Getting your spouse onboard

[mvweebles]

OK. I figured those were too long of legs if you're not doing overnights but I guess you just anchor out in between.

There have been anchorages. For example, we depart El Salvador for Puesta del Sol (PDS) Nicaragua at high slack water Thursday morning - 7am. This is required because of the bar crossing to depart the estuary where we're happily docked. Depending on currents, its around 16-18 hours for us which would means our arrival would be around midnight. So we'll stop at an Anchorage and make dinner and get some sleep.

Puesta del Sol (screenshot #2) is also an estuary but the entrance is much larger and less problematic than El Salvador so there are fewer restrictions, but docking could be tricky in a strong ebb. Well time our arrival to somewhere close to slack water at 2:30pm.

BTW, tide/current information is all local knowledge. Official tide stations are few and far between in these parts.

Peter

 

[Muirgen Afloat]

I've thought about this thread. How did I get Cheryll to agree to this journey from California to Florida? We've been together for almost 30-years and Weebles/Boating have always been a part of our life so this may not apply to many, but I wanted to share. She's enjoyed boating but clearly I'm the fanatic in the family.

I posted early in this thead about communication - but it was all tactical. Docking. I was short-sighted - that's how to get through a day. How to get her onboard for a long term commitment? Well first, Cheryll likes the lifestyle. But here are some pointers I think she'd agree with:

1. She trusts the boat. She's had enough time aboard that she just trusts the boat.

2. She trusts me......mostly. She understands my experience but it's not a substitute for her common sense. It's frustrating for me at times to have to explain what I perceive as simple concepts, but it's how we roll.

3. For this cruise, I broke it into digestible parts. I knew she was uncomfortable with overnight passages. But I also knew she loves travel and new sights/experiences. So I did what I could to reduce overnights and highlighted destinations (see attached).

4. Engaged her frequently. Tonight we were discussing Nicaragua and the difficult Papagayo winds that lie beyond. What would we do if there was a great weather window to just keep going as we approach Nicaragua? What if we just kept going to Costa Rica???? We both decided that we want to see Nicaragua - the hell with the weather window. We'll figure that out later.

5. Some days just suck. For whatever reason, some days are just lousy days. The other day when we were driving back to the boat we had several stops to make including getting a couple garafones of water (5-gal jugs). Turns out that El Salvador requires some sort of ownership tag for the containers. And we had issues with parking. And we could not find a few things. And it was the end of the day so we were both a bit tired. And we were hungry. And the dog ate our homework. This is where a long term relationship helps - just saying that the day sucked and recalling some other sucky days seemed to deflate the tension.

Attached is the chartlet I used to sell the trip. I encouraged Cheryll to research the towns and such which she continues to do (she's the planner of the family). And I stressed there would be few overnighters unless we wanted to do them.

Hope this helps

Peter

View attachment 170161

I think that trust in the boat goes along way. I am totally sure that our boat can get us there, that a lot of the worry in alleviated for me.
Trust is your travel companion is another big thing. I'm with Cheryll on that level of trust. I honestly trust Scot for the majority of boat decisions as he has so much more experience than me. After being together so long I trust that he will listen to me when I tell him I don't feel good about something even if it's only a feeling without factual backing.
I love that you broke the trip down in smaller pieces and that you spend your time. Scot and I are working on this one. Can't think you enough for your help in slowing him down for a bit in Mexico. Made the trip better.

 

[mvweebles]

I think that trust in the boat goes along way. I am totally sure that our boat can get us there, that a lot of the worry in alleviated for me.
Trust is your travel companion is another big thing. I'm with Cheryll on that level of trust. I honestly trust Scot for the majority of boat decisions as he has so much more experience than me. After being together so long I trust that he will listen to me when I tell him I don't feel good about something even if it's only a feeling without factual backing.
I love that you broke the trip down in smaller pieces and that you spend your time. Scot and I are working on this one. Can't think you enough for your help in slowing him down for a bit in Mexico. Made the trip better.

Thanks Laura - I did my best with Scot. Many men are hardwired to snap a short line between Point A and Point B. It served me well as a delivery skipper. I cannot recall how many liesurely road trips I started and just never stopped. Charles Kuralt, a lifestyle reporter for CBS News back in the 1980s, once observed that Eisenhower's Interstate Highway system in the US makes it possible to drive coast to coast and never see the country. That would be me (and presumably Scot). Cheryll is the voice of reason and discovery - were it not for her, I would have gone many places and never seen/experienced any of them.

