I guess I am one of the lucky few , whose wife shares my love of boating .
We are on the adventure , we have dreamed about for at least 20 years . Its had its tough times , but she hangs in there !

We noticed this weekend , that at least a 1,000 people came and went from this little sandbar we are anchored near . Yet there is very little trash left on it . Yet , on our home river , the Alabama River , Montgomery Ala , the local sandbar hangout gets less traffic , but more litter . Our river sa...

We generate a lot of trash because we don't carry dinner service aboard. We use all paper disposable cups and plates along with PLA biodegradeable plastic ware that I don't feel badly about over boarding if necessary. When camping ashore, we burn the paper trash. While we don't have a grill, one co...

... PLA biodegradeable plastic ware that I don't feel badly about over boarding if necessary... ...Steel cans and paper trash are fine to dumpoverboard--they'll be gone in months. Glass likewise is harmless. When you have to use plastic, use PLA which biodegrades in about six months. I hope you're ...

The water bladders are located under the bow berth , on either side of the ballast air valve . Mine is a 2000 model with the air valve forward . One bladder is a rectangle and larger than the other . They are a total of 'about' 40 gallons . The water pump and accumulator tank is located under the po...

People buy boats with a fantasy going about sailing off into the sunset . Then reality sets in . They don't have time to use the boat There is always something that needs fixing . Boating is expensive . The wife/husband doesn't like it and resents putting money into it . So the marinas wind up full ...

Protip: In FL you are NEVER A LIVE ABOARD boater. You are always a CRUISER. Even if you sit for months or years in the same place. I spend a lot of time on board. I am a CRUISER about 7 months out of the year. My boat is pretty simple, and aside from some minor storage mods, pretty much stock insid...

We expanded the bow berth into a queen size width , with stowage underneath. Got any pictures of that? :) Sorry no pictures . I have never been successful in downloading pictures to this forum . I expanded it to the end of the dinette seat and built a frame across , taking up some of the settee on ...

You are right about No liveaboards in Florida , only cruisers . That seems to be the attitude we have encountered , from talking to other anchorers . It seems they are okay with you anchoring for a short time , but not permanently We are cruisers , and we are truly traveling , just slowly , we haven...

There is a nutsert type nut out there that is designed to embed itself in wood . Mine did the same thing and Put these on the other side and they embedded in the fiberglass .

Do that many people really disconnect their engine when sailing? I find it to be a pain, so I just leave it connected all the time, I don't find it to be a hinderence. I would hate to have an emergency where I needed to fire up the engine and have it be disconnected. JMHO. Paulieb Me too , I never ...

We have an Engle freezer sitting on the seat to port of the companion way . I found a cutting board the same size as the top and we use it as counter top . For refrigeration we have two Yetis under the table . I like the idea of putting a refrigerator under there instead , but not sure if our solar ...

We found a garbage can that fits under the sink . Its tight but works . I removed the galley front and built shelves under the galley , leaving a place for the garbage can under the sink . We stay on the hook sometimes up to a week as that's the limit of our water and sewage tank . The garbage can ,...

Are there any liveaboards or semi liveaboards lurking about ? The Admiral and I left Montgomery Alabama April 1st , and at the moment we are in Homosassa River Florida , just south of Crystal River . Our loose destination is Key West . I say loose because if we don't make it , that's okay , we are t...

Old Salt , Old Fart , and love to go slow . In our nearly a 1,000 mile cruise (and still going) have yet to cruise over 3,000 rpm .
But I do love pulling into a marina and topping off the tanks with 6 gallons of gas !