This Week in Lori’s Tweets

Powered by Twitter Tools

2010
02/07
CATEGORY
Recent stuff
Write comment

This Week in Lori’s Tweets

Powered by Twitter Tools

2010
01/31
CATEGORY
Recent stuff
Write comment

2010
01/26
CATEGORY
Recent stuff
Write comment

This Week in Lori’s Tweets

Powered by Twitter Tools

2010
01/17
CATEGORY
Recent stuff
Write comment

I Saw a Dead Iguana Today

Yep. There he was, all 4 feet of him, bouncing on top of the water like a bobbing cork. Bloated and pinkish white, he must have floated in with the tide. I saw him as I peered out the porthole to check the weather…cloudy and grey.

Today, we leave for Cancun, but I can’t stop thinking about that poor, iguana, lifeless in the brackish water skin shedding, eyes yellowed…sad. I believe in omens, but refuse to think this guy was bringing bad news.

There’s work to be done, and it’s time to start packing. Packing down the boat requires a strategic mind and hell of a lot of blue tape, paper towels, plastic grocery bags. Every nook-and-cranny needs to be filled. Glassware, dishes, toiletries, and any other random object that can become a missile in rough water needs to be wrapped and secured.

Blue painter’s tape is used to hold-in-place drawers that can fly open. All deck cushions are stacked inside. Knick-knacks are packed away in the bowels of the boat. When everything is locked down, we’ll be ready to leave.

So long, my little white, bloated friend.

I’ll be without Internet for a while. More info when I return.

2010
01/14
CATEGORY
Fun stuff
Recent stuff
Write comment

Fueling up and Getting Ready

The fuel boat just pulled up and we’re one step closer to departing. We’re finishing up the last of the repairs, and depending upon the weather, we’ll head out Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.

Our final destination is Cancun, and we will be stopping to refuel along the way. It looks like we’re heading to Marina Hemingway in Havana. It is approximately 240 miles from Ft. Lauderdale, and will take about 24 hours.

Willie

Willie, our Steward

Willie, our steward, is from Mexico, and speaks only Spanish. So he’s going to be very helpful once we get into Havana. My dad is nervous about us going to Cuba. However, we are getting permission, and we are running a Mexican-flagged boat (opposed to a U.S.-flagged boat), which makes things easier.

Plus, our captain would never put us in a dangerous situation. He’s intelligent, intuitive, calculating and cautious, and has plotted this course, and alternative ones several times over… on top of orchestrating a complete overhaul of this boat in a week’s time.

So, the boat’s almost ready, and we’re one day closer to shipping out on yet another adventure.

2010
01/12
CATEGORY
Creative stuff
Fun stuff
TAGS



Write comment

Life in the Boat Yard

The boat is still undergoing its long list of repairs to get ready for its two-day cross, which includes the Yucatan Channel. Another strait connecting two seas, and shifting currents, means another potentially bumpy ride, and that the boat needs to be in tip-top shape.

The latest, is a leak below the water line that we discovered when we were crossing the gulfstream on our way back from Nassau. Water began streaming into the engine room as we pushed our way through a 40-mile stretch of rough seas. A welder is coming by today to take a look, and the boat may need to come out of the water. We’re supposed to leave for Cancun on Wednesday, but we’ll see.

What I’m beginning to learn is that life on a boat is a waiting game. No, make that life in general, and it’s a great lesson in patience. But I’m learning to surrender, one day to the next, letting go and riding the shifting waves as this trip, and my life unfolds. Someone once told me that life should be worn like a loosely-fitted garment. I’ve just taken my belt down a notch, and am not worried about what will happen next.

2010
01/11
CATEGORY
Creative stuff
Fun stuff
Comments Off

This Week in Lori’s Tweets

  • Enjoying the sun in Ft. Lauderdale. #
  • Freezing in Ft. Lauderdale. Finalizing boat repairs. Head for Mexico Weds. p.m. #

Powered by Twitter Tools

2010
01/10
CATEGORY
Recent stuff
Write comment

It’s A Pisser When Things Go Wrong On A Yacht

The boat smells like a Port-o-Let. The water was shut off to repair the Black Water Pump, and urine has been cooking in the heads all night.