My last big delivery was in Feb/Mar 2004, a Nordhavn 57. 4500 nms from Dana Point to Ft Lauderdale. Stopped twice for fuel - Acapulco and Panama so three 1500 nm legs. 25-days dock-to-dock including 36-hours in Acapulco and about the same in Panama since the owner paid for an expedited transit. There wasn't a lot of weather information back then but we got really lucky. Pretty incredible timeline when you think about it - testament to luck and a fine boat. But watching the world pass at 9-knots gave me time to realize what I was missing and I always wanted to do the trip and smell the roses. We're doing that now --- thanks largely to Cheryll. Without her, I'd revert to my delivery cadence.

Even though we both had quite a bit of boating experience, our cruising style has really evolved. We originally planned to anchor-out a ton. Coffee at sunrise, cocktails and sunset (maybe one of your Pina Colada's??). But we have really gotten into touring inland (picture below is a rum distillary in El Salvador). That's not practical from an anchored boat. And if I'm honest, I love swimming pools - the marinas this far south have pools. Great place to have a beer on a hot afternoon.

Long way of saying you'd be doing Scot a favor by slowing him up a bit. He'll resist, but love you for it.

Peter

PS - missing your Pina Coladas

 

[Mac2]

Peter’s post got me thinking (again). I bought an e-bike and an e-scooter to test for excursions on the inside passage along with a means to get to stores for provisioning. Provisioning is my main concern. Most places I have been are straight up from the water. Me ebike gets me 25 miles, but it’s heavy and difficult to handle in the aluminum dinghy. The scooter is more practical to handle and fits the 10 foot inflatable, but limits what I can carry (I think). Thoughts? Which do you think is better? Can I easily dock a 16 foot foot boat as a guest while I provision?

 

[Mako]

View attachment 170161

I think it's amazing that you can break down such a long trip into little daytime-only bites!

 

[mvweebles]

I think it's amazing that you can break down such a long trip into little daytime-only bites!

There have been a few places where there were no anchorages so an overnight time was unavoidable. Last leg of Baja before Cabo is around 170 nms - 26 hrs or so. Tip of Baja to Mazatlan is 200 nms - around 30 hours. Our run to El Salvador was 240 nms - close to 40-hrs (we could have stopped on Guatemala but the check-in/out process is expensive, long, and tedious). I don't know how many overnight runs we've done - close to ten I reckon. With calm weather and a full moon, my wife enjoys the night runs now and accepts that they are necessary sometimes. We have our watch schedule sorted and it's just part of the experience - far cry from our first overnight run 25+ years ago. She was pissed at me - had to hide all the sharp objects!!


Peter

 

[Mako]

How do you compose your day and night shifts, how many hours on and off watch?

 

[mvweebles]

How do you compose your day and night shifts, how many hours on and off watch?

Picture is worth a thousand words. We've used this watch schedule since we left Ensenada 2+ years ago. For us, worst case is we're both ready for a nap at the same time so we're pretty rigid about a watch schedule. This works well for our natural rhythms (I'm up very early and like an afternoon nap, she's better in late evening into the midnight hour). I stand a slightly longer watch at night.

Peter

 

[Airstream345]

Peter’s post got me thinking (again). I bought an e-bike and an e-scooter to test for excursions on the inside passage along with a means to get to stores for provisioning. Provisioning is my main concern. Most places I have been are straight up from the water. Me ebike gets me 25 miles, but it’s heavy and difficult to handle in the aluminum dinghy. The scooter is more practical to handle and fits the 10 foot inflatable, but limits what I can carry (I think). Thoughts? Which do you think is better? Can I easily dock a 16 foot foot boat as a guest while I provision?

Most ports along the IP have markets within a short walk of the marina. Most marinas up here don’t really police the dinghy dock (if they even have one), and as long as you’re respectful with your skiff, everyone else is too. We have a 12-foot skiff and have never had any issues. If there isn’t an obvious dinghy dock, we’ll often just tuck in between two boats on the linear.

We had some folding bikes for a while, but also found they were bulky and hard to get in and out of the tender. That said, I do think an e-bike makes a better grocery-getter. Our neighbors here are long-time liveaboards in SEAK, and they use e-bikes with tow-behind cargo trailers all the time. We're considering some for our travels.

And in a lot of these communities, once you meet a few locals, someone will usually offer a ride or even lend you a car. We keep a car in Petersburg—so if you end up here, just let us know and we’ll tell you where we hide the keys.

