A Vulnerable Tale

Hey there Nomad friends!

So, it’s been a while, remember me? I have to admit I kind of fell off the blog train, although I have to say, at least it wasn’t off the boat!

I can give a million and 1 excuses of why I didn’t write, there is a reason my mom calls me Scarlett O’Hara, but in the end it doesn’t matter. I just didn’t write. However, this isn’t a wahh party.

This is, dare I say, a re-awakening?

Vacationland

vacationland from christian theberge on Vimeo.

Video our friend Christian made of a trip this Spring.

Out on the Water

Finally after six months of cold we set sail again. After the needed maintenance was done we cast off the dock lines and set out to visit Jewel island for an overnight. It was great to be sailing again the boat felt as alive as ever. Weather was great with steady winds and sun. While it felt like Spring it was still chilly and plenty of bundling up went on in the cockpit.

Repair Day

Few long needed repairs got checked off the list today:

If you have been reading you know this Winter has not been kind to our chocks. The two on the bow where pulled off and had to replace the hardware during a storm to keep from some major damage. The two stern chocks fared even worse and met their demise by breaking off. For the new ones I decided to for go the suggested #12 screws to hold them tight and through bolt them with a pair of 1/4" stainless bolts. The chocks also are slightly beefier in the base plate so hopefully this will hold up for a while.

End of the season?

As Winter draws to an end it dealt out a solid Nor'Easter last week that provided some large swell to the exposed areas. Shot of the Portland Headlight during this storm.

Facelift

The mainsheet car got a little mangled over the Summer so it was time for a facelift. You can't see the stress cracks on the bail but trust me they are there. As you guessed a new one is insanely expensive for something that is not even built very well. Along with the price in the future I would like to upgrade the entire track to the next size up so making a car investment right now didn't seem right. Kicking around a few ideas, most adding up to to much money, I decided on a rebuild.

Winter repairs

We have had a cracked piece of teak that holds our sliding companionway hatch down since the beginning. However, with the current way we enter the boat during winter we step on it more and more and it finally, it gave way.

Delicious Red Quinoa Burger Recipe

Images Source: lifeAmbrosia.com

I've been craving a red quinoa burger since we've left California (The Riders Club Cafe, you've left your mark!) so I decided tonight on my way home from yoga it was time to replicate my dearly missed vegetarian burger. If you haven't tried one yet I highly recommend them. They are a delicious healhty alternative to a beef burger and easy to make!

What you need:

1 cup uncooked red quinoa
2 cups water
2 green onions (including white part) - chopped
1 shredded carrot
2 eggs
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/8 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
a few teaspoons of oil (I used coconut oil and would definitely recommend it)

Land Ho

Keeping our beach hut building skills up to date we decided to make a quick little shelter from an incoming storm. Scavenging materials is much easier when the islands don't get any visitors.

Proper site selection has to do with gauging the tides and picking a spot where you have to move as little materials as possible.

We built a waist high stone wall for the front and went with classic A frame style. Even lucked out with finding a 6' pallet for the floor!

The entrance was in back and the roof was actually quite nice. If one wanted to stay an hour to work lacing in spruce branches, it would have made a liveable shelter until winter arrived.

How to: A Traditional Maine Lobster Bake

Post lobster bake I am not sure if we should be happy or sad. 

Happy because we had an amazing feast after a very rough day of sailing or sad because we quite literally may have had the best lobster we will ever have in our entire lives to come. I know this sounds like a bold claim but where in the world do they have better lobsters than in Maine? 

Within Maine they have one particular area that is coveted as producing the best lobsters in Maine, yes you guessed it, Ragged Island. Which is where we had found ourselves. Fresh lobsters are the best, no one will argue that, so we literally had to row out to the lobster boat and they handpicked us the delicious creatures right out of that hours catch. Did I mention that it was 40 knot winds that was funneling into the cove where our boat was moored amongst the lobster boats that RJ and our new friend Derek (worked for the lobster boat) had to row through?

Finally cooking the lobsters in a pile of kelp gathered minutes before and thrown on a driftwood fire is the undisputed best way to cook. Enjoy our photo's highlighting how to do a real lobster bake and hopefully someday you to will get a chance to enjoy!
 

Due to the heavy winds and chop in the harbor we had to carry our dinghy around to launch above the lobster boat and get pushed down wind to meet it.

RJ and the stern man rowing back for the lobster boat.

Not drive thru.

Shrink It

With Winter breathing down our necks it is time for live aboards to defend ourselves. We chose to wrap our boat in shrink wrap for our first Winter experience. Unlike boats in storage we use clear plastic in stead of the white to allow some natural light to filter in. The process starts with building a frame work as shown below.

Sailor Jerry

When we launched our boat this past summer, nerves in bundles and staring at our vessel with fingers crossed that it wouldn’t sink, a man came strolling down the dock and welcomed us to the live-a-board community. He introduced himself as Jerry Palazzo. He had those smiling eyes that could instantly put you at ease and a way of conversing that made you feel like you had known him for years. He was known on our docks as “the mayor”.

When we were settled into our slip, he extended an invitation to his boat. At the time we didn’t know “boat protocol” for going to another persons boat; do you knock three times on the side to see if they’re there? Give a little “ahoy matey!” perhaps? We screamed amateurs. Luckily though, when we went over, Jerry and a few friends were sitting in the cockpit and he warmly invited us to come aboard. Jerry handed us a cup with some rum in it and we fell instantly into pace of the ongoing conversation. So began our friendship.

Moving pictures

This is the short video from out recent sail in ME. Of course we didn't take nearly enough footage and many days are missing but you can get the idea from the movie of how it went. Hope you enjoy.

Fall trip from Neto Nomads on Vimeo.

Seguin Island - Day 1 Propeller Wrap Up!

In mid-October, when most people were heading south or prepping their boats for winter, s/v Neto Nomad and crew headed out for our last sail of the year. With frost covered docks shimmering in the early morning sun we cast off our lines and slipped out of Portland Harbor unnoticed by all save a few lobstermen. The crisp morning air gave warning that winter loomed just around the corner but the sun's warmth on our cheeks reassured us it wasn't here quite yet. We still had time for one last adventure.

Dreams of Down East danced in our heads like a beautifully choreographed Martha Graham number, but with time constraints and unpredictable weather we set our eyes on exploring Vinalhaven and Isle of Haut instead. Not a bad second choice. With the ocean promising swell we headed first for Popham Beach to check out a recommended surf spot.

Holding on to Summer

ME Summer from Neto Nomads on Vimeo.

With the first snow falling I went through some random clips from the summer and threw them together. Brings you back to the warmer days.

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!