths with lee cloths in the salon. She is a fast boat and although there are some things I might add to her (an aluminum hard dodger with the main sheet traveler on top, and aluminum rails all around) there is nothing I would actually change about her. If you are interested in the refit you can look at our older blogs. We basically rebuilt her, including new hull plates in areas, a new Beta Marine engine, and countless other things. If only we had bought a new mainsail... Oh well... Keep sewing... Patching...sewing.
When we moved aboard we had read all the books and loaded her to the gunnels with all of the STUFF they say you MUST HAVE on a cruising boat. Her water line sank, we then drew 7' and had to raise the waterline, suddenly she didn't have the beautiful motion I remembered. After a few years of living like that with the boat full of stuff we never needed, expensive spares for everything rusting ruined in storage, motoring everywhere because she couldn't go to windward with 300 ft of chain and 3 anchors on the bow, oh and we were waiting with all the other cruisers for that perfect weather window... You know the one? No wind, flat calm, no seas... I gutted the boat and dumped a ton of stuff that had never been used, changed my anchor system based on our REAL time use and needs, got rid of all the stuff stored on deck, and put our waterline back where Gary Mull intended it to be. We no longer stored more food than we actually needed for the time we would be on the boat, we shipped personal stuff that was not being used back to land, I dumped almost 200 POUNDS of paper books and changed to a Kindle. Suddenly our lighter boat could go to windward like a witch and we were seeing speeds in the 9 knot range often. We actually reef just to slow down so she's more comfortable for Rebecca.
We also changed our mindset. We made a rule that our engine was to be used only for emergencies and to assist in entering or leaving anchorages and docking. That single rule changed our lives in a drastic way. Offshore life became enjoyable. We learned to live with slow speeds right along with the fast ones and most importantly we really learned to sail.
I have simplified wherever possible and we try to keep up with maintenance as a matter of course.
Well that was probably more info than you wanted but...
Today is Kanyon's birthday. He is 15 today, 6'3" and still growing, he eats ANY leftovers in the pan and is often caught eyeing his brothers or sisters, or even my, plate of food before we are finished eating it. He is one of the sweetest guys I have ever known and has a very tender heart. He is also a little naughty at times and likes to get the ball rolling with his brothers and then sit back and watch the fight. His favorite thing in the world is MOVIES. He has whole movies memorized and his big dream is to make them himself someday. Happy Birthday Kanyon! Today we will be watching a couple of his favorite movies, Beck is going to make him a coffee cake for breakfast, Em will make him Mac n Cheese for lunch and cookies, and we will finish the day with homemade PIZZA tonight!
Hope You All Have A Great Day!
Captain Tofer, Becky, EmilyAnne, Kanyon, Kaleb, and Benny
GMT 1600
17 15.55N 144 05.87 W
COG 285T
SOG 7 kt
DMG 150 nautical miles
DTG 642 nautical miles
Wind: NE 20-22
Temp: 83 F
Pressure: 29.65
Sky: mostly cloudy
Seas:4-6 ft
Sails: double reefed main, single reefed jib, no stays'l
It was sure nice to have sunshine almost all day yesterday. We dried some things out and the batteries got a good charge. It's cloudy again this morning but the wind is blowing from a good direction and we are sailing along nicely.
Someone asked me what type of boat Wandering Dolphin is. She is a custom aluminum cutter built by Steven's Boatworks in Nova Scotia. She was designed by the legendary Gary Mull who was known for his radical and fast hulls. She is flush decked, draws 6'6", has three cabins and two pilot berths with lee cloths in the salon. She is a fast boat and although there are some things I might add to her (an aluminum hard dodger with the main sheet traveler on top, and aluminum rails all around) there is nothing I would actually change about her. If you are interested in the refit you can look at our older blogs. We basically rebuilt her, including new hull plates in areas, a new Beta Marine engine, and countless other things. If only we had bought a new mainsail... Oh well... Keep sewing... Patching...sewing.
When we moved aboard we had read all the books and loaded her to the gunnels with all of the STUFF they say you MUST HAVE on a cruising boat. Her water line sank, we then drew 7' and had to raise the waterline, suddenly she didn't have the beautiful motion I remembered. After a few years of living like that with the boat full of stuff we never needed, expensive spares for everything rusting ruined in storage, motoring everywhere because she couldn't go to windward with 300 ft of chain and 3 anchors on the bow, oh and we were waiting with all the other cruisers for that perfect weather window... You know the one? No wind, flat calm, no seas... I gutted the boat and dumped a ton of stuff that had never been used, changed my anchor system based on our REAL time use and needs, got rid of all the stuff stored on deck, and put our waterline back where Gary Mull intended it to be. We no longer stored more food than we actually needed for the time we would be on the boat, we shipped personal stuff that was not being used back to land, I dumped almost 200 POUNDS of paper books and changed to a Kindle. Suddenly our lighter boat could go to windward like a witch and we were seeing speeds in the 9 knot range often. We actually reef just to slow down so she's more comfortable for Rebecca.
We also changed our mindset. We made a rule that our engine was to be used only for emergencies and to assist in entering or leaving anchorages and docking. That single rule changed our lives in a drastic way. Offshore life became enjoyable. We learned to live with slow speeds right along with the fast ones and most importantly we really learned to sail.
I have simplified wherever possible and we try to keep up with maintenance as a matter of course.
Well that was probably more info than you wanted but...
Today is Kanyon's birthday. He is 15 today, 6'3" and still growing, he eats ANY leftovers in the pan and is often caught eyeing his brothers or sisters, or even my, plate of food before we are finished eating it. He is one of the sweetest guys I have ever known and has a very tender heart. He is also a little naughty at times and likes to get the ball rolling with his brothers and then sit back and watch the fight. His favorite thing in the world is MOVIES. He has whole movies memorized and his big dream is to make them himself someday. Happy Birthday Kanyon! Today we will be watching a couple of his favorite movies, Beck is going to make him a coffee cake for breakfast, Em will make him Mac n Cheese for lunch and cookies, and we will finish the day with homemade PIZZA tonight!
Hope You All Have A Great Day!
Captain Tofer, Becky, EmilyAnne, Kanyon, Kaleb, and Benny
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