Missing: The Crew of Zephyr

Well, not really...but in terms of blogging, yes. So...where have we been? Think that Johnny Cash song "I've Been Everywhere" 

"I've been everywhere, man.

I've been everywhere, man.

Crossed the desert's bare, man.

I've breathed the mountain air, man.

Of travel I've had my share, man.

I've been everywhere."

We've been to Boston, Eastie, Harwich, New Orleans, New Castle,Waterbury, Duxbury, Provincetown, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Scituate, Osterville, Katy, Baton Rouge, Bar Harbor DC,Warren, Westport, Woods Hole, Annapolis and...now...good 'ole Kit-ry Maine! Home! 

I'd love to say we'd sailed all those places,it would be quite incredible if we sailed to Katy, TX, but we did sail to a lot of them. This summer was full of change some good and welcome, some not so good. We enjoyed amazing times with family and friends and even had a 4th of July escape in our "Land Yacht" OJ to the Vermont mountains - thanks Hurricane Arthur. 

Our Land Yacht is a great backup plan when a Hurricane ruins 4th of July sailing plans

There is so much to write about like our great weekend sailing trip to Salem...

Or our sweet view of the Boston skyline from our summer slip in East Boston...

Or the many nights spent with a cockpit fulla friends, tunes on the stereo and laughs...

Or our eventful summer cruise to Scituate - Provincetown - Duxbury and beyond where we lost the dinghy in a blow and got towed TWICE! 

A very happy captain sailing his very own boat into Duxbury Bay

A TowBoat US membership is the best thing money can buy! The story of the two folks towing us is for another time.

Or our sail north to Portsmouth when we lost the dinghy - once and for all...

Zephyr's arrival into Little Harbor as seen from Sea-Celia, it's like the heavens were welcoming us back home

And I will write all about these different summer adventures especially since my view out my window right now is of a frozen tundra, complete with ice caking all trees and my cockpit full of an 1" of ice. I like to relive our happy summer times to help me get through the endless Maine winters. 

Basically, the take-away is that in mid-September we sailed back north to Portsmouth/Kittery and we couldn't be happier with our decision. Overall, Boston just was not our cuppa tea. The marina we chose wasn't ideal for living aboard. The constant and vicious wakes from all the boat traffic made for a VERY uncomfortable and constant roll while in our slip. Zephyr would take the waves and wakes on her starboard beam and then would continue to violently roll back and forth for 4-5 minutes The commuter ferry boats start around 5am and from 4-6pm it was also VERY rolly, then on the weekends, it was virtually impossible to be aboard comfortably without getting tossed around the boat getting bruised up. It's probably a great marina for those weekend warriors but for us liveaboards who cook aboard, shower aboard and sleep aboard day in and day out it's just not doable.  

Take a look at our neighbor's boat to get  a good idea of daily life

Add to that, that about 6 weeks into living in Boston, we also started getting very homesick for the lifestyle the Seacoast provides. We missed walking into town for dinner, we missed taking Toby to gorgeous Seapoint Beach on the Maine coast, we missed trees and trails and wild and natural spaces. We missed local foods, local beers, small markets, gastropubs, smoothie stores -- you know the yuppie stuff. Apparently, we're yuppies and we're just fine with that! We missed the simple, quiet, relaxing lifestyle that the Seacoast provides. I mean there's a reason there's a mass exodus from Boston every weekend in the summer to Portsmouth & Kittery- it's vacationland! The Seacoast is where we called home for 8 years and there is something quite wonderful about the people and the life we've built here. 

Once we thought of going into another winter aboard, we couldn't imagine not having the great community of friends (more like family) we made at Badgers Island Marina. That sealed the deal to head north (but really though - who winters in Maine!?) The decision to move home was not a hard one to make, even with the commute Tim now has. It came down to where did we want to be when we weren't working? Where did want to wake up on a Saturday morning? Who'd we want to surround ourselves with to survive another harsh, cold New England winter? 

Living on a boat isn't the easiest lifestyle choice and so it becomes really important that the world outside the boat is comfortable, easy and relaxing. If we'd cast of our lines for points far south and were leaving on our cruising adventure I think it would've been a different tale but because we're still tethered to land for work, family commitments, life, we just simply wanted to be 'home'.  Until we are cruising full-time and have the ability to sail onto a new port whenever we want, it's vital that we like the port we're in. It's no different than picking the neighborhood where you're going to buy a house. 

And really...Let's face it the Farrells are just not city folks! 

