Tag-Archive for » Education «

Working To Get There
Tuesday, September 07th, 2010 /

We have so much to share about preparing to cruise but with working 100% at our jobs and 100% on or sailing Kaleo on the weekends, we’ve had little time to blog about it.

We’re excited to say that Kaleo is closer than ever to being cruise ready!

In the past couple of weeks we’ve:

  • Solidified our initial cruising route. Details to come.
  • Learned a ton about provisioning (SSU Provisioning course) and have started building our master provisioning list.
  • Taken a cruising first aid course, and with the help of Matt’s paramedic/firefighter brother decided on our ship’s medical kit, the Marine 1000.
  • Completed the design of Kaleo’s electrical system (which needs to be redone) with help from Scott at SLTF Marine.
  • Chosen the best anchor chain (5/16” G40) and length (200 ft) to replace Kaleo’s current rusted chain and rope rode.
  • Decided on our integrated communications setup after watching Communications Alternatives for Cruisers on Seven Seas U. We are forgoing a satellite phone, and starting out with a WiFi extender, international cell phone that accepts local SIM cards, Skype, the SPOT tracker, SSB receiver and of course VHF.
  • Learned more about the optimal fridge/freezer setup through another SSU class. We’ve decided to test our current system out for a few months before re-insulating the fridge.

There is still much to learn and a few final decisions to make, like settling on our chart plotter and solar panels.

We’re also still debating (and exhaustively researching) a hot water heater and watermaker. Any guidance or experience you’ve had with or without them is always welcome.

Category: anchoring, Education, Electrical, Refit  Tags: , , ,  2 Comments
What Would John Brown Do?
Sunday, July 25th, 2010 /

We just spent a full weekend aboard where we gained greater confidence and even more excitement about our sailing dream. In short:

  • We bought a great outboard motor for the dinghy and explored the waterways around our marina with it
  • Discovered the Clearlake Shores Farmer’s Market where we found fresh, local food to enjoy and share
  • Reached new heights as Christie was hoisted up the mast to plan for mounting our new LED tricolor/anchor light
  • And were coached and challenged to sail Kaleo to her full potential with a sailing lesson from John Brown of Sea Lake Yacht Sales

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Christie’s view of Kaleo from the top of the mast

We started Saturday early at the Farmer’s market, then Christie’s parents joined us for breakfast and delivered our boat registration stickers. They stuck around for the show as Christie was hoisted up the mast. After snapping a few photos and taking in the view she came down so we could prep for our sailing lesson with John. John is a yacht broker and ASA certified sailing instructor who came aboard to spend the afternoon teaching us how to trim (sailing term for adjust) and shape the sails.

This was one of the most beneficial afternoons sailing and I’d recommend it to any sailor, no matter your skill level. We expected that John would show us just how far Kaleo could heel (the way a sailboat leans when sailing) while going faster but it was quite the opposite. He coached us on how to sail the boat with less heel, while going faster, making us more efficient sailors. We were also challenged to point higher into the wind than we’ve ever been able to. We even got to fly our (very bright) spinnaker and ran wing-on-wing back to port. We really enjoyed having John aboard as he has a wealth of knowledge and generously shares it. If you sail in the Galveston Bay area, we suggest you book a lesson with him.

That evening turned into a neighborhood gathering as a few of us got together in the cockpit of a neighbor’s boat and talked until the wee hours. During the conversation we made a plan for a three boat trip to Freeport in about a month. It will be another chance to build and refine our sailing skills. Sunday we wrapped up a few boat projects and planed for Matt to rebuild the anchor locker next weekend.

Category: Dinghy, Education, Galveston Bay, Sailing  Tags: , , ,  Leave a Comment
Rightsizing: When Less Becomes More
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 /

One of the most significant changes from a land-based life to cruising will be moving into approximately 100 square feet of living space aboard Kaleo. Fortunately the backyard will be the size of an ocean.

This week we made a significant decision that will help us better prepare for the move aboard and more importantly, help us rightsize our life. We are moving from our 1,400 square foot town home to a 650 square foot studio apartment.

