Memorial Day - Remembering Sailors

Today is Memorial Day; a day to remember the American service members whom died in the service of the United States of America. This day is a no work day for many American's, including all federal workers.

Sitting here, sipping my coffee, visions of an American cemetery in the Philippines floods my mind. Back in 2006, my job had me visit Manila and Cebu. While in Manila, I went to pay my respects to the fallen American military members buried there. I was unprepared for what I experienced.

What hit me was the magnitude of the number of crosses that marked each American entombed within the soil. There are over 17,000 of them, most sailors, whom lost their lives during World War II in and around the Philippines. When you see row after row after row of white crosses, you are struck by the savagery of war and the appreciation for how much is given for a cause.

Thank you to all service members, and their families, whom gave all to help secure the freedoms I now enjoy. I will not disrespect what you've given up by wasting a single moment of my freedom.

The Plastiki Expedition - Voyages of a Bottled Catamaran

So, um, where does one begin ...

In about 3 weeks, a catamaran made of 12,500 used plastic bottles will arrive in Sydney Australia after traveling 11,000 some odd miles! It departed from San Francisco California USA 72 days ago.

The odyssey is called The Plastiki Expedition. The people involved are raising awareness about being eco-friendly, especially towards the ocean. They have a blog and a number of interesting facts on their site.

You can track their "real time" position on their Track The Voyage page.

Here are some quickie tidbits regarding the boat and the expedition:

• length is 60 feet
• beam is 23 feet
• usage of a urine-to-water recovery system (does that make it pee bottle?)
• voyage to take about 3 months
• there are 6 crew members
• used organic glue made from cashews and sugar cane to hold it together

Go Plastiki!

(Yes, the name Plastiki is a reference to Kon-Tiki voyage back in the late 40s by the amazing Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl.)

Living On Purpose

I have a purpose, a reason for being, a goal and aim in life. It is a purpose that helps guide my every action.

My formal purpose statement is: To Remain Awake, and to Awaken The Remaining.

This statement summarizes how I feel about life.

Too many things in society are hypnotic and we become entranced by it, forgetting that we own our lives and can live it on our terms. Thus, I must remain awake.

There are not only parts of myself that still need to be awakened, but I receive tremendous joy in awakening others, and watching how their "awakenedness" manifests and cascades back through all of life. Thus, I will awaken the remaining ... not only in my self, but in all those I can touch.

This living with a purpose has manifested into the public sharing of SailboatFamily. This site keeps me awake, and allows me to awaken the remaining.

Thank you to everyone whom reads this blog; you allow me to live my purpose.

Trojan 6v T-145 In Hand

Yesterday, I picked up the four new Trojan T-145 batteries we had ordered through Specialty Car Company, Stone Mountain, GA. I feel fortunate to have found the batteries and a company that provided me with excellent customer service, especially since I was an one-off customer. All of the other Trojan dealers in Georgia and South Carolina, that I talked to (which was everyone listed on the Trojan web site), told me that they did not carry the T-145 and ended the conversation. Jim at Specialty Car Company did the opposite, he told me when he could have the batteries and the price. How refreshing!

Our total cost for 4 new house bank batteries was $633. A great price and less than we had budgeted!

Lifeline Netting Installation

Last weekend, while in Savannah, we installed the lifeline netting purchased from On Deck Sports. The installation took approximately 2 hours. This short installation time is directly attributed to the construction of the netting. As mentioned in a previous post about the lifeline netting, it is trimmed with rope and has 2 stainless steel spring clips on each end. This made the installation easier, as we could see how the netting was going to fall before we started tying it to the stanchions and lifelines.

Our Gemini 3200 is 31'6" long. We purchased two 2'x40' nets, because we wanted the bow and most of the stern to be covered.

Installation began on the aft starboard side. We secured the netting to the lifelines and stanchions with a UV protected, poly twine and some simple to tie, but hard to untie knots. We melted the ends of the cut twine with a lighter. This will keep the twine from fraying. If we ever need to take down the netting, we can cut the twine.

The first 40' of netting ended almost in the middle of the bow. We clipped the second lifeline netting via the spring clips to the first and continued the netting down the port side to the stern. When it's time to anchor, we simply have to unclip the netting, anchor, and reclip the netting.

The deck of the boat is now 95% encapsulated by the lifeline netting. The only portion of the boat that is not covered, is the stern were our Honda outboard is located.

I now feel more comfortable with Dy being on deck. Before, I was afraid that she would slip through the lifelines and off the boat. The peace of mind is worth a ton more than the $100 for the netting and the 2 hours to install it.