Change of Scenery

I'm so happy to release our BIG NEWS!

It's official - we are moving to Ft. Lauderdale! 

After 5 months of living aboard Felicity in Coconut Grove, we are moving to be closer to GR's work. Can you believe he has been commuting by bicycle and public transportation for almost 5 hours just to get to & from work? Me neither! Five months of getting up at 5 am just to get to work at 8 am. Five months of arriving home at 6 pm when his day is finished at 4 pm. Wow, what a guy!

Gia has been studying her butt off at school to pass a state mandated test called the FCAT. This week is her opportunity to show the state exactly how hard she has worked since November when she began her 3rd grade public school experience. Gia is so happy that she got the chance to meet up with her friends from Coconut Grove Elementary again, but she is definitely ready for a change. The rigorous schedule that her class has followed has allowed her to see that Home-School is awesome! Maybe next year we will continue with that plan for 4th grade.

As for me, I have given notice to both The Bookstore in The Grove & Sale Rack. I'm sad to leave them but also excited about what lies ahead! Oddly enough the girl who is taking my position at The Bookstore is also taking my position at Sale Rack too! So I think everyone is happy with the seamless transition!

Coconut Grove is one of our favorite places to live but we have never lived in Ft. Lauderdale. Our new dock will include, WiFi, Cable (with 5 HBO channels), a Swimming Pool, and it's only 3 miles from GR's job! We will be spending more quality time working on Felicity, instead of commuting! The grocery store is only 1 mile away and the beach is about 5 blocks down the road! All of the conveniences being close by is helping u avoid purchasing a vehicle, which we are really against. We don't want the expense and we love the exercise we get from biking everywhere!

This weekend was big in getting us ready for our trip up to our new home. Our official moving date will be April 28th.

Wishing you your own felicity,
Jessica, GR and Gia

Catching up with Old Friends!

The past few weeks we have been entertaining guests aboard Felicity. We began with Wilfried, who drove down from Georgia to visit stay the weekend with us. Our friendship with Wilf came about after he bought our first boat, the 424 Pearson. Because we were already having a "manfest", I invited our other great friend Adam over. He rode his motorcycle from Ft. Lauderdale! Adam also joined us in Guatemala last year. He has been working hard on charter yachts in the Caribbean so we were happy see him relaxing!

Gia's friend from school, Sierra, came out with us as well and the girls had a great time playing with our borrowed paddleboard.

Gia on Miami Catamarans Paddleboard Check them out!!

 Wilfried - SV San San, the original

After all these guests and a trip through Stiltsville and The Sandbar I had a ton of laundry to do and other miscellaneous chores. Blogging has been few and far between but I promise to do some more catching up!! Stay tuned for some more tales from the Galley!

Good Times

Doing a little catch-up on the blog. Here are some photos from Friday night. It was sort of a send off for our friends, Shawn & Curtis on SV Papillon. After hanging with these guys for three months we had to say goodbye. They are going to head north nice and slow taking time to smell the salt air along the way to St. Augustine. Follow along on their blog.

Shawn & Curtis

 

 

GR & Me

By the way, Did you know we have been living aboard for 5 months!? We can't believe how fast the time has gone!

Rare Occasions

I don't mind saying that I love painting bilges! Crawling into and hanging upside down in cramped spaces in order to brighten up the darkest place in the boat sounds fun. For me, there is nothing better than going to sleep to the smell of good, old fashioned hard work on your floating dream home!

Generally speaking we moved aboard in one fell swoop and got straight at replenishing the cruising kitty. We are longing for a quick break to the Bahamas in Summer. Right now. Today, I am quite content smelling paint fumes;)

Really, Refrigerator?

After living for the past 3 years without refrigeration we have slipped into the world of comfort pretty easily. Currently we have a household fridge on board. It came with the boat, it's old but it worked fine. But, suddenly the fridge lost her cool. Just to give you all a quick update we kicked off Project Galley a few weeks ago by ordering a new 20" range. Isn't it just fitting that the fridge would go on us? This is how one chore turns into a bunch of little ones.

