A great live aboard sailors blog link.

It's a little old, but, it has some good stuff. From a site called land to live aboardshttp://from-land-to-liveaboard.blogspot.com/p/favorite-links.html

Update

Well it's been 11 days since I splashed Jomfru and I've been working on systems including and especially the air conditioning. With all manner of small details to be handled including things like refiberglass the rudder tube, Which I quickly took care of this morning before the sun rise. Rebedding deck hardware Another thing I've been working on is riding the boat of any unnecessary items, materials, and tools. I didn't realize how much crap was hidden and stuffed in every single nook and cranny on this boat. I also have some personal issues family related going on right now. Very painful but I knew it was something that was in the future and the future is now unfortunately. The next major thing I'm gonna get online is the head. my issue with that is related to a black water holding tank, or lack there of one. Hey she's from 1971. She's Equipped with an electrasan, but that's not going to be good enough in Florida waters come next year, already actually. Which I guess is a good thing for future generations of boaters. Seems like now instead of the list getting smaller, It's getting bigger again. more more things that need doing now that she's back in the water. All I can do is remember that I'm human take a deep breath and take one day at a time and just try to accomplish one task ever day. It's very easy to get overwhelmed I have both seen it an experienced it personally. A negative attitude is a quick way to put an anchoring in progress. feeling bad about something your Working on doesn't make it any easier.

last night's sky

see the planet falling through the sky?

progress walk around jomfru

Photographic documentation

night sky after storm

Night time gardenia

I found this beautiful specimen of a gardenia growing in the Marina, I couldn't resist.

Then to now...

it's been what now seems forever but Jomfru's finally getting ready togo back to the sea. Or at least splashed and floating again. It has been an exhausting and trying processed to say the least at this point. Most of my biggest fears and worries are behind me now. Make no mistake though I am still plagued with dozens of last minute details; thru hulls, Packing, zincs, etc The list goes on and on. Just having and maintaining a list means things are happening.

I have a few places Picked out already spots like boot Kay Harbor, Peanut Island, san blas. But in all reality I have no idea what the future holds in store for me, All I know is that my life on the boat Has already Begun, my life at sea is yet to come

The places and people I will see and meet, I can just Imagine, I look forward with eager anticipation. This is the new beginning. I really need this, I need this to grow, I need this for me.I welcome with open arms time to reflect on the past understand why things go the way they do, figure out how to take a more active part in the future.

Viksund M/S 33 "Jomfru" Painting the hull Kingston Grey '' A LONG TIME AGO"

Loyal friends come in all shapes and sizes.

In the meager amount of time I've spent walking this earth, I have come to know one thing. Good loyal friends ARE hard to come by. With that said I dedicate this post to my wonderful dog, Tech. A.k.a. Tuie, teckeltuie, tutu, teckelton Jones Jr.😁 and the list goes on. This little creature has had the fortunate, unfortunate luck of being in my care since she could fit in my hand ✋ and it has been a pleasure being her owner and keeper.

This little dog has a real lust for life and the spirit of a dog 20 times larger. Everything from motorcycling to jetsking, she loves speed and is smart as any dumb human I know. Not to insult the dog.

I really look forward to actually sailing with her I'm sure she'll be a great first mate until a suitable human female counterpart can be found. Well thanks for reading, and don't forget, they love us as much or more than our own species.

What to do when it rains? Just wait till the sun comes out.

It seems like it's been raining alot ☔ lately. Actually just about every time I start trying to do something, or first thing in the morning, and right before I step out of the shower at the marina and then have to do the fifty yard dash back to the boat or just sit on the head till it passes and hope no unknowing soul comes calling for the head.

Luckily, I only have like 6 leaks now :) and 1 that moves a round. Watching the storms roll in from the safety of the pilothouse on the hard makes me really yearn for that same view at sea.

When I think about the freedom that awaits me out there I start to feel hopeless like it will never happen for me. It's just about then when I tell myself "hey, look how far you have come. From sleeping in a storage unit to owing the boat and being so fucking close to your dreams coming true you can taste the sweet salty air of the Caribbean. So relax Rick" is what I tell myself.

is there more we can do aboard in an effort to conserve ♻

I've recently begun to research and price alternatives to the common tender 4 stroke outboard. In my research I came across a few interesting candidates. One being the "Torqeedo"

a battery powered 🔋 outboard that you can recharge in a couple of different ways. Another cool outboard I went to investigate was a very nice little propane engine by LERH.

this little outboard comes in Horse power 🐴 from 2.5 - 15. Also you can use the small camping ⛺ canisters or connect up to a 40lb. Tank with the provided hose.

It was while researching this engine I came across this little video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDoBBxa0jIo

this is now my current "side" mission, to either buy or convert my zero hour 9.9 Yamaha to propane. I have found a few places that sell conversion kits for all manor of engine, from gensets to 6 cylinder cars.

 There's something to be said about changing the scale of the things around you , even if only for a short time

we over come obstacles from before conception, if you hadn't been the winning sperm, you would not be reading this now. with that being said, the size and severity of the obstacles is relative to the individual. I'm saying this because over the last few weeks i have been spending quit a bit of time working on wonderfully large motor yachts. accomplishing all manors of task ranging from sanding and buffing to brush painting Awlgrip.

 Its not until you sand and sand and sand and then brush paint a 95 Westship, that you come to realize that a ''my'' 33 footer is NOT, that big a vessel to do the same type and quality of work on. Its when i began to think like this, that i started looking thru the eyes of a newbie.  standing there in front of a 30 plus year old boat with and all the nicks and dings that come with the age, the hardware needs rebedding and paints peeling, and you ask yourself am i going to just slap a coat of paint on and handle the cosmetics of it or am i going to do it right? in my case its always the right way

life on the HARRRRD what the hell am I doing?

So its been a little over a year and a half, thousands of dollars and the end of a 4.5yr relationship since I moved aboard a Viksund named Jomfru. Shes a ketch rigged Norwegian double ended motorsailer, currently on the hard in Fort Lauderdale Florida. Something I thought would only take a few weeks or even a few months at best, has taken me about 2 years. I'll get into that later. As I near the end, or at least see a minute amount of light at the end of the tunnel. I've begun to reflect back on what made me star this crazy; long; expensive; heart breaking; character building; voyage in the first place.

it all started in about 2009 i believe .life had issued me a few bad hands after a seemingly good run. its important to know that up until now i pretty much got whatever i wanted , not to say i dont now but this comes about by diffrent means these days

so long story short i ended up sleeping on couches and floors of friends and family that without even a second thought opened their homes to me. it was while i stayed at my sissters house in homestead fl. that i made the decision to focus my life to move towards the sea.however before i could even think about a boat i had to pick myself up out of the rut i was in. until now i had always lived in beautiful houses or apartments, but i knew that was all going to change. with a few good breaks i made my way back out on my own, because of its affordability i began living in a storage unit also which doubled as my art studio, that too is another story.     

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vutpkHB_gkc

One evening in December, 2010 by now, I was walking around the warehouse that my unit resided. I passed the open door of a mechanic which i was familiar with. We began to banter of this and that, when from the house across the street appeared a man which was a long time friend of the mechanic. We continued to chat for a while and I clearly remember saying "man I really want a sailboat". " I know somebody with a sailboat for sale" said the new comer. Turns out he did a Great lady named Sherry. And the rest is history, of course the story doesn't end there, but i have to leave something for next time.

Thanks for reading.