tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212421372135433982024-02-07T20:25:11.470-08:00NorthforkWe are a family of four sailing around the world. Mom (Dana) and Dad (Mark) started their journey almost three years ago in Florida. Our new crew came into the world in January 2012 and will be sailing with us into the future.
You'll find a little sailing & travel, some maintenance, but mostly the thoughts of a woman who travels by sea even though she gets terribly seasick and would probably be fine never setting foot on a boat again. So why does she do it?Northforkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07243252393156434666noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-53482340195641756312013-07-23T04:02:00.003-07:002013-07-23T09:57:59.460-07:0010 things for traveling with children
We're off again...
This isn't a great pic but it gives you an idea of what we look like at the airport.
I held MM and FO is in the bassinet at my feet while Mark collected our luggage.
Sometimes it's the other way around. I'm not sure which job is harder.
I thought I'd do a quick post on traveling with kids...
Your bags will be heavy – kids
require a ton of stuff. (We also Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-80775519273765229052013-06-25T09:44:00.000-07:002013-06-25T09:44:54.154-07:00Gearing up!
MM always finds the helm in every park!
It's almost time for us to be on the move again. The boat remains in Cape Verde, we have tickets to London, and our apartment is one gigantic mess but we have a plan... sort of. We realized that splitting our ticket to the Canary Islands is considerably cheaper than flying straight through so we'll be hitting England for a week or two and then continuingAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-689987443983339412013-05-24T20:58:00.002-07:002013-05-24T20:59:45.352-07:00I'm really outnumbered!
Our newest crew arrived May 3rd. It's gonna be three boys and me. I might have to hang some pink curtains or do something really girly to the boat so everyone is aware of who's in charge :)
Our focus has quickly gone from prepping for Finnley Oliver's birth to prepping for a return to Northfork. We will hopefully be heading back to the boat at the end of June. We are waiting on FO's passport Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-77142308408313523802013-04-12T14:20:00.000-07:002013-04-12T14:20:00.993-07:00SEAiq updateMark recently released a new version of the app (well, he actually does this all the time - I can't get him away from his computer). But this one had a ton of changes and updates. In response i-Marine apps has re-reviewed SEAiq and we couldn't be happier with what was written. Mark has worked incredibly hard on the app for almost two years and I am so proud of all that he has done. It is really Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-6805425641771096922013-03-15T04:45:00.001-07:002013-03-15T04:45:19.267-07:00A new directionI hate writing this blog. In a lot of ways it feels a bit like punishment but Mark really wants us to have a record of what we have done (and no he doesn't want to write it). So I've been thinking about it and trying to figure out why. Why don't I want to write? I think it's because I'm not really much of a sailor. I sail to travel and not the other way around.
I keep trying to write interestingAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-61667342120046630562013-02-03T00:00:00.000-08:002013-02-03T04:54:12.073-08:00Raft-UP: Relationships53 feet. I wish I could give you a square footage number of what that means but I really have no idea. Big in terms of a cruising boat but small in terms of space, especially when you start thinking of having any sort of dedicated personal space.
<!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONEAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-51330715691320312352013-02-01T00:03:00.000-08:002013-02-01T00:03:00.505-08:00Raft-UP has a new homeJust a quick note to our readers that Raft-UP has gotten its own site and facebook page. I'd love to give you all the details and story right now but I'm feverishly packing to head back to the states tonight and getting the boat together for Mark to continue his journey west.