It’s just one of the many items to repair on the laundry list before we leave for Cancun next week. We’re docked in a boat yard in Ft. Lauderdale for about a week until the Captain determines the boat is ready to make the final delivery to Mexico.

So right now, the boat is a revolving door of contractors and vendors. Salty, grey-haired men with windbreakers zipped up to their leathery necks slide back the glass doors with estimates and business cards in hand, with a grin that says, “It’s much worse than you think.” Right now, the entire boat smells of stale urine. The black water pump is being repaired, and we’ve been without water for 12 hours. Thankfully, the marina has restrooms and showers (although, the women’s bathroom is closed for cleaning right now…bad news for a girl who hasn’t bathed in a day).

But I’m not complaining. Marina life is cool. I dig it. It’s a community way of living for sure. Stepping outside of one’s comfort zone is good for the soul. So the boat smells like a Port-O-Let? I can think of worse places to be.

2010
01/06
CATEGORY
Creative stuff
Fun stuff
Recent stuff
TAGS


Write comment

Blew All My Dough in the Casino and Chunks in the Galley

Three nights ago I walked into the Atlantis Casino and threw down a three $20, and played my first round of Caribbean Poker. At the end of the night, I walked out of there about $600 ahead. The next night, a cold front pushed through Nassau, bringing with a case of bad luck. That night, I lost it all. God damn gambling. I left Atlantis with empty pockets, a bruised ego, and dashed high-rolling dreams. There’s nothing that makes you feel like leaving paradise sooner than going broke in a $15 poker game.

It was time to go. Literally. We spent most of the afternoon prepping the boat for it’s journey across the sea. The guys prepped the engine room, and pulled everything from the decks, I took care of the galley, bedrooms and baths. I wrapped anything that could break, and secured anything that wasn’t tied down.

That evening, we ate our last dinner in Nassau (I had the Works Burger, with sautéed mushrooms and onions). By 7:30 we left Nassau, and headed to Ft. Lauderdale for the boat delivery. It was determined that a night run was the smoothest ride across the Atlantic, which had been roughed up by a cold front. We cruised into the pitch black night, and set off onto our 10 hour, 162-mile journey.

We traveled at about 16 knots (about 20 MPH). The GPS system kept an eye on our other seafaring travelers, which consisted mainly of barges, sailboats, and the occasional cruise ship. The sea was relatively calm. Not once did stomach start its creepy, nervous dance. I didn’t even need those silly seasick bracelets. Quite proud of myself, I focused on helping the captain watch for wayward vessels, occasionally diverted by the ocean depth monitor, which dipped between 5,000 to 20 feet as we cruised above the drop offs of the ocean shelves.

We cruised into the gulf stream around 3:00 a.m. and got tossed around a bit. The captain said it wasn’t too bad, 3-5 foot swells. However, I put my seasick bracelets on just in case. I actually was fine until 4:30 or so, when I went downstairs to grab my camera, and got sideswiped by the bile churning inside my gut, which sent me gagging as I tried to balance myself against the chrome stabilizing rail. The sea had turned into a roller coaster, flopping and bouncing over the whitecapped waves.

If there was ever a time for those damn seasick bracelets to start doing its thing it was then. No good. Gagging as I came up the stairs, I sat for a minute next to the captain, staring into the horizon the way I always heard. By the time the second gag came up from my gut, I knew I wasn’t going to make it to the bathroom. I made it to the galley, and hurled into the stainless sink as I was being tossed around like a ragdoll in a washing machine.

Once was all it took.

We pulled into Ft. Lauderdale at dawn.

2010
01/04
CATEGORY
Creative stuff
Fun stuff
Recent stuff
TAGS



Write comment