Returning sailor

[JPA Cate]

Welcome to the excited States! And especially to your daughter and grandson, too. As a granny, I have to say that you have a huge opportunity there, but it surely must take getting used to!

Have fun getting your boat ready to go. Have you decided on a name, yet?

Cheers,

Ann

[Teknishn]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Welcome to the excited States! And especially to your daughter and grandson, too. As a granny, I have to say that you have a huge opportunity there, but it surely must take getting used to!

Have fun getting your boat ready to go. Have you decided on a name, yet?

Cheers,

Ann

Thanks for the thoughts Ann. Has been a busy week or so here. The "Coastal Nomad" was launched a couple of days ago and am now riding out weather at anchor in a small creek in the northern Chesapeake Bay before heading further south to Norfolk, Virginia (Small craft advisory in effect here, and with my not fully knowing the boat, thought it prudent to wait the weather out and do some electrical repairs/upgrades in the meantime).

Meeting the daughter and grandson was scary, yet exciting as well (was made honorary 3rd base umpire at one of my grandson's baseball games). Both want to learn to sail as well. As my grandson told his mother over dinner: "Mom? "Grandpa Egypt" is weird. He talks funny, but he can doing everything! He fixed your washing machine, changed the brakes on your car, and he has a sailboat!" LOL ....Oh the grand adventures that await....

[Jim Cate]

Hey, Techo, sounds like it is going well for you. Hiding out during your first batch of chancy wx is a good plan, and taking time to go through the electrics is always wise. So, keep up the good work, enjoy the boat and your "new"homeland, and especially enjoy your family.

Jim

[Teknishn]

Hello All! Been a while since I've posted so I'll do an update here and then this thread can die a silent death ;-)

Have been living onboard my little pocket cruiser for just over a month now and am having lots of adventures and have met some great people along the way so far. Have sailed about 300 NM gunkholing in the Chesapeake Bay between Norfok, Va and Kent Island, MD wringing the boat out.

To date: 12-VDC system has been completely re-designed and installed (solar, inverter, additional batteries....laptops really are power hogs!). All tanks flushed, standing rigging tuned, am working on the 8th coat of varnish on the interior bits (4 more coats and I should be ready for polishing....Bristol finish Baby! Bristol finish!). All exterior teak has been stripped back and is now awaiting teak oil...teak oil on the outside, varnish on the inside (next month's maintenance budget), toilet overhaul, repacked the shaft seal, engine oil and filter changed twice, and all thru-hulls replaced (those pesky teflon ones above the waterline....now bronze) plus a lot more work.

Budget to liveaboard was supposed to be $1100 for the month. Nearly made it except for the Main Sail blew out up in Reedville, VA. so purchased a used sail online for $248. A bit stretched but usable....

So, for my first month liveaboard costs? Came in over budget by $187.32.

Great to be back in the States! I think I may have forgotten how wonderful it is to live here!

Best to all and may the winds be always in your favor.

[Tayana42]

Welcome home ,Teknishn! Isn't the Chesapeake Bay wonderful? No desert any where near...

[Diesel Bill]

Glad things are going well. your doing good on the budget. Welcome back to the states.

[gamayun]

Hi Teknishn,

Just read all the posts here about your grand adventure to the new boat, sight unseen, and meeting your daughter and grandchild. That's quite the story. Looking forward to hearing more as you process everything and continue to upgrade/outfit the boat. Oh, and sail. You ARE going to get out there and have some sailing adventures, as well, right? Keep us posted

[Teknishn]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Oh, and sail. You ARE going to get out there and have some sailing adventures, as well, right? Keep us posted

Have been living on the hook between Norfolk, Va. and Kent Island, MD since the 19th of April. Never more than 2 or 3 days in the same place and only 4-days in marinas for provisioning and pump outs....so yeah, sailing adventures are happening!

Meeting the daughter and grandson was an adventure in itself! Have taken both on a couple of day sails and we are planning an weekend excursion once I have my dinghy onboard in a couple of weeks.

Over to the USS Iowa memorial at the Norfolk Naval Base tomorrow morning to pay my respects to fallen shipmates (am anchored just off the naval base at the moment) and then to the USN mothball fleet over on the James River in honor of Memorial Day.

Putting the boat on the hard next month while I return to Egypt for 3 months to finish up a yacht restoration project there (and add some funds to the sailing kitty) and then back to the States for good for more adventures!

[Teknishn]

Hello All,
It has been quite a while since I've posted here. Life...and boat maintenance/repairs/upgrades...seem to have taken priority.