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We’re betting that life will be just fine with less. Less to distract, less to clean, less to maintain, less to worry about. And most importantly “less” will allow us to focus on the “mores” in life. More time together, more chances to experience the world, more money to help others, more focus on the joys of life.

Here are a few tips we’re learning in our rightsizing adventure:

  • Have a friend or family member help you. They don’t have the emotional attachment or remember the price you paid for something that you never use.
  • Make a deadline (moving helps that) in which you have to reduce the stuff in your home by 30%.
  • Start treating space as a commodity rather than your things.
  • Before you buy something, decide where it will go. Loving it in the store doesn’t usually translate to loving it three years later when it’s stored in an overcrowded closet.
  • Shop your living space. Would you re-buy that chair? That lamp or rug? If not, it might be time to release it and not replace it.

This process may sting a little now but we believe this intermediate step will be an easier adjustment than going from 1400 to 100 at once. Gotta get back to packing and Craiglisting.

Category: Boat Life, Education  Tags: ,  3 Comments
AIS Class Report
Saturday, March 27th, 2010 /

As mentioned in an earlier post we’ve been taking classes offered by the Seven Seas Cruising Association‘s university “SSU“. Matt just wrapped up watching the recording of the free session “AIS”.

AIS, which stands for Automatic Identification System, is a standardized navigation safety system originally developed as a collision avoidance tool to enable vessels to electronically “see” each other in all conditions and improve the helmsman’s information about the surrounding environment. For vessels equipped with the system, AIS provides such information as vessel position, course, speed and navigational status (under way, at anchor, etc.), as well as its name and type (sail, power, tug, ferry, etc.).

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While Matt already understood the basics of AIS and was planning on including the system in our navigation equipment refit, this class helped him make some final decisions on the right equipment and the right setup.

This course went into much greater detail (differences in AIS class types) but some noteworthy things we took away were:

  • Receive/broadcast (Class A) AIS systems aren’t really worth it for small recreational vessels. Receive-only (Class B) is our best solution.
  • VHF antenna splitters are not a good solution, it’s best to have a dedicated AIS antenna.
  • VHF antennas can not be mounted closer than approx. 3 feet apart.
  • And most importantly, no matter how advanced safety equipment is on board, it’s never an excuse to stop following basic safety protocols (like consistently scanning the horizon while sailing and maintaining active watches).

This is a fairly technical subject, if you’d like to know more we recommend further reading at Vesper Marine and GTS Consulting.

(Steven Gloor of GTS taught the SSU AIS class)

Category: Education, Electronics  Tags: ,  3 Comments
Cruising Curriculum
Monday, March 22nd, 2010 /

Every time we visit Kaleo, we learn a lot. Sometimes it’s about how to best trim the sails for the fastest speed or for a more comfortable ride. Sometimes (everytime) it’s about how a planned project takes more time and money than expected. And often it’s about loving the idea of a life aboard with each new experience.

But when we are away from the boat (which is most of the time as we don’t live in the same city as our beloved vessel) the education doesn’t stop. Of course we learn a lot from books we’re reading and blogs we follow but the latest addition to our education stable have been classes from the Seven Seas University. SSU is the online education portal of the Seven Seas Cruising Association.

SSU offers a number of online courses on various cruising subjects that can be taken online in a webinar format. These classes allow an instructor to take students through a slideshow while they voice over and sometimes teach via video. We will post topline learning from each session but in the meantime here is a list of the courses we’ve taken so far:

  • Celestial Navigation
  • What you really, really need to know about yacht insurance
  • Emergency Protocols You Must Have
  • Non-Emergency Use of DIGITAL SELECTIVE CALLING (VHF DSC)
  • AIS (Automatic Identification System)
  • Island Hopping to the Caribbean
  • First Aid Afloat

Stay tuned for the highlights of what we’re learning.

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Category: Cruising, Education, Resources  Tags: , ,  2 Comments