It's almost as if she knew we were getting new appliances and wanted a replacement herself! My first clue  came on Monday morning, (of course not on the weekend) when I noticed the milk wasn't very cold. I mentioned something to G and he said to call the repair man (since he was at work). Here is where is gets interesting. Repair man arrives, he takes one look at the fridge and says, " You need a new one." Really? "That will be $20," and with that he is gone.

Now I have the magnitude of finding a fridge bearing down on me. Have you ever had to replace a broken refrigerator or other major appliance? It's not a quick and easy job. Typically, you would drive around to various appliance stores in search of the right fit, design and price. For us, we don't drive so getting to a couple of places in one night between 5pm and closing was just not going to happen. We set out to our local Home Depot and were told they had no stock, anything we wanted would be a special order. Booo! We stopped to grab a bite to eat and while we sat, we thought... if we are going to have to order something we might as well get something perfect. The Home Depot salesman was searching through inventory on the Home Depot website, I mean, we could do that! So back home we went, sort of befuddled.

Meanwhile, the freezer is still going strong and now has all of the perishables like milk and yogurt inside. GR gets to thinking, if the freezer is still working something must be able to be repaired to cool the refrigerator part. So we sleep on it, work all day and voila! When GR finally gets home from an extra long day at work at 9:30pm he tears into the fridge! I pulled up a parts breakdown of the current GE model we have and GR took a quick peak into where certain items were before he started dis-assembly. After removing the housing and fan we came up with the lazy culprit causing all the fuss! The motor that runs the fan was not running.

Seventy five dollars later we have the part on order and expect it Friday! 'Til then we keep our fingers crossed. I'm so happy we were not forced into buying another household fridge as the goal here to be more self reliant. A 12 volt system would be better in that way, but we sure would lose a lot of space, so we are torn. One thing is for sure, we will not take our luxury for granted! We should have a running fridge and a brand new range this weekend! Woo hoo! Hurray for handymen!

The Sandbar

Me and James, GR photo-bombing us

Every place has one, a little sandbar out in the water where people can tie up like the country song, "Redneck Yacht Club" and get wild and crazy! Miami did not disappoint, our first trip to "The Sandbar" was a success. We brought all of our girls, sure they were all under 10 years old but whose checking? We filled the requirements, lots of girls! The sun was blazing, the breeze was cool and the water was the perfect blend of blues and greens.

The kids jumped off the fly bridge into the water and even swam a few hundred yards to get to the very shallow sand bank to collect shells. While we were out there having a blast we were reminded of the couple of things we want to "repair". One being a stereo and speakers, our set up is really weak. We need the front deck and all the rooms down below to be able to hear music not just the salon. Thankfully, for us a boat pulled up along side with a full on DJ on board blasting the typical booty shaking music. We weren't short on loud music or Brazilian bikinis bouncing around! We were also reminded that our time on the water can only be limited to a few hours because of our refrigeration. With this massive household fridge and no generator we can't keep our food and drinks cold.

So we enjoyed our time on the water, got some sun and headed on back to the slip. We needed that trip out so bad. We all feel refreshed, ready to go back to work and make some more money to create the dream we long for.

Electrical freedom, free from the dock; financial freedom, free from the job and creative freedom, the freedom to live our dreams!

South Florida Boater Profile

Last month I emailed the Editor of Waterfront Times a local boating paper in response the their call for local boaters to answer a few questions for a feature in the upcoming edition. We corresponded and I sort of forgot about it. Until yesterday, when we were told we had been spotted! Waterfront Times is a great free local paper that has quality articles as well as a useful classifieds section. I'm psyched about our first press as Project Motor Boat and hope you'll check out the article here.

If you are a local boater and would like your profile printed in the pages of Waterfront Times, check out their Facebook page or website and email the Editor. We'd love to see our friends show up here next month!

Speaking of Facebook, have you "liked" Project Motor Boat yet?

Happy Saturday!

Fuel for the Fire

Backcountry.com Best Price @ 89.95 no shipping

Here she is, take a look! Fiberglass propane tanks are the coolest new invention! We have been dreaming of getting fiberglass tanks since the day we first saw them on the stern railing of another boat. The idea is that you can see the level of propane and never have to guess again! Believe me those propane gauges never work anyway so just save yourself the time and money and buy these! They are actually cheaper than stainless tanks. Since having a propane stove is all I have know for the past few boats I'm a bit spoiled. When it comes to cooking with propane the benefits are seemingly endless. The only downside would be Sunday morning pancakes interrupted by having to switch tanks or worse, lug the only tank you have into town for a refill. Not anymore!

