Category: living aboard

Day to day activities, challenges and new things learned living aboard a boat

December 23, 2013

When your iPhone goes overboard… Waterproof. Mudproof. LIFEPROOF.

So… we live on a boat. And we have iPhones. It was only a matter of time before we got one of them REALLY wet.

A lot of people get protective cases for their phones, tablets, ipads and other electronics to protect them from scratches and from shattering if dropped on the concrete. Earlier in the year, while planning for our epic adventures, our friends Josh and Leah suggested we invest in the LifeProof iPhone cases. They had just purchased two of them before their travels to Costa Rica to keep their iPhones waterproof while playing on the beautiful beaches. I was a little skeptical on how necessary it was to have a waterproof case since they retail for something like $80!! I mean, do you really need to have your phone with you when you’re at the beach? How often are we really in the water?

It had never occurred to me that I could just buy a rugged case and then be able to take pictures and video no matter where we go!! If we had waterproof cases we wouldn’t have to worry about sand getting in the buttons or worry about salt water ruining the screen. Even dropping it on the rocks wouldn’t bust the phone. We decided it would be a pretty important investment if we wanted to be able to have the iPhone camera and GPS apps handy no matter what kind of crazy places we might end up in.

Two LifeProof cases arrived soon after that :) The volume quality is slightly diminished when on a call but the slight sound sacrifice is SO worth it… even though family members might get tired of telling us they can’t understand what we are saying… (sorry Bean!)

LifeProof claims to be water proof, dirt proof, shock proof and snow proof – even to military specs!! Boy did we get a chance to test out how well it keeps out water! Last night Peter was stepping up from the dock onto the boat and as he ducked into the cockpit he heard something hit the deck and plop into the water. His hands went straight to his pocket and, sure enough, his phone was GONE. Just as fast as the phone must have sunk to the bottom of the marina, so did Peter’s stomach. It’s such a sickening feeling when you know something really bad just happened.

It didn’t just fall in the water… it fell in the really icky brown salt water with 6″ visibility. Our slip is at least 11′ deep according to our sonar transducer on the boat and the bottom is a foot thick with mud. Our neighbor Cyndy reminded us that the reason it’s so stinky is probably because there’s more manatee poop on the bottom than there is mud!! There’s a LOT of manatees here and its a frequent occurence to see a big fat turd going out with the tide after floating up from underneath a manatee. We’re not kidding folks, it’s not from the boaters either.

Determined to find a way to save the phone we had to do some quick thinking. What do we do? Grab our two boat hooks, the net and some duct tape of course!! It was 11:00 at night, dark and the clock was ticking to figure out how to find it before it was sucked into the mud. We knew he had the LifeProof case on, but we weren’t totally sure if he closed the latch on the bottom where you plug in the power cord. If it was closed, there was hope for his phone yet! If not, it was toast. Mark is the local diver that cleans the bottoms of most of the boats here in the marina and Peter and I both knew he would say, “It’s GONE man!” Not even Mark would dive for it in this mud.

I scrambled to grab the camera while Peter started making a couple sweeps with the jury rigged net. I just knew this was going to be our next blog post, hehehe :)

With just a foot between the boat and the dock there was at least a focused area for Peter to search. It just had to be down there somewhere. He saw where it went in but we weren’t sure if it went straight down, or if it had bounced out a little from the boat underneath the dock.

We were actually lucky that all that manatee poo and mud was down there or else the net might have just pushed the phone around on a hard bottom surface. The mud allowed Peter to stab the net down a few inches into the mud and then pull it sideways a couple of inches. He would lift the net up and over one inch, then stab it back down to sift through some more. It was so thick that he couldn’t just drag it all the way across the bottom.

After a few minutes of this he was ready to give up. He was thinking of how much of a pain it was going to be to file an insurance claim with the cell company and get a replacement. He would have to pay a $200 deductible for the replacement, then go through the hassle of reinstating the last backup he did. Who knows how long ago that was :S Of course, all of his photos and personal settings would be gone. Not the end of the world, but for our generation its heart wrenching when something happens to your smartphone!!

I just KNEW he was going to get it eventually. I begged, “Keep looking! Keep looking! Just a little longer…” Peter was doubtful, but took another “stab” at it. As the net came up to the surface it was a little heavier than before.

Can you believe it???? With NO visibility, we got it!!!!!!! But HOLY CRAP that was some stinky mud that came up with it. It smelled like a port-a-potty! Yuk!!

Now for the test. He pressed the home button… and it was still on!!!!!!!!!

I tried to get a shot of just how long our contraption was but it was as long as the whole finger pier of the dock. By this time I was over the photos and just snagged a quick shot on my iPhone but it was still hard to see.

