French Fry Guy must be Spanish

You may remember my blog from Bonaire where I posted a picture of French Fry Guy. Well, I believe I have stumbled across pictures of his ancestors in the museum of the Spanish Inquisition in Cartagena. If it's true, he comes from a long line of aristocrats and he carries the family trait of squinty eye.

My name is Evelyn Rasmussen, and I'm an Internet junkie

Ok. I can't hide it any longer. Jens is on to me. Living together 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it is impossible to keep secrets and even more impossible to hide our bad habits and vices.
I didn't realize it before, because having a full time job meant that you were always on the internet, available by cell phone and just generally 'plugged in'. Since we started cruising, we had to give up our beloved cell phones because what we would have spent on roaming costs would have been enough money to buy a small country! We could have had wifi via satellite service on the boat, but that too was beyond our budget.
During the past five months we have had intermittent wifi and OMG sometimes even NO WIFI!!! Jens laughs when the first thing I do when we are getting ready to find a place to anchor is to pull out my iPad and check for internet connections. I have actually suggested anchoring spots based on the signal strength of free wifi. No wifi, let's keep going!
There is nothing more frustrating than a weak signal. In Curaçao, we had wifi from the boat but it was such a weak signal, you had to hold the iPad up and in a certain direction to get anything. So, we made several trips in Squirt to the Fisherman's wharf where the signal strength was good.
On arrival to Aruba, of course one of the first things I did was check for wifi. Lucky for me, there was a strong signal and for a reasonable weekly fee, I have access to all the Internet browsing I can use. Jens is now complaining that I am spending too much time with my iPad. :(
Yes, I love the Internet. I love being able to look things up, plan trips, book tickets, talk to family and friends whenever I want to, and sometimes just browse. I admit, I am an Internet junkie!
So, what are Jens' bad habits and secret vices. Well, you'll have to stay tuned to hear about those. For now, I have to get back to Facebook, Skype, Hotmail, Gmail, and my new discovery, Messenger for iPad.

Living on a sailboat ... The good, the bad and the ugly.

So far in my blog, I have been telling about the great fun and adventures we have had. I guess it is now time to tell you the other side of it. Well, at least the part of it all that starts to annoy me a little. Those that know me well know that I am not a Prima Dona. But I do enjoy the good life and the luxuries that go with it. I love business class flights, lounges, pick up service, a nice home, clean bathrooms and most of all, freedom.

Let's start with freedom. Yes, we are free on a boat, no doubt. But I have always LOVED my car. Not that I care what kind of car it is, just to know I can jump in and go pretty much anywhere I want, whenever I want. Turn on the music and just drive. I really, really miss that.

I miss the luxuries of home. A washer/dryer at your disposal, an oven that I can bake more than six cookies at a time, and a bathroom, well, let's not go there. Ok, I have to say it. I really hate public bathrooms. At least most of them. The rest, I just plain don't like and avoid when I can. The nicest marina shower so far was at Nanny Cay in BVI. Shower, sink, toilet all in your own separate room. The bathroom here in Curacao at the fisherman's wharf is the worst. No doors on the bathroom stalls, and the shower stall has a wall that is only about waist high and is viewing distance from the bar. Great for the fishermen, not so great for me. And who cleans it by the way??? We do have a bathroom on board and by boat standards it is a very fine bathroom. But it's just not the same as the bathroom I have at home. Yes, I know I am spoiled!

We learn to conserve on a boat. Power, water, fuel. I love that part of it. Save the planet by reducing our carbon footprint and all that good stuff. But, damn I miss my hair dryer! And the microwave. These two appliances suck so much power that they have almost been banned from the boat. We only use them when we are on shore power. So, for now, my hair is curly and unruly. It's the new me. I see dreadlocks in my future.

Oh yes, and none of the above bother Jens. He's not worried about his hair, doesn't mind eating cold leftovers, loves taking buses and, well, like most men, can go to the bathroom just about anywhere.

Enough whining. I know, I know. The good is far outweighing the bad and the ugly. (By the way the ugly I'd me when I can't find a good bathroom or have to wait for a bus). We are really loving the life of a sailor and more than that we are enjoying being together, finally!

Lessons Learned

Lessons learned and things to remember:

1.   Keep the water tank full, ie if you have a chance to fill it up, do so. Don't wait until you're low.  We ran a little low yesterday and wondered if we would have enough water before we found the next marina.  Mind you, we had plenty of beer but it's hard to make a good cup of coffee with beer. 


2. If you think you hear helicopters flying overhead at night, and there seem to be more than one and they sound like they are hanging around, check that it isn't actually the water pump trying to pump water that is no longer available because you didn't stop to fill your water tank last time you were in port.  


3. When a local fisherman suggests that you should sail out today because even though we had a huge rainstorm the night before, he believes the wind will be good and the seas will be flat, think twice.  He's obviously a local and his boat has a shallow draw which means he can stay close to shore where the sea probably is quite flat.  We discovered the Atlantic can be quite shallow near shore with depths of 3 to 4 feet in many areas and with SEGWUN's draw of 5.6 feet it means we can't hug the shoreline like some boats.  We had a rough day at sea but covered a good distance.  We hoped to at least see a few Right Whales, but no luck.

4. Turn the dorado air intake vents to aft position when sailing in rough seas.  Otherwise, be prepared to wash all the salty water that has sprayed into the cabin.  Nothing like salty duvet, salty sofa, salty floor...you get the idea.


5.  After a long day of sailing and you're looking for a quiet place to anchor avoid narrow and shallow creeks with a tide change of more than 7 feet.  Particularly those called Jekyll Creek.  Unless of course you enjoy sleeping with a list of 20 degrees and think your boat would benefit from a mud bath. 

6.  Don't believe everything you hear about these nonslip pads for under the carpet.  When the boat is listing at 20 degrees, nonslip doesn't work so well.  I have the bruises to prove it.

7.  Dolphins prefer men to women.  I swear, it has to be true.  I can be on deck for the whole afternoon but as soon as I go below they appear around the boat frolicking away for Jens.  As soon as I come back up to the cockpit, no more dolphins.   Or is it just Jens that they like.  



Not enough battery power on the computer to do an update tonight.  But we expect to be in Daytona tomorrow evening and I'll have time to give you more details about SEGWUN's mud bath and our adventure in the Atlantic Ocean.  We're now in St. Augustine, Florida.  Just 50 miles from our destination.