Category Archives: Failure

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Looking Around Gibraltar

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Continued from yesterday”¦ As we were getting ready to go out, we could hear a bunch of planes taking off and landing. And they were loud. This tiny airport can’t possibly have this much traffic, and certainly not big planes. Eric poked his head out and saw a new super high powered state of the art jet fighter doing acrobatics. It would take off, do trick in the air, then land, then repeat. Eric watched for a while. Here is a shot of the waterfront as we were leaving Kosmos to get some lunch.

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Eric was delighted to see a Mexican restaurant on the boardwalk. He thought Mexican food was the ideal way to celebrate our passage completion. We are sad to report that Continue reading →

Entering Gibraltar

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By 0200, we decided the wind was confused. It would pick up for a while, then die down for a while. It changed direction often, rotating from starboard to port and back. It was afraid to commit. Seas had picked up some more, but it was still nice ride overall.

By 0230, the seas really picked up out of nowhere and it started to get a little bit rough. If it were head seas, we would definitely be well into the “uncomfortable” category, but since they were following seas, and it was tolerable, but not fun. The stabilizers were Continue reading →

Chore Day in Mallorca

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We awoke to more heavy wind and rain. It was unbearably rocky. If we were in an anchorage, we’d for sure have the paravanes out. Since we didn’t get our chores done on the days the technicians came, we had allotted this morning as a chore day. We were overwhelmingly lethargic from the rocking in the marina, and we knew our standard chores would require considerable more effort today. That made us kind of grouchy. Strike One.

Normally, we don’t send our laundry out to be done. Christi likes to Continue reading →

Chores and Day 1 of Passage to Mallorca, Spain

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Yesterday was yet another chore day. Sometimes we feel like the boat chores are cumbersome and we wish we were traveling like a regular tourist, where every day is a sightseeing day and you never have to take time away from sightseeing to clean and do maintenance. But our trip to Paris was a reminder of why we chose to travel by boat. Going to and from Paris we schlepped our bag on several trains, busses and subways, and up and down at least a million stairs. Our bag was small and light, but it was still a hassle, especially on the tightly packed subways. How much of a hassle would it be with the big, heavy bags we would have for long term traveling? And it is so nice to have your own bed and your own bathroom, never having to wonder if your hotel is going to be up to your preferred standards. Another bonus of traveling via private boat is not having to pack up your stuff every time you move on to the next place. And, we have figured out that no matter how you travel, whether plane, train, or boat, traveling for many hours wears you out exactly the same. We prefer the privacy and comfort of our own home as we travel, instead of in an uncomfortable, public medium.

Eric was busy all day. He Continue reading →

Boats in Danger and Emergency Rescues – Part 2 of 3

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Continued from yesterday… Once Eric climbed aboard, he noticed that things in the cockpit were sliding out under the door. We lost a plastic mat we keep back there, but Eric was able to save the shoes that were back there, bringing them inside. He opened the back door and turned on the light switch. He knew power was still working, since the anchor light and little red LED courtesy lights were on around the outside of the boat. He first noticed the hallway refrigerator had come open and almost every single thing inside it had fallen out and smashed on the floor. Lots of stuff that had been sitting out had been thrown to new places. The good news was that Eric didn’t hear any sounds of the bottom crunching against the rocks. He went into the pilot house and saw both bilge pumps were running. Oh no. Eric turned on the engine, and then ran downstairs. The whole engine room was flooded with about a foot of water. It was now about 2145.

Eric ran back upstairs and showed Louis how to use the manual bilge pump located in the starboard aft locker. Louis pumped away. Eric turned on Continue reading →