S/V L'ORIENT

"We'll see if we can fit you in." As you can see from our calendar, we're not that busy. Not to say we don't do anything; we fill every day and never get bored. It's just that our days aren't programmed. We have time for everything. Today I got curious about my reserve generator water pump and spent 90 minutes rebuilding it. Kirstin read the chart plotter manual end to end, did about a thousand squats and planks. We also moved the boat three miles to an uninhabited islet in the northeast of Antigua. We walked across this small anonymous island notable only for being the sole habitat of the racer snake- an endangered species (we're told). Everything took time- and everything was fun....just not programmed. Oh, and we read about 3-4 hrs a day. Just an amazing privilege..........hence our encyclopedic knowledge of bizarre topics like LA drug wars, the life of Keith Richards, and other esoterica. The neighbor stopped by (a large Oyster anchored ne...

Toxic Paint Selfie So Kirstin and I made it back to the boat on December 31st hauling about 120 lbs. of boat technology. We stowed it and did a bottom job on L'ORIENT..........hauling the boat out of the water, sanding, painting, and servicing various seals and bearings. Yeah, This doesn't look too toxic All went well but it took us 2 weeks to clean ourselves of the poisonous paint that it euphemistically called "anti-fouling". It's actually liquid paint/poison designed to kill small sea life that touches it. Leaving Jolly Harbour Boatyard, Antigua Heading back in Then back to the electronics. The combination of the sun and salt air tends to be hard on technology. We also wanted to make some upgrades to our chariot. The problem is that as we are middle-aged (sorry Kirstin), computer networking is not second nature to us. Neither is reading directions in Dutch. Going green! (same setup is on starboard side) So, we warily began each proje...