 

[mvweebles]

Peter’s post got me thinking (again). I bought an e-bike and an e-scooter to test for excursions on the inside passage along with a means to get to stores for provisioning. Provisioning is my main concern. Most places I have been are straight up from the water. Me ebike gets me 25 miles, but it’s heavy and difficult to handle in the aluminum dinghy. The scooter is more practical to handle and fits the 10 foot inflatable, but limits what I can carry (I think). Thoughts? Which do you think is better? Can I easily dock a 16 foot foot boat as a guest while I provision?

So much depends on where you are. A 16-foot dinghy here at Bahia del Sol El Salvador would be fine. Back in La Paz where the dinghy dock was crowded, would be a non-starter.

I ruled out an e-bike due to weight and awkwardness. I've thought about a scooter but never actually ridden one and worry that the small wheels on bad roads are not a good match. We've used public transportation in some areas - and taxis/Ubers of course. We rent cars quite a bit, though sometimes they can be pricey.

Bottom line is there is no one-size-fits-all solution. If ground transportation is exorbitant or difficult, we move on. I hate being stranded in an inaccessible marina or anchorage - sort of a walled garden.

Peter

 

[liquidsands]

That sounds amazing. That’s a lot of solar. What batteries and amperage? Would love to hear how well the panels work in the winter. Sounds like you’re setting it up right for her. It’s nice you get to take your time this trip. My brother was also a fisherman. He always says how he wished he didn’t have to rush the passage. I hope to have him on my boat in the future.

 

[liquidsands]

That sounds amazing. That’s a lot of solar. What batteries and amperage? Would love to hear how well the panels work in the winter. Sounds like you’re setting it up right for her. It’s nice you get to take your time this trip. My brother was also a fisherman. He always says how he wished he didn’t have to rush the passage. I hope to have him on my boat in the future.

I have 16-310watt panels in a series/parallel config being installed. I'm doing the work myself, but I have a rather long history of mechanical/electrical background. I'm going to use 2 Victron 150/85 mppt controllers. I have 2 banks of 4 each 314ah/4018wh LiFePO4's. Also I bought 2 400watt wind chargers. The jury is still out on the daily charge I'll get out of the solar system. I did tests in the late evening with direct but low angle sunlight. When the panel was laying flat on the ground and the declining sun was at about a 30 degree angle from the ground I only got about 58 watts each. At that time I also checked with the panels elevated to 30 degrees from the ground and the output went to about 140watts. Then I checked the panel when perpendicular to the sun and got 232 watts. The sun was at about the 75% of daytime output position at 6pm in Washington. No overcast. In Alaska, there is only about 3 hours of full daylight during the winter so I don't expect to get alot out of the winter, hence the wind chargers. The winter declination is steep, -23.3 approx. The solar will "shine" pun intended in the summer with the long days. I'm also working on a tidal current charger that could prove valuable. I tried to make up for the short winters by having two 12000watt battery banks. Any time the boat is running they will get charged and I am altering the charging system of the boat mains with two 100 amp permanent magnet alternators.
Thinking long term here...

 

[liquidsands]

So much depends on where you are. A 16-foot dinghy here at Bahia del Sol El Salvador would be fine. Back in La Paz where the dinghy dock was crowded, would be a non-starter.

I ruled out an e-bike due to weight and awkwardness. I've thought about a scooter but never actually ridden one and worry that the small wheels on bad roads are not a good match. We've used public transportation in some areas - and taxis/Ubers of course. We rent cars quite a bit, though sometimes they can be pricey.

Bottom line is there is no one-size-fits-all solution. If ground transportation is exorbitant or difficult, we move on. I hate being stranded in an inaccessible marina or anchorage - sort of a walled garden.

Peter

I got a mobility scooter for my wife with pneumatic wheels, makes a huge difference on rough roads.

 

[Mac2]

Also I bought 2 400watt wind chargers

I would love to hear your experience with these. I wanted wind chargers as well, but others commented on the lack of performance due to the narrow band of wind speeds needed for optimal performance. There were also a substantial amount of negative comments due to the noise they produced.