Time Saver - Cooking with gas ranges allow you to begin cooking right away as there is not waiting for burners to heat up like with electric units.

Safety -  Propane burners cool just as quickly as they heat. Turning off the propane from the tank also saves fuel and keeps from gas leaking into your living space.

Consistency - Propane allows for even heat distribution across the bottom of the pots and pans, so forget about hot spots!

Precision - Temperature control like quickly changing from boil to simmer allows even the newest chef to look like a seasoned professional!

Propane is a great resource supplying 3 to 4 percent of our nation's total energy needs. Almost 11 billion gallons of propane are consumed by 60 million Americans every year to heat, cool, cook and light up their homes! Propane is universal and is also used in countries around the world so when you need a refill in Bahamas or Jamaica it can be simple. For us, living outside the box and relying more on self preservation to live leaves us seeking out new technologies and methods to spend more time at sea and less time at the dock and with our new galley set up we can do just that!

How will you get set up to stay longer out at sea? Are you relying to much on America's electricity? Cut the cord and seek out our renewable energy alternatives, you just may find a new hobby!

Until next time...;)

*We got our tanks (2, 20 lb. vertical) from Backcountry.com, they were available in a variety of colors including red, blue and green. We chose white;)

Stove Options

When we bought Felicity one of the exciting things for us was the ability to turn a boat that was originally set up to stay put, at a dock, into a boat that could thrive "unplugged". Today, as we ordered our brand new 20" gas range we made a big step in that direction! This will be the first of many Project Motor Boat PROJECTS. It wasn't easy making the final decision and there were a couple of hangups along the way. Here is a short list of the things we were confronted with in making our choice. 

1. Ordering - Once we found the model we liked we looked up dealers in our area. The dealer would not take our credit card over the phone and wanted us to mail a check or deliver one personally to his showroom. Well that was totally inconvenient, so the online ordering began.While I haven't minded buying parts or books online I had a few reservations about buying such a big ticket item through a company that I didn't know and wasn't sure I could trust. I made sure to shop around looking carefully at each website for secure looking features. I even called each website that was a possibility just to hear their customer service and policy information.

2. Shipping Costs - I thought shipping a stove that weighs 110 lbs would be astronomical but I was wrong. Thankfully, the cost was about 18% of the cost of the unit. One company estimated just $26 for shipping and a red flag flew up for me with them, I figured the end result would not be good. Reasonable rates for shipping portray some semblance of legitimacy, for me anyway.

3. Style - Basically, there are 3 colors black, white or stainless and I feel strongly about each. In our galley we already have a white fridge so if we were to go stainless the fridge would feel a bit out of place. Black is dark and would totally not match with our cabinetry, our wooden walls or our small open space. So that left white and simple.


After I felt confident with our choice we pulled the trigger and expect delivery by March 25th. The two main brands we were interested in were Danby and Avanti. We went with the Danby DR2099WGLP as seen above! Before we put in the new stove we need to also install some 20 lb propane tanks as well as sand and varnish the floor! Hip, hip hooray for projects! Projects inevitably lead to more blog posts!

Until next time...

Our Five Favorite Lines from "Captain Ron"

Captain Ron is one of those movies that every boater should see and if possible even memorize lines from. When I first got into boating GR exposed me to Captain Ron saying I couldn't begin to understand what life on a boat was going to be like without this brief introduction. I never understood those lines he was quoting until I watched it either! After I'd seen Ron, Oh, maybe 300 times, I had my favorite lines picked out. These simple line can be applied to bigger areas of boating & life and still carry meaning. So, with no further adieu, I present our 5 favorite lines from Captain Ron.

