A Summer Saturday on the Boat

Memorial Day Weekend

After many, may days of our typical "May Grey" weather, we lucked out with some sunny weather on the tail end of Memorial Day weekend. Jared had to work on the actual Monday holiday, but we managed to get a day out on the sailboat and at the docks on Sunday. Although the weather was beautiful and the conditions mellow out on the water, it was definitely a "miss" day with both boys on the boat. I guess you can't win 'em all, but we had a lot of tears and fisticuffs from both of them during our "pleasure cruise," making our outing considerably less pleasurable. Somehow everyone snapped out of it once we got back to the dock--the mini marine biology lab that Jared found growing on the bottom of one of our kayaks certainly made for an exciting distraction. Note to all selves: partake in regular bottom-cleaning of all vessels kept in the water, including kayaks! On the plus side, the boys got an up-close viewing of crabs, sea slugs, worms, and all manner of underwater flora and fauna.

Sailing with the Sandersons!

We were able to take Ian, Krista, and Forest out for a quick jaunt on Prudence this weekend. Luckily, we had clear skies and beautiful late-afternoon winter light. We had just about no wind by the time we headed out, although the water was a bit sloppy still from a breeze that had briefly kicked up a couple hours before. But we motored around a little bit, making sure to say hello to the seals snoozing on the "seal buoy," until we found a little patch of wind that we could sail in for about twenty minutes or so. I'm really glad that Ian, Krista, and Forest were able to check out Prudence a little bit and that we were able to share some of the things that we love with them. Now next time we need to make sure to spot some dolphins! Forest was anxious to take the helm, and he made a fine Captain indeed.


On a side note, Levi annihilated an entire package of Trader Joe's seaweed snacks along the journey. It was kind of disturbing yet intriguing. I suppose they must be good for him, and they were certainly a fitting snack for the occasion.

The Boys On the Boat

Some candid shots from Jared's phone of the boys aboard Prudence on a lovely, sunny, October morning in the harbor. We slept on board Friday night and woke up to sunny skies and had a nice relaxing breakfast of coffee brewed on board and Mexican pastries. Ahhhh.

Peek-a-boo

Going Aloft

My friend Calder, his wife Starr, and their two-year old daughter, Stella came out from Utah to visit us this weekend. Calder and I have been friends since about elementary school, and have managed to keep in touch all these years. He went sailing to Mexico years ago, and is currently rebuilding a Bristol Channel Cutter that is stored in his barn, so when we got Prudence he seemed like the perfect person to come aboard and help Jared with some small projects. Jared has been wanting to climb the mast and check things out, and since he's also a rock climber Calder brought along one of his climbing harnesses and winched Jared right up to the top of the mast. I love how Jared looks like he's clutching on to the mast in these photos :) Our anchor light isn't working, so he's going to have to get back up there one of these days and get to work. We had a great time with the Stratfords, beautiful sailing weather, and Stella and Parker played really well together. It was a fun visit, hopefully we'll all be back out on the water together again some day!

A Sailing Adventure

We got to take everyone out for a sail one afternoon, although we had pretty cold, grey weather. We had our usual Prudence luck, though, and saw a bunch of dolphins, which was exciting for the kids (well, probably for all of us)--we even saw a couple of baby dolphins! Unsurprisingly, Parker and Josie both eventually fell asleep! All of the kids were great little sailors, Chiara included--she was so sweet and mellow the whole time.

Sailing With the Prindles

The "other" Prindle family--Nate, Lisa, and Alex--joined us for a fun-filled Saturday aboard Prudence this weekend. We lucked out with just perfect weather for a family day out--warm, sunny, clear, and just the right amount of wind to move along nicely while keeping the boat flat enough for everyone to lounge around up on deck while we were underway. This was Lisa's first time aboard a sailboat, so we wanted to make sure that she left with some good memories! True to form, Prudence took us right through a nice big pod of dolphins on their way to feed, so we all had that moment of excitement as we watched them all swim right past the bow of the boat. After sailing out and back for about two hours, we anchored in the harbor and enjoyed some snacks, music, swimming for the brave, and a dinghy ride for the boys. We tied the dinghy on back and Parker and Alex sat back there munching on pistachios for a while :) All in all, it was a perfect day, just the kind of thing that we were hoping to do with our family aboard Prudence. 

Sunset Sail

We finished off yet another lovely summer weekend with a sunset cruise. Now that we've had the boat for about a month and a half, we've been out sailing in a variety of conditions, and on this evening we got to practice sailing with no wind :) There really wasn't a lick of wind, and while I always thought it would be nice not to heel too much, it turns out that sailing without wind can be kind of frustrating and uncomfortable in its own ways! This was a beautiful evening, though, and we went out as far as we could manage while munching on chips and salsa, then turned back for the harbor just as the sun was going down. Parker pulled his usual "crash out asleep on the boat" routine, and even stayed asleep the whole way home, into his bed, until he woke up twelve hours later rested and refreshed :)

Sailing With Niki and Dee

We are really excited to share all of our fun experiences on Prudence with friends and family, so we were happy to have Dee and Niki join us for a Saturday afternoon sail. It was a bit windier than we would have liked for a casual family day out, so we experimented with sailing with only the jib, which worked out fine. We saw some dolphins, Niki took the helm, Dee snuggled with Parker, and then we enjoyed a delicious bottle of Navarrouge once we returned to the dock. The only thing that was missing was a lovely steak dinner and dessert in the cockpit to top it all off! Next time!! 

Happy 4th of July!

When we were making the difficult decision to buy our new sailboat, Prudence, I don't think I took into account too much the fact that we were buying her right at the start of Summer. However, we've been lucky to be able to enjoy the boat, the dock, and the dinghy so much at this time of year, since the weather has been beautiful. We got to spend the Fourth of July down in the harbor yesterday, doing some little boat jobs and cleaning before heading out on a dinghy adventure with the boys. Parker is learning how to drive the dinghy, and he'll definitely have it figured out in no time. Pretty cool for a four year old, eh? The Oceanside Yacht Club puts on a dinghy parade for the Fourth; we missed the parade, but saw some of the funny decorated dinghies as they headed back to their slips. Parker really wants us to decorate our dinghy next year--we'll at least be sure to catch the full parade next time! The City of Oceanside doesn't do a fireworks show off the pier anymore, but Camp Pendleton still does, and we were able to hang out on the boat at the slip last night and watch the show right from the decks of Prudence. So cool! Now we will have things better figured out for next year's Fourth of July. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a fun holiday!