Who's your Captain?

Many people have asked us this very question. 

At first, I was astonished.  I hadn’t really thought about it at all.  I was buying a sailboat with my husband and WE were going to operate it.  And for recreation, I might add.  Sure, I have always been aware that there can only be ONE captain on the ship no matter how many licensed captains were in the bridge, or to put it simply, ONE person needs to be recognized as being El Jefe Comandante, the leader, the one in charge.  And of course, it was gonna be me.  At least in the beginning because I was the one qualified in all things nautical, right?  So as David and I began to plan our adventure and make decisions on the best type of boats to purchase and locate the best deals on the market, our attention was diverted to so many other considerations.  It wasn’t until the day arrived that we needed to pick up our new (to us) catamaran and deliver it ten miles south through the Intracoastal Waterway to our temporary home in Harbour Towne Marina that I was shocked when David asked me if we should hire a captain for that short trip.  “I will NEVER hire a captain to drive my boat!”, I think was my response at the time.  I was hurt.  I felt insulted.  And that was all that was said at the time and we went about moving the boat without a hitch.  It wasn’t until much later that I came to understand that he never meant to insult me at all.  We knew nothing about the boat.  We spent several hours of a couple of days surveying the vessel the previous month and hadn’t seen it since.  We assumed that the keys to the engines would be easy to find, that the engines would actually start and continue to run, that any other equipment we needed would be present and working.  It turns out we only needed to charge the batteries for awhile and the generator started, so we were lucky.  So, was my pride and ego getting in the way already?  Maybe.  I am sure many people that buy a boat hire someone who knows the particulars of that make of vessel to show them the ropes so to speak, as the smart thing to do.  But honestly, what would any other ‘captain’ do that we couldn’t and if we couldn’t do at least those things, why the hell were we buying a big sailboat?

But it began a long dialogue that I have had with myself about my identity.  Now that I am retired, I might be able to put it all in a better perspective. 

In order for me to actually obtain my very own captain’s license, I had to work for some real assholes to get my qualifying time, and they never cut me an ounce of slack, either because they didn’t want me there, didn’t think I deserved to be there, or wanted to see if I could take it.  I swore, I would never be like them, boastful, arrogant, demeaning, unfair…and to this day I have never introduced myself with that title, although respectfully, I have enjoyed having it.  It was infinitely more fun for me, when various crews or passengers over every single one of my over thirty years as a professional mariner, have mistaken me for another position…mostly the cook.  I much preferred that someone else tell them that they’ve just referred to their new captain as the cook.   Priceless.

It wasn’t until I made my way back to St. Maarten/St. Martin with my shiny license on a beautiful Nautical Ketch did my friends ever actually see me do what I do.  Following that I was flattered by a little recognition for my position on the well-known Lady Mary (legendary dinner cruise ship) followed by the Edge (high speed ferry) and a couple of other local gigs.  At the height of my notoriety, I was able to bring friends on the bridge with me, which I loved to do often, and see my picture and interviews in a few publications.

So, what does a (seemingly) big fish in a small pond do?  Find a bigger pond!  Thanks to my good friend and colleague, Bob Loos, I was introduced to the field of research vessels, which has served me well even in hard times, and workboats in the Oil Fields of the Gulf of Mexico.  In both cases, the learning curve was awesome for someone accustomed to dead reckoning with a watch and a magnetic compass for tools.  I am very proud of my accomplishments and have tried to conduct myself with as much integrity and humility as possible, recognizing how incredible it has always been to be good enough at something you love to make a successful career out of it.  But by then, only the people working with me were allowed on board.

So, here’s my confession.  As much as I loved my career, I love David Knight even more.  No doubt that is easier to say at this point in my life for two reasons: 1)  I am absolutely certain that David Knight is the man and partner with whom I am destined to share the rest of my life and 2) My ambitions in terms of my career have been redirected.  I feel that I have accomplished most of the goals I set forth for myself and I am happy now to pass the baton to younger generations.  So it never bothered me to be introduced to his friends in Charleston as the Bass Player’s girlfriend/concubine/fiancé/wife.  It was just a reference.  Just as I tried never to let my profession define me (It was not who I was but what I did),  I would soon become someone more than the Bass Players wife once everyone got to know me.  But I would never be a captain to them.  It wasn’t until David and I went to SXM that my friend Jimbo introduced me as Captain Dara to some friends at his restaurant that my husband had ever heard that introduction.  It was very nostalgic.  But alas, it is no longer who I am.  