LifeProof only guarantees their cases for water immersion up to 2 meters for 1 hour. That’s about 6.5 feet. Peter’s phone was at 11 feet for about 20 minutes and it passed the test with flying colors. There was just a TINY bit of water on one edge of the phone when we opened the case but not enough to make any impact at all. The case got a thorough bath and we placed the case and the phone near our AirDryer 1000 dehumidifier for about an hour to make sure they got totally dry.

If our LifeProof cases can withstand the saltwater and mud at 11′ deep then it should do just fine for taking underwater pics of all the sea life when we get to that crystal clear water in the Bahamas ;) I’m feeling a little more confident now in just how “lifeproof” our cases are and can’t wait to test it out again in a more desirable setting :)

Peter is one lucky guy ;)

December 18, 2013

Dreaming of Davits

There are few things our boat didn’t come equipped with, and davits was one of them. A lot of boats have really nice custom stainless steel davit systems off the stern to hold their dinghies out of the water. Not a big deal though, this just means we get to hoist the dinghy up onto the bow when we want to take it out of the water. To us, its a luxury we don’t need right now. It would cost a pretty penny to fabricate a custom davit system for the Mary Christine.

Of course we had to do a couple exploratory fishing trips when we first bought our new vehicle, but then we had to get it out of the salt water ASAP. Even just a few days floating around in this marina was enough for sea life to start growing on the bottom. The algae was super slimy and there were tiny little barnacles starting to grow.

First we had to rig up a makeshift 3-point bridle to provide a little extra support instead of just using a single D-ring for the lifting. Next, we hooked up our main halyard to the D-ring hooks and started to winch the dinghy up out of the water along the side of the boat. The dinghy is roughly 110lbs (with the aluminum floor boards in) so having that winch makes it way easier to raise it up.

A little soap, water and couple of deck brushes took off a majority of the slime.

Up Up and Away! Peter got the dinghy up and over the lifelines while I helped guide it into position on the foredeck. That thing looks frickin HUGE when its up in the air!!

We found an old tannish brown sail cover at the used marine trading store and it just so happened to be long enough and wide enough when opened up all the way to cover our massive 12′ tender. It may not look pretty and some of the edges are a little torn but it’ll do the job!! It was only $20 and it will help protect the PVC from the wicked UV rays that we’re going to be in for a long time. Without some sort of protection, the PVC just doesn’t last very long at all, so we’ve been told. For now, our camo tie down straps will be holding it down. We’ve taken her out in 20knot winds this past weekend and didn’t have a problem at all with the cover coming loose. It’ll work until it doesn’t work anymore ;)

(Did anyone notice we’re getting closer to the waterline? :) After we fill up the fuel tanks and get all the provisioning before setting sail to the Bahamas we should be sitting right at the dark green stripe!)

December 4, 2013

Talking Trash

A turtle severely deformed from a piece of plastic that was wrapped around its shell when it was small

Its becoming common knowledge worldwide that trash is a big problem. When we were little, our elementary schools were just starting recycling programs to teach kids about the importance of REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE. Today, more and more business are making a conscious effort to “go green” and make environmentally friendly business decisions. There are industries entirely devoted to sustainable practices to reduce the human impact on our planet.

Once we leave the dock we are going to have to make some serious changes to the way we deal with our trash. There is no garbage man that will cruise up to the side of our boat to collect our trash once a week. There is no back yard to compost our garbage. There is no recycling center to give us a refund on cans and plastic bottles and take them away for us. Many of the islands we will be visiting will have less than ideal dumping areas and some won’t have any at all. So what do we do with it all? Just dump it overboard? No way!! We’ll be storing the items that cannot be dissolved until we get get to a proper disposal area. Check out how long it takes for these items to dissolve in the ocean:

Paper bus ticket: 2-4 weeks
Cotton cloth: 1-5 months
Rope: 3-14 months
Woolen cloth: 1 year
Painted wood: 13 years
Tin can: 13 years
Aluminum can: 200-500 years
Plastic bottle: 450 years

Source: Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (HELMEPA)

How about glass? I’ve read it can take something like an estimated few million years!! But who knows…

We LOVE the ocean and are choosing to change to a lifestyle that is 99% based on ocean life. We will be sailing, fishing, surfing, beach combing, paddleboarding, and swimming ALL THE TIME. If we can make even a small difference and help protect the ocean environment then we will. We don’t want to see any wildlife like the poor turtle with the deformed shell, or dolphins caught in nets, or other sea creatures washed up on the beach that have died from being trapped in or eating trash. We can only hope that if we respect the sea, it will take care of us in return and help us to continue living this amazing adventure.