If you check out the Raft-UP site today you'll find out our topic and the schedule for the month. The bloggers for the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-81567472101832949952013-01-18T20:21:00.000-08:002013-01-18T21:09:33.002-08:00MM Turns 1
January 2012: 2 days old
January 2013: Almost 1
It didn't seem like it was going that fast and then boom here we are MM 1st B-Day and I as his mother am clearly more excited then him because for him it is just another day but for me it is the day that made my life better than I ever thought it could be. So in honor of this little guys day I thought I'd put together a little list of what Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-70684822297083354652013-01-17T06:06:00.002-08:002013-01-17T06:06:53.651-08:00I declare today "Saturday"This is something Mark and I have been doing from pretty much the beginning. I realized that without the normal Monday to Friday routine somethings you'd normally do on a Saturday weren't getting done. One day I woke up and said to Mark "today is Saturday" and that is how we treated the day. We cleaned and did boat maintenance, tried not to open our computers (this one is hard for the two of us) Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-50829598172197956962013-01-13T15:48:00.000-08:002013-01-13T15:48:38.809-08:00I think the Indian Ocean Has Finally Let Me Go!This what Mark sent me a few days ago after sailing for four days from Richards Bay, heaving-to for three days in forty knot winds, and finally having the seas calm enough to make actual progress toward Cape Town. The Indian Ocean is now behind us and we both are glad. As our friend Lee put it today "that is an angry ocean." Yes it is. It is difficult and unpredictable and I for one am Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-48790519823874034752013-01-06T18:02:00.001-08:002013-01-07T12:15:45.320-08:00A New Year a New CountryFor the last couple of months we have really been on the move. The boat is now in South Africa. No more Australia, no more Indonesia. Mark did a 4-5 day crossing from Bali to Christmas Island, 18 days to Reunion Island (exactly the same length as our Pacific crossing), and another 10-11 days to Richards Bay South Africa. In the meantime MM and I have enjoyed/cursed many planes, trains, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-45912720430067856142013-01-01T12:38:00.000-08:002013-01-13T12:39:50.668-08:00Raft-UP: Pink Jobs and Blue JobsA lot has changed on land in the last 100 years. Women don't necessarily do "women's" jobs and men don't necessarily do "men's" jobs. I grew up in a house with my mom, my sis, my bro, and me. I'm the one that typically mowed the lawn, if something broke my mom and I fixed it. My aunt wanted a sprinkler system - her and I put it in. I changed lightbulbs, unclogged sinks, changed out light fixturesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-50848972684543978242012-10-24T17:43:00.001-07:002012-10-24T17:43:43.907-07:00Where have we been?Since we've been MIA for awhile and people are starting to wonder what has happened to us I thought I better take a minute to get something up here and let you all in on the BIG news...
Baby #2 is on the way. That's right MM is getting a little... Our Dr. has given us an idea of what it is but we won't be letting on until we have confirmation in a few more months. Because of this we have changedAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-67563419708553707242012-09-25T23:04:00.001-07:002012-09-25T23:04:24.678-07:00i-Marine Apps: Delorme Earthmatei-Marine Apps: Delorme Earthmate: Application: iPhone 3,4&5, iPad, iPod Touch 3,4&5 gen Function: Satellite messaging and tracking Rating: ***** Cost: Free The Del...
We just heard about this great tool for staying in touch while on ocean crossings, etc. Haven't tried it yet, but looks like a great item to have on board.Northforkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07243252393156434666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-65989702820687148422012-09-04T06:00:00.000-07:002012-09-04T06:00:08.812-07:00Tuesday Tips #9: Pots and PansAs far as I'm concerned a boat needs two pans. A 4 Quart covered casserole pot and a flat griddle.
I had a nice Calphalon pot that finally died after a number of years on land and three on a marine stove so I replaced it with the closest thing I could find in Australia for a reasonable price. This Anolon 5-1/4-Quart Casserole has all the features I like about the one I got except that Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-75942110068638626622012-09-04T04:10:00.000-07:002013-01-06T18:04:08.528-08:00Alor IndonesiaAfter spending a day sick in bed in Kupang (which apparently many people did) we set off for Alor. We had heard that the currents to get there could be difficult. Many of the cruisers decided to skip the stop because of this. Mark and I however were determined we weren't going to skip the stop and we were glad we didn't.
