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.

Climbing Upper Goose

After a long Summer of limited climbing we decided to take up the quest to follow rummors of a climable boulder on a near by island. After convincing a friend to come along we headed up the bay to Upper Goose. The above is the first sighting of the island cluster.

Teaching Roger Long: A 48 Hour sail aboard s/v Strider

The sea gods must have been looking over us (or had a strange sense of humor) when our path crossed with Roger Long's.

Leaving Portland Harbor aboard Strider

We originally met Roger while he was working on Strider on the hard over the summer. We chatted over our mutual plans of heading south for the winter. As our friendship grew, Roger ended up showing us things such as the ways of reefing and taking us out on a rougher day.

As the "To do" list kept growing for Neto Nomad and September kept creeping nearer, going south was no longer an option for us. Roger, however, threw another option our way: Come cruising on Strider for the first 48 hours leg of his trip south.

A Cooler Winter then Expected

Finding balance

 Nick and I had a tough talk this week. Due to our boat needing more work than expected once she got in the water and the warm summer months fading away, the cool night breeze reminded us that Fall was here and with it, decision time. Our big plan to head South to the Bahamas never seemed further away, how was it September already?

MMM Pork

It should be apparent by now that we have a fondness for pork products. I would consider myself a rather well traveled person who has made a point of trying as many pulled pork sandwiches as possible. In my quest to make my own perfect sandwich I took another try recently with very good results despite only having one small electric burner to work with.

At this time I can tell I am only a few more attempts away from creating the best sandwich ever. Unfortunately for you all I am not sharing my recipe until it is perfected, so with that in mind I would stay tuned. For now the basics are pork butt, bacon, beer and onions.

Bowsprit again

Catch up time! So the bowsprit needed all new wood and hardware on the deck but the underneath was equally as bad. Above are the new metal plates ordered to replace the rusted out one. If all was perfect we could afford stainless steel but we don't have that sort of money, if anyone would like feel free to donate!, so we opted for a middle of the road steel. Since we know it will rust out eventually I tried to make the new plate as easy as possible to replace. The old one was so wedged in to tight spots and tabbed with fiberglass that it was not not somthing I wish to remove again. Since I had no welder onboard I went with a column as the vertical reinforcement and tapped holes in either end to blot it all together. After breaking three taps it did happen!

They call it Pea Soup

Aes Dana - Alignments by Blossom331

We ventured off earlier this week after the fog lifted only to be greeted back by it like a warm unwanted hug. They call it pea soup in the world of boaters. It's thick and you can't see through it. We were already past the Portland Head Light so Nick used his navigational skills to map out the buoys and the time it would take us to get to them. Eventually we would near the buoy and hear the bell or the gong as if it were celebrating our arrival. We turned our heading towards Jewell Island and cautiously proceeded along, continuing to monitor the GPS, VHF and signaling our bell every 2 minutes. Suddenly, emerging from the nothingness, we saw cliffs. There she was, Jewell Island was in our sight.

Neto Nomad's Video Premier!

Get in the water from Neto Nomads on Vimeo.

Short overview of working on the boat to get it ready to launch.

Anchors, Raft-Ups and Overnights!

Hammock time!

We headed out yesterday into Casco Bay in the later part of the afternoon after getting some errands done and prepping the boat. Our friend RJ jumped aboard and we headed out past Fort Gorgeous and continued around Cow Ledge. Neto Nomad responded nicely to the consistent winds as she carried us along on our adventure.

Chief eyeing Nick's sandwhich

Fellow Cape Dory owner and friend (Captain) Tyler and Chief met us out on the water and we eventually headed to a little island in Casco Bay. We laid out the anchor (for the first time mind you - woohoo!!) and Tyler rafted up next to us (2 boats, 1 anchor).

Catching Up

Sunset from our slip

It's been a while since our last post and I feel like so much has happened since then.

The biggest news is our beautiful boat sails and boy does she like it! Neto Nomad made her maiden voyage 2 weeks ago! We took her out into Casco Bay past Fort Gorgeous and about halfway past Great Diamond Island. We did a few tacks and headed back.

First Outing in Casco Bay!

I have to say, being new to the boating world I am constantly floored by how nice and helpful our neighbors in the Marina are. From endless tips, to cruising spots, to hidden coves to rigging suggestions....it goes on and on. To say we are thankful is an understatement.

RJ takes the tiller!

Four of July

Spending the day getting settled in we managed to still have some time to make burgers and support the beer industry. How ever our plans of fireworks over the ocean were dashed with a late arrival on thunderstorms.

Neto Nomads Gets their Creativity On!

Nick and I are pretty artsy so we finally decided to post up some of our creations on Etsy! We plan to have an array of land and sea creations as we travel about so be sure to favorite our store and keep an eye on what's popping up new there...you just might find your next original gift for someone special!

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/netonomads

Goodbye for now friends!

Prepping the Mast

What started out as a easy project of replacing the old VHF antenna and cable took a quick turn for the worst when the string line separated from the cable as I pulled it through the mast. The line was supposed to make pulling the new able up nice a simple. At this point in time I have given up putting my tools away so I just grabbed what I need from the pile and started to remove the masthead, this is the large metal piece on the top of the mast everything connects to.