So we're the prodigal Seacoasters whom have returned. The summer away gave us great clarity in what it is we want in the next steps of our life and it helped to solidify for us where we're meant to be. It helped to clear our vision so we could reimagine what the next phase might look like and gave us a chance to really take an honest look at our feelings, hold them out in front of ourselves and explore them, own them. It gives us a chance to slow down, take a deep, long breath and realize - we've got it real good. It's time to soak it all in rather than just keep planning and dreaming away today. So that's what we're doing soaking it all in, feeling very grateful we have a lifestyle that allows us to try on new things and return if they don't fit, grateful we have family and friends who support all our choices and grateful we have eachother. 

Stay tuned...until then, if you need us we'll be living inside a bubble in the mighty, freezing waters of the Piscataqua! 

Today 12/8/14 - THE BUBBLE ERECTUS! 

Where have we been? Big City Living!

I can't believe we haven't updated this blog since the end of March, and here it is mid-June! It's 70 outside, the sun is shining and I'm listening to the sounds of a rocking concert across the harbor in the Seaport. Yup - that's right, we're living it up in the big city, Boston - East Boston to be exact. We're at the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina in the Jeffries Point neighborhood of "Eastie". We are right across the harbor from the Seaport District and the World Trade Center. We've been here exactly one month today. We have lots to share about our projects and prep this spring and then our trip south from Portsmouth to Boston, but for now I'll share a little slice of life from this first month here in Boston. 

The view off the stern of Zephyr - that big 'ole red boat is the Nantucket Light Ship

The transition has been a bit tough, not going to lie, the change from the quiet, quaint, forested lands of New Hampshire and Maine to the constant hustle and bustle and WAVY, ROCKY waters of Boston Harbor has taken some getting used to. The marina is a bit more 'industrial' and with not so many luxuries but the view is quiet something! The whole city skyline is laid out before us. Not to mention the entire city is at our fingertips, the T into downtown is a 10-minute walk and the city water taxis pick up right on our pier! There's a funky, fun place called KO Pies right inside the Shipyard that serves authentic Australian pies and Harpoon on tap. It's a lot of fun and only a 3 minute walk from the deck of our boat. 

Toby is getting used to city living, loving all the smells! 

Our dock, F-Dock is almost entirely sailboats and a few young liveaboards! We're all the way at the end on the right.

The skyline at night is quite spectacular 

The Shipyard is part of Harbor Arts Shipyard Gallery so throughout the piers and buildings are fantastic works of murals, sculptures, installations and more. 

My two loves on our new dock 

Great view for walking Big Guy 

 We've been trying to fall into our groove here in Boston but with the onset of summer weather life's been busy with F-U-N! We have also been spending a lot of time at the Cape House getting that place ready to rent for the summer. The couple of weekends we've spent in Boston have been great fun! Tim's brother Andrew and a bunch of his good buddies all live around the corner from the marina so, needless to say, this first month has included A LOT of boat drinks! Bridget from NYC even came aboard for a few and crazy thunderstorm!

We are definitely liking the array of options in front of us for going out - the options for live music especially, but also for going out to eat - innumerable cuisine types from every culture, loads of delicious Latino food in Eastie. On a Tuesday we were able to go to a really cool club in Cambridge and catch a nationally touring bluegrass band that we love - Chatham County Line. Great craft beer line up, delicious food and incredible music. It was AWESOME! And on a Tuesday! Certainly not something we could do in Portsmouth! 

Toby got his summer shave - he's ready for the beach!

The highlight of the past month by far was definitely this past weekend - we finally got off the dock and went sailing! Woo Hoo! On Sunday morning we hit up The Green Bean Food Truck that parks every Sunday morning in the Shipyard - bombing breakfast sandwiches & iced coffee. Crowds of folks show up in the Shipyard - Dogs Welcome - and chow down while overlooking the harbor. 

After that we welcomed Andrew and his bright, short-shorts called Chubbies aboard and prepped the boat to cast off. It was GORGEOUS out, 80 degrees, full sun and a light breeze. After talking to our next door boat neighbor we set our sights on Great Brewster Island, part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Park. He raved about its seclusion, easy anchoring and breezes. We haven't yet upgraded our anchor, though we very much upgraded our chain and rode - keep posted for another post on that topic - so we thought, well, we can at least try a "lunch hook". 

Sailing out of the marina you're right in the mix and mayhem of Boston's Inner Harbor, the "Rules of the Road" that we learned in sailing school were very much put to the test. We had an upwind sail tacking back and forth to make our way out to the outer harbor. There were ferries barreling past, booze cruise boats, jet skis, powerboats, sailing school boats, yachts and more! Not to mention 747's flying overhead and a giant container ship! WHEW! The crew did great! We had great boat speed and made meaningful tacks to make our course. 

Great crew - brings mimosas & steaktips & a mean Farmers Tan, thanks Dupree!

I wasn't kidding about the short-shorts - long live Chubbies!

