The hazards of cleaning on board

Cleaning things can lead to unexpected snorkeling trips... if you're lucky!

I always used to laugh when I imagined the incredible number of pairs of sunglasses and handheld VHFs that must be lying at the bottom of North Cove Marina in NYC... well it only gets worse when you have almost all your worldly goods on board your boat.

We have so far managed to dump the filter for the juicer... the grill rack for the BBQ... a 9/16 socket wrench head... and most recently an electric shaver head into the Gulf of Mexico... and that's just the significant items... I'm sure there have been a bunch of other small things that have been inadvertently donated to Neptune.

We got lucky with the filter... not so much with the other stuff... so what's going to take a dive for freedom next???

Full Speed Ahead Matey!

Cartoonist John Ryan, creator of the Captain Pugwash TV series, has died in hospital in Rye, East Sussex, aged 88

Comfort on Board

Third Aye is a 30 foot 1975 Irwin... a good ol' 'Merican sailboat that came out of the era of many great sailboats designed in the US before the luxury taxation on yachts by the Carter administration basically put an end to the industry.

30 feet might sound like a good sized boat... and it really is... but can also offer a bit of a challenge when it comes to two people packing up there land-based lives and trying to fit everything onto the boat. This is not so hard when you have a very handy person like Tadd on board, who can build just about anything, given the tools, and more importantly can create a system of shelves and cubby holes enough for all our stuff and more.

As for our own comfort... well I think that's something we'll be tweaking and playing with for a while... our bed in the v-berth has certainly evolved several times and may still continue to. We started out with the original foam cushions that came with the boat... we then added a pillowtop... then a memory foam pad... and finally a fantastic Froli system (they make them specially for v-shaped boat berths!)... so as a whole we're damn comfortable... the only thing lacking is the air conditioning... so when the wind dies, it's hammocks in the cockpit!

Planning The Great Escape

Well, I've been planning to hop on to this blog train for some time... so here we go!

Our boat Third Aye has begun to look all grown up now, with her fancy davit system to hang the dingy from, and the solar panel on top - sucking up all the Florida sunshine. So, with the concern of August hurricanes fast approaching, Tadd and I are set on heading south very soon in search of the infamous warmth of the cruising community and hope of finding work in paradise.