James and Ryan Go Sailing

March 30.  The long awaited arrival of our favorite son finally happened!   After enjoying Jacksonville beaches and earning travelling cash washing windows, James and Ryan joined us in Brunswick on Tuesday night.  Yahoo ... This is James' first visit to Maja, and Ryan's first experience with sailing.  It worked out well that Ryan was available to drive with James back to MN....and that James could make some cash...and that both would take time out of their busy vacation/move back to MN time to go sailing with us.  We are so excited to have our first "liveaboard guests" ... now to find out if we have stowed enough beer on board!

March 31.  Time to leave the dock ... destination: Atlantic Ocean!  Since this was our shakedown cruise on Maja, the boys were game to test out all the boat features.  First task: set all four sails -- the main sail, the two foresails and the mizzen sail (small sail on the 2nd mast).

With all sails flying, we exited the channel and entered the Atlantic Ocean.  With about 10knots of wind, the sailing was great, and our top speed was 6.25knots with James at the helm! 

James wanted to sail 'out of sight of land' which he got if he was facing east.

Once we hit the 3mile limit, we were able to test the new macerator pump that Dan installed with the new holding tank, and with the push of a button, we successfully emptied our holding tank in about a minute!

Dan also got to test out the autopilot system that he has been working on for several days.  It worked like a charm and the boys were definitely impressed with the ease of "no hands sailing" ... so much easier to drink beer!  Notice the sweatshirts and jackets being worn -- we discovered that temps at sea were about 10deg cooler than on land, and when out of the sun and under the cockpit enclosure, it got chilly quickly.

We anchored for the night in the channel off St. Simons Island.  We had a favorite chicken dinner -- recipe courtsey of Deb Jayne and came to us via Renee Devereaux -- so easy and yummy!  One pkt onion soup mix, 12oz jar of apricot preserves, 8oz Russian Dressing ... pour over chicken tender strips.  You can bake in the oven; we used the stove top.  After dinner, we introduced Ryan to the dice game, 10,000, and the traditon of taking shots of Pussers Rum at significant points in the game.  Fun time by candlelight, while calculating our amp useage!  Ryan (aka Dolphin Boy).  James (aka. Swab) - the winner.  Dan (aka Captain Dan). Nancy (aka. Dinghy Girl).

The highlight of the nite was hanging out in the cockpit after the dice game.  There was nearly a full moon to brighten a clear sky.  There was a light breeze to keep the 'no-see-ems' away ... truly one of our most beautiful nights at sea.  We stayed up till 3:30a.m., only begrudingly heading to our berths after the beer was all gone (note to self:  not enough beer on board!). Ryan was our beer fetcher, and he woke up the next morning with both pockets full of beer caps!  The nite was so lovely that the boys decided to sleep in the cockpit under the full moon.  The perfect end to a perfect day. 

April 1. 

Obviously, the drawback of staying up most of the night was our original plan to get underway early the next day.  That definitely did not happen!  We cooked eggs, bacon and pancakes for breakfast around 11:00, and then took naps!  The goal for the day was to launch the dinghy ... which is much easier said than done.  We have a 15hp Mercury 4stoke motor mounted on the stern rail -- quite the beast which we move around with the help of the mizzen mast. The dinghy is stowed up on davits on the back, so we first drop the dinghy in the water, then move the gas tank on board, and finally get to work on moving the motor from the stern rail to it's spot on the dinghy.  The motor has a harness which defintiely helps the task, but we tie on another line just in case we have to fish the motor from the bottom of the ocean!

James, the motor-head in the family, finally has a boat with the power he's always wanted! Unfortunately, we were anchored too far from shore to do much exploring, so after a few high-speed circles around the channel, it was time to practice the reverse process of removing the motor from the dinghy, hoisting it back on the stern rail, and raising the dinghy back on the davits.  We have been told by experienced cruisers that we have to do this every night to protect the dinghy from theft.  Considering that the dinghy is now our new car, we have to treat it more securely than a floating toy!  We've also been told that we will love the high-power motor when we are in the Bahamas, and the dinghy will be our main form of transportation to get to the best snorkling spots.  For now, we still wonder if we'd prefer a smaller, lighter motor ....

Dolphin watching is a perpetual pastime on the boat.  And we were never disappointed even though I was never able to catch them with my camera. I wonder how long it will take before they cease to amaze and entertain us so instantly?

End of the day. 

Time to head back to the marina, thru the bridge ahead. 

Docking with two extra hands on deck was a piece of cake.

Last meal of grilled brats.

Friday, April 2.

Sad morning as we had to wave goodbye to James and Ryan as they headed off, taking the Suburban with them.  We will definitely miss those two guys .... and we'll also miss the independence that having a car brings. 

James brought us 2-months worth of mail, so I spent the rest of the day sorting through the bills and entering info from tax statements into TurboTax.  Dan finished his last major project on the boat by installing the repaired inverter (a 65 lb wonder that allows us to run our 110v appliances from our 12v batteries) ... insurance that we will be able to use our computer and charge cell phones while at anchor.

The day ended on a high note when Robert showed up at boat ~6pm.  He flew into Jacksonville, took the city bus to the Greyhound station, then another bus up to Brunswick.  Such will be life without a car!

Brunswick normally closes down around 8pm, except for the "First Friday" of every month.  On First Friday, most of the stores and restaurants stay open till 10pm and offer free wine, music, snacks, raffles, etc. We have missed every First Friday except this one!

Back to the boat for a very late dinner of grilled Grouper ... and our Friday night tradition of martinis! Welcome to Georgia, Robert!

Our next post will be about our sailing adventure with Robert.  We are heading to Cumberland Island, St. Marys River, Fernandina Beach, and Jacksonville ... where Robert will catch his plane next Friday.

Happy Easter everyone.