Or is it?  I AM on a boat.   I AM Co-Owner of this boat.  And I AM still currently licensed. 

Well, let me tell you right now, THAT logic did not go very far on this boat.  Not far at all.  David and I have never argued more about things (and there are so many things to argue about here) EVER.  It has been a brutal clash of ego, pride, knowledge, will, stubbornness, experience, all of it.  It has taken a lot of adjustment for both of us to create a working relationship in a relationship that already worked.  And work on that we must do every day.

I have not done engineering on a boat for some time now.  My boats for the last eighteen years have had engineering departments in which I spent a good amount of time because it interests me.  I have worked with some brilliant engineers too but I think my husband can certainly hold his own.

I am going to shamelessly credit David for bringing such amazing talent and skill to our project.  He has impressed me constantly with his ability to solve mysteries, find solutions, and fix the unfixable.  I truly believe at this point that there is very little he cannot do.  I know I couldn’t have done this without him but nor would I want to.  I am hoping he feels the same about my skills.

At this point we recognize that we each have our strengths and some weaknesses.  We both try to listen to each other’s ideas, especially when neither of us is sure.  We’ve come a long way with our ability to compromise because neither one of us takes orders very well.  And for those of you who don’t know David as well yet, he was a Director professionally.  He doesn’t want to hear about problems, he wants solutions.  The current example of which is changing out our Main Sail.  We’ve had the new one taking up our space on the aft deck taunting us for three weeks now.  The first chance we’ve had was the last two days where the weather did not align with the forecast of no wind and right in the middle of removing the old sail, the winds kicked up to 15/20 Kts gusts.  Did that stop us?  Hell, no.  We managed to get that fucker down, remove the fiber glass battens and flake it up on the back of the boat and store it.  Then, David engineered the battens with their boxes onto the new sail while I stitched some soft shackles for the intermediate cars which where not present before and we hoisted the flaked bundle onto the boom with the halyard and zipped it up before dark.  Whew.  But did that stop us?  Hell no.  David was up and down the mast just this morning attaching the luff to the cars on the mast.  So, who's in charge here?

Crazy seems to be.  Not that it matters.

In the end, our partnership and ability to work together is more important than any title.

Horizontal Hair!

Soft Nylon Shackles to be stitched onto the sail

Hanging on in this morning's blow!

18 Kts of Wind!

Invisible we...

Boat ownership is a whole different world, and living on your boat full-time and making it your primary residence brings many new challenges.  We’ll be introducing you to some of these as we progress, but one of the odd, and highly irritating things, we have noticed since owning this boat is that we have become invisible.  Now in some ways that is waaay cool and part of the raison d’etre of doing what we are doing – to disappear off the grid and dance to the beat of our own drum.  But in a practical sense, when we need things from the real world, it is a huge pain.

We started to notice this in Fort Lauderdale, arguably the East Coast epicenter of super and mega yacht ownership.  Because we hadn’t spent at least a million dollars on our vessel, we were a VERY small fish in a large sea of voracious appetites.  That meant that when we needed someone to do something, we didn’t have all the code words to deserve even a call back sometimes.  Seriously, we get it that ‘stuff’ on a boat is just very expensive, often the same item you would buy on terra firma, but with a nought, maybe two, tacked on the end of the price tag.  It has to endure a harsh environment, and sometimes be engineered to fit small spaces and all that, and we fortunately have the budget and cash to do what we need to do, but even so we have the hardest time finding good reliable vendors to work with, that call you back when they promise, even turn up when they said they would.  They are used to doing jobs that have a six figure invoice value on just another mega-yacht….and we in the meantime, pale into insignificance.

 

That somewhat explains the several weeks delay we encountered in completing our refit plans – flaky vendors and contractors, and missed schedules.  For example, our standing rigging replacement (all the stainless-steel lines and fixtures that keep the mast in place and driving the boat forward) – this was quoted to be done in three days.  But as the small fish in that pool, what that meant was three days of time spread out over as many days as needed to squeeze you in between the six-figure jobs, since you are only bringing in five figures.  So, it took almost three weeks to complete.  Same with the air conditioning installation, the sail making, the electrics etc.  Hell, we almost felt embarrassed with our little 45 foot catamaran, biting at the ankles of the big guys.

