All Blog Posts (984)

      Remember when you were a little kid and there was something so intriguing it dared you to break house rules to keep going?  And when mom said “no”, that lack of permission made you want it even more.  Then despite numerous pleadings of “oh mom, just one more time!”, your whining got you nothing.

     My attempts to barter with Mother Nature over the past few months for good sailing weather, just like when I tried to persuade mom to let me stay outside and play in the dead of…

     I took the day off yesterday to attend a concert in Houston that got cancelled so I decided to spend the day in my favorite hangout spot- Kemah, TX.  The weather was sunny and the temperature climbed into the 60’s by lunch.  I had been considering shopping for a new pair of boat shoes now that the 2011 sailing season is underway.  My current pair have seen better days, and I thought early spring might be the best time to upgrade to something I could actually be seen in a public…

I am traveling this week for work via land vehicle (i.e. automobile) to down near Miami.  No big deal, I do this once a year and it is a pleasant drive from O Town.  . 

I got the car packed up, then got on the road by 1:30 p.m.   At the point of NO RETURN on my way out of O Town, I figured out I forgot my cell phone...how about if I just leave my arm instead?  ARG!!!    I manage to calm down, and figure that I will do fine because I will have internet and can call the hubby…

My BOOK, DESPAIR!

a fictionalized account of the ill-fated fourth voyage of the Admiral of the Ocean Sea (Christopher Columbus) is now available to download to your Kindle at:…

Yet, I act as if researching names of folks I know on facebook and other links will bring me closer to my circumnavigation. It must be a need to connect with those I already know. Afterall I had a great day looking at a 42 foot trimaran and no one to share my experience with. Well, Sammy, my dog, is here. After a few tosses of her plastic, squeezey, shrieky dog bone, she curled up in her little bed. Then, there's Smokey the Bear, Danny's 54 year old snuggly who now shares my bed. He's a good…

Yet, I act as if researching names of folks I know on facebook and other links will bring me closer to my circumnavigation. It must be a need to connect with those I already know. Afterall I had a great day looking at a 42 foot trimaran and no one to share my experience with. Well, Sammy, my dog, is here. After a few tosses of her plastic, squeezey, shrieky dog bone, she curled up in her little bed. Then, there's Smokey the Bear, Danny's 54 year old snuggly who now shares my bed. He's a good…

in the BEST sailing stae in the US...FLORIDA!!!  And hasn't the weather been great?  YEAH!!  There is a reason that we endure hurricane season in this state and NOW is one of the main ones! 

I hope everyone is having a great year, and sailing as much as possible.  I have had some engine problems (fuel filters had to be replaced) but…

If this is widespread knowledge, let me know and I'll delete it.

A great application for planning.

http://earthnc.com/chartviewer/

For more than ten thousand and sixty five days I had one person who I admired more than any other and who admired me. Regardless of how annoyed we would become with each other he would put his arms around my waist and whisper, "It's O.K." Even when I dropped an outboard motor into the deepest part of the channel in the ICW after he had spent endless hours rebuilding it, he put his arms around my waist and said, "It's O.K." Then he muttered something about expecting me to purchase a new one.…

Hi All!

Here's a little article I wrote about the health benefits of sailing.  Pretty interesting!

Sailing Can Improve Your Health!

So, your feet got cold. Mine got cold too on Christmas Day while anchored at Manatee Pocket in Port Salerno, Florida.

But this week-end the Sassy Sailors from S3 (as in S cubed), did a 24 hour round trip sail from Palm Bay to Vero Beach. The weather was near perfect - our first night's anchorage just north of Sebastian was delightful, the calm wind shifted ever so gently a full 360 degrees by first light which made the hourly anchor checks interesting. After a casual wake up and sail…

Do this: spend an hour cleaning out my husband's office so I can make it mine.

Do that: get a rubber maid bin to store the non-racing essentials for SPRAY easily.

Do this: organize a match racing team for next week-end.

Do that: go to the Stuart boat show next Sunday.

Do this: walk over the bridge with neighbor

Do that: baby my smashed toe - the one that careened into a block of wood while walking down the…

My last blog contained pix of Flat Opti Saing Stanley and the rest of my crew, DanDee Bear and Sammy my dog. I e-mailed many friends and all of them replied that they were unable to open the pictures. I don't know why; I just opened the blog and all the pix were there.

Back at home I heard the little mouse sounding foot prints or gnawing near my front door the other night. Then, last night I heard the same sound outside my bedroom in the same area as previously heard. Now, tonight as…

Living near the party capital of New Orleans, I thought I'd write a little article about hangover cures.  Check it out at the Pickled Pirate!

I want to purchase a radar system for my Beneteau 361. I already have a very reliable Navman 5500 Chartplotter, GPS system that I'm happy with, however I know nothing about radar or what exactly I need.  I don't think the Navman has radar capability, so I need a receiver and dome that just handles radar.  Should I consider a second backup chartplottrer GPS with a new radar system that I purchase?  I'm interested in doing this in the most cost effective manner possible, so I don't know if…

 While SPRAY rests quietly on the mooring in Vero...

 FLAT OPTI JJ helps with the laundry.

 …