We’ve heard of tips like crushing, cutting and reusing our garbage while at sea but we still aren’t sure what the best way is to deal with our trash. God forbid we attract bugs because of failing to rinse something out or put it in a sealed container. Our main trash can in the galley is a plastic can with a lid and foot pedal and lined with a plastic bag. We plan on bringing some big heavy-duty garbage sacks to store other trash that can’t stay inside, but we aren’t sure what to do with it yet. Some cruisers put it in the dinghy when hanging off davits, but we don’t have davits. We will surely dispose of all trash we can on shore when provisioning, but as new cruisers I’m sure we will end up with more trash than we’d like until we get the hang of it ;)

Please let us know what you do with your trash when you know you’ll be gone cruising for a long time! All suggestions are welcome :)

Now for the technical stuff…

Our survey noted that our garbage discharge placard was not up to snuff. It was one of the (get this – only three!!) mandatory fixes we must do to be in regulation. How awesome were our previous owners!? They took such good care of this boat, it was amazing how it all came together and how we found the perfect boat at the right time. The other two mandatory survey items to resolve were an inoperable navigation light (easy peasy) and an improperly affixed Hull ID Number. Theres a much longer story to why the HIN is wrong, but with some super determined detective skills I got it all figured out. Maybe we’ll post about that another day :) If you have ANY questions about the National Vessel Documentation Center and registering your vessel with the Coast Guard just ask us!! It really is a simple process and if you like to take the DIY route it’s totally possible – even when you don’t have the vessel history. I’m happy to help if anyone needs it.

The Waste Management Plan regulations are ridiculously confusing to say the least. It would be simple if there weren’t updates, but there are all these amendments and new requirements and new language and a bunch of other mumbo jumbo that’s really tough to sift through. I spent all day trying to find which verbiage is the most current and what we need to do for our boat. If you’re interested in the requirements then keep reading :) Don’t forget to leave us a comment and let us know of any good tips for trash management while at sea!

The U.S. Coast Guard published an Interim Rule on February 28, 2013 to implement the revised MARPOL Annex V garbage regulations. The amendments to Annex V entered into force both internationally and domestically on January 1, 2013. The Interim Rule revises 33 C.F.R. Part 151 to reflect U.S. requirements under Annex V and can be found at www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-02-28/pdf/2013-04616.pdf. In addition, the Coast Guard issued a policy letter, Interim Guidance for Revised MARPOL Annex V Implementation (CG-CVC Policy Letter 13-01), to aid U.S. and foreign flag oceangoing vessels in ensuring compliance with the revised Annex V interim guidance to these new amendments.

As a 42′ recreational vessel we are not required to perform record keeping of garbage discharge, but we are required to have a Waste Management Plan IN WRITING, and display a placard (minimum 8″x5″ according to the interim revisions).

A great sample WM Plan can be found here.

This is the Sample Placard for Waste Discharge we will be using as suggested within the USCG Letter in the link above targeting crew and shipboard operations on vessels of more than 7.9 meters (26 feet) in length overall:

DISCHARGE OF ALL GARBAGE INTO THE SEA IS PROHIBITED

EXCEPT WHEN SPECIFICALLY ALLOWED

The MARPOL Convention and U.S. law prohibit the discharge of most garbage from ships. Only the following garbage types are allowed to be discharged and under the specified conditions.

Outside Special Areas designated under MARPOL Annex V:

Comminuted or ground food wastes (capable of passing through a screen with openings no larger than 25 millimeters (1 inch)) may be discharged not less than 3 nautical miles from the nearest land.
Other food wastes may be discharged not less than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land.
Cargo residues classified as not harmful to the marine environment may be discharged not less than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land.
Cleaning agents or additives in cargo hold, deck and external surfaces washing water may be discharged only if they are not harmful to the marine environment.
With the exception of discharging cleaning agents in washing water, the ship must be en route and as far as practicable from the nearest land.

Inside Special Areas designated under MARPOL Annex V:

More stringent discharge requirements apply for the discharges of food wastes and cargo residues; and
Consult Annex V and the shipboard garbage management plan for details.

For all areas of the sea, ships carrying specialized cargos such as live animals or solid bulk cargoes should consult Annex V and the associated Guidelines for the implementation of Annex V.

Discharge of any type of garbage must be entered in the Garbage Record Book.

Violation of these requirements may result in penalties.

Special Areas:

The special areas are the Mediterranean Sea area, the Baltic Sea area, the Black Sea area, the Red Sea area, the Gulfs area, the North Sea area, the Antarctic area, and the Wider Caribbean region, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. These are areas which have particular problems because of heavy maritime traffic or low water exchange caused by the land-locked nature of the sea concerned.

The Wider Caribbean region means the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea proper, including the bays and seas therein and that portion of the Atlantic Ocean within the boundary constituted by the 30° N parallel from Florida eastward to 77°30′ W meridian, thence a rhumb line to the intersection of 20° N parallel and 59° W meridian, thence a rhumb line to the intersection of 7°20′ N parallel and 50° W meridian, thence a rhumb line drawn southwesterly to the eastern boundary of French Guiana.

