lifestyle, Sailing

One Month In!

Yesterday was one month since we cast off our lines.  One thing that has surprised me about this whole “cruising” thing is how little downtime there is (hence the irregular blog-post schedule).  We are inevitably either on the move (in which case one of us is steering and one of us is on lookout sinceRead more…

Sailing

hanging out in VA

After leaving St. Michaels, our next destination was Solomons Island.  Heard a lot of good things, and decided to check it out.  We didn’t want to do the whole trip in a day, so we decided to hook around through the Knapps narrows and spend a night off Tilghman island.  We had been through the narrowsRead more…

Sailing

Boat shows and Birthdays, oh my!

Since our delayed departure had the upside of putting us in range of Annapolis for the boat show weekend, we decided to swing by and check it out.  Some Liberty Sailing friends were there as well, so we got a slip in the Annapolis City Marina, right next to them.  We were all hanging outRead more…

lifestyle, Sailing

Last days on land – part 3 – final projects and cast off!

The past few weeks have been crazy. We originally planned to leave September 15, but hit one delay after another. First it was finishing some critical projects (inststalling the new head, adding a temporary dept sounder etc…), then the pope visit, then Joaquin… finally we finished up and were ready to head out. Coincidentally, itRead more…

lifestyle, Sailing

Last days on land – part 1 (packing & purging)

Our departure date is just under 2 weeks away now, and we are officially in Crunch Time… Fortunately the last “big” boat project to do is installing the composting head.  Most of the time now is devoted to throwing out stuff & packing the rest for storage.  It’s amazing how you can fill giant trashRead more…

boat work

The great cushion project

After taking ownership of Elara, our first priority was to address the “hardware” issues – however, once we decided that we would be cruising on her, Updating the interior quickly became priority #2. Views 7038Likes 2

boat work, Gear

Modding the main

When we bought Elara, one nice thing was that the sails were at excellent condition.  The genoa was literally brand new, and the main was only a few years old, and in exceptional condition.  The one problem is that it (the main) only had a single reef point…  While this would be fine for daysailing/racingRead more…