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adventure, cutting the dock lines, debt free, falmouth cutter 22, freedom, independent travel, living aboard, minimalist, photography, sailing, sailing blog, simplicity
“If I ever leave you it will be because of your V-berth” These were the first words I heard today and started to laugh. Serena had to be at work and I didn’t. I steamrollered over her and wedged myself between her and Chloe pulling all the blankets around us. ”Its freezing in here, COFFEE PLEASE!
Serena tumbled out of the V-beth and Chloe piled after her hoping for bacon scraps. All snug as a bug in a rug, I could hear the steam whistling out of the kettle, and Chloe eating her breakfast, pa chomp, pa chomp, pa chewy chomp. It was going to be another beautiful day.
Morning started at 17 degrees with the wind chill.
“Alan Can you Help Me”?
“Whats Wrong”?
“The boat is frozen shut”.
This isn’t the first time I have had to break out of the boat, one big whack with my back against the sliding hatch and we were free.
After a piping hot cup of Joe, I bundled up to take Chloe for a walk. Squish, shuish, creak, squish, the dock was frozen solid. I stopped briefly looking back at poor frozen little The` and smiled. ”Summers coming baby”.
“Face it, kid, there are some things that can’t be explained”. ~Frosty The Snowman
Oh man! We’ve been feeling like it’s freezing down here in Baja, Mexico as the temps have dipped into the 40s and we have on every layer of clothing that we packed down here from Montana. Your post just brought me back to reality though! Chilly it is, cold it ain’t. That’s what you folks up north have. We have yet to have to break out of Selkie after she’s iced over. Thanks for that reminder that it’s not cold here, we’re just sissies!
Don’t ever leave Mexico you aren’t missing anything
Alan,
Love the photo of you and your pup looking cold and worn out. Awesome photo, your best yet. The eyes say it all.
On a separate note, how tall is too tall for a boat of that size? Are you able to stand up in the cabin with no problem or are you forever stooping inside the cabin?
Take care,
rOg
Coming from you that’s a huge complement, Thank you Rog. I’m 5’10″ and the boat has 6′ standing head room, its by far the biggest 22′ boat in the world. The v-beth sleeps two and is 6’6″ at its shortest and the two quarter berths are also 6’6″ and very comfortable and will be better if I ever replace my aging cushions. When I bought the boat there were no v-berth cushions so I cut up the ones for the cockpit, they are 2″ closed cell foam and literally like sleeping on concrete. We added some cheap foam over them but still not great. The FC has one of the best layouts and easily as much room as a 28′ sailboat with tons of storage, having said all that she is a very small boat when it comes to visual space. If I extend my arms I can just barely touch both sides inside the cabin front to back. Where she really comes into her own is that she is one of the safest designed boats period and built like a tank. She also is unbelievable when it comes to her sailing characteristics. She was designed to carry very heavy loads in and perform in almost any weather including light wind where most boats fail. In case you are unaware she has a big sister the Bristol Channel Cutter 28 but at 150K for a 20 year old boat it will be some time before we move up in size. Wintering on a boat can be torture at times but worth every second of it.