The Nederland Sailors Have Arrived!

We had some friends from Nederland sail in via the ICW on Sunday night and they brought with them some more friends they had made along the way. We have been having a wonderful party all week, with five kids running around and big dinners in the pavilion every night. It has been nice to reminisce about Nederland and the wonderful community there. It has also been so inspiring for us to want to get going sooner rather than later! They are working on their boats, provisioning and waiting for a weather window to the Bahamas, and we wish we could go too! It’s all very exciting! 

One real highlight for me, beyond feeling connected to like-minded friends and having a blast, is hearing how similar all of our struggles with boat life are. It is nice to realize that everyone has the same issues we do with minuscules freezers, and occasionally damp walls, etc... It actually makes me like our little boat a lot more, and it helped me focus on its positive attributes!

Our friend Ava from Whisper and from Nederland playing Ukulele with the girls. 

playing at the pool

making friends with Lisa from sv Piper

night fishing with her new buddy Finn

The kids table

The grown up table

these guys can party! 

Finn doing tours on his kayak

The girls with Mackie from Piper

Weekend in Vero

We were at the Vero Beach City Marina last weekend. We headed out Friday morning at 6:30 a.m. and made it there by 8:30 a.m.  We flew the jib and ran the engine the whole way, briefly making over 8 knots.

This is a picturesque little spot with great restaurants and a free bus around town.

Mom and Dad and Cap'n Jack and Gloria came to watch Vero's boat parade with us from our slip.

We did learn a hard lesson about current in marinas, as the cockpit canvas attests.  Oh well, some lessons you just learn the hard way.  Most of them, in my experience...

Leaving Fort Pierce at sunrise. 

breakfast in transit

checking out the Vero Beach Marina

disembarking

Waiting for the free bus to the beach. 

The trees in the marina where gorgeous! Full of ferns, and spanish moss. 

ice cream at the beach

The trip back was really nice! We managed to put up the jib and the main sail and turn off the engine for a while. Although we maxed out at 5 miles per hour with just a little breeze, it was so peaceful with the engine off, and we had a picnic in the cockpit. We docked perfectly, and considered it all a great success!

 

Lorelei and Sweet Pea on the trip home.

Lark with her sails up. Photo by Captain Jack. 

School 12/4/2014

Man Overboard

We took Lark out to the turning basin and practiced our man overboard procedures. We threw a buoy over, nick-named Captain Jack, and then retrieved it, three times. Man overboard procedures are a little counter-intuitive. Instead of just turning around immediately and heading back to the person in the water, you are supposed to sail a beam-reach, perpendicular to the wind, make a figure 8 and then swing back towards the person, but not too close and always down wind. I guess the reason for the figure 8, is to give the crew enough time to get their act together and get in position. It is surprising how quickly the whole thing happens. The girls were the spotters. Audrey, who is currently our resident contrarian, hated the job, until we gave it to Lorelei, then she really wanted it back, so they both did it! The spotters job is to watch the person in the water no matter what, point at them and never take their eyes off of them.

We saw tons of dolphins too!

riding the bow

getting goofy

School 12/2/2014

School 12/3/2014

Kennedy Space Center

We took a field trip to the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday with GranMiri. Some of the highlights were the spooky astronauts (for some reason Lorelei would not believe us that astronauts are just men and women in suits), the IMAX on the space station where planets, and weightless toothpaste seemed to be floating right in front of us, and the realistic launch simulator that Audrey and I did.

We decided to skip ahead to the space unit in science to capitalize on the experience, so we have been reading lots of space books, and we bought some really pretty (and educational) sticker books from Usborne, which the girls love.

This is the gigantic alligator we saw on the way there. I was so excited that I made Jacob circle around way out of our way in order to get a great view.