Sailing

Farley’s Friday: Dog Friends

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Farley here.

Is it possible for a dog to have too many friends? No way.

I run free with Labs, Springer Spaniels, Jack Russels, mixed breeds, Poodles, Retrievers, and Australian Doodles. My best girlfriend is a mix of Pit Bull, German Sheppard and Coon Hound. Her name is Holly, and I go gaga every time I see her, but don’t tell Cali (Jack Russell), because she thinks she’s my girlfriend.

This is my best bud, Jasper. He’s crazy and always gets me into trouble. We were playing on the beach and look what happened to him.

Jasper

I’m the smart one, and I know I have to go for a swim before getting in the dinghy, especially if I look like Jasper does.

He makes a run for the dinghy.

“No, stop!” I bark.

“Are you kidding? They’ll make me get all wet if I stop,” he barks back.

“My alpha human is going to get mad. Don’t jump,” I bark.

Too late. He’s off and leaping. Sand is spraying everywhere. Kristina and Jasper’s human are laughing. Matt is trying to head him off, but alas, Matt missed him.

Into the air he flies, his toes touch the pontoon, and he lands in the bottom of the dinghy.

He turns and looks back at me. He’s laughing. “Matt’s not looking at you. Go for it,” he barks.

I whip around Matt’s leg, bound from the beach, and I’m in too.

Now if only we knew are to start the dinghy . . .

Woof Woof.

 

Keeping Fit While Cruising: Lobster Hunting

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

So many ways to keep fit while cruising – so little time 🙂

If you want to keep fit while sailing either you must sail in crazy weather or you must find other things to do. Me I choose to sail in favourable conditions where I don’t have to exert myself in dangerous situations, so that means I must find other ways to stay in shape.

Hanging out with active friends, all who have different interests, is the best way to find things to do. There’s always someone around to push the gang to get moving.

So this week, the activity to keep fit: Spear fishing for lobster.

Lobster

I’ll just say outright, I really suck at this. In fact I’ve never caught a lobster. My spear likes to head for the sand and rest on the bottom.  My husband and friends all seem to have the skill required.

It doesn’t matter. I can still swim and search. Swimming with fins is great for the calves and quads. Diving until you think you’re lungs will explode is great for the cardio.  The adrenaline rush when you think you see a shark . . . enough said about that.

The salt water bleaches your hair, the mask strap breaks it and the wind tangles it, but hey, you can’t have everything.

Oh, except to eat the delicious lobster.

Thanks for reading . . .

 

Farley’s Friday: Dog on Guard

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

Hello, Farley here.

Sometimes I wonder why my humans don’t listen to me. I know things they don’t know but have a little trouble getting my message across. They just don’t get what all my barks mean.

A case in point. You see me below. Clearly I look concerned.

Farley On Guard

We’ve been deep sea fishing all day. I’m the first one to let everyone know when a fish is on the line.

Zing goes the rod.

I’m up like a shot. “Fish on,” I bark. That get’s everyone’s attention. Human’s get so excited about catching a fish. They’re weird that way. This bark is me telling them the fish is there.

After a long day of fishing, the humans drop the hook and all go for a swim.

“What are you doing?” I bark at them. This bark means don’t go swimming.

“There could be sharks here,” I bark again. This bark means I really don’t want you to go swimming. There are sharks around.

No one listens. They all go swimming. Then one of them notices there is blood on the stern of the boat and decides to wash it off.

“Stop,” I bark. This bark means you are going to attract the big guy. But, hey do they listen to me? Nope. At least all humans are back on board at this point.

Now guess what happens. The man in the grey suit visits us. I swear is wasn’t more than a few drops of blood, but within minutes the shark was at the stern of the boat.

“Step back,” I bark, and this time they listen. Now it wasn’t the same shark that bumped my kayak. I know this because it was too small. No big deal really for a shark experienced do like me.

Somehow, I have to get my humans to stop swimming and to learn my barks.

Woof Woof.

Farley.

Deep Sea Fishing

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

I’ve been writing about how to keep fit while cruising. But what if we’re done with exercise for the day?

When the winds are too low to go windsurfing and it’s too hot for beach yoga or beach running, a little deep sea fishing goes a long way to keep us entertained and fed. Nothing like a sea of flat water and a little breeze to make fishing a fun experience.

Here we caught a wahoo, and you can see by the size of it, it fed our whole gang.

Matt and the Lure

When we checked into the Bahamas, we received a fishing license as part of our cruising permit, allowing us to fish in the Bahamian waters. We make sure we know what we are allowed to catch and what is in season, and only catch what we can eat.

It’s an amazing way to live off the sea.

Thanks for reading . . .

Keeping Fit While Cruising: Windsurfing and Kiting

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 8 Comments

Sometimes it’s just too windy to do anything but give in and take up a wind sport. Running or yoga on the beach is not fun when sand is blasting in your face.

Two good choices for a cruiser are windsurfing or kiting. Both are portable sports, in need of wind and a place to launch.

My husband and I windsurf. Many of our friends kiteboard. Both sports provide enough exercise to add to the overall fitness program and are exciting.