Spectacle Island

As we got out to the outer harbor the winds picked up nicely and we were making 6.5 knots on a close hauled sail - very nice! The temperature was at least 15 degrees cooler out there and it felt amazing! Zephyr was loving it! We approached Great Brewster Island and pulled in close to shore and Andrew and I started to deploy our anchor, she set in, we all took a visual spot on shore and made sure the boat wasn't moving and then we set about CHILL-LAX-IN! We grilled up steak tip sandwiches, I cast off the fishing pole to troll for stripers we jammed out to the Dead and enjoyed the solitude and sun. 

The sandy cliffs of Great Brewster - gorgeous! 

Trolling for stripers with the city skyline off our stern

Toby LOVED roaming around while at anchor

Toby loves to sail, motoring not as much.

Our windlass which brings up the anchor had a bit of a snafu since we've upgraded our chain to a 3/8ths size it was jamming up the windlass. Lucky for us Andrew has been hitting the gym and was able to haul the anchor by hand! We 'weighed anchor' and set sail back towards the city. It was a nice, peaceful downwind sail at about 3.5 knots, not bad. We even had a wing-on-wing sail set up going on for a bit. We had bluegrass tunes spinning and soaked up the late day sun, feeling quite good about our first anchoring success.

That is until we were very closely buzzed by 747 transatlantic jet! WHOA! That was close and very loud! Poor Toby was shaking for the next 1/2 hour...sorry Boo!

We sailed right into the harbor only furling and putting the engine on as we were outside the marina entrance. 

Relatively smooth docking - still have things to learn - and then some cold beers at the KO Pie Shop as the sun set. All in all it was a FANTASTIC Sunday! We can't wait to get back out there! 

We are still finding our comfort zone here in Boston and find there are moments of homesickness for the fabulous Seacoast we left and all the awesome friends and boat neighbors we left, but so far, we've been enjoying the newness, the change and the challenges. Life's richness is found in moments of change and challenge. 

The Arrival of Winter Aboard

The signs of winter have arrived at the marina...

From here on out we've got to haul the 1,000+ foot hose down to the docks to fill our water tanks, an unenviable task in the frigid cold & Ice...

This = icy, snowy walkways

Sails and summer fun are being being stowed...

Taking down the mizzen sail

Even Toby's sad the day the sails come off...Big Guys like sailing...and laying on the sail bag!

All the fun of summer - bug spray, sunscreen & fishing lures being stowed - sad day!

We've had our first snowfall...

 All around the docks the "forts" are being erected... 

The wooden frame that will will hold up the shrinkwrap - this year we're adding "windows"! 

This week or next "The Bubble" will be brought into creation yet again. The weather lately has been down right miserable and we never thought we'd say this, but we're sort of excited to get the protection The Bubble provides. Of course we'll also start the countdown until we hatch from the bubble in Spring. The winds have been relentless and the recent snap of bitter cold weather has us wishing for the greenhouse effect the shrinkwrap provides. 

BRRRR - an extra cold night aboard!

This year we're a bit wiser and we'd like to think better prepared for the onslaught of the Maine winter. With advice from our boat neighbors we've turned the boat around so she's stern-to the dock and this has helped tremendously with the rocking and rolling we get on the river. She's taking the waves on her bow and therefore cutting through them rather than having them slapping her hull - i.e. quieter in the aft cabin. We've also made our bedroom into a spaceship by insulating all the walls with the silver Reflectix wrapping. We're hoping this will avoid another "hair freezing to the wall" incident like we had last year! 

One lesson learned already...Don't store ALL of your wool sweaters in a musty, moldy trunk! 

The COLD salty air did the trick - all of my sweaters are as good as new! 

As for our heat, this year we've also put "Mr. Buddy" to good use. As an alternate source of heat to our electric heaters he's providing a VERY warm addition when we're home aboard. We won't use him when we're not there or sleeping just to be safe. We're hoping he can help us cut down on our electric bill this season. 

We had dreamed of adding a wood stove or more permanent heater this year but then we said, that's not getting us closer to our dream of the Bahamas! We made a pact that we're only adding things that we KNOW we'll need/use when we're in the tropics or sailing, because let's face it living aboard in New England winters is NOT the end game here! :) 

Another smart addition we made this year is a dehumidifier. It's been a game-changer in the battle with condensation. We got the 30-pint and it seems to keep up pretty good with the moisture. The amount of water we get from it every day and a half is quite amazing - no wonder our skin feels so moist! 

Probably the best success so far has been for Mr. Toby. He's so much braver and more relaxed now than he was last year this time when we moved to Badger's Island Marina. The marina is not the calmest port in the world and the boat gets rocked and rolled A LOT more than at the Wentworth. Last year Toby had to wear his Thunder Shirt every day and now he never needs it! He used to climb up on our faces and our laps every time the boat would move and now he just sleeps through it, snoozing away. I think all the sailing we did as a crew of 3 this summer helped him get his "sea legs" We're so proud of our little Boat Dog! 