Nevertheless we endured.  

And overcame.  

To an extent.

We completed our refit work, and sailed east toward the Caribbean.  But we had a couple of unexpected problems.  The watermaker needed a new circuit board, and our main head (toilet) blocked and needed a new hose.  Then the new VHF radio at the helm stopped working.  So we were only a couple of days out of the US and we needed some deliveries.  The only urgent thing was the watermaker circuit board and we had our supplier send one Fedex Priority to one of our intended destinations, Marsh Harbour in the Abacos.  But it sat at the customs facility in Nassau for a few days, because they rejected the accompanying commercial invoice for ‘technical’ reasons.  So we spent a good amount of time today on the phone with fedex trying to resolve the issue so we could have our watermaker running again.  Then we are trying to book a short marina stay, just two days, for later in the week at Marsh Harbour so we can accomplish a couple of things that are better done tied to a dock rather than at anchor  - namely fitting our brand spanking new mainsail.  So, I must have called the Dockmaster at least five times to book us in, but hey – I forgot, we are invisible!!  No callbacks, no messages, nothing.  I guess we’ll just turn up in our insignificant catamaran and see what space they have available….

But I want to leave you with the positive.  Most nights now we are anchored in beautiful turquoise blue bays, where we can see the sand on the bottom, we swim to shore when we wake (not when the alarm rings!) for exercise, drink our coffee watching the clouds scud across the deep blue sky, and plan our day based around our ability to be insignificant and off the grid.  We planned well and we have 95% of what we need right here, right now. What we don’t have we can obtain from the local groceries, chandlers and stored where we choose to anchor.  Our faithful Tuk-Tuk takes us where we need to go when we want to touch reality and walk with the land-lubbers.  This life does not suck.  I just wish we could be seen when we want to be seen!!!

A usual sunset, this one in Treasure cay,,,,

india is looking lovely these days

anchored in Green Turtle Cay

Am I invisible people!!!???!!!!

The Shakedown

This is the part where we really put our sailboat to the test.  We are examining all the equipment, running all the sytems, sailing her as much as we can, and making new discoveries daily....still.

The boat was very clean and seemed to be organized when we met for the survey back in December but it wasn't until January when we started pulling things out of the cupboards and from underneath the floorboards and storage compartments, that we made some interesting discoveries. We found some spares and extra equipment that we were hopeful would be of use but now after three months of intense forensic investigation we have come to the conclusion that most of it should have been thrown out years ago.  That being said, our belief is this, if the equipment is on board, it should work.  We have not only made things work again but in most cases, upgraded it.  So now, the things that work are optimized and the stubborn things that don't, we are taking as a personal challenge.  

Some mysteries are still ongoing.  Here's an example:  Our mooring light didn't work.  It is a 360 Degree white light located at the very top of the mast to indicate to all traffic that we are anchored.  We waited until the rigging was replaced before sending David up to the top for an investigation.  It took 12 trips up the mast and most of a week just to do that.  Why?  New light ordered, bolt broken removing old unit, new hole drilled for new unit, new light installed, new wires run through the mast (that was four trips!) and Voila!  One very weak and disappointing glimmer at the top of the mast but at least we had A LIGHT to indicate we are anchored until we had time to revisit that enigma.  A couple of nights ago, we were drinking Ole Nassau Bahamian Rhum and watching the stars from the trampoline when we noticed that the navigation lights were flickering.  They were OFF as we were anchored.  Eureka!  We're losing voltage from the mooring light!  David was able to sort that out right away.  Someone had tried to ground the mooring light breaker to the navigation light breaker only they connected to the positive end!  So, if I haven't lost my audience already, what I am trying to describe is a perfect example of why things take so long to sort out on a ten year old boat when you are the fourth owner!  And that was just a @#$^&*# light!  It works perfectly now.

