Nesting

We're spending more time on the boat - and it's just not comfortable yet.  A few things are physical - the table is too big and in the way in the salon - but others are visual.  The Beneteau is a great blank slate.  Problem is, that canvas is still blank 7 weeks after we brought her home.  Well, it was still blank - until last night.  We headed over with super-Velcro in tow and I got to work adding some things from home while Mark was finally able to swap out the filter on the A/C water intake. 

Painting by Stephen Kasun 

I hung this on the fwd bulkhead in the salon.  I could actually get away with something larger in this space, but it's so bright and it makes me happy to see it when I first walk down the companionway.

You can see here that we've dropped the table to the level you're supposed to use for sleeping.  I'm thinking the 3"+  drop from the cushions to the table top might be a smidge uncomfortable.  I'm guessing that there was a cushion for this area at some point...  But for now we just lounge right on top of the dang thing.  It's become an ottoman of sorts.  We've got a plan brewing that involves completely removing the table and converting the bench (that's just out of sight in this photo) into an island with a fold down table and TV mount.  Good thing Mark is crafty.  And he loves my help - especially when it involves dropping the floor panel over the A/C seacock onto his head.  Oops.

Here's another painting I picked up from Stephen - this was a trade for some pottery I was selling at the art show where we met.  Local artists are often pretty cool.  This one is hanging in the galley - hopefully distracting visitors from the lovely EPIRB just above it...
















I also took over a small iron mermaid that I picked up in St. Augustine one day and gave her a new perch in a non-opening port in the salon and hung a small painting that my sister brought me from a local artist in Bulgaria.  Oh!  And a cool handmade mermaid tile that I picked up in Mexico in March.  I just don't have pics of these things yet.  There's at least one more small handmade tile from Spain that I plan to hang in the aft head, and maybe a few more items around here that I want to move onto the boat.  Only our favorite art pieces are going - and those are generally from local artists picked up on our travels.  I guess I need to pick out something from my own work to take onboard - but I'd really rather sell my work to fund the travels!

I've been ordering fabric samples like crazy.  I'm planning to change the fabric on the salon seating and brighten it up.  The cream pleather is great for cleaning - and certainly bright, but I want some color.  I'm leaning to blues and creams and browns.  Those are the colors I have in the condo and I think it will make the boat feel more like home - plus I can "recycle" items from the condo and same some cash.  Why not use the items I already have/love?  Less spending, less to get rid of when we leave the condo.

Oddly enough, I noticed other posts on interior decorating today. It's interesting how blog topics seem to go in waves. It's also very cool to see how other boaters have chosen to decorate and make their boats into their homes.

Umbrellas Sink -

- insanely fast.

Another Lazy Sunday

We headed over to Luna Saturday afternoon and worked on a couple of small projects.  Mark attempted to install a new filter thingamajig for the A/Cs.  Attempted is the key word.  The fitting we had gone to get on the way to the boat was a hair too large on one end.  When I took it to the Ace Hardware here on the islands this morning and explained that it was a "hair too large on one end" I got the typical questioning head tilt.  They don't have the right size.  I'll have to go back to the marine supply tomorrow.  Which is convenient, as the project I was attempting yesterday is also incomplete and I'll need some supplies.

I did manage to finish waterproofing the dodger, then set up the deck shade (this boat came with some pretty awesome accessories) and started on it.  I got almost finished, then had one too many rum drinks and decided to call it a night.  We had a delicious dinner of chips, dip and rum, then crawled into our cozy, yet still not-cut-to-fit bed.

Chips, dip, rum drink, and a sunset over the sewing machine

I got up today with a nice little list of to do's.  1 - finish water proofing, 2 - take the new cozy bed foam out of the boat and cut it to actually fit on the boat... 3 - start playing with some outdoor fabric we purchased weeks ago and see if I can whip up some wench covers with my wimpy, yet functional sewing machine I'd lugged down the dock the day before.  (Just a note: when you are done with a cart, could you maybe return it to the parking lot so other people don't have to carry their crap a mile down to the very, VERY end of the marina by hand?)

1 - ran out of water proofing stuff almost immediately.  Had to table that project until I can get to West Marine - the only place in Savannah that seems to sell the stuff.
2 - yeah - we took a nap instead of measuring/cutting/covering that cozy new bed foam.
3 - managed to get so far as moving the sewing machine from the cockpit to our storage cabin.

A very productive weekend.  I can't imagine what our lives would be like right now if we'd bought a project boat.  We're struggling to stay awake long enough each afternoon just to perform basic maintenance/decorating/cleaning etc.  It's nice though - to know that the boat is completely functional without us doing a lick of work.  And no, we didn't go for a sail - in fact we never even started the engine.

Who needs to leave the dock when this is your view every day?

