Sail Versus Power Boats: The Great Boat Debate

Over the past 3 years, as we've initiated ourselves into the world of boating, we've learned of a few battles that are as contentious as religion and politics. Some we've explored on our blog, such as anchoring and build -vs- buy. Others, such as power versus sail, we haven't yet. Well, today I'm going to poke into another one.... sailboats versus powerboats. :)

Sailboats are superior. Oh, now thems fightin words! But that is my opinion, based on our needs and desires, sailboats are simply superior. Within the previous sentence is the key, “based on our needs and desires.”

For us, being solo agents and completely self reliant, having redundancy is critical. A sailboat has 2 sources of propulsion. In addition to sails, a sailboat typically has a redundant propulsion source by way of an outboard engine. Powerboats are limited to, well, their combustion engine.

Unlike others who rail against having an engine, I think it is great to have one (heck, we have 2 on our boat now, one for Ariel and one for the dinghy). I, however, think having propulsion limited only to petroleum is too risky for our adventure. 1 engine, 2 engines, 3 … doesn't matter …. we are after different options and wind plus petroleum is the way to go.

Beyond this point, you have all the other “arguments.” Speed, noise, range, electrical power creation, hull shapes for suitability of conditions, and more. These are all valid issues from someones perspective, and based on the someones weighting of each, the scales could be tipped in favor of power over sail or vice versa.

At this point in our journey, powerboats simply are too limited for our tastes. In our weighting system, the value in propulsion source options is such that with all the other factors combined, a sailboat is definitely the way to go for us.

Time to put the sails up and slowly make our way back to the marina, with only the sound of fish jumping, wind though the sails, and the waves lapping up along the boat. Ultimate peace. Well, that and KJ and Dy screaming “Look! Look!” as the dolphins swim along side.

Independence Day - Boat Style!

This is our second 4th of July on the boat. Talk about independence! Last year Ariel was new to the family and we were sitting on Lake Lanier taking in all the fireworks. This year, as we progress on our journey, we are on the Atlantic Ocean preparing to enjoy more fireworks. Tybee Island is said to have one heck of a show, so we will be sailing to another location this afternoon for prime viewing.

Independence. That is ultimately what we are after. This adventure, this throwing off of the shackles of "normal life", is proof that we are truly independent. The USA threw caution to the wind in 1776 and told the mother land it wasn't needed any more ... that the USA could survive on its own. This was gutsy. The world was (is) a turbulent place with nations all vying for more land and power.

Fortunately for our family, the USA succeed in its quest for independence and we've enjoyed all the fruits that come with it. It was that initial risk, that moment of braving it solo, that we are thinking about today. Independence Day for the USA, the 4th of July, serves as an awesome example of courage.

The edge of decision, the moment of facing that final choice to go. We are on the edge. We are about to embark on a style of living that is so counter to the currents we live in. It is different, it is far more independent.

Will we have the guts in the end to push off from that marina dock and say, "See you later!"? We believe so. Compared to launching an entire nation on a new path, ours seems easy.

The mental hardening of the "YESification" process continues.

Living or Surviving

Waking up on the boat this morning, I wondered about the fish below. Are they living life? Or are they surviving life? Are they enjoying the ocean and all it offers? Or are they merely avoiding being eaten? Thinking about the whole cycle of life going on below, I couldn't help but draw parallels to us humans and our life above.

It seems to me many people are surviving life. They are just trying to avoid being eaten. A fish, I get. They are operating purely on instincts and they have legitimate, life threatening predators hunting them. But how many legitimate predators do we humans have hunting us? For people, almost every predator is imaginary. Heck, most of those don't even cause physical, mortal, harm. Instead, nearly every predator for a human attacks a sensibility of some sort.

Life is a wonderful gift and it is hard to imagine spending it surviving life, especially when we are in the fortunate position to not have a life threatening predator around every piece of coral. The only restraint we have is our mind. As FDR said, “The only thing we have to fear is, fear itself.” It is fear that puts us into survival mode, and for a vast majority of us, that fear is based on some false foundation.

Today, I chose to live life. I chose to enjoy every amazing offering that is before me. I chose to not put myself into a protective place for fear of an imaginary monster. I chose to take advantage of this incredible experience of being alive. I chose to live life.

Time to take swim and enjoy the ocean.

Provisioning the Boat for 4 Days

This weekend is the 4th of July and we are going to take Ariel (our Gemini 3200) out for her first cruise in the Atlantic. We are planning to spend 4 days out on the boat. We are very excited!

One of the biggest challenges is how do we provision the boat for 4 days. Since we will be leaving our marina this afternoon and will not be returning until sometime on Monday, we need to (at minimum) provision for 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, and 3 dinners plus snacks.

Breakfasts will consist of pancakes, oatmeal, and fresh fruit. The big decision is whether to make lunch or dinner the "big meal". This will dependent on the heat. Our main lunch and dinner menus are steaks with mash potatoes, hot dogs with buns, steak burritos, chili with rice, chickpea salad, and gazpacho.

In addition to the menu for this weekend, we have our galley staples consisting of canned tuna, lentils, extra chili, canned corn, canned tomatoes, extra rice and potatoes, extra oatmeal and pancake mix, onions, spam, mixed nuts, dry fruit, powder milk, chicken stock, variety of beans, garlic, salsa, basic staples (flour, sugar, salt, pepper, and spices), and a 4lb bag of M&Ms and Twizzlers. Theses staples serve as our food safety net. In the quantities we have on our boat, we believe that we could live off these staples for 3 weeks, if we had to.

Soups On! Time to clean the grill. I can almost smell the steaks now ;).

Passports Renewed - Check

Passport renewal was on our "Needs to be Complete Before We Leave" task list. Well yesterday that item was checked off the list. My passport finally came in. The US State Department had stated that regular passport renewal processing took between 4-6 weeks. I was lucky, mine only took 3 weeks.

The next time we will have to go through this process is in 2012. The girls passports will have to be renewed at that time. In the US, passports for children under 16 are only valid for 5 years; adult passports are valid for 10 years.

YEAH!!! We are another step closer to "YESification"!