Surveys will provide, to the best of anyone's knowledge, what seems to be in order and what doesn't but it's hard to catch everything.  Assumptions are made and one hopes for the best.  It's not until things are used that the real faults are evident.  Such seems to be the case with our autohelm, unfortunately.  That will become imperative when we make longer passages.  David and I are still convinced that we made a very good buy in our Catamaran india.  The ‘bones’ of the vessel are in excellent shape meaning the condition of the hull is good, low hours on good engines with rebuilt Sail Drives, and we have brand new rigging and sails which will last much longer than we intend to own the boat.  We have also found our Code Zero, a light wind sail, and Asymmetrical Power Cruiser, a type of Spinnaker, to be in pretty good shape.   The rest of the equipment just takes time to explore and resolve.  And that’s where the shakedown comes in.

Currently, we have a shitty situation going on with our marine head (toilet) which we have ordered parts to permanently fix.  We are waiting on a new circuit board for our brand new water maker!  Yep, it happens.  And since we are getting some shipments forwarded by our friend, Fortunato, in Miami, we have thrown in some other helpful items that we have found that we need! Everyday we pride ourselves on fixing something or doing a good chore for the boat before we go play.  It is part of the balance that pays off when you are a boat owner.  Of course, we live onboard so it is more of a priority for us than it would be for a remote owner, the result of which is a lot of deferred maintenance, the type of which we are stuck with right now. 

We are also waiting for the right winds to transit Whale Cay.  It's a treacherous inlet that produces what the locals call a RAGE when the winds are strong from the North and East.  We are hoping for winds veering to the south and west tomorrow and will make use of a flood tide for our exit (keeps the water moving in the same direction) so that we can proceed to Marsh Harbour for our shipments.  The winds we are experiencing right now include 25 Knot gusts and we are watching our anchor closely while making good use of our time with other projects.  I am just about finished in my mission to re-upholster the headboards and my happy hour salsa has greatly improved!  David always has a short list of things he wants to do so we stay busy.  Then there are manuals to read when we get to that!

There are worse places to hang out and wait for weather windows and parts!  We have enjoyed being in Green Turtle Cay.  Yesterday, we rode bikes around the island for four hours and the Conch salad and Fritters are tasty at the Wrecking Tree Restaurant, not to mention the local rum specialty, Goombay Smash!  We were able to top up with fuel and water here too.  And top up on fresh groceries.

Here's a look at what we've been doing! 

New Plymouth, Green Turtle Cay

See india anchored in the distance?

Blowing up the new SUPs

Caipirinhas, salsa and sunset...what could be better?

Goombay Smash and The Wrecker!

Even better salsa with Matouk's!  Oh how I missed you, Matouk's!

The start of it all...

When we decided to put our life plans on hold and make a new last-minute plan to sail the oceans of the world for three years, we trawled the interwebs for advice on what to do, how to do it, and why.  What we found were several YouTube channels of couples who had decided to quit the rat race, sell everything and sail around the world – and they made it look glamourous, they made it look easy and it just helped to validate our decisions.  What most of these YouTube cowboys left out were the dirty, hard, grueling, frankly miserable hours and days that would pass between the occasional highs that come from a sailing life. At least so far….

I will tell you that we bought this boat and this lifestyle with eyes wide open, especially Dara, since she has glimpsed this existence before. We sealed the deal on the Lagoon 440 - Elektra I, knowing that it was a sadly neglected puppy, but one that with all the love and attention we were willing to pile in, would become a faithful companion for as long as we needed. And so, it transpired…we had an aggressive plan to start living on the boat immediately we closed, around January 10^th, and then spend maybe 6-7 weeks refitting, carrying out all the essential work needed to make this a safe, comfortable, and frankly beautiful vessel to make our dreams a reality.

But we had no idea.

Really.

How hard it would be.

