Salty Kisses

family sailing adventure blog with vlog

almost cook-able

by Filed Under: Galley/Cooking

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Thanks to many horrible hours working with wood Carl got the range in place. He HATES carpentry with a passion and prefers to weld – lucky we have a steel boat and not a wood one.

The original stove was one straight out of a house, huge, useless and no oven! All the hours learning how to make bread from scratch is not going down the drain. Tomorrow a guy should be coming around to see if he can put in some stainless steel to encase the box it goes in. I think we’re also going to border it with stainless steel to hide the fact the hole was bigger than our Dickinson Marine Mediterranean stove. Can’t wait to cook something – who ever thought I’d be saying that.

Carl is out now with the girls (oh the peace, catching up on our business billing and payroll) looking for propane hose to get this bad boy powered up! Maybe spaghetti bolognaise for dinner tonight!!

But until then I have a mound of paperwork for our not so closed business, need to get Prili on ebay. It’s been raining here for the past few days and our laundry is in a huge festering nest in the forward cabin. But got my hand wringer in the mail yesterday so hopefully the rain holds off and I’ll get a couple of bucket loads washed today. Busy busy bee. People ask “what are you going to do all day on a sailboat?” Ummm hello “FIX IT and survive”

Wilmington living

by Filed Under: Kids, Refit

We have finally got internet hooked up!

As I write this Carl is screaming all sorts of blasphemies in the master, he’s fixing the head. Ewwww!

Well the car ride from MS to NC was miserable to say the least with two toddlers that pee every hour, to think Carl made better time pulling a heavy trailer and running just under the speed limit. But we finally got here and are happier for it. We stayed in a hotel for 4 nights, was meant to be for one but that was wishful thinking. The boat yards sand blaster broke down and set us back a few days. I’m sorry but there was no way I was staying out of the water with 2 toddlers and a pregnant woman’s bladder.

We got the bottom sand blasted and new zincs put on. We also had the wind vane taken off the stern, a boat this size is too big for wind vanes. Fixed a few problem areas and put a few layers of paint on. Bearing Marine was a great yard to deal with, they stated a price and actually stood by it. Pretty rare in a boat yard.

We still haven’t unloaded the trailer yet and I’m sure it’ll take until we finally leave, how did we accumulate so much stuff?

We put some rugs on the floor (no flooring yet or maybe ever). The girls picked out some bedding and stickers for their room and Carl got to work fixing the forward head, shower and galley sink.

All is well on board and we are quite happy and the girls are dealing with the change like troopers. The larger boat is far less stressful with the girls on deck then the Skye. Far less clutter on the deck and handrails are 3’ tall. We are all rednecked up with a huge tarp covering us. All the deck hatches leak which is no big deal because we planned on replacing them all before we leave.

Carl has also removed the forward cabin bed to create a chain locker. Who knows why they built the boat with the chain exposed to the rest of the boat. Stinky stinky! I could just image baby crabs crawling around the salon in the middle of the night. Still need to weld in the wall and put the bed back and we are in business for Grandma and Grandpa to visit for Thanksgiving.

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Kisses from Salty Kisses

lake catherine to the pass

by Filed Under: Sailing

FINALLY, Prili is back in the Pass. The motoring it self (we had no masts) took about 4.5 hours but we also had a wait of 3 hours at the boat yard to be put back in the water, we were not happy chappys. This put us coming through St. Louis Bay at dark. Of course I forgot my glasses and was blind as a bat, no help at all. And no search light to help us with the markers that weren’t lite up. But anyways we made it in safe and sound.
I was soo pleased that I didn’t get seasick. I usually don’t get seasick but with being pregnant I didn’t know if I would be up chucking over the edge. It was pretty rolly out so I took a couple of ginger pills to be on the safe side but other than being hungry I was healthy and happy.
We didn’t push the motor because we were running pretty tight on fuel but we managed a good 7-8 knots with a head wind. Not bad Prili!

Bottoms up

by Filed Under: Refit

Salty’s getting her hull blasted and painted. She should be back in the water by the time we road trip it up to her in a week and a half. Count down is on – like donkey kong!

salty pictures

by Filed Under: deck hardware, Galley/Cooking, Kids

 
 
 
 

 
 

Here are some other pictures I found on Carl’s ipad. Check out the space! She needs some love and girly touch but we could swing a horse in her.

living in America

by Filed Under: Uncategorized

 
Lately we’ve had a tough time all around, mainly I’m guessing because of me. It’s hard to be uprooted and homeless – well not really. We’re staying at a friends house that is pretty much classed in the “mansion” category. But still we’re living out of bags, all camping out in the same room and eating out all the time. Less than 2 weeks of this and we’ll be on our way to Wilmington NC to move onto Salty. This whole “sailing adventure” has come at such a good time for me. Every year that I don’t find my way home (to Australia) it seems more and more tension builds within me.  This will be my 5th year that I haven’t been home for a visit and it is killing me… and Carl.
I think I have adjusted quite well in the states even though I think my friends find me a little strange at times.
I’m soo over driving on the right side of he road, I’m sure driving on the left will seem odd too. Why do school buses butts hang out so far from the back axle? Doesn’t this make it unbalanced? Polo’s and khakis are a wardrobe staple here, don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy wear skinny jeans in the south, not that I’m into that but it would be nice to see some variation. And mangos, why do the mangos have no flavor. Frozen, South American, Fresh, Ripe, Green – they all taste that same BLAND. Come to Australian see what the mango is really about!
 
So here I am having a rant about America, Carl is sick of listening to it so there’s no place to go other that my fictitious blog followers.
So lets all queerly look at houses with flag poles in their front yard and vow to broaden our minds and hearts. TRAVEL.