The Retirement Wake on S/V Imagine

Cooking on a sailboat is not much different that at your house.  We have a 3 burner stove, with oven and it does a really good job.  We have a refrigerator, double sink, but we do not have a dishwasher.  Wait that's my job, well really the rule is you cook the other clean.  So I cook a lot! We bought a pressure cooker before we moved on the boat, and tried it several times.  I love using it for its speed, tenderness of the meat, and flavors it injects in the meats.  My wife is still cautious to use it, she thinks it s a bomb about to explode.  We make a Greek Taco that uses lamb which is very good and because  you use lemon juice it makes the aluminum shine on the inside keeping the pot looking great.  Our new favorite recipe is Pollo Con Chile Verde total time prep and cook is 30 minutes. Pollo Con Chile Verde via Pressure Cooker This is a quick and great taste of Texas if you only want to spent a total of about 30 minute...

To be quite honest since moving to the boat in Oct. of 2014 our time has really gone by fast.  We did join a group called TMCA (Texas Mariners Cruising Association) which is a mix of sail and power boaters.  Tons of social stuff, planned cruises, tons of knowledge, and great friends have been gained. What has snuck up on us is time. Time to get stuff done, with the plans being a late 2017 departure. We have completed some projects, like the holding tank ripped out and a composting toilet in place.  Yea I know there are critics of both.  The choice for me if I have to deal with the by products of humans I want the really bad stuff to be a dry material, rather than a slurry of aged material. It also reduces the amount of maintenance, and repairs that have to be made from what I see all the time.  This has also eliminated the smell of Head on boat. The final bonus was opening up an area about 18 inches by 48 inches by 14 inches of extra storage space and on a boat ...

We did not have an AIS system on our boat when we got her, but we did use a internet one that works fairly good called Boat Beacon.  It is great if you have Internet, but once you loose that your blind.  The big question is what I wanted for an AIS system.  Looking around there are a ton of choices, but we decided on The Vesper XB-8000 with the wireless system.  It does wireless, along with NMEA 2000 which will crossover to many systems.  With more and more systems going wireless this just really seemed to stand out from older technology and moving into the newer technology.  The Vesper only uses 3.5 watts which is one of the lowest power hungry systems on the market.  Price, size of unit were also big factors for choosing this product.  We did use the VHF antenna slitter to use only 1 antenna on our boat versus another stand alone antenna.  This is the Vesper XB-8000                  ...

Christmas on S/V Imagine is not much different than Christmas in a house. I get JOY no matter if it is on the boat or on land. Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation. I feel this everyday of my life, and am grateful for having it. I wonder how sometimes things have turned out so well at this point in my life.  Choice is what we all have, and by the grace of God we are able to fail and try again.  Even with all the bad or good choices we might have made.  It is only a blink of an eye of what is to come for all of us that believe. As I sit here riding out a storm that has blown into south Texas, winds blowing up to 40 mph with the boat rocking.  The wife is tucked in bed like a baby, and I am up enjoying my morning. We are a week away from flying back home to Arkansas to visit family, and see ...

Bon Voyage my Friends!   When we first bought the our boat, Diane was the first person I met on our pier.  She is a very sweet, kind and giving person. Paul, her husband is also a great guy filled with knowledge, and open to help others at a moments notice. We are sad to see them leave, but excited that they have started there dream! In the boating community you do not loose friends, but gain adventurers.    Paul and Diane  on Sea Casa     Last Time going out the Kemah Channel

Tis the Season to Cruise Update from S/V Imagine living on the Retirement Wake.  The Retirement Wake is the blog for Carol and Ken living on S/V Imagine.  We moved from Arkansas to Texas to live on THE BOAT!  We had looked long and hard and when she found us we knew it was time to make the jump.  Knowing we were still having to work a couple more years we did it.  When we moved, we had a lake house back in Arkansas, we rented it via VRBO which did pay for the expenses of that property and provided a small amount of income.  Then it sold and was a blessing for us, it pushed us one step closer to shoving off. We are now adding more to our savings and investments for another year and some critical boat projects I want to do. Boat Projects New jib. (the one we have when we bough the boat is about 7 ft short) Permanently mount AIS (however we use BOAT Beacon which is a APP works good but not the solution for long voyages) Fuel tank #2 (ours is only 2...

We have lived on our sailboat for almost a full year, and we made the pledge to keep her ready for sailing.  We sail often, but never have made a bigger trip to this date..  Most have been day sails, and a few overnight trips to Red Fish Island which is only a couple of hours away.  Our first planned and chartted trip came just a couple of weeks ago.  We left Kemah Tx. to Gaveston Tx. with only 28 NM, it is a big step for us.  A trip full of first for the botth of us. We get up early and set out by 8:00 AM so we can make the 5 hour journey and get there by early afternoon.  We took pictures to show our journey to Galveston, Tx. and to share with you. Pelicans on the first maker going out of our marina House on   Kemah Channel going out.   AKA The Flasher  Kemah Boardwalk just before going into the bay.  First time in the Houston Ship Channel.  Shrimp boat working in the bay.  "Bubba Gump"  First time in the ICW.  Firs...