The first thing on the agenda was a battery bank, the heart of the beast.  When we surveyed the boat, the existing sealed lead acid battery bank was so old and tired it couldn’t even power the salon lights.  I had researched a great deal on this subject and knew that lithium batteries, similar to the ones used in electric cars these days, were the way to go.  We opted for 900 Ah of battery power – that’s three 300 Ah Lithium batteries wired in parallel to give us the ability to supply 900 Amps for an hour, or 300 Amps for three hours. It’s a huge capacity no matter how you look at it, and was a steal at $13,000. Ouch.  But that’s just the start. To feed this hungry monster we needed a large generator on board – luckily the one already present is a good one – a Cummins Onan 11.5 Kw diesel that purrrrrrrrs.  Then we had a small solar panel already, but we added four 160W flexible panels that generate up to 25 Amps of continuous charge when the sun shines. On top of this we bought upgraded fancy alternators for the twin diesel propulsion engines that will provide 180 Amps of charge when motoring. In terms of power consumption, we are pretty demanding – we have reverse osmosis watermaker, a washing machine, a dishwasher (we don’t use it much), a water heater, electric winches, electric toilets, induction hotplates, toasters, electric kettles, TV, computers argghhhhhhh my head is exploding!!!!!!! 

All in all, a complicated arrangement that allows us to stay off the grid for extended periods – in fact as long as we wish.  The engineer in me loved designing and executing this part.

Next on the long list was the standing rigging – an essential safety part of the boat.  Catamaran india is 10 years old, bless her, and we knew that the standing rigging should be replaced every ten years so budgeted that into our numbers.  The standing rigging is the stainless steel wires and fittings that brace and hold the mast upright against the incredibly powerful winds that drive the boat along.  Don’t underestimate the forces at play and the importance of a serviceable rig.  When you are crossing the Pacific Ocean in the middle of the night and a 40 knot squall comes from nowhere you might think about what would happen if the mast broke – but if your rig is new, you’ll worry a little less.

Anchor and chain. The photo below shows the sorry state of the rust-welded mess of chain we found on the boat.  We had fun cutting it into sections and pulling it out of the chain locker with the main halyard – the new chain weighs almost 800 lb and is essential for safe anchoring and sleeping at night.

Sails – the things that power the boat forward – these were ten years old and tired, so we found a great sailmaker in Rolly Tasker/National Sails that would fabricate a new mainsail and Genoa (the fore-sail) for india. We had the sails made in a sail loft in Thailand in hi-tech 10.88 oz Dacron and finished in the US.  Oddly we still haven’t fitted our mainsail, it sits in its bag in the cockpit waiting for a really calm day, but we fitted our Genoa today and it looks fantastic!! It has a beautiful blue Sunbrella coating to protect it from the UV and I can’t wait for you to see it.  Dara and I celebrated its hoisting with a tasty rum cocktail, as one should.

Next on the list was a couple of major, and important tasks – sanding and painting the hulls, and overhauling the sail drives (he main transmission units that drive the propellers).  Both tasks that we knew we needed from the pre-purchase survey, but required a haul-out.  So, we sailed from Fort Lauderdale to Palm Beach – our first real sail on our new boat, and not without some drama (another story) to Cracker Boy boatyard, where we were to spend probably the most miserable three weeks of our lives.

During that three weeks, we sanded the bottom of both hulls, primed and painted the same, completed the installation of air conditioning, had the sail drives removed and rebuilt, and made a trip to the UK to visit family including the imminent arrival of TWO new grandchildren.

Anyway, without boring you with the details, we made it all happen.  The culmination of which was the launch (or splash as they call it). We had had ten new holes drilled in the hull of the boat so it took a while after india was lowered into the water to check all those new holes and bilges for leaks. All was well, so we set off once more for Harbour Towne marina in Fort Lauderdale to continue the refit...

Back in Fort Lauderdale we finished up the long list of projects. This included checking and replacing most electric pumps on the boats, fitting safety equipment like EPIRBs, life rafts, fire extinguishers, new anchor and anchor chain, installing  bimini hardtop etc etc. During this time Dara took care of final provisioning – three trips to Costco to fill our two new freezers with goodies like steak, mince, cheese and many other staples.

To cut a long story short, what we thought would take six weeks, took ten weeks, mostly because it just hard to pin down contractors to a solid schedule in the boating world.  Especially in Fort Lauderdale, where your average customer wanting ‘something’ done on his boat/superyacht is ready to pay $100,000 whereas we, on the other hand, are counting the pennies against a budget.  We found some gems in the dirt pile however – Mabru, our air conditioning suppliers worked with our ever-changing dates to do a superb job of shoe-horning three A/C units into india. And Nance and Underwood who changed the standing rigging then gave us a furler for free, and also changed out our main halyard as a favour.  Nice people.  Shout out also to Lester’s Diner on 84, Hunan Palace in Dania Beach and Pauli’s pizza who all kept us nourished during this ten week ordeal.

