The Retirement Wake on S/V Imagine

Captains Credentials, Canvas work, and fun Trips I must say working full time preparing for full time cruising and being apart of a great cruising club, "Texas Mariners Cruising Association" really fills every minute we have.  We are getting closer to full time cruising, seeing new places, and sharing it with you. Every since I had started this process to sail, being a Captain was also a dream.  This was just a personal goal I had,  but also to prove and have some backing of skills we had worked so hard to cruise.  Do you need a Captain's license?  No!  However it does provide some insurance discounts, it also opens up a revenue stream if I want to do some work for extra cruising funds.   I was talking with a guy in the Florida Keys and he wants a boat handler and Captain.  His comment was I can hit a dozen Captains with a dead mullet in any gin dive in the Keys.  I want a boat handler!  We had a long conversation via email about today's...

Before living on a sailboat I had read books, blogs, forums, etc., it did help gather information and prepare for the life. However, there is so much more that is "On the Job Training" so to speak of.  We have had to  battle with condensation around the portholes, and storage areas around the hull for the first time since living aboard.  It really is simple, if you remember back in science class while you were grade school. Remember that if it is warm on one side of moist air and it collides with cold air  you get a cloud which is suspended moisture.  So, with the boat nice and toasty and it colliding with the hull that has cold water against it,  you get moisture.  Ventilation is essential to keeping things dry.  In the bedroom I started smelling a very pundget smell, I swear I though the cat had done his business in the bed.  Washed the sheet, mattress pad etc. with not much change.  I lifted up the mattress and is was soaking wet on t...