"If anything is gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there."  - Seriously though, no amount of time spent sitting at the dock, reading, researching, buying, planning and dreaming of driving a boat, anchoring a boat, docking a boat and/or cruising in general can truly prepare you for the real deal! Once you "get out there" the boat is really being used. She's moving around all the fuel in the tank, stirring up junk. She's got a little resistance under the keel and the wind is on your face causing extreme periods of elation. All this combined with the fact that Mother Nature is a force to be reckoned with can make for some interesting bonfire stories! Which is in fact why we love to live this way, is it not? Just get out there and do it! Use the boat, use your judgement, practice makes for better because no one is perfect!

"Shit happens, cough it up." - At this point in the movie Ron and Ben are playing Monopoly for money and Ben says, "That's all the money I have!". As the saying goes with boats, it's just a hole in the water we dump money into. Doesn't it always seem to take the biggest chunk too? It seems like every time we turn around now, it's break out another thousand! B.O.A.T. But once again, that is life. We earn it to spend it! So why not spend it one your dream boat, or on your dream cruise or trip to the Caribbean? Don't complain, gripe and moan; shit does happen. Just ask Forrest Gump!

"It's just a little squall. They come on ya fast and they leave ya fast." - Generally speaking, squall lines roll in and roll out. You ride the storm and while you are clinging to the life lines or the tiller you are learning some great lessons on how to steer your ship. Isn't this a great metaphor for life? Life has a funny way of teaching us things sometimes. You can be in the midst of some terrible times but in the grand scheme of your life it's a very short time. Once the storm calms down and you are able to look back on the tumultuous time you persevered through, it seems a lifetime away. Take this advice from Captain Ron lightly if you wish but there is some depth to it; I promise!

"If we get lost, we'll just pull in somewhere and ask directions." - While this is a very funny line, it isn't that practical. You literally can't pull in somewhere and ask for directions in the middle of the deep, blue sea - but there are several electronic advancements around these days that can help in times of delusion or GPS Failure or feeling lost. One time, we had our GPS go out on us after a long night of slogging across the Gulf Stream. I mean we were being given at least a 5 gallon bucket wave every 20 minutes for 6 hours. UGH! Typically we would plot our course as a back up but in this weather it was impossible. We reached about 6 miles offshore of Bimini, Bahamas but weren't exactly sure of our location, SCARY! We hailed on the VHF and were helped in by some friends already there. Shortly after this incident we invested in a Single Side Band Radio, "just in case."

 "Let's kick the tires and light the fires" - This just sounds like FUN doesn't it? What better way to get the crew psyched up and ready to go then this? We use this lines just about every time we start the engine. But you could also use it before you start the car, the grill or your outboard! Every crew needs a little motivation now and then. Find a motivating phrase you like if this one doesn't suit - but don't deny it, you were ready to go!

All this talk about sailing and Captain Ron has got me ready to drink a beer, but "hey, you want a beer you get your own beer!" Ha ha!

Kudos for Gia!

Gia has been looking forward to being in public school for a long time. She remembers what school days are like; frolicking on the playground, eating lunch with her peers  and even spelling tests. Since 2006 we have been combining a bit of home-schooling with a bit of public schooling while we continued to "live the dream" and cruise on our boat. Popping into a town long enough to register into a public school but not long enough to complete a grade; kind of like 6 months public, 6 months home-school. I think it's been the experience of a lifetime but to Gia, it's just life. She sees us leaving her friends at school and missing social engagements although she knows how much she loves to snorkel and hike and meet new friends in other countries.

For the past 3 months, Gia has been attending Coconut Grove Elementary and I have had nothing but glowing reports! She is definitely in her element now, all that practice we had done by ourselves in the comforts of our little sailboat are paying off for her in big ways! On Friday Gia competed in her first Spelling Bee. She gave an incredible effort and displayed confidence as she spelled out; garnish, butterflies, kitchen and twitter. Her first "real" report card came home with all A's & B's. She was given a free movie pass for completing the most Accelerated Reader comprehension tests of her class and I also received an email from the teacher acknowledging her hard work using an online component offered by the school for assignments in all subjects. It has been a great couple of months for Gia as most of her hard work and efforts are being recognized on such a bigger scale. We are so proud of her.

