Category: By John

One hour per minute: turning two lines into one

5-FEB-2018, Port Townsend, WA – Premium Ropes has some very good videos on splicing. They are my go-to place for videos.

Last spring, while the mast was down, I replaced all the sheaves in the masthead, cut a new opening for an additional headsail halyard. I also installed a messenger line so that when the halyard was complete I could merely pull it up and through.

The messenger line turned out to be less than a great idea: if I had installed the halyard relatively quickly, let’s say within two months, it would have worked out quite well. Instead, we went sailing across the summer in all kinds of weather. The messenger line jumped out of the sheave and wedged itself between the sheave and the masthead casting. Oh well. Continue reading “One hour per minute: turning two lines into one”

An Unending Month

Feb 1, 2018, Port Townsend, WA – January was the longest month I remember in my entire life. Longer than months when I was a small child slogging through the school year waiting for summer vacation.

It was a month of unexpected travel, traversing the country and working on non-boat projects. It was also a month full of activities and friends: an unexpected sailor on his way to pickup replacement boat parts and a medieval music performance in a Victorian church in a Victorian Seaport. Continue reading “An Unending Month”

Many a slip ’twixt the dock and the ship

5-JAN-2018, Lake Union, Seattle, Wa – Standing fully clothed, soaking wet in the cockpit of CaroBabbo at the dock in Lake Union, Jennifer said, “Would you like to take a picture of me?”

Jennifer always has more sense than I have, but I merely said, “no.”

Instead, a few hours later I took this picture:


Continue reading “Many a slip ’twixt the dock and the ship”

Why haven’t we been posting?

9-DEC-2017, Decatur, GA (Atlanta Metro Area) – Working on houses here in Atlanta is just the same as working on boats in preparation for a trip.

While working on the Willivee house, which is my residence, has been an all-consuming heads down run, it does not leave time for writing. I have another nine days here, and like any major project, whether it be a boat, a software suite or a marketing push, towards the end, the large pieces have taken their form and in the final weeks and begin to look like what they were envisioned to be. Continue reading “Why haven’t we been posting?”

Hilary in Atlanta

Decatur, GA USA, 6-NOV-2017 – Two months. I’ve never gone two months without posting.

I write enough about Hilary that this blog might be called Caro Babbo and Hilary, and so this post will primarily be about Hilary.

When I started writing this blog, Hilary was far along in her Alzheimer’s dementia, but she retained a lovely personality and was the star of Caro Babbo, remembered, loved and called to by everyone we met. Truly, Jennifer and I were known as the two people with Hilary.

By the time we left this year in May 2017, Hilary was disappearing. Hilary’s world was smaller and people we met would take Jennifer or me aside to tell us this was too much for two people to handle. Continue reading “Hilary in Atlanta”

Trip over, Caro Babbo is in her slip.

Port Townsend, WA, 7-SEP-2017 – This year’s trip is over. Caro Babbo is in her slip at Lee’s landing. Jennifer, Hilary and I are back in Port Townsend for the next few weeks before we start our fall travels: We’ll spend most of the fall at my residence in Atlanta, with time in Phoenix, New York and, for Jennifer, Berlin. Continue reading “Trip over, Caro Babbo is in her slip.”

Vacation after Adventure; Sailing the Portland Pudgy

1-SEP-2017, Matia Island, WA – Yesterday morning we motored just after sunlight from Port Roberts to Matia Island in the San Juans.

We had spent two nights in Vancouver’s False Creek, where, as we have whenever we are anchored there, we dragged.

The dragging isn’t serious. The bottom is sand. When the tide changes the anchor takes twenty or thirty feet to reset. But, it is tight anchoring and I suspect everyone is as fluid as we are. We powered up the first morning and reset. The second morning, we just raised anchor and left.

We didn’t wander around Vancover, visit museums, or even visit the community centers to shower (we have very good internet onboard, so we don’t need to go ashore for internet).
Continue reading “Vacation after Adventure; Sailing the Portland Pudgy”

Adventure over, Home waters

27-AUG-2017, just outside Pender Harbour – We’ve come to realize that the adventure is over for the year.

It is warm here, in the 20sC, 70sF. We haven’t worn foulies or even long trousers in a couple of days. The locals tell us its only rained for four days since May: It has been a glorious summer. Continue reading “Adventure over, Home waters”

Cooking in Meyer’s Chuck

6-AUG-2017, Meyer’s Chuck, AK – I get asked often about what we eat aboard, about what we eat and what we cook when we’re ashore.

We don’t use prepared foods, including bread, and on board we have no refrigeration – though we occasionally buy ice. The ice allows us to have fresh meat and fish until it melts. (It is worth mentioning that even fresh meat and fish will keep for a few days without refrigeration – Remember the Ben Franklin quote about guests and fish, both stink after three days.)

I’m working on a ‘‘simplest’’ bread video for our friend Heath, which I’ll post on YouTube in a day or two. I also outlined a 13-part cooking show, which I abandoned as too much like work. Perhaps I’ll dust it off.

At Jennifer’s urging I’ve started to keep a food journal so that we can go back to things that I’ve cooked that we both liked.

Continue reading “Cooking in Meyer’s Chuck”

Denouement – heading home

This was written a few days ago and is being posted today, 15th of August, 2017 as we motor by Klemtu, while we have a connection. Other posts that have video and pictures may not make it during this window.

13-AUG-2017, Curlew Cove, Fin Island, Wright Sound, BC – Jennifer has become unabashed about getting us home.

The trip has deconstructed into life under siege: of the weather and Hilary.

I wonder whether Hilary is just the excuse for not being productive, for not having as much fun as I would like, for not enjoying the trip as much as we’d like, but I think it is not so much of an excuse as that we have started to buckle under the load. We need a reboot, a step away or a vacation. Continue reading “Denouement – heading home”