I’ve Made Some Mistakes on the Sailboat

We all knew going into this that I had a huge amount to learn on this boat. Now it’s time for me to fess up and reveal the big mistakes I have made in my first months aboard Sava. I’ve made some mistakes on the sailboat, and I doubt they’ll be the last, but we’re still having fun!

Mooring

The Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park offers mooring ball facilities, which are generally more reliable than anchoring on your own. The mooring ball is attached to an anchor, and you attach your boat to the mooring ball. While Brian drives – slowly – as close as he can to the mooring ball, I am supposed to hook it and tie it up to our boat. Easier said than done.

One time, I caught the mooring but couldn’t hold it as we drove over it and I dropped the hook in the water. I grabbed our net and fished up the hook to try again. Then I caught the mooring and broke off a piece of the hook. By this point, a man in a nearby boat had gotten into his dinghy and picked up the mooring for me. All I had to do was throw him the rope and attach it to our boat. Even that I almost did incorrectly. You have to run the line under all the rails – which Brian had to yell to me – because if you don’t you can rip the rails off the boat.

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Overnight Guests

We’ve been in the Florida Keys for a week and the best part so far was our first sleep over! For the first time since we moved on board, we had overnight guests on Sava.

Our first overnight guests

Louis and Susan, who we know from my old job in NYC, stayed overnight on Sava last Thursday.

overnight guests on Sava
On board the dinghy!

Fortunately the weather was perfect. Winds were calm and waves were almost nonexistent, which was a relief for these two who can both get seasick and had never slept on a sailboat.

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On The Hard in The Yard

Since our return to Florida post-Christmas, we’ve been living in a boat yard. Sava has been out of the water, “on the hard” in Fort Lauderdale for 8 days. And counting.

Why We’re On The Hard

Bottom of our Bavaria 46 foot sailboat before the work is done
The before photo of Sava’s bottom. She needs work!

We’re on the hard because Sava needs her bottom painted. Salt water, layers of paint, some heat blisters, all of it had to come off. Layers of paint were removed and then new layers will be painted on just like new. We knew we needed to get this done since the survey. This is good news.

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