Morty

Morty is not a human. He is a dog.

We are pretty sure Morty knows he’s a dog because every now and then we give him treats like bones and raw hide, which are primarily meant for the pleasure of dogs.

He does, however receive many human amenities on the boat since he is special and lives on a boat. For instance, Morty gets a life jacket that he is required to wear while on deck if we are sailing. He also receives frequent helpings of human food. Tuna, which can also be seen as a food for cats, is his favorite.

The largest thing Morty has is a bed. He gets the entire quarter berth even though he is a corgi and corgis are small. When we are in the quarter berth watching a movie or napping, Morty pretends that he can’t get up to join us so that we are forced to pick him up and place him in his bed. However, if we leave him in the boat for extended periods of time, he is almost always magically in the quarter birth when we return.

Morty very much enjoys his bed because it is like a dark cave of cozy blankets and pillows. He is a happy dog.

This is Morty in his bed. 

Warping out of a marina

Mechanical propulsion is wonderful, but if you don't have it for some reason (no motor or dead motor) you will need to rely on other methods to work your boat through close quarters. Marinas are especially tricky to sail through. The fairways are not wide enough to short tack a full keel yacht, and any mistake will lead to a very expensive collision. 

Oars, sculling or sweeping, work as a wonderful solution to the call for mechanical propulsion, but it does have its limitations. Rowing a boat is the equivalent of using a tiny outboard on the back of a large barge. Yes, it will move but it will be very slow. Other forces such as wind and current will have a greater influence on your vessel than you could ever hope to have with your oar. This is why I reserve oar power for windless days in still water when I can maintain complete control over the boat via a single oar.

When the wind pipes up though, the oars are stowed and the warp lines are deployed! Warp lines offer "nearly" complete control over the craft while moving about in close quarters.

Warp lines are long ropes that extend from the boat to a fixed object in the distance. Marinas offer plenty of these fixed objects, be it pilings or mooring cleats, they are plentiful and in close proximity! 

I like to use 300 foot warp lines (I carry two of them) because they are long enough to reach a distant cleat, but not so long as to be un-manageable. If I find that my 300' warp line is not long enough, I can tie other lines to it with sheet bends to extend its range.

To use a warp line, simply tie one end to a cleat on your yacht and keep the rest of the coil in the dinghy, ready to pay out as you go. As you row towards your fixed point in the direction you wish to go, the warp line will pay out to your boat with minimal drag on your rowing craft. If you left the coil on the deck of the boat and payed it out to the dinghy, you would find it incredibly difficult to row and drag all that line through the water; the resistance would be intolerable. When you reach your distant fixed object, simply tie the line off to it and return to your boat. 

Standing on your deck, you may begin pulling yourself towards this fixed object. Your boat will move straight and steady towards this fixed point! This sounds like a wonderful solution to get out of a marina, but as always it has its drawbacks.

Strong winds
Strong currents
Lack of straight line path

Strong winds and strong currents can make it very difficult to pull a heavy yacht by hand. Luckily, most windlasses have a section for rope which can be used to crank in the warp line (by un-clutching the chain gypsy). If your windlass does not have this feature, you can also use the sheet winches in the cockpit, just make sure you have a fairlead near the bow to keep the boat pointing forward instead of turning around and leading by the winch.

If you are trying to move side to the wind, you must be careful that the boat will not swing into other moored vessels as you journey towards your fixed attachment point destination. If you are moving beam to the winds, a beam warp line might be necessary to control lateral swing. These lines will be tightened and loosened as you progress towards your destination.

Similar to these concerns of traveling beam to the wind or current, traveling through close quarters without straight line access to your destination can create a situation where multiple warp lines are needed. When you tie up in your slip, you don't just use one line, you use many! All of these lines work in harmony to keep the boat in position and under control. The same holds true with warp lines. The use of various warp lines in multiple directions will ensure that control over the vessel can be maintained as you move about. 

As you may be thinking, each of these lines adds complexity and the need for additional crew to deploy and control all of these lines. It also takes time to run the lines out and bring them back and you need to be carrying all of these long lines on board, hence why engines gained such rapid popularity! 

When I warp out of a marina, I like to keep it to one line. A second line adds a great amount of complexity and I can't always manage both at the same time. By planning ahead, single warp line departures can be successfully executed without much fuss. Next time you need to get out of a tight slip, consider using warp lines instead of praying that your propwalk will help you this time.

Rainy Nights

Laying in the V berth, I hear the pitter-patter on the hatch above me. A low pressure has been moving in from the south for the past three days now, ever intensifying the rain. 

The constant southern wind kicks up little waves that slap the stern and gently rock the boat in a soft swaying motion.  

