Sailing Blogs Updated Today

As promised, on slow creative days on land I'm just going to list the blogs that were updated today from my list.  I figure that nobody wants to look through a list of 91 (and growing) blogs to see what was updated today.  Of course more sane people would just follow a couple of blogs.  But I like to imagine I'm providing a valuable service to somebody !

Favorite List blogs Updated 07/31/11

Attainable Adventure Cruising
Boat Bits
Interview With a Cruiser      not a new interview though - so don't get too excited :)
For As Long As It Takes
Lucey Blue   
Pale Moon Dove
Sailing Adventures of Dream Catcher
Sarf & West
Sailing Cynus III Around the World
S/V Eyoni
S/V Third Day
Tiny House Blog
Twice in a Lifetime
Watery Tails
Windtraveler
Sen's Sekai II
Zero to Cruising!

Got the favorite list back

So the computer guy finally got done typing his favorite list back in because he didn't have a backup of it.  Yes - IT is my profession.  And yes, the idea for trying to keep a list of 90 sailing blogs made for a lot of work retyping :)  but I'm a glutton, and it seemed like a popular page - more popular by far then my posts according to the stats - so it's back  

he goes one way

Not really much new to post because of that, but a couple pictures taken from outside.  I see the cruisers posting pics of wildlife, and tropical plants.  So in lieu of me being out there - I will post boring pictures from animals on lands - and boring flowers.  You're welcome :)

then he goes the other

On a side note - it looks like I'm going to get to join in some sailboat racing on a Y-Flyer.  So that'll be exciting for me!

and for no real reason - flowers :)

Interesting Documentary

Land life keeps wanting to mess with me!  If I can't be on a boat, at least I could have more time to spend on my incredible blog, with my thousands of readers.  But alas, tonight will be brief.  Maybe I'll just do short recaps of recent posts from blogs on the favorite lists, when I can't come up with my own material.  At least you'll be assured of actually learning something, or enjoy some good writing; all things severely lacking from my own posts.


The movie link that I have so rudely pilfered from Cheap Oars' blog (A blog following a young man with dreams like my own - but with sufficiently more time ahead of him then me!) is Hold Fast.  I found this movie to be very interesting.  Following 4 young adults, from not having a boat, to restoring a boat (the Pestilence), and then sailing it.  I enjoyed it thoroughly myself - although others might not.  It is a full length movie (documentary) so you will need over an hour to watch it.  So find a rainy day, where you have plenty of battery life, and a good fast connection and have a watch of it!

Possible to Liveaboard near Cincinnati?

I've become more inspired recently about the possibility of living onboard locally (days after being depressed about my boat owning prospects - can anybody say bipolar?).  I was doing my almost daily perusing of various boating sites, and I thought to myself; I wonder if there are liveaboards in the area?  I know some of the local lakes have some houseboats, but they also drop the water level drastically in the winter (flood control), and I don't think the lakes are open.   So I thought to myself (usually the only person that will listen to me), let's take a look on the river - probably doesn't freeze as easily.

I looked online at some of the marinas that were listed, and some of them even said they welcomed liveaboards.  I could feel the excitement building.  Is it possible to sell the house, and live locally while working, building up my sailing kitty?  So I inquired at a few places and yes. It's true liveaboards aren't shunned everywhere.  The first place I actually got a response from said they still had a few liveaboards, but the number at fallen off in the last 5 years or so.  I guess the lifestyle isn't for everybody.  Of course - this isn't tropical liveaboard conditions.  We are talking about Ohio - and freezing temperatures in the winter.  But I am not deterred!  Yet :)  Give me the first winter on a boat in Ohio and we may be talking again.

Here are a couple of the Marinas I looked at (links to the marinas are in the picture captions).

Four Seasons

Four Seasons Marina:  The picture up top is off this also

• Dock electricity, telephone service and water hook-up
• Wireless Internet
• Gas dock with convenience store
• Private showers
• Coin-operated laundry room
• Ship's Store - Marine supplies, apparel, groceries and beverages
• Dock attendants
• Full marine service at Sea Ray of Cincinnati
• Full pump-out service

Also it has a couple restaurants, a bar, and a volleyball court.  It sounds like it might be a bit of a party place.  But I'm going to head down and take a look. See if I can find the liveboards there and ask some questions.

Riverside Marina

   Riverside Marina:  

Wet Storage: $36.00 per ft per season

Winter Storage: $22.00 per ft per season

Dry Storage: Includes launching - Starting at $595 per season. 

