I'm on a Boat....and rocking!

Getting ready for Sandy from Neto Nomads on Vimeo.

Nor'easter Night 1

Here's a few pictures of our boat from last night. We were asked today by the marina if this was our first boat and first time living aboard (yes), to which they replied that our boat was tied up the best and we're riding nicely. They also commented on how calm we were...we can only hope that when/if the situation gets worse we remain calm, do what needs to be done, and most importantly remain safe.

Ok, enough babble, on to the pics. We'll try to have some videos of the storm picking up posted today too.

they moved the boat today on our port (left) side so we added some additional lines connecting us to that finger dock as well today.

 

Tied up to the finger off our starboard side and to the main dock. There were no cleats on the main dock so we tied off to the vertical 2x4s underneath.

As Sandy Approaches - Nor'easter Shows her Fury

Up here in Maine we have been tracking Sandy's path pretty closely. We decided to stay in the water and on board through the thick of it since by the time it makes up to us it should just be downgraded to a Tropical Depression. We did some extra preparations doubling up lines and crisscrossed some lines to the adjacent finger in case anything was to happen to ours.

For us, as of yet, Sandy has not reached her long fingers out to grace us our boat. Up here, we are currently getting the brunt end of a nor'easter. With winds out of the NE picking up speeds it was a rocky night as high tide encroached upon us around 11pm. At low tide we have a buffer ground between us and the channel that the sea can't come over so high tide is when it is at it's worst (as I write this it is just past high tide and still extremely rocky).

There are about 15 boats, sail and motor mixed, here in our Marina with people staying on them through the duration of the storm (most of which are liveaboards like us), it's a great community and everyone is looking out for each other.

Here's some tips if your boat is in the water and you're braving through.

* If you're concerned about your finger, tie lines back to the actual main dock from your finger. We tied to the vertical pillars under the main dock.

* If you happen to have an empty finger next to you, cross lines over to it's cleats. If your finger (god forbid) breaks, you are attached to another finger...i.e your boat doesn't float off!). Also this will help minimize the jerking of your boat. The boat next to us was just moved so we'll be adding another line from our stern diagonally to the cleat on the finger to our port side.

* Put soap or lubrication on your creaking lines on your boat. You will be much happier without the noise reverberating  throughout your boat! If you have line shock absorbers, use them.

* Have a bag with your valuables ready. None of us want to abandon our boats, but your life is more valuable. If the worst was to happen and you need to flee your boat, grab your packed bag with things that are irreplaceable. We also have our foul weather gear, shoes and car keys all in sight.

If you have any other tips you'd like to share (land or water) please add below! We'd love to hear your preparations.

We'll be sleeping in the cabin tonight (one eye open perhaps) until we know the worst of the storm has passed by.

On a sad note, we have been following the sad story of the tall ship Bounty that sunk off the Carolinas and hope the remaining two crew members are found and brought to safety.

That's all for now, we'll keep you all updated on our status as the storm passes through. Stay safe all, mother nature is showing us her strength.

When Nick gets back with the camera we'll put some pictures up :)

Fall Update

It's been a few so I decided an update was in order! Lots has been going on aboard Neto Nomad. A new addition of a port side mid-ship cleat completes the set; installed a 3 lined clutch for our reefing system and the heater is finally installed and working great! Later next month we will shrink wrap the boat and bunker down for winter.

However today, today we cast off the lines and sail. We'll head north and explore islands first charted by some of the greats hundreds of years ago, and the native americans before them. Today we join them.

Until next time!

Recycle, ReUse, ReArt - Surf Board Fins

About a year ago Nick provided me with 2 of his old surf board fins to play around with in the world of art. Inspired I went with it. I have a few completed pieces thus far, here's the latest:

Surf Big Waves

Nick's friend, Mike Beach, had drawn 'Neto Shapes' in a ton of different fonts on a fin for him a while back in California (check out the yellow fin on Neto Shapes 'Art' Page) and I always thought it looked pretty rad. Drawing from that and a piece of art by Andy Davis that I've always loved, this piece transpired.

Here's some links to Neto Shapes blog if you want to check out the other two fins I painted: Meditation Manifestations and Dancing Ganesh.

I'm almost out of fins so if you're a surfer and you have some old fins hanging around...recycle and send them this way!

T is for Tables and Tomato Soup

Finally! We have built a small folding table to give us some more options for working at and a place to pile more stuff. It is very simple but works perfect.

Fold-up table and yummy food!

Built from a ash tree cut down and milled last year by our friend RJ, this piece of wood was exactly what we needed. We really enjoy recycling and this particular piece of wood had twisted to much for the initial project it was made for so we rescued it from the scrap pile. After some creative cutting, Nick was able to join the two pieces to give us a nice 18" X 12" piece that became the top of the flip up table.

As projects progress you will see more and more completed with wood that we have harvested and milled here in Maine. To test it out dinner was served; tomato bisque with bacon and potatoes served with a sourdough toast slice, mmmmmm.

Burnt Ends

Family request for burnt ends was just what I needed as an excuse to fire up the smoker on a recent trip to CT. As many of you know I have a masonry smoker that I built last year and have been using it to fill peoples belly's with delicious smoked meats. This time brisket was the meat of choice.

Two 6lb briskets with dry rub of salt, raw sugar, paprika, pepper and a few other fun spices. I started the smoker about an hour early to get a nice even temperature throughout the masonry surface.