So, in early April we finally felt ready to leave the umbilical cord of the marina to venture out on our own. We sailed down to Miami to spent a few days in Biscayne Bay to wait for a weather window to sail to the Bahamas.  Finally, we felt safe and comfortable on this floating home of the last almost-three months.  More importantly we were longing to feel that we were transitioning to a new phase.  We had spent the last ten weeks making a huge investment – financial, physical and emotional – for the next three years, and we were ready to start feeling the benefits of that pain.  Hell, we needed some fun finally!!!  And so it was, that really did mark a turning point in this adventure – we really did start to fall in love with india, with ourselves and each other again, and with our dream.

Underway..

We hope that most of you have been reading the Cat india Facebook posts for the last three months while we have been refitting the vessel and preparing for our great adventure to the Southern Seas.  The FB Page is mostly David’s baby although SOMEONE had to set up the photo ops!  David does those FB posts so well; pertinent and charming, still enchanted with the yacht and the lifestyle as opposed to what I might write as the jaded salty sea bitch that I have been accused of being!  Not to mention the fact that the last ninety days have been a grueling onslaught of repairs and upgrades to the boat, scheduling dilemmas, four 800-mile drives to Charleston and back and one trip to the U.K., and long, very long hours.  We didn’t want to bore everyone with the day to day details that make yachting so un-fun and spoil the glamour of our adventure for you and let’s be honest, for ourselves.  We also needed the encouragement of the rare moments we were able to enjoy the boat and share them with you guys to keep up our momentum and motivation.  I will also have to add, Buying a Sailing Catamaran, to my list of divorce provoking activities that already includes, Designing and Building a Very Big Deck, and a Six-month Trek to India.  But finally, we have threaded the needle in the first part of our project and are happily immersed in Part II – Getting South!

Speaking of schedule; we have resolved to a schedule change.  Our plans to complete the refit in sixty days and be on our way to Panama for an end of March transit was not only ambitious but impossible.  Every project took longer than expected and we encountered some unexpected repairs, so why not take advantage of an extra thirty days in Florida to get all the parts and supplies and specialized advice we needed in the convenience of the USA?  The other truth is that although I consider myself a competent sailor and extremely experienced mariner, these cruising Catamarans are unfamiliar to me and the last time I handled a big sailing yacht was in the early 90’s.  David and I immediately recognized that we could use some more time getting comfortable and familiar with our new boat, not only for safety but because we want to enjoy this experience and this part of it cannot and should not be rushed.  So why not do a shakedown in my old cruising grounds of the Caribbean?  Local knowledge will be to our advantage while we can still get the last of our projects accomplished within range of overnight shipping, good chandlers and more readily available internet!  I am excited to explore some new places with David and see what has become of my Caribbean these last twenty years.  At the moment, we are cruising the Abacos in the Bahamas.  I haven’t been here since my brother and I sailed with our dad on his 49’ Sloop when we were kids!  It brings back such incredible memories of how I fell in love with the ocean and sailing in the first place.  I am so thankful to have this opportunity to see the islands I love and once called home again, especially in this way.  To my SXM people – soon come!

So, our NEW plan is less of a plan than a general direction.  South through the Bahamas on what we can do in a day until we work out a few more glitches and then continuing on to Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic, maybe a stop in Puerto Rico if we need it and some leisure time in the BVIs.  We will spend some time with friends in St. Maarten/St. Martin, of course, and then get down to 12 degrees of North Latitude for Hurricane Season.  We still intend to do our Panama Transit and will position ourselves for that in the beginning of next year but until then our schedule is FLUID!

I can’t express how glorious it is to be underway now.  David and I are already nude and tanned, catching fish and cracking coconuts, and my baby has just baked his first bread boules on our india!  Did I mention that our yacht is definitely female?  I have made the acquaintance of vessels of many types in my years at sea and not all boats are females but I think the best ones are.  We just assumed our catamaran was feminine, I think, because she is so pretty, a little dainty even, to my mind.  But this one is whimsical, fucking stubborn, and wildly unpredictable yet promises great rewards.  As I said, exciting as any woman should be!