I meet many people that ask if I was afraid of home-schooling or the moving around that comes with our transient sailing lifestyle. I always respond with, "No I think it's a great experience." Gia has proven that she is resilient and can easily go with the flow of our ever changing lifestyle. She is able to pick up where she left off with friends and neighbors as well as the rigors of public school, uniforms and standardized testing. At a Christmas party in the Grove, a friend introduced us to her mother, Dr. Val. Dr. Val was taken by Gia's charms and amazed at her eloquent speech. She expressed a general interest into our boating lifestyle and alternative way of schooling Gia. She told me she had a TV show and her producers would be in touch. Sure, I thought. Well, 3 weeks later we had a producer and photographer out on Felicity interviewing Gia and me. Gia swore her life was changed forever and soon movie producers would be knocking down the door.

Tonight on Channel 7, WSVN will feature our segment on Parent to Parent between 5 and 5:30 pm. Soon after we will post the link and video so we can share it with you. I am so excited and proud of our little girl she has brought so much happiness and light into our lives and she really makes this lifestyle worthwhile. When we see the learning taking place and then applied in real life there is no better reward in parenting!

Boat Show Gear!

The 2012 Progressive Insurance® Miami International Boat Show and Strictly Sail is happening! This week begins the move-in of thousands of boats to the Miami Beach Convention Center and Sea Isle Marina & Yachting Center. Some boats are still shrink wrapped and are brought in by crane, while still others like the one GR is on will be driven in and parked into tight spaces where they will show off their goods for the next week to dreamers and buyers from around the world!

GR brought home our first bit of boat show gear last night!

I'm so stoked to rock this hat! IAG Yachts are the manufacturer of the current yacht GR is working with. EARLY this morning, I drove G up to  Ft. Lauderdale so he could get on the brand new 127' model and bring it down to South Beach to get prepared for the show. If you get a chance to check out the Mega-Yachts at Sea Isle and look for him! Tell him you heard about it on Project Motor Boat!

Felicity's Five Favorite Marinas

We have never been a fan of docks. They can take a huge bite out of the cruising kitty; but let's face it marinas can be a necessary evil. Choosing a marina to stay in for one or more nights can be a daunting task. Having up to date information and/or good cruising guides can really make the search easier. Sometimes we would just take a stab in the dark by calling random marinas that were close to where we'd be stopping and ask a few key questions. 

No matter the amenities, price is the biggest factor. Many marinas will have some but not all the amenities included in the price of dockage. That is where you compare the amount of time you are staying on the dock to the cost of the slip. Are you getting your money's worth?

In keeping with the theme of "Sailors gone Power" I must say that in the sailboat, dockage was almost never beneficial for us because we were completely electricity free. There was no reason to plug in, no refrigeration, no air condition and any of our power draws were handled by our wind generator. However, on Felicity, we "need" the dock. We have a generator that doesn't run (yet) and an electric stove, fridge, heat and air conditioning AND 32 volt lighting! Needless, to say when we began our cruise down the inter-coastal we stopped (almost) every night at a marina in order to cook and heat the boat. (North Carolina in November, need I say more?)

Since we stayed in so many marinas, I decided to give the ones that were worth our while a little love by recommending them to all of you! If you find yourself in this neck of the woods you won't be disappointed and I'll tell you why not...

Ocean Isle Marina 

North Carolina just 2 miles east of mile mark 335.5

Ocean Isle Marina will always have a special place in our hearts because it was there where first laid eyes on our new girl, Felicity. OCM has all the benefits a traveling cruiser needs, internet, shower and laundry facilities, fuel, and water. There were hardware stores, grocery, eateries as well as thrift stores nearby and car rental was easy! They specialize in winter storage due to their location in North Carolina and their ease of access out the inlet attracts many center consoles and sport fishing vessels. They have dock space for up to 30 vessels but could also accommodate larger vessels as they have a few long spaces. OCM gave a us a very warm welcome into our new venture of power boating. The staff was friendly and helpful in helping us get off the dock and underway. Gia made friends with the resident dog, Toby, a Labra-doodle and even got us a walk on the beach with Toby's pet, Tim.

