Simplicity, Happiness, and DIY Living in the San Juan Islands
The Quest for High Speed Internet On A Boat
It’s been a month since I quit my corporate job and started getting serious about living and working from the boat. For those that don’t read this blog frequently, I took the plunge and started an online marketing business after three years of dabbling in it as a hobby. Since this business is internet based, it has the potential to allow me to cruise full time, but is dependent on a reliable internet connection. It’s been quite a quest trying to get a reliable, high-speed…
Clamming in Washington
One of the main focuses of this blog is on foraging. We’ve published several articles on clamming over the last couple years and they are consistently read. This inspired me to dig a little deeper into the state of clamming education. What I found is that there is almost no good books teaching people how to clam! Clamming in the San Juan Islands I myself learned to clam through a combination of trial and error, education from friends, and education from those good Samaritans that…
Doe Bay Resort
A few weeks ago, my wife and I got the opportunity to stay at the Doe Bay Resort on Orcas Island. We had been there several times by car, but had never stayed there overnight. This weekend we took the Rock ‘n Row and stayed overnight on one of the resorts two mooring buoys. Doe Bay Resort is the un-resort of resorts. It completely redefines what a ‘resort’ is. If you crave room service, fancy rooms, and public displays of wealth, then Doe Bay is…
Boating Life, Preventive Maintenance
“Agadda Da Vida History” Our 32′ sailboat is 35 years old. We have had her four of those years and have added to and replaced a lot of parts. We have added an anchor windlass, an inverter, extra lighting and stereo. We have replaced the running rigging, the bilge pump, the engine, the port-lights, the water heater, the water tank cover, the head, the cabin liners, the flooring and the wood stove. There are probably a lot of other items added or upgraded that I…
How to Prepare Stinging Nettle for Freezing and Recipes
For every plant, foraged or otherwise, there is a prime window for harvest. Proper food preparation is the key to enjoying them year round at the peak of ripeness. Stinging nettles are no different. This article shows you how to prepare stinging nettle for freezing and use in recipes throughout the year. One of the first edible plants to sprout from the ground in spring is the stinging nettle. For me, it’s the first real sign that spring is around the corner. In the Skagit…
Wild nettles, Cattail Stalks, Dandelion Greens – Spring is here!
It is nearing the end of March and while I have a dozen boat projects pending, I also have home and yard tasks that need done. I was doing my first spring lawn mowing and found a great batch of dandelions growing in the yard and along the street, I picked a few. I then looked around a bit further and found the beginnings of my nettle patch starting to leaf. I picked a few greens from around the house and then decided to take…
Full Disclosure – Financing My Liveaboard Life
A lot of people dream of cruising full time. Inevitably, those people look at stories of other cruisers and liveaboards and ask themselves “How do they afford to do it?”. I have often asked that same questions and what I’ve found is that every liveaboard and cruiser has a very different story to tell. This is my story. This is how I plan to finance my cruising lifestyle this summer and why I am doing it in my own unique manner. Wealth and Poverty Today…
Does Size Matter? Yes, it does.
I recently stumbled across a solicitation on monkey’s fist for boaters to give their opinions on size. I know several cruisers like Teresa and Ben of One Simple Question and Stormy of Art of Hookie, who are pocket cruisers and love it. My wife and I live aboard a forty foot Cruise-a-Home, with approximately eight tons of displacement. We upgraded from a twenty-five foot, Buccaneer sailboat, the Sea Muse. Let me tell you why. You can read about how I came to possess the Sea…
Transitioning to a Liveaboard
I love crisis! My wife and I have ‘officially’ moved aboard. No more staying at the house. We sleep on the boat every night. I have dreamt of this day for so long, that even after a week, it still hasn’t fully sunk in. But transition to life aboard is never painless. I have read widely in the boating forums and all the liveaboard transition stories I’ve read have had unpleasant surprises as a common thread. We were no different. We spent the entire weekend…
Port Angeles – A Cruiser’s Haven
A reader of the blog sent me an awesome email. Not only is he a kindred soul, we have many experiences in common. His knowledge of Port Angeles and the western Puget Sound was so impressive, that I decided to share an edited version here (with his permission). Hi Chris, I’ve been following your blog. It’s very entertaining and also inspiring to see someone your age actually thinking about life and how to live it. I had a similar dream to yours – i.e. living…