Update: Have been living aboard for the past 8-months. Returned to Egypt this past July. Quit my job, sold my apartments and assets and came back. Am currently in Norfolk, Virginia. Have spent this past week here putting up new sails all 'round (from Doyle), purchasing the last few items on my list before "deployment" and doing some last minute upgrades.

Spending this Veteran's Day weekend with my daughter and grandson before heading south to Florida through the ICW (Mostly). Sail planning at the moment is only for as far as the Fernandina/Jax area...after that? Well...we'll have to see which way the wind blows.

Fair winds All!

[brookiesailor]

I just caught up with your thread. We just moved back to the states after living ten years over seas. My kids mostly grew up in Angola. When they would come to the states for a visit I would take them to the supermarket and for a treat let them pick out their own cereal. It was like information overload. They simply couldn't make a decision. IN Angola you had a whole isle of cereal, the same box of corn flakes.

I am glad your transition back has been a positive experience!

[Livinchi]

Tek - this is an entertaining thread to read! Thank you for sharing your story and for updating us as well. I would also like to sincerely thank you for your service in the Navy, especially considering it is Veteran's Day weekend!

It is very good to hear you are spending time with your daughter and grandson as well.

So how has living aboard the boat been going for you? What kind of adventures have you found on the Chesapeake and how do you prefer to spend your time on the boat? Glad to hear the homeland has made you feel welcome again...

Sounds like a good time of year to start moving South to Florida and stay warm, keep us posted!

[Teknishn]

Originally Posted by Livinchi

So how has living aboard the boat been going for you? What kind of adventures have you found on the Chesapeake and how do you prefer to spend your time on the boat?

Livinchi, Thank You for the kind words. Living on the boat has been very enjoyable to date. Adventures? Just living life is adventure enough on its own . Outfitting, upgrading and/or modifying systems and general maintenance has all been fun, as well as somewhat entertaining at times.

And the sailing! Let's not forget the sailing! Having spent quite a bit of time sailing the boat over the months showed me areas needing improvement (larger helm wheel, auto-pilot is a must, weight distribution throughout the boat for better handling, ground tackle needed, etc.). That, and meeting other boaters of all varieties at marinas or while swinging on the hook has been a great experience.

While at anchor, I've spent a lot of time renovating the interior (LOTS of sanding and varnishing...and then hours of cleaning afterwards), re-wired the entire boat (Solar power, 2nd house bank, LED lighting and much more), and reading...lots of reading (I limit my none-reference books to 10 for storage reasons), kayaking and exploring the local areas and, weather and water temps permitting, go for a swim every couple of days for exercise and scrub the waterline.

For those newer sailors wondering about costs: For a small sailboat (27-feet) which was nearly turnkey when initially purchased, it has taken just over $10K in additional parts and materials to make it a comfortable liveaboard away from the dock for about 3-weeks at a time. Largest investments so far has been a new set of sails from Doyle Sails (WELL worth the cost!) and Safety equipment (also well worth the costs!). My basic liveaboard costs are now down to around $700 a month for provisions (beer and cigs are my largest expense...I really should quit ) and pulling into a marina every week or two for the night. An additional $300 is set aside each month for boat maintenance, whether I spend it all or not. If not, then I leave that aside so that it accumulates over time to save for the next haul-out and/or big-ticket item (like roller furling).

Departing for points further south on 13 November and looking forward to more adventures! And for those that have served in our Armed Forces or are still out there on watch, THANK YOU for your service from one Veteran to another.

Fair Winds,
Mike

[Charlie]

Good day Tek,
Just read this thread start to finish today. I hope all goes well for you. I spend 2 months or so in Europe every summer and have a real hard time repatriating. Wishing you the best. Keep in touch with your grandson sounds like he appreciates what you can do with tools. Many (perhaps most) kids today are more interested in screens.

[Teknishn]

Originally Posted by Charlie

Good day Tek,
Many (perhaps most) kids today are more interested in screens.

LOL! Ain't that the truth! Spent about an hour last weekend trying to teach my grandson how to properly tie a line to a cleat. Must've shown how it's done a few dozen times....and he just isn't getting it. Sent him home with a piece of dock line and a cleat attached to a piece of plywood that I gave him to practice on. I get a video of him a few hours later where he's tying off on the cleat perfectly numerous times. WOW! I say. Great job! His response was that he saw how to do it on YouTube. Guess I need to learn how to teach kids (I've only ever taught non-native English foreign military personnel electronics, weapon control and navigation systems but I can't teach a knot to my grandson? )