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.

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).