s/v Field Trip

As I alluded to in the Tools posting, there are a lot of items one must consider when provisioning a new boat.  It isn't as simple as buying the boat, loading up your clothes, buying food, and setting sail.   Lots of items must be analyzed, reviewed, debated and ultimately purchased. This is the current analysis that I and other boat owners like Neil Sullivan are currently undertaking.  There are so many items that it can become overwhelming if you don't take this in chunks and get very organized. Fortunately we have a great community of new and current Antares owners that have helped provide input.  In addition I have found Beth Leonard's book The Voyager's Handbook excellent. To provide you with some perspective on the lists, see my summary on the right.  This is still work in process, but you will have some idea on all the items that must be sourced, purchased and stowed on a new boat. At this point, we plan on purchase most of these items in Argentina.  I

Sarah is Yin.  I am Yang. " Yin is characterized as slow, soft, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, and passive; and is associated with water, earth, the moon, femininity and nighttime. Yang, by contrast, is fast, hard, solid, focused, hot, dry, and aggressive; and is associated with fire, sky, the sun, masculinity and daytime. "  Source: Wikipedia You may have already gathered that by our posts - we balance each other.  I am very fortunate to have Sarah as Yin in our relationship.  When we find ourselves together for long periods of time, I continually see how we balance each other in all we do. I tend to be ' go go go ', and Sarah you could say a 'little' less so....grin.  I like to set broad goals and run hard to ensure they are met.  Sarah will sit back, and enjoy the journey.  I am very analytical, and analyze everything.  Sarah grabs ahold of the moment and sees/enjoys the emotional side. The important part is we are both continually learning t

As we dig deeper into the provisioning for our boat, the list gets longer and longer. Another factor that adds complexity is ‘what’ can we purchase in Argentina, and ‘how’ can we transport what is not purchased in Argentina without paying the 100% import duty. Lots of options with lots of moving parts. Thankfully, the Antares community has been great at collaborating. Specifically Neil, Paul, Laurie & Craig – all new boat owners - have been sharing ideas, lists, and experiences. Laurie and Craig blazed a trail for us, and have provided invaluable feedback. Paul is ‘blazing’ the trail now, providing additional insight. Neil & I are currently in analysis, note sharing, list creating, and…logistics hell. Let me give some perspective – and focus only on tools (other categories include spare parts for boat systems, first aid, galley, safety equipment, books & charts, rigging & sails, electronics, etc, etc). Tools Michael at Home Depot with Dad On the surface, sounds

So... time together as a family. It is one of the main reasons we are taking the leap. But, it is also one of the main reasons we wonder if we can handle the leap. Mark has been working like a crazy man forever, traveling in the consulting field since before we got married. All of his hard work has made it possible to even see this dream coming true. (Heaven knows, my teacher salary didn't contribute much!) But that same hard work and travel has been an Achilles' heel for us, too. Before kids, it was nice to have my alone time while Mark traveled. I was able to grade papers and watch The Bachelor in peace - don't judge. Then, we'd have date nights on the weekends and look lovingly into each other's eyes - awww. Then came kids. I stopped teaching, and was suddenly bombarded with diapers, sleepless nights, and NO alone time. I was thrilled to be a mom, but life had dramatically changed, and I was not at all prepared for the transition. Those weeknights

Dollars: Perhaps the most discussed, underestimated, overestimated topic about owning a boat.   Having spent most of my life working numbers, planning budgets, exceeding budgets (grin), etc. as a business owner – this was a very important topic for me to research.   B.O.A.T – Break Out Another Thousand.   From firsthand experience, I can tell you this is wrong .   It is MUCH more than ‘Another Thousand’.   OK.   We are building a boat.   A lot of the items we are adding are not inexpensive (shroud covers the exception)….but they are….for us…necessary.   As outlined in the previous post, the electronics for communication are critical to us.   You don’t have to ‘have’ satellite internet service -- but you do need this if you plan on accessing the internet in faraway places as we do in our travels.   Everything we do with finances and investments revolve around internet access.    Not to mention updating blogs and keeping in touch with family at reasonably quick connection speeds. So, wh

Alexander Bell  I am certain Alexander Bell did not even fathom how to take his invention...and put it on a boat - hundreds of miles offshore. Lots of our friends and family have been asking us 'how' we plan on staying connected as we are exploring remote areas on our boat. There are four categories of communications we will have on our boat: Radio, Cellular, WiFi, and Satellite. Radio First, let me start by discussing the basics of our boat's communication systems -- Radio.  We have two primary types of radios on our boat - VHF and SSB. VHF (30 to 300 Hz) is primarily used for line of sight communication between boats, shore, bridges, etc and has a variable range based on terrain, weather conditions and gain.  Our boat is equipped with a built-in VHF radio that we can operate from the helm or nav station inside the boat.  The effective range is about 8 miles.  We will also have two handheld 9db VHF radios, that we will use to keep in touch when on the shore and as

Being an avid diver, the decision and analysis around 'what diving equipment' we would included on our boat has been you could say...a process.  Wait, actually everything we have added to the boat has been...a process!  Shocker I know. So, when evaluating what to do for our dive setup, a lot of factors came into play.  The largest frankly being our kids.  It is absolutely unrealistic to think Sarah and I would actually dive, and leave the kids on the boat unattended.  Well, unless that is they are acting up...grin. So, the traditional approach, for us to use tanks, gear up and go was not really 'realistic'.  In addition, we will be having a lot of friends and family visit, most of which are not divers either.  So, what did we do...and why? In short order, an onboard compressor and tanks were ruled out.  Logically, we would just not use tanks enough to justify the weight and expense.  How much weight?  4 80cu tanks = 140lbs.  Portable compressor = 80lbs+.  Dive we

If you and I have talked personally about this adventure at any point in time, you know that I definitely have some anxiety. :) (a bit of an understatement, really) It is equally matched by my excitement, and frankly, I am constantly learning to "cast all of my cares upon Him, for He cares for me" I Peter 5:7 I can feel my faith being challenged through every step, and growth is always uncomfortable. But God whispers His reassurances to me in so many ways - and often . I think He realizes that I need to know He's in this, here with us, going before us from the beginning. I keep being reminded that He is here and there, in Argentina, in Brazil, at each tiny dock to which we'll tie our lines. Suddenly, there are a lot of verses and songs that have more profound meaning for me. This past weekend in church, the choir sang a beautiful rendition of Matt Redman's song ' You Never Let Go ' ... "Oh no, You never let go. Through the calm and throug