 

[SteveK]

I have 16-310watt panels in a series/parallel config being installed. I'm doing the work myself, but I have a rather long history of mechanical/electrical background. I'm going to use 2 Victron 150/85 mppt controllers. I have 2 banks of 4 each 314ah/4018wh LiFePO4's. Also I bought 2 400watt wind chargers. The jury is still out on the daily charge I'll get out of the solar system. I did tests in the late evening with direct but low angle sunlight. When the panel was laying flat on the ground and the declining sun was at about a 30 degree angle from the ground I only got about 58 watts each. At that time I also checked with the panels elevated to 30 degrees from the ground and the output went to about 140watts. Then I checked the panel when perpendicular to the sun and got 232 watts. The sun was at about the 75% of daytime output position at 6pm in Washington. No overcast. In Alaska, there is only about 3 hours of full daylight during the winter so I don't expect to get alot out of the winter, hence the wind chargers. The winter declination is steep, -23.3 approx. The solar will "shine" pun intended in the summer with the long days. I'm also working on a tidal current charger that could prove valuable. I tried to make up for the short winters by having two 12000watt battery banks. Any time the boat is running they will get charged and I am altering the charging system of the boat mains with two 100 amp permanent magnet alternators.
Thinking long term here...

Look forward to hearing about how well I expect your system to function. There may be others, but so far I do not recall a more robust system.

 

[liquidsands]

I would love to hear your experience with these. I wanted wind chargers as well, but others commented on the lack of performance due to the narrow band of wind speeds needed for optimal performance. There were also a substantial amount of negative comments due to the noise they produced.

I plan to do a video evaluation on the wind generators for a youtube video. I am going to evaluate the wind speeds with real time monitoring of the output at multiple speeds throughout the range. I will be monitoring the following...
Wind speed, real time with the following...
Output of amps, voltage, battery state of charge, battery temperature, oscilloscope readings for how clean the output is.
I plan to check it with both a effectively discharged battery and with a near full charged battery with a load.
It won't be until late spring though so I can have enough time to compile.
I will also include the wind direction in comparison with the boat to see if the outputs differ with wind passing over the boat to the prop or hitting the prop first. I plan to also monitor amount of watts charged over an 8 hour period average.
One last thing I want to determine is if the winter/summer outputs are different with the less dense air in summer months. If so how much difference...
If you have any other ideas as to what would help the video be more informative let me know and I'd try to incorporate it.

 

[SteveK]

If you will collect data while the boat is moving remember apparent wind is what you will see on instruments. and boat speed at different angles will affect wind speed & direction.

 

[liquidsands]

I plan to do it all while anchored of docked. I will be operating the boat myself due to my wife's disabilities and won't divide my attention. Also, it is less to consider for a video comparison. Good advice though. Could be easily forgotten...

 

[cfr]

i got my boat with a silent wind , changed the blades to carbon ones and after on season sold everything.....it needs 15 kn wind , charge was 5 A and it eas noisy outside but also inside via the mast. maybe good for the Caribbean but not in the med.....but the biggest issue was the wind gen was above the solar panel, stupid location because a liitle shade will drastically reduce the solar output. so the Most important issue is tjo aboid any shades, even antennas etc will reduce the output.

 

[liquidsands]

i got my boat with a silent wind , changed the blades to carbon ones and after on season sold everything.....it needs 15 kn wind , charge was 5 A and it eas noisy outside but also inside via the mast. maybe good for the Caribbean but not in the med.....but the biggest issue was the wind gen was above the solar panel, stupid location because a liitle shade will drastically reduce the solar output. so the Most important issue is tjo aboid any shades, even antennas etc will reduce the output.

Did you ever use a meter to check the sound level coming from your wind generator? I have two that I'm installing at the rear of my boat. I keep hearing conflicting views about the sound levels from units, but it is seldom coupled with numbers. I suppose a lot of folks don't have meters on boats for sound measuring. Was yours a 3,4, or 5 blade?
In regard to the shadows cast, that is why most boat solar applications are done in parallel. Not sure if you had more than one panel on your boat, but if so the solar loss would be awful from any shadows. In the serial installation, whatever drop in charge one panel gets from shadow, all panels get.

 

[Don L]

For my wife and I there was a big rule on the boat that added us being together on it.

We always did whatever was the most conservative/safest thing either of thought we should do. No shame or argument about it. Whether it be life vest, reefing (sailboat stuff), course, speed, change of plans, bailout to different place, turn around. When get got into sh*t, we did it in agreement together.

I find set watch schedules interesting in threads. Both my wife and I are ex-Navy and lived watch schedules, but we never kept any type of watch schedule on our boat. She tended to get sleepy more than I and I have a hard time sleeping in general. So our watch schedule was based on; if someone could sleep and conditions allowed they slept. We always felt it better to have someone rested if possible than to have both of us wiped. I had many a peaceful hour with this plan.

