Brussels for a day

We drove to Brussels, Belgium last night and slept in a parking lot next to a busy street. Today we awoke in the heart of a bustling city!

For breakfast we had, none other than the two things they are most famous for, Belgian Waffles with Belgian Chocolate! They were absolutely delicious!!

I’m keeping my eyes peeled for some Brussel Sprouts simply because I find humor in eating them here, but that doesn’t seem to be a thing in the city of Brussels (or they got tired of all the jokes and stopped offering them).

While this has been an awesome experience, we are leaving soon to visit the 1958 Worlds Fair site called Atomium. It is an enlargement of an iron atom made out of stainless steel!

The adventure continues!

Private French WiFi

I stand corrected. In France, free and public WiFi at restaurants or bars (our usual uploading places of choice) have incredibly slow WiFi.
In Spain or Gibraltar, we could upload a video in about 30 minutes while eating at a restaurant. In France, the same upload would say something like “1,522 Hours Remaining”! It was torture.
as a result, we began to form a backlog of videos to upload until Maddie’s parents came to visit.
They rented an Air B’n’B and this rentable personal home in Paris had private WiFi. I frequently run speed tests at places to see if it is worth the effort to do an upload and the fastest I had ever seen at a restaurant (in Gibraltar) was 98Mbps. At this house, the upload speed was 168Mbps! We were able to upload 10 full episodes in only 4 hours.
This is most excellent because every Sunday, when the episode goes public, we release the next episode to our Patrons. We had run out of episodes for them as we couldn’t get our work uploaded, but now we have!

Sailing off anchor without an engine

Our electric motor died on us (well, half of it did so we only have 10 of the 20kW available) and even though we never push the motor hard, it just doesn’t have the same thrust that it used to to maneuver us.
Instead of relying on it and being disappointed, we just ignore it’s presence and rely solely on our sails.
This means that leaving a harbor requires us to sail off anchor and arriving in a harbor requires us to anchor under sail.
In this episode, we leave Portimao (a narrow and crowded river) in Portugal and sail around 100 nautical miles offshore to Cadiz in Spain.

When our motor worked fine, this was still our primary method of getting underway as it doesn’t needlessly waste charge that we could use later on in our journey.

French WiFi

Hello everyone! We are currently traveling around Europe in a van, sleeping in random parking lots, and seeing fantastical sights. The only issue is WiFi in France is not really a thing.
Almost every place has WiFi, but it’s so slow I can’t even upload a photo, let alone work on blog posts. So that is why I have been absent for a while.
Soon, we will be in Belgium and hopefully the WiFi will be more reliable and speedy!

Thanks for following along :)

Can I Install Cabinets For My Big Sailboat?

Cabinets can help you organize your items, and they also improve the interior décor of a given space. Cabinets are not only meant for home improvement, since you can also install them on boats or camping vehicles. As long as your sailboat is big enough, then it is possible to install suitable cabinets that you can use for different purposes. However, there are also other aspects related to choosing the right cabinets that you should consider. 

How to Choose the Right Cabinets

The size of your sailboat determines the type of cabinets that you can install inside. You can mix and match different cabinet collections from a trustworthy retailer; IKEA Cabinet Installations would allow you to opt for a size that does not make your space feel cramped, especially if your sailboat has a low ceiling. However, there are many advantages of hiring experts in this field to assemble the cabinets for you, since they are knowledgeable about different aspects related to cabinet fittings. 

Temporary Cabinets 

There are different types of cabinet fittings that you can consider for your sailboat. For instance, temporary cabinets are advantageous in that you can remove them whenever you want. While a sailboat is specifically designed for recreational purposes, you can also use it for transporting different items to other places. Bigger items require a large space to avoid damaging property. 

If your boat is suitable for multiple purposes, consider the option of temporary cabinets since these are convenient. These are easy to remove and install so that you can use your boat for different purposes. You can remove the different components of the cabinets for safekeeping, if you plan to move heavy items that require a bigger space. 

Permanent Cabinets

Alternatively, you can also install permanent cabinets in your sailboat, if it has sufficient space for packing other items. Before you decide to install cabinets in your boat, you must be clear about its specific purpose. If it is specifically for recreation, permanent cabinets are ideal for packing foodstuffs and other items that you may require while you enjoy your cruise.

Cabinets made of the right quality and material can also improve the appearance of your sailboat. Some sailboats have open designs, where the interior just consists of open space that might not look attractive. If the boat is big enough, you can install specially designed cabinets that can help improve its appearance.

When installing cabinets inside your sailboat, you must consider the light material that will not add more weight to the boat. Additional weight can affect the performance of the boat, so you should be mindful about getting the right items. All the same, you should consider durable material that can resist moist conditions, as this can cause damage to materials such as wood. 

Cabinets inside your sailboat can serve different purposes, and you can consider installing them if you have a bigger space inside. However, it is essential to hire professionals who can perfectly do the installation of cabinets in your sailboat. You can use these cabinets to store your items, while they also help to improve the interior decor of your boat.