In Summary, the only permitted discharges in Special Areas are:

Food Waste comminuted or ground permitted ≥12 nm, en route
Cargo residues contained in wash water permitted ≥12 nm, en route
Cleaning agents and additives contained in cargo hold wash water permitted ≥12 nm, en route
Cleaning agents and additives in deck and external surfaces wash water permitted

AND NOW YOU KNOW!

December 1, 2013

Giving Thanks

We are so lucky to be here, on our very own boat, really doing this, just going for it, living the dream!! Just in time for Thanksgiving, we are thankful for a lot of things but most of all that we are able to be here living this amazing lifestyle.

Holidays are a little different when you live on a boat but our first thanksgiving as liveaboards was nothing short of traditional. The number one must have item was a homemade pumpkin pie!! It’s absolutely against everything I was raised with to use a store-bought pie crust so in our tiny little galley I set out to whip one up. It’s so easy to make and totally worth the effort of mixing it and rolling out the dough. There is a secret family recipe I use that makes the crust extra yummy. Anyone who wants to try it is welcome aboard :)

We thought about cooking up a full spread on the boat for just Peter and I but that would have taken days in just one smallish 15″x15″ oven. We didn’t plan early enough and all of our neighbors were going elsewhere to celebrate with their families. The Harbormaster of Burnt Store Marina invited us over to her house, yet something else to be thankful for. Peggy and her husband Don had several other cruising friends over and we heard lots of great salty stories from some wonderful people who have “been-there-done-that”. We had a huge traditional meal with turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, fruit salad, cole slaw, stuffing, deviled eggs, olives and biscuits. Of course we brought the fresh-baked pumpkin pie and someone else brought a banana pudding dish. Delish!!!

The last few days have been really chilly here, dropping to an astonishing low of 40 degrees at night. Our days have been calling for sweatshirts and pants, oh my!! We’ve been snuggling up and keeping it cozy in our humble aboa-t. The day after Thanksgiving I caught the boys snuggled up together so cute. Gunner loves morning time with his daddy after waking up, going outside and then eating breakfast. Peter and the kids go back to bed and read for a while. Its Gunner’s favorite time of the day. For the cold nights we’ve been making yummy hot comfort food. Our favorite on the boat so far is pasta shells with homemade meat sauce. It had the perfect amount of spice and kept us warm and toasty.
Dinner up in the cockpit is SOO cozy!! Especially when its raining. We have our LED lights plugged in and a dehumidifier to add a little warmth and dry it out. A couple of blankets and a hot meal make this a real fun place to be when its cold and stormy. We leave the kids downstairs so its kind of like a date night too :)We hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving with friends, family and loved ones. Happy Holidays and thanks for following our blog!!!

November 16, 2013

Betsy Turns 7

Betsy Jo turned 7 yesterday!!

She normally sleeps in a cozy little space that is above some drawers and level with our bed, but little Sue got to sleep under the covers snuggled between us the eve of her birthday! She didn’t move an inch all night to make sure we wouldn’t remember she was there in the middle of the night. (See our CREW page to read more about Betsy and to see all of her different names).

We woke up yesterday and began with our normal routine:

First set up the ramp to get the dogs from the cabin to the cockpit, then help the dogs jump from the boat to the dock.

Then, we hurry up to the grassy areas along the sidewalks so the kids can go potty. Gunner always finishes first because he is so anxious to get back inside for breakfast. For her birthday Betsy got to hunt for lizards a little longer than normal, but if we let her she would chase them all day! Gunner didn’t mind so much because there were so many good smells outside.

Back on the boat for breakfast while mommy and daddy have coffee, then Betsy got to wash out the cereal bowl that we shared. Minimizing dirty dishes and conserving water by letting Sue do the pre-rinse gets us a jump on the daily chores :)

It’s nap time for the dogs while we do some work on the boat outside, then they make another potty trip before we run some errands.

Jose’s birthday dinner was served on a special birthday plate given to us by Jody’s grandmother who we all call Bean, and was given a healthy portion of barbecued New York steak with her own spot at the table!! We said our prayers holding hands and paws, and enjoyed another fantastic home cooked meal aboard our cozy humble aboa-t. Betsy is such a good little girl that she wanted to help us clean up too :)

After dinner we finished watching The Bucket List so Betsy would be even more excited about all the fun and amazing adventures we are about to go on while I baked a cake on our boat for the first time. Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting AND filling!! Mmm it smelled so good!!

We of course sang happy birthday and gave Betsy a high-five. Even though doggies shouldn’t have sugar, we had to let Betsy Jo have a taste of her own birthday cake. She is pretty good at eating from a fork!

Betsy is a very special dog and anyone that meets her will understand. She loves everyone she meets and is the happiest dog we know. It was a blessing that Peter found this little girl 7 years ago and took her home so she could be here with us today.