Slacking!

I am totally slacking here.  We have been commuting from our home base, in Hatboro to Baltimore every week and I am going to school online so there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to get anything done anymore.  Anyway I have a paper due Monday, yeah go figure, online schools don't care about holidays.  I had a paper due Christmas day as well, which was just a stupid as the one due on Thanksgiving.  But you know it's "all about the Student" at my school.  Except it is a for profit university, so I am always thinking, "it's all about the Student ('s federal loans and grants)".  Who me cynical?

Oh and as to the real reason there doesn't appear to be enough hours in the day?  I love Desktop Tower Defense type games and I been hooked on this one for the last few weeks, http://www.kongregate.com/games/gameinabottle/gemcraft?acomplete=gem

Peace and Love and plug the damn hole in the bottom of the ocean ya corporate bastards.

Tools to learn

This is a fun little thing to play with sail settings.
http://www.nauticed.org/sailing-instructor

I ordered the Americas Boating Course to get started on certificates as well as the learning process.  It maybe a while until I can actually step on a boat so I might as well get some book time under the belt.

Just got back from Baltimore last night, headed to Austin today.  Taking the train to the airport.  Saves a little cash for parking and hey the train is going that way anyway, might as well get on it.

I also started using Pandora.  Here if you care to indulge just a bunch of top 40 stuff from the 70's and 80's and anybody that has caught my ear since.

See ya on the other side.

A few books I am interested in

Starbound


Advanced Bluewater Cruising


The Essentials of Living Aboard a Boat


Just keeping notes...


Ah financing, damn reality...

Total Lust

I should have an Associates agreement with Yacht World.  Well if I was actually driving any business in that direction.

Went to Liberty Marina last night and saw the 45' that I was interested in as a project boat.

http://www.sailboatlistings.com/cgi-bin/saildata/db.cgi?db=default&uid=default&view_records=1&ID=12566&mh=1

Yeah it was a bit of a clunker and needed some TLC.  But my rationale for getting into this particular boat was that it was inexpensive, made of wood so no real "special" tools would be needed and so far I wouldn't need to learn to weld.  By starting off with an older boat I get the chance to learn her by the inch as I restore her.  Of course there is always the possibility that I would just get sick and tired of looking at her before she got done, or run out of time and or money.  Always a problem with this sort of untried endeavor.  We still need to see if Betty can actually handle going to sea for an extended period of time and keep herself inside herself.

In looking at it Betty seemed a bit dismayed at her size.  Do please remember that the only information we have so far is from a couple that lived on a 65'.  20' less makes for quite a bit smaller of an experience.  She has grave concerns about living in such a tiny space, manly doing stuff like getting ready to go to work, having enough room for her work clothes, that sort of thing.  And really I can't see her getting up, wedging herself into a 2 x 2 head and coming out all primped and prettied and heading to work.  I on the other hand am much more accustomed to living in very tight quarters, but then again if we bought this particular boat my "job" would be to overhaul the thing and get her off the hard and blue water ready as soon as possible.  But I digress, because I am excellent at doing that.  But really take a look at this beauty!

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1982/Ta-Chiao-Ct-54-2014192/Ft.-Lauderdale/FL/United-States

Whoops, got the above boat confused with the following boat..

http://yachts.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=116411

OMG!  I am speechless.

Oh yes I want that boat.  I am drooling all down the front of my shirt over that saloon, the nav station!  The custom work is incredible!  I can see Betty and I living in that one for a few years.  Pant, Pant!

Gathering information

So I made some calls today to check some prices on marinas.  Learned new stuff, I love learning new stuff.  There are 3 types of docks or slips you can get, Regular, Floating, and T-Head, $4750.00, $5250.00 and $9000.00 some odd respectively.  I quit listening to the T-Head at the first $9----.  That is for a year long commitment.  There is also a fee for using the facilities, they have a pool, showers, laundry facility, etc.  Oh and a great restaurant as well.   Unfortunately they do not allow live aboard while your boat is out on the hard.  Not to surprising, I think it would be difficult to deal with water, waste and other things.  Not to mention fire.  Anyway Betty and I will head out tonight for dinner and a wander, then tomorrow when I have a bit more time I will wander down and take a tour of the place.

Other news, Betty and I took the Cape May Lewes Ferry from, well Cape Mays to Lewes Sunday afternoon.  Was fun to get back on a good sized vessel that heaved and moved, well a little bit at least.  Betty didn't heave and that was nice.  She was a bit uncomfortable.  Oddly enough she liked being on the high decks better than the lower ones.  Saw a tiny glimpse of a dolphin, just a real quick peek as it looked the ferry over then left in a hurry.  I would have as well if this giant clanking white thing was bearing down on me.  So watched the sea gulls and missed the flying fish, but only ever saw those very much further to the south and on the other side of the world.  It was amazing how much I enjoyed going to sea.  The trip lasted about an hour and I throughly loved the salt breeze blasting my face and the movement of the deck under foot.  Stumbled around like a sailor on the downside of a three day bender.  Certainly didn't have any sea legs left over from my last foray onto the ocean blue.  Lets see that was, hang on while I slip my shoes off so I can count, had to have been um 1989?  Took a ride on the USS Nimitz up north to play with the TU-97 Russian Bears.  That was a cold trip, the Bearing Sea is never a warm and inviting place to be.  We exited Bremerton Washington and transited the Puget Sound then went north and played peek a boo.  One the way out we saw a pod of killer whales.  We pulled into Anchorage for Fourth of July that year.  That was fun as well.  I wonder if the Bush Club is still open up there.  I think that is all I am going to say about my experience there.

Anyway was also turned on to a good place to learn how to sail, ah something I am surely going to need to learn how to do pretty darn soon.  I would hate to go and sink my baby before we even cleared the mouth of the harbor.

OK add this to your list

And then there is this poor dude.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63R1SV20100428?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r2:c0.105684:b33473152:z0

Reminder to self, make sure you have navigation equipment on board and look at it.  Other things, when you are circling something the shadows on the deck slowly rotate.