WS and Kite

We often windsurf and kite at the same beach, making the atmosphere festive.

We all have dinghies and each are used for chase/rescue boats. Although I shouldn’t say rescue, it’s really a courtesy pickup if you can’t sail back to the beach.

Once in while, one of us has to do the walk of shame, and walk the board back to the launch spot. We’ve all done it, and it’s better than needing the courtesy pickup.

Any other ideas for keeping fit? Let me know.

Thanks for reading . . .

Cruising and Keeping Fit: Beach Running

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

Last week I wrote about beach yoga. This week it’s beach running. Without a regular routine, or access to a gym, keeping fit on a sailboat can be a challenge.

Today, I was motivated by an amazing beach run.  I ran with three other people and covered 5 kilometers. We followed the run with sit-up, push-up and squats. There’s always a cheerleader around to push us to do more.

The photo below is of the sound side beach on Stocking Island. It’s the best beach in the Exumas to run on. I time my runs for low tide, or as near to low tide as I can get.

You can see how the crowds make it hard to find some clean sand 🙂

Kristina, a friend and Farley running for happiness.
Kristina, a friend and Farley running for happiness.

If you’re traveling down the Exuma island chain, here is the running scoop.

Highbourne Cay:

Has a long beach but it can be steep. Running at high tide is a slog, so I try to avoid it.

Norman’s Cay:

Road running here. No traffic or wildlife to worry about. You can fit in a 15 kilometer run if you want. The road is shaded if you go early enough.

Compass Cay:

Beach running here, but you need to run several times in order to get enough distance in.

Hawksbill Cay (North Anchorage):

Beach running here. You need to cross the island on a trail that required shoes. The rocks are sharp. After fifteen minutes, you’ll reach one beach. The next beach north is a long flat beach. You have to walk in water from south beach to north beach, so you might not want to go at high tide. The beach is worth the effort to get there.

Staniel Cay:

Road running here. You need to be careful of local dogs. I don’t bring my dog with me when I run here. The local pups seem to have an issue with unknown dogs but not with people.

Stocking Island:

Nuff said about the beach here. You see the photo above. There is also trail running on this island if the tide is too high, but then you have to wear shoes.

I’ve found lots of other cruisers to run with, so if you want a running partner you just have to look around the anchorage.

I’d love to hear what you do to keep fit while traveling.

Thanks for reading . . .

Alarms Needed: Writing Takes Over Life

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 8 Comments

I don’t know if this happens to others, but when I’m writing my entire brain focuses on what I’m doing, and it tunes out ‘real life.’

This can be a problem while writing and living on a sailboat.

It’s shocking, I know, but sometimes I have responsibilities on the sailboat. My husband, Matt, could be off windsurfing, playing volleyball, or spear fishing, and I’m on the boat writing.

I might need to turn off the water maker when the tanks are full, turn of the generator when the batteries are charged, or re-angle the solar panels when the sun moves – which it has a tendency to do during the day.

Matt learned that when I’m writing, there is a slight chance I could forget my duties. And yes, he learned from experience. His solution: he sets an alarm.

Now you’d thing that would be enough, but it’s not. He leaves me a note for what the alarm means.

I’ve learned to read the note as soon as the alarm goes off and attend to the task right away. If I sit back and start writing without doing what I was supposed to do, there’s a good chance I forget.

Sometimes the boat needs take precedence over writing, but I still love to write while I’m on my catamaran.

Thanks for reading . . .

Farley’s Friday: Sharks Go Bump On The Sea

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Farley here.

Man, I’m a brave dog. The shark came at us, and I got aggressive.  Got to protect Kristina. That’s my job! I could’ve taken it if Kristina had let me. But let me back up a bit.

I like kayaking with Kristina. She likes to paddle me around, and let’s face it, I like to sit and watch the scene slide by.

We paddle (and by we, I mean Kristina) from deep water to shallow water. I know this to be true because the water changes from dark blue to light blue and I see the sandy bottom.

I see a ray and get distracted for second, but not for long. Another shape is to our left.

Shark

The shark aims for the ray but then sees us at the same time I see it. It hunches its back and turns on us. Here is where we get lucky. Going from deep to shallow water causes the water to bunch up and create big waves. A wave hit the back of our kayak right when the shark hit the front. The kayak turned sideways and the shark glanced off the bow.

I jump out of the cockpit and onto the bow. It’s a bit slippery up here, but I don’t care. I’m on a mission.

“Get away, get away,” I bark repeatedly and am surprised when the shark doesn’t listen.

Kristina grabs my harness and she yelps – not me. I’m too brave to yelp. I guess I hurt her leg when I jumped forward, and she was yelping at the pain (not in fear – she says).

The shark turns at us and hunches its back again. This time it doesn’t bump us. It swims in a circle and does its dance one more time. I growl to let it know I’m serious. Mr. Grey Suit swims about twenty feet away and stands off. I scared him! Ha!

Kristina is holding my harness and having trouble paddling. She keeps telling me to sit. Eventually, I get the message and settle down. She paddles us to safety and away from the beast.

What type of shark? I don’t have a clue. Big and grey.

Happy New Year.

Woof Woof.

Thanks for reading . . .