Snooze City

So we're decking our halls for Christmas, finishing up the last of the winter preparation projects and hunkering down for our 2nd winter aboard in Maine. This year promises to be so much better not only because of our new knowledge but because there are  A LOT more boat neighbors on the docks this year! Other cool folks "living the dream" like us - kindred spirits! More life on the docks will definitely help the dark, cold months go by faster! Plus the awesomely gorgeous new Memorial Bridge is built so we can walk into downtown Portsmouth in about 6 minutes. The walk across the river is gorgeous and we're really loving living "downtown", not to mention living without relentless construction noise above our boat is quite lovely! So here's to winter - and to dreaming of moving to the Bahamas...some day! 

Our little Christmas tree & sailcloth stockings - love adding a little spirit to our boat's salon! 

Change for Change Sake

We are quickly realizing that this life afloat breeds indecision. Not sure if it's the fact that as sailors we're ruled by the vacillations of weather, the constant up and down of tides and the highs and lows of waves. Or if not having a lease or mortgage encourages shallow, if any roots, but either way we're in a constant state of up and down, high and low, back and forth. When all it takes is to untie a few lines and kick up an engine in order to move your home the options begin to feel endless.

We were told a while back by a seasoned sailing cruising that you live in 6-month horizons. There's little if any long-term planning when it comes to boats and travel. And life as a liveaboard here New England, this couldn't be more true. Here in the Portsmouth region options are limited for marinas to live at and this only adds to the 6-month horizon lifestyle. Not to mention that for 6 months of year you're the envy of many and for the other six your the crazy friend/son/daughter/sibling living on a boat! 

As Summer of 2013 folds into Fall 2013 the changes around us are palpable. The marina goes from bustling with action to silent. The dockside cafe closes. The marina staff hours cut back. The parking lot empties. The slips around us start to clear out. And the sense that it's time to move on becomes stronger and stronger. Couple that with the natural transition occurring in the environment during autumn in New England plus a natural propensity for change and a couple of gypsy souls and you've got the recipe for a tumultuous few weeks. Welcome to the crew of the Zephyr's last month. 

We started out in mid-August looking at liveaboard marinas in Boston. Thoughts of big city living and change drove us to explore this option. But then logistics of costs, cars, lifestyle and our love of open spaces (especially Toby's) stopped making sense. We then headed north, though not in support of our end goal of heading to points south where the latitudes get smaller we'd always been drawn to the city of Portland, Maine. The music, the food scene, a few very rad friends, the familiar but difference to Portsmouth. We checked out the one marina of liveaboards in the Old Port. It was a GORGEOUS late-August day, the stuff of summer dreams. 

Minds whirled all of September - Portland or Kittery? Kittery or Boston? Winter rental on land (for a very brief second)? We came to a decision - Portland. We tried that decision on, felt it out for a while. Just like trying on clothes I've always 'tried on decisions'. When I was deciding on where to go college I was at a fancy cocktail party for my dad's work in NYC. Every person who asked where I was going I'd respond with a different school - St. Michaels, Trinity, Fairfield, Loyola New Orleans - just to see how it felt to say and also what their reaction was. New Orleans always, always got the best reaction, obviously! 

So we told our friends and families we were moving to Portland. Always incredibly supportive they were happy and sad at the same time. And all the while the decision was still not 'fitting right' entirely for either of us. We were feeling overwhelmed, stressed and there were a lot of 'heart hurts' as we thought about leaving this city we've called home for the last 7 years. Not to mention the marina in Portland was not responding to our request for a rental agreement so nothing was falling into place. Add to that our good friends and fellow liveaboards, Justin and Kim made the decision to stay aboard their boat in Kittery for the winter - neighbor friends on the dock! 

As all our awesome Portsmouth friends gathered to celebrate Jill's birthday on Monday night the decision became clear - we are staying. Changing for the sake of change when nothing else is really drawing you to change is not the healthiest way to live. Last year was our first winter aboard, everything was a lesson, everything was new, this year we have the opportunity to learn from our mistakes, improve upon on lives and if we go and mix that all up by moving we may lose that clarity. Our end goal is not to move north it's to move to points south and the decision to stay will help us stay on target to do that. Eyes on the prize as my mom always tells us. So, we'll be in Kittery, Maine again this winter and this time without the incessant construction noise from the Memorial Bridge - we can walk downtown! 

Hopefully the Badger's Island Swans will return this year - the Piscataqua River is an infinitely
endless source of fascination