Chapter 91: Questions and Answers

Well, last week we asked for any questions you have about, well, anything. Evidently, we have been oversharing, because there were only a few takers. Nonetheless, we said we would take questions so take them we will. Away we go:

• You stated you had to put up the flag of the country once you cleared customs.  Where do you get these flags?  Does the customs person sell one to you?
  • One can purchase flags at stores near customs docks, often, though these are usually poor quality and expensive. We purchased a set of circumnavigation flags before we left from YachtFlags.com, which are much higher quality and cheaper. So, we have flags for all of the countries we would visit in a typical circumnavigation.
• What is the optimal wind direction?  For example if sailing due south, what TWD would be best?
  • There is a truism among sailors that when it comes to wind, there is either too much, not enough, or it’s from the wrong direction. We’re finding that to be true. There is a high geek factor here, so if you wish, you can skip over this:
  • Sailboats as a general rule can’t sail closer to the wind than 45 degrees apparent.
    Simplified, if you consider the boat as surrounded by a clock with the bow pointed towards noon, we can’t sail closer to noon that 10 o’clock or 2 o’clock. Now, not all points of the clock are equal. Boats perform better at some points than others. Meraviglia loves a beam reach, where the wind is about 9 o’clock or 3 o’clock. That’s where she’s fastest. She’s slowest downwind both because of our current sail plan and the apparent wind being less. I’m not going to go in to a discussion here of true vs. apparent wind, but if people want to know, hit me up. It goes far into geekdom and involves airplanes and iceboats.
• Are the colors of the water on the tracking app indicating water temperature?
  • The colors do not indicate water temperature. They, in fact, indicate wind. Purples and blues are where there is, essentially, no wind. As wind speed picks up, the colors go from green to yellow to orange to red to black. Red and black we try to avoid. Also keep in mind these maps do NOT indicate what is actually happening. They are projections of the forecast models onto a map.
  • For those of you wondering what the heck the tracking app is, you can access it HERE. This shows our real-time position on a world map.

And now from the concrete to the existential…

• What music are you listening to?
  • Sea Shanties. Nothing but sea shanties. Kidding-Kim won’t let me. Not much change, really. Kim loves her pop and I am all over the map. Sometimes it’s rock, sometimes it’s pop, sometimes it’s indie. Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of The Slackers and The Squirrel Nut Zippers. Mealtimes usually involve jazz or Rat Pack-type stuff.
• How long did it take you to get your sea legs?
  • Happily, not long. Neither Kim nor I seem prone to seasickness-having had none so far and that has been in some fairly unsettled seas at times. However, few are truly immune, so I’m sure it lurks in our futures.
• Have you searched for any local (not tourist) restaurants/dive bars?
  • Indeed we have. That is, in fact, our preference. Whether in land life or now at sea, we avoid chains and “popular” places. We look for where the locals eat. So far, we haven’t had many opportunities because the places we’ve been have been popular tourist spots, but we’re looking forward to straying further off the beaten path.
• How has the sailing community accepted/welcomed you?
  • With open arms. One thing that is often said about the cruising community is that they are very, very welcoming and very generous with time and expertise. It comes, I think, of realizing that the next person to be broken down in some remote place may well be me, so people really pay it forward. When we were in George Town, The Bahamas and several boats were struck by lightning, there was an outpouring of people offering help with electrical expertise, spare electronics, etc. There is really no such thing as “Oh, you haven’t paid your dues yet.”

• Of the people you meet, what are the national breakdowns? Europeans, South Americans, Canadians?
  • Almost all Americans so far, but that’s because most of our time has been in The Bahamas. Because it’s such a short hop from Florida, it’s where most cruisers who aren’t going offshore go. We expect that to change as we get into the Windward Islands of the Caribbean.
• Are you generally happy with the boat you own or have you found yourself with boat envy already?
  • Sigh. There is no boat envy. This is our boat. There will not be another one. Are we happy with her? Mostly yes. She meets our needs. In truth, we’re still sort of scarred from the amount of money and effort we had to spend to get her repaired. That was not on our radar when we set out to do this. As I said in a previous post somewhere, in retrospect, the purchase was a mistake but we make the best of it.
• Any difference in your perspectives of god, God or spirit now that you are on the water?
  • Hmmm. I would say not. Kim and I are both fairly devout Episcopalians (NOT an oxymoron, promise!), engaging in daily prayer and Bible reading. I think what’s changed is a realization of two things: first, the wonder of God’s creation is right in front of us all the time out here and second, we are in His hands. I know that’s true on land as well, but when you are floating in a boat and all you can see around you is water, it, shall we say, heightens the impression.
• Are you now relaxed enough to be on island time?
  • NO. NO. NO. I think we didn’t realize how much work this actually is. I know many of you are rolling your eyes at this and that’s fair. But this lifestyle is a LOT of work. Checking weather 2-3 times a day, comparing various forecast models, maintaining boat systems, researching destinations, dealing with customs and immigration, plus maintaining all the land life stuff we still have, like health insurance, bill payments, etc. Put all those things together, and we are pretty much working full time. Plus, I’m actually still working remotely part-time with the practice in Seguin. And, to be honest, if you know me, “island time” would be a stretch for me.

So, those are the questions we got. If you have now thought of any of your own, you can put them in the comments on this post or email me at [email protected] or Kim at [email protected]