The water on the hatch let's me see clearly through the frosted lexan at the mast, towering above me.

I wonder what it would be like to grow up as a child on a sailboat, looking at these things and assigning them human qualities. Would they see the mast as a towing figure looking down on them or as a guardian that keeps a tall eye looking out over the horizon? 

I rather do enjoy these rainy nights. I feel so much closer to the world around me. The rain outside is just above my head, the waves rolling by right next to my shoulders, the sea floor many fathoms beneath me; obscured from sight by the murky water. Always hiding what unknown life may exist below me. Everything is occurring so close by yet I am removed from the elements in my cozy berth, peacefully being lulled to sleep. 

Pooped! Cleaning a Composting Toilet

Composting toilets work very well, Maddie and I both use ours everyday and I dump it every 6 months! The reason I dump it at 6 months is not that it "needs" to be emptied, but because I think that it has been long enough and it is "time to do it".

I'm going to spare you the pictures of emptying it, but "most" of the container is filled with a rich black dirt. Then there are some "fresh" additions to the pile that haven't broken down yet. Dumping it is easy. I place the container in a dock cart with a bag over it and carry it over to the dumpster. Then I dump the container into the trash bag and place the trash bag in the dumpster. Easy and mess free!

Then I let the container sit in the sun for a few days to "dry and air out". Luckily, it doesn't smell, so Maddie lets me dry it out in the cockpit of the boat. After everything is good and dried out, I begin the filling process again.

The instructions that came with my toilet (by Natures Head) state careful measurements of how much dirt you need to add, and how often you need to add more dirt. Just like with the Dickinson Heater, the supplied instructions are much more complicated than they need to be.

I simply fill the bottom up to the crank with peat moss, then I add diatomaceous earth to the peat.

The diatomaceous earth comes in a 4 pound bag from a hardware store. Diatomaceous earth is very safe to use. In the United States it is marketed as a pesticide, but outside of the United States it is used to treat stomach issues by eating it. Diatomaceous earth works as an absorbent which helps settle upset stomachs and runaway intestines by absorbing whatever is irritating the area and passed in a more controlled manner. 

When mixed in with the peat, it acts as a mechanical pesticide by drying out the fats and oils in the insects exoskeleton. Poop and peat makes a wonderful breeding ground for gnats and flies, add some diatomaceous earth and no insects will thrive!

I just dump half the bag (approximately 2 pounds) into the peat and turn the crank until the lot of it looks grey in color.

The rest of the diatomaceous earth fits nicely in an old container of pretzles, with a secure screw on lid. This will prevent acidental spills in the locker while heeling over or being tossed around by the seas. 

For the next six months, no further soil or peat is added to the solid container. I simply turn the crank after every use and empty the liquid container when it is near full! While explaining how to use a composting toilet is "interesting" to some guests, never needed to repair a blocked joker valve because they flushed something they shouldn't have is awesome! I've been using a composting toilet for over 3 years now, and this is all I have to do every 6 months.

Liveaboard Safety

Living on a boat has many advantages as well as its disadvantages as compared to life on land. The biggest issue I am frequently asked about is drowning. (This is going to be such a chipper topic)

Motor boats typically have swim platforms and ladders placed conveniently on the stern. If you were to fall into the water, this ladder will let you climb back out with some effort. 

Sailboats, on the other hand, typically have no such platforms or ladders. Instead they have tall smooth sides that offer no aid in your climb from water.

The piers are also unforgiving. most floating piers are 2 feet above the waters surface. 

The only option is to swim to shore and come onto dry land at the waters edge. Once again, marinas are huge and this could end up being a very long swim from some slips.  

If it were winter with freezing cold waters, you would only have a few minutes of working time before hypothermia sets in and everything ends.  

You can not rely on a neighbor to hear you splash, as boats are well insulated and no one will hear your cries for help.  

This is why you must have your own emergency plan set in place and ready to save yourself if you were to fall in the water. 

At the end of our finger pier, I have a rope ladder tied to the cleat at the corner of the slip. Since I didn't want it to get covered in growth, it remains on the pier with a line hanging from it into the water. I tied some knots near the end to make it easier to grab and pull into the water.

In a moment of panic, it will be hard to find this safety line, so it rests conveniently on a fender.  

All we need to do is swim over to the fender and pull on the line. The ladder will drop into the water and we can climb out to safety. 

I (thankfully) have never tested this ladder in this location, but I have tried it out in a creek. It isn't the most comfortable thing to climb, but it will get you out of the water!  

Obviously, the first priority is to not fall in. If you do happen to fall in, having these safety measures in place will make all the difference.