WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
I know this is against the norm in the blogging world but, I try to keep the site clean and easy to read for our reader’s enjoyment. For this reason, I opted to keep comments to one page. We would love to hear from you. Do not let my wacky thought process deter you from expressing your feelings regarding our postings or another items of interest you want to share.
- Thoughts on the cruising lifestyle?
- Do you have an favorite sailing destination or a place you think we should avoid?
- Send us your favorite recipe.
- Have you read any good books lately?
- What would you like to know about us?
Please include your e-mail so we can write back to you (email addresses are kept private)
Thanks for connecting to us!
Mark and Cindy
Hi Mark, thanks for blogging. Really helpful. I just stocked up on some of the stock cruising books but as I am digging into them I think that I have already picked up many things by reading a number of the cruising blogs out there. We might be just a couple of years behind you. Would it possible to pick up with you guys via e-mail? If you can’t see the e-mail that was attached to my comment then let me know and I can post it to you.
Hi Dan,
Always happy to help a fellow sailor. PM sent.
I read about people being happy to have their house sold and I think ‘I truly want to feel that way when we sell our house and not be weeping with misery, sadness, and despair.’ Of course, it’s winter here and not a lot of fun being on the boat with all the darkness and all. Congratulations and here’s hoping for a quick and easy closing with no drama at all! Mike is getting closer to the ‘Take this Job and Shove It’ approach to life. It’s a scary thing.
Thanks Melissa. It was hard for us to get from ‘weeping with misery, sadness, and despair’ but mostly fear to where we are now. There was no ‘just do it’ for us. This was a long meticulous plan that stalled once or twice.
We are committed to giving this sailing thing a go. At least, for now.
Congratulations! What an awesome step. Hope the last bits go smoothly for you!
Thank you. We are giddy with excitement.
That is great news about the contract on your house. It would seem that things are working in your favor. I think Kathy and I will fly to the boat show in Miami next month to get a good dose of sailboats to keep our candle burning.
Thank you!
Be sure to take your checkbook with you to Miami 🙂
I am curious about the boat computer that you mentioned in your last post. Is this an app, or something built into your boat?
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for checking out our site.
The computer Cindy mentioned was custom built for us by IslandTimePC.com It has no moving parts (other than the fan) and a solid state hard drive, much like a USB drive. We use the computer to run our navigation software (Nobeltec TimeZero Trident). All of the instruments (GPS, Wind, Speed, Depth, etc.) are connected to the computer via NMEA 0183 network. For safety and security, other than downloading weather information via SSB or SatPhone, this computer is never connected to a network or internet. We have a second drive that backs up and mirrors the main drive. We run Windows 7 on the PC. We use MS Outlook to schedule routine maintenance task and repetitive task. Outlook will pop up when a task is due and tell us who is responsible for the task. The task stays active until it is checked as completed and then it automatically schedules again. At any given time, each of us can look at the screen to view our “to do” list of chores. We can also link to documents on the computer via Outlook such as our inventory of parts of schematics/instructions of the component the task is telling us to work on. I hope this helps answer your question.
Happy New Year!
Mark
Wanted to pop by and wish you all a Happy New Year! All the best for the coming year. Love following your story!
Thanks!!!! This should be an eventful year for us 🙂
Mark, your postings on St Pete makes me homesick as that is my hometown. I learned to sail in Tampa Bay and learned to fly at Albert Whitted. Although we currently live in GA, the plan is to move aboard and enjoy cruising. As most of my family lives in the St Pete area we will most likely spend some time there preparing to cast off. The next time I fly down to visit my Dad, if you are still there, maybe we can do lunch. Anyway, we will continue to follow your blog.
Fair winds,
Tim
Looks like you two are in the right place for Christmas! I am like Cindy in that I love the lights and trees, although I get weary of decorating my own house and then putting it away! I have a collection of tiny miniature ornaments that is going on the boat with us. There will be some semblance of a tree involved. So glad for you both that you are in such a cheery place for this season! Enjoy completely!
Hope you guys have a wonderful Thanksgiving aboard!! Glad to hear you are now living aboard your boat!
Neil, Thank you!
We are doing some pretty fun stuff over Thanksgiving. I can’t wait to do a blog update. I promise I will not disappoint.
What i love about this post on organization is that you care about underwear. Mike learned all there us to learn about the importance of underwear during basic training. Enough said.
I forgot to mention that since our choices were so limited, the colors of the new ones are pretty wild. We can hoist them up the mast and use them as distress flags.