Something's Brewing... - Homemade Sunblock

I've been on a search for "safe" sunblock.  The stuff you can get off the shelf is full of ingredients I can't pronounce, and just like the food I eat, I want my skin products to be toxin-free.  I've researched, shopped, tested for months. I have particularly sensitive skin, so most SPF makes my face burn, often makes me break out, and can even give me a rash.  Not to mention the gross feel of sunblock in general.

So I did it.  I finally threw in the beach towel on off-the-shelf sunblocks and did a bit of research on natural SPF.  Our skin is our biggest organ - so anything, and I mean anything, we put on it can be and is absorbed into our bodies.  I want an SPF that is not going to do more harm than good.  As much as I hate to wear sunblock, I love to be in the sun.  Unfortunately we have a heavy family history of skin cancer, and as I've already given Cancer a beat-down once, I don't plan to get it again.  And we can't forget about wrinkles.  : /
I did some very official Google research and learned that coconut oil has a natural SPF of 4.  It's also an antibacterial/antimicrobial/lots of other things -  and fabulous skin softener.  Pretty good side effects, right?  But an SPF of 4 is not going to cut in on the boat.  More Googling turned up Zinc Oxide - which has an SPF of 10-20 depending on the quantity you use.  But I can't just dump zinc oxide into coconut oil, unless I want a big mess on the boat.  It goes liquid above 74 degrees.  So I needed another ingredient to sort of solidify the concoction.

Much like cooking, I couldn't find a recipe I agreed with 100% so I improvised.  I took what I liked from each recipe - simplified it, and came up with this!

I ordered Shea butter, zinc oxide and essential oils from SoapGoods.com

I used approx 2oz Coconut oil, 2oz Shea Butter and 1/3oz Zinc Oxide

I very slowly melted the mixture, stirring frequently.

I added some essential oils to add to the natural shea butter scent

After just a few minutes on low, it was all combined!

I poured it into a cute, inexpensive container I also ordered from SoapGoods

The result should be approximately an SPF of 15.  I have some on, and it does feel like I have sunblock on.  But it smells good and shouldn't have any negative side effects.  I'm hoping it soaks in after a bit, like coconut oil normally does when I use it as lotion.  I haven't worked much with Shea Butter though, so I'll just have to wait and see if it's the oil or butter causing the "greasy" feel on my skin.

This sunblock is not going to be waterproof - but apparently I can add a bit of natural beeswax to the mix next time to increase the weartime/water resistance.

Do you guys worry about sunblock?  Do you just use whatever is handy?  I'm curious about what sorts of alternatives other people use...

Time to head outside and give it a real sun test!

Happy Saturday  :)

Pics and Videos and a Nervous Breakdown...

Look how much fun we were having on Saturday!

We spent the night one the boat Saturday night - then headed out to an island beach!

I've even making the puppies do water workouts...

 

And then we started the sail home.  No engines, just sailing along at 5-7 knots.  It was fun!  Until it wasn't.  I was getting stressed with the heeling.  (That means the boat was leaning over - you know, like it's designed to do...)  It wasn't even heeling that much.  But it was stressing me out.  I was at the helm, smiling, having fun - but repeating in my head "this is normal, this is normal, this. is. normal"  until I couldn't repeat it anymore and passed the wheel off to Mark.  

Sail boats are designed to lean - they have that ginormous keel on the bottom that keeps the boat from rolling.  We were perfectly safe.  It was an irrational fear.  But I figure, for those of you other newbies out there, it's good to share.  Sometimes those irrational fears win.  But only the battle.  I'll be back out there, behind the wheel, heeling my little heart out in the future.  Practice makes perfect.

Docking is another story.  Holy frijoles - our Sunday docking fiasco was - well, a fiasco.  We had an incoming tide and a fairly gusty wind on our tail.  Our boat likes to pull to Port (left) in reverse.  So we figure we'll put her in neutral and ride the tide/wind into the slip, slide her into reverse, and let her drift on over into her spot.  No problemo, right?  Nah.  It took about 6 tries.  A 40ft boat does not always do what you tell it to do.  Ok, it does, it just takes it's own sweet time.  After my crazy heeling freakout, I was too stressed to dock the boat - I gave it 4 tries and then passed the wheel off to Mark.  It really felt like a cop out.  I was completely overwhelmed.  I'm so used to boats doing what I tell them to do that I was just completely thrown for a loop trying to figure this out.  Fortunately, after a try or 2 from Mark, and a hand from the guy in the boat slip right behind ours, we were able to get her docked and secured.  

The trip was great - and pointed out that we need more experience.  Not only with heeling and docking, but with general boating rules.  There were other sailors out, and we just aren't quite sure what the rules are regarding right of way.  Sailing vessels win over power boats, but which sailing vessel has the right of way when everyone's tacking back and forth...?  Clearly it's time to hit the books again!