We cleaned up the boat in Kupang and planned to leave the next day but Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-47419219131291441952012-09-01T05:25:00.000-07:002012-09-03T05:31:58.657-07:00Raft-UP: SWAG and Approaching the Natives
Here's this months schedule for Raft-UP. Looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say since I need a little help on both of these topics. The internet in Indo is a little rough and I'm pretty sure the gov't here is squashing certain sites (Blogger) in some places so I'm having a heck of a time getting stuff posted. Bear with me I'll get all caught up on what's been happening on the NF Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-15456306572950594132012-08-14T06:00:00.000-07:002012-08-14T06:00:07.271-07:00Tuesday Tip #8: Cutting BoardThis isn't really a tip as much as a great product. I mentioned last week that I keep my cutting board on my one of my drying mats but didn't talk about the actual cutting board. I have a great one. It's a joseph joseph cut and carve cutting board. Basically I love it because it has an angle to it so it collects all the juices from veggies and meat. I hardly ever have to worry about the juices Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-86958533389865224422012-08-12T06:14:00.000-07:002012-08-13T06:00:52.118-07:00Raft-UP: Clothes and LaundryI guess it's my turn. First I'd like to apologize to the bloggers and readers for having some of the links incorrect this month. I didn't realize until I went to read the posts that they were incorrect. I must have been smoking something when I wrote the post. Actually I'm going to blame it on sleep deprivation from too many nights at sea. That's what I get for procrastinating and Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-51748846856040347292012-08-09T01:17:00.001-07:002012-08-09T01:31:57.587-07:00Tuesday's Tip #7: Drying MatsOkay, I know it's Thursday in the States and I'm late but I missed Tuesday and then I wanted to post about Kupang so shoot me.
I have three Microfiber Dish Drying Mats on the boat.
I keep one on each side of my sink and another on the opposite counter. The one's next to my sink are used for drying dishes obviously but, one of them is also next to my stove and acts as a supper large Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-67948148217550734592012-08-08T08:36:00.002-07:002012-08-08T08:36:40.961-07:00Kupang, IndonesiaWe arrived a few days ago but customs didn't make it out to our boat the afternoon we arrived so we stealthily went ashore to the opening activities anyhow. It was fun to see all the dancing and activities but it was far to loud for MM tiny little ears especially because of all the feedback the PA system was having so we called it an early night. The following morning customs came out to ourAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-87052586517272006072012-08-02T08:35:00.001-07:002012-08-02T08:44:06.653-07:00Big changes and lots of sailing!I'm not really sure what happened a few weeks ago but suddenly I decided I wanted to go to Indonesia this season. I just woke up and thought. Let's go! So I e-mailed the Sail Indonesia Rally and thought "If they are still accepting boats this late in the game then we are meant to go." Turns out the Rally registration closed the next day but they gave me the weekend to think it through a little Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-82712999729814168572012-08-01T09:16:00.000-07:002012-08-02T08:42:23.598-07:00Raft-UP: Clothes and Laundry
I'm posting via e-mail from Indonesia so I hope this works. Yes, Mark and I made a last minute decision a few weeks ago to head out of Australia and I'll fill you all in soon but first this months Raft-UP topic and schedule.
This month we are hitting on something that every boat has to deal with.... Clothes and Laundry. One of my not so favorite things about being on the boat. Head Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-44722064106606764592012-07-31T06:00:00.000-07:002012-07-31T06:00:12.357-07:00Tuesday Tips #6: PrintingHere's the Readers Digest version of the story behind our printer and why everyone needs one. We decided that we would do all of our own customs, immigration, and canal paperwork in Panama. After running around we finally found the location to do the first part of our checking in. The second part was a few doors down. When we got there they told us that we needed to have copies of the stuff from Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-921242137213543398.post-26096913777652342422012-07-24T06:00:00.000-07:002012-07-24T06:00:01.650-07:00Tuesday Tips #5: Locks and Key Rings
While we are on the topic of locks. Buy a large pack of locks that all have the same key (marine grade if you can find them). There are so many things to lock up on the boat it is nice to have one key that fits them all. Make sure you regularly corrosion block them because they do seize up if to much salt water gets in them.
One last thing on locks (and would be good for those of Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169578675858611481noreply@blogger.com0