Our Dream |
The Crew |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Frequently Asked Questions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
asked. If you're curious about our life on a 42' sailboat, email us with your own questions under "Contact Us!" and we'll try to provide answers for you on this page. 1) What will be your longest passage? Our first leg from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to the Marquesas will be 2,800 miles - all in the deep blue ocean with no land in sight other than at the beginning and at the end. At a speed of roughly 120 miles per day, we anticipate the passage will take us a little over 3 weeks. 2) What do you DO during the 3 continuous weeks at sea? Life takes its pace and develops its own shape while cruising. Beyond the menial tasks (everything always takes longer to do on a boat) of cooking, eating, cleaning up, etc., there is always something to repair or maintain, and watches must be kept for safety and to ensure we're heading in the right direction. In terms of personal interest, we have downloaded over 50,000 songs on our ipods, have dozens of books to read and DVDs to watch, tapes and books to brush up on Gisela's French, a guitar to learn to play, and exercise equipment to keep fit. Then there are pictures to take and Photoshop, logs to create, emails to write ... and the days just roll on by! |
| 3) With only 42' to move around in, won't you two get tired of each other? (Or "you must really love each other!") Actually, when you include the top deck, there are about 84' to escape to! The secret to getting along in tight quarters is giving each other a lot of space. Typically, we do maintenance chores independently of each other and try to keep our distance when a project is not working out well for the other person. It's all an ebb and flow that requires patience, sensitivity, a great sense of humor, and an adventurous soul. And yes, we really do love each other and are looking forward to our new life at sea! 4) When do you sleep? During passages we plan on 3 hour watches during the night time. This has worked for us before and allows some decent sleep time in between shifts. We also have a "Watch Commander", which is a timer that allows the watch person to snooze for 15 minutes before an buzzer goes off. If the buzzer is not reset within a short time period, the buzz becomes a major alarm that wakes up the entire neighborhood! During the day the watches continue, but on a flexible basis, depending who's most awake. 5) What do you do about food and water? Our boat has two Frigiboat keel-cooled compartments that provide a temperature-controlled refrigerator and freezer. Before leaving on any passage, we stock up on fresh and frozen goods, as well as dried and canned goods. And we always look forward to a fresh catch when we're in coastal waters. In terms of cooking, we have a 3-burner stove top, oven, propane bar-b-que, and a Foreman Grill, so meals can be as simple or complicated as we want. Our watermaker produces 8 gallons per hour of desalinized water, which is excellent tasting and provides great showers too! 6) What about pirates? Contrary to most land-lubbing myths, pirates on the ocean are mostly a thing of the 17th century era of conquistadores! There certainly are areas that have a higher propensity for pirates, swashbucklers, and terrorists - Venezuela, the Straits of Malacca, the Gulf of Oman, Yemen, the eastern Med, to name a few - but rest assured we will be avoiding these non-tourist spots. 7) Do you carry a gun? NO. A gun usually brings out the worst in people and escalates issues into no-win situations. But we do have flare guns and spear guns on board, which could prove useful if needed. 8) Will you be safe? Safety is relative. We have taken precautions to outfit our boat with VHF and SSB radios, email, GPIRBs, a sat phone, a life raft, medicines, and many other items that will help us through difficult situations. But the best form of safety is a cautious and prudent crew. We hope we will never forget this and will be ever-vigilant of our boat, the weather, and our surroundings. |
