As most of our friends are Diehard Landlubbers I am adding a section just for you. Here are answers to some common questions.
1. Will you be trailering your boat to Lake Dora when you come home?
No. The boat is too big to be placed on a trailer. The mast is 66 feet above the water line and the boat is 24 feet wide. To haul it out of the water takes a special lift and is quite expensive.
Wonderstruck being hauled out for inspection
Wonderstruck on the hard
2. Aren’t you afraid of pirates?
Pirates are very rare in the waters that we are sailing. We don’t plan on sailing anywhere near Somalia, the Indian Ocean, or areas where pirates are more common (but still rare considering the amount of boat traffic that goes through that area). Our biggest threat is really petty theft. We have to keep the dinghy, the dinghy motor, and other items on the boat either locked up on board or placed inside. We use common sense, are careful of our surroundings, and have fierce guard dogs.
3. How do the dogs do their “business”?
Currently we are in a marina and so we just walk the dogs when they need to go. Once we get going and are at anchor we will have to dinghy the dogs to shore. Eventually we will also get some artificial turf to use when we are underway to use as a “pee pad”.
4. Does the boat have engines? What do you do if there is no wind?
The boat has 2 inboard diesel engines. We can “drive” the boat anywhere we need to go even if there is no wind. The engines make the boat easier to maneuver when docking, anchoring, waiting for a bridge to open or fitting in tight spaces. We won’t go fast, whether under sail or power, but it is about the journey, this isn’t a race.
5. How do you cook on the boat?
The boat has a galley with a 4 burner propane stove, a tiny oven, 2 dorm size refrigerators, 1 dorm size freezer, an outdoor propane grill, and a microwave. We will not go hungry.
6. What about storms?
We watch the weather very carefully and pay attention to weather forecasts. We focus on avoiding storms as much as possible, staying in safe places when there is an anticipated storm or small craft advisory. For longer trips we will wait for a weather window, meaning coordinating our sailing plans with the upcoming 5 day forecast to make sure it is safe. With all our planning certainly weather can be worse than forecasted, or difficult to avoid all together. This is one of the reasons we chose the boat that we did. Wonderstruck is a blue water boat, meaning it is built to cross oceans and is very safe and seaworthy. Wonderstruck can handle much more in terms of wind and waves than the crew will ever want to experience. Plus we have tons of safety equipment on board including a life raft, GPS, Radar, Satellite phone, EPIRB (GPS locater beacon that summons help if we are in trouble), Fire extinguishers, Smoke detectors, Carbon Monoxide detectors, Lifevests for everyone on board (including the dog), lots of LED flashlights and Kim’s leatherman.