Osprey Marina

MM373 Myrtle Beach SC

Osprey Marina is by far the least expensive, $1 a foot! Seriously! When we called they weren't sure they had room for us, so we waited for a call back. Sherry, Osprey Marina manager called back to let us know they had "made" room for us. We were a bit curious but found out after we arrived a marina employee who lived aboard moved his boat just so we could have that slip. Talk about accommodation! We were instructed to go to the office and get our "welcome gift". The office shares a space with a well stocked mini market and a cafe/grill. Sherry, the sweetest lady invited us to free crackers with all the jams, jellies and butter we'd like to try! After we settled up she handed us a gift bag filled with goodies! They also offered, free internet that was easy to access from inside the boat.

*Recently, we even received a call from Osprey Marina, to thank us for staying with them.

Port Royal Landing Marina

Beaufort/Port Royal SC MM 539

This marina dazzled us with their excellent customer service. They had internet service, cable, and water. There was a charge for electricity but it was minimal. We called in and were given easy instructions to pull up to the face dock. The same person who spoke to me on the phone tied up our lines and when we were tied off he reached to shake GR's hand and said, "Welcome to Port Royal!" That right there, that small but powerful, southern hospitality struck a chord with us. We have told everyone about the place ever since! It didn't end there. We have always joked about finding a marina with a courtesy car. Well, yup, they had one. Although, we didn't need it, we did giggle knowing we had finally hit one of those marinas!

*Port Royal Landing Marina did not hesitate adding us to their e-mailing list and we even received a post card thanking us for our patronage!

Fernandina Harbor Marina

On the Florida/Georgia Border @ MM716

What a great welcome into Florida. Stopping at Fernandina was a great way for our friends from Georgia to come over and see us! Staying in Fernandina was a fabulous treat! I love the vibe of that old time Florida town. There are many shops nearby house in those old brick buildings that transport you to times gone by. Fernandina Harbor Marina has one of the largest face docks offer 1,000 ft of space and it gets filled pretty quickly. They offer fuel, laundry and internet access as well as cable and water.

Dinner Key Marina

25.43.9 N  80.14.3 W  Mile 1095

We are now able to call Dinner Key our home. Officially, we are tied up to the dock on Pier 7 and we are content. We are so busy with work that we haven't had too much time to dig in to many boat projects but being at the dock allows easy access to shore for work and school. Dinner Key has a friendly staff and water & electricity are included in the dockage. However steep the price, we know that we have it good living on the water. The homes on shore rent for far more than we pay so we feel we are better off since our home can carry us wherever we please in good time! Coconut Grove is an awesome location allowing for us to feel the city vibe of Miami but still be in a small village where everybody knows our name.


Wherever you are, remember that you can always change your attitude even if you can't change your scenery:)

You know that feeling?

The one you get when you walk by your boat and get all tingly. You think to yourself, "Wow, what a cool boat." Only to realize, it's yours. You own this magnificent looking vessel. Well, I had that moment last night. Up until then it really hadn't hit me yet.

First, this is a big boat, really big. Second, dang she looks good! It's one of those pinch yourself moments. It was only a little over a week ago that we were living in Guatemala, boat-less. Now, here we are having traveled over 130 miles on our new home.

Felicity is her name and happiness is her game. Yes, I know that feeling and it feels pretty darn good!

Little Things

A bit of rain? NO worries!

We were recently invited over to a boat for an after dinner drink. Our hostess exclaimed, "Oh, how nice! You have real wine glasses." I gushed, “Isn’t that cool, they were on the boat!" Minutes later she pulled out a piece of paper with a staple in it and I said, “Oh! You have a stapler!” We laughed at how no matter the vessel we all have unique ideas of comfort.

Having just purchased the boat there were a few little things on board that were small luxuries (to us) that often get over looked. Real plates for one, we'd been using plastic plates for so long it was a real treat! Real glasses, there just something about the feel of a glass in your hand that makes you feel fancy!

One big change we have with Felicity is the spacious indoor steering station or wheelhouse. In there it’s warm and getting going at 6:45 this morning isn’t so bad after we stow the dock lines and hurry back inside. Once the rain set in GR and I both looked at each other as if to say, “Thank goodness!” We are thrilled with the ability to stay inside when the weather gets rough.

The best thing has been cruising. It’s been so long since we’ve joined fellow boaters commuting along the waterways and the camaraderie is the same as it ever was. We’ve enjoyed seeing all the different vessels passing by on their way to their own version of paradise.