Dockside electric & water (additional fees) 

Fuel Dock

In-out service

Live aboards welcome

                                                                                      

 I did not hear back from this one yet, but I'll still head down and check it out.  It isn't cruising necessarily, but if I find the right boat, and can liveaboard it while getting my finances ready I think that's a good start.  Plus I'll BE ON A BOAT!!! :)

A Couple links for beginners

I'm going to keep this one quick today - been a busy day on land :( 

The guy that I'm going to bum some sailing rides from sent me a couple links for any beginners out there like myself.   The first site is a how-to on various sailing skills needed.  Rest assured I will be going through this site thoroughly.  Maybe that's why he sent me the links.   He doesn't want some idiot on his boat that doesn't know what to do.

An Introduction to the World of Sailing

The other site is a rope tying site.  The neat thing about this one is it has animations for how to tie the various knots. I think this will be very useful. At the class I took, the instructor had about 15 minutes to go over various knots.  And with 12 of us crammed in the store trying to watch the knot tying, it didn't work out so great.  But with this site, I can practice (even if it's with a couple shoelaces) tying the various knots.

Animated Knots


Well I'm off to super-exciting land chores.  Or maybe I'll just go to Yachtworld and do a little dreaming.  See what kind of boat I can get and drop in a marina on the Ohio River.  Hmmmm..  maybe the dream will happen sooner then I think :)

Local Sailing Clubs

If you've read this blog at all you already know that I am stuck on land, and boatless.  I know, it's a tragic story that should not befall a kind soul such as myself.  But since that's where I find myself currently, it's time to start figuring out how to get this landlubber some sailing action.  A guy I met during the one class I took has offered to take me along with him when he goes.  I think I will take him up on that as often as I can.  He will be trying during the weekdays - so nobody go ratting me out to my boss!   Unfortunately this past week it has been in the high 90's all week, and not a whisper of wind.  He doesn't yet have a slip for his boat, so we'll have to do the whole trailer thing, and he didn't think it was worth the hassle of sitting in a lake with no wind.  Hopefully the wind will once again visit Ohio soon, and I join can him.

Another option I'm looking into, and one that I've had a few people recommend to me, is to volunteer to crew (or at the vary least be rail meat) during local sailing club races.  So with that in mind I headed out to the almighty Google to look for some clubs in the area.

This lake is a little over an hour from my house.  It's 5260 acres, with no HP limit (I saw a big ole Cigar boat on there during my class), so there are some obstacles here and there.  But it seems pretty lively, and there are quite a few sailors on this lake.

BLSA Website

Cowan Lake Sailing Association

The lake is smaller, only 700 acres.  But it's also only 30 minutes from my house, and has a 10HP limit on the lake. 

CLSA Website

Caesar Creek Sailing Association

This is bigger then Cowan, at 2,830 acres. It's about the same distance as Cowan, but does not have a HP limit.


CCSA Website

Hueston Sailing Association

A small, 625 acre lake about 40 minutes from the house.  10 HP limit on this lake as well.



HSA Website








So I emailed all 4 of those clubs just to get some initial information.  And 3 of the 4 almost emailed me back instantly.  Sailors are a very welcoming community it seems.  So it looks like I'm going to have the opportunity to go be rail meat fairly soon.  I figure even as I'm sitting there adding my sufficient amount of weight to the boat, I can pick up on how the boats are being sailed.  Maybe I can even become a regular crew member for the races.  If that works out well, I'll probably crew all racing season next year as well.  At that point both of the kids will be off to college, and then it may be time to think about moving to a boat.  At least that's my best case scenario dream!

That's a lot of Blogs

It's going to be a quick one tonight (I hear the sigh of relief - you are welcome!). I like reading about the experiences of other people, and look for other blogs all the time.  So I look at the links people put on their sites, and go through a lot of them.  Obviously this is a man with a lot of time on his hands!    I've decided one thing - people really like to blog :)

So I went through the various lists on the other sites and put a list of sailing blogs on my Favorite Links.  I came up with 74 blogs that have been updated within the last few months or so. The blogs are written by all sorts of people. There are couples out there, families out there, single guys and gals, pets on board. Big boats, small boats, catamarans, monohulls, and even a powerboat or two thrown in.  Basically I think that no matter what you want to do with a boat and water, you can find somebody out there with a blog and some really good advice!

As promised, I'll leave this brief.  You have a lot of other, much more informative blogs to get to!