Far as getting your partner to join you on the boat adventure, it is more about things you don't do than what you do. In 2 weeks it will be 2 years since we had an at sea collision during my wife's watch and there is discussion of a return to sea. My PTSD faded over a year ago, but I didn't press her to return and hers has only faded kind of recently. If in the end she doesn't want to go, we don't go!

BTW - we have been together now 44 years and have never had what people would consider a fight. Not even a shouting match. If you and you partner are not basically the same then being on a boat may not be for you.

 

[Mako]

I find set watch schedules interesting in threads. Both my wife and I are ex-Navy and lived watch schedules, but we never kept any type of watch schedule on our boat. She tended to get sleepy more than I and I have a hard time sleeping in general. So our watch schedule was based on; if someone could sleep and conditions allowed they slept. We always felt it better to have someone rested if possible than to have both of us wiped.

This was a very interesting comment. Sorta like how we drive long distance. I tend to do all the driving, and enjoy it, then let her take over when I need a nap or to rest my eyes. I never thought about this laid-back approach to watch keeping on a passage. Glad it works for you.

 

[Frosty]

Did you ever use a meter to check the sound level coming from your wind generator? I have two that I'm installing at the rear of my boat. I keep hearing conflicting views about the sound levels from units, but it is seldom coupled with numbers.

Here is another one with no measurements. 25 years ago and we didn't really have a way to measure. But I can tell you ours was annoying. And we had one of the "quiet" ones (that generated less power than the noisier ones). It wasn't objectionable due to vibration or anything "transferred" through the mounting, but was due to just basically "wind noise." We both noticed our stress levels would rise when using it because it sounded just like you were in a storm-type blow with the elevated wind noise. Tiresome.

We did get decent power from it when we were in the constant winds of the SW Caribbean. Given that we had a sailboat with few non-shaded areas for solar panels, I guess it was worth it at the time.

I would almost never get one again though. Especially not on a powerboat where there is room for more solar, and the potential for more engine-related charging. I say "almost" because I suppose there could be one specific location that had tons of wind and constant cloud cover and few predicted engine hours where for some reason I would be stuck in that location and thus it would be one of the only options?

 

[Don L]

This is basically thread drift, but:

I was once the middle boat of a 3 boat raft up on a mooring. On one side of me the guy had a Honda generator and on the other the boat had a wind generator. I would more willing to listen to that Honda run all day over that damn wind generator speeding up and slowing down for an hour. The Honda was like white noise and the wind generator like a 2 year old beating on pots and pans to me.

 

[cfr]

did not measure but we had an aluminium boat and we slept in the rear just belowf the wind pole, so impossible to use the gen at night. i only have one big standard household panel with 350 wp but its shade sensitive. in greece we produce appr 120 ah a day.....which i more then enough for a fridge...... but now on the new boat i will start without brcause not easy to find some good spots ......
regarding overnighters: we did maybe ten and a 3 day trip via the biscay approx 350 nm. luckily we both have a different clock i am an early bird and my wife an night owl....so she takes the midnight to early morning shift....all the other time there is no shift at all, one is arround for watch anyway.
what i really like esp on a open sailboat is to precooke some hot meal in a thermo. gives power and keep you awake......

 

[Muirgen Afloat]

How do you compose your day and night shifts, how many hours on and off watch?

I think you have to find what works for you. I know a lot of people have set schedules. Scot and I tend to be looser on this. I love the night shift... tend so I go to bed after I feed cats between 4-5 and I sleep until I wake up.. that maybe be around 10, it maybe closer to midnight. If Scot is feeling really sleepy he'll wake me. Then I take over and do it for as long as I'm alert, sometimes that is until sunrise if Scot is sleeping well, but most often it's about 4 am. When he gets up and gets moving he will take over and if I'm feeling tired I go to bed. The day is made of the two of us switching off depending on who's tired. I kind of treat it like I did when my babies sleep... if he's up and alert, I try and sleep. It's really a loose schedule. The only set part of it is that evening shift that I prize like the lunatic that I am claiming the night to surrender to the darkness and trust the boat and the instruments to guide us through. It worked for us for over 10,000 miles... so it's what we do.
We tired the set schedule to start and found it awkward for us... and adjusted from there. Maybe you should do the same.