More reader intervention requested here! We want to know which media form is preferred to you. We’re not doing any long-ish (overnight) passages for the next couple months, so we’re on-line most of the time. And we’d prefer to put more effort into posts that you would reach you best. Do you think it’s too much / too often, etc? Maybe another venue? Are we an annoyance?? Or hopefully we offer you a minimal and desirable mental break from the sometimes brutally miserable winter blues??

We’ve been pushing out speedy pics on Facebook (#SV Fayaway) and Instagram (#realfayaway) and then attempting more creative focus in this blog. And while we have plenty of ideas to post, we may want to reduce the frequency, but place effort into producing more meaningful and interesting content.

What is meaningful to you, in the context of our travels? Would you prefer more content about us, or places, or life aboard? Or a mix as we’ve been doing? More techno content? Improve our crude camera equipment (and photographer) skills? Do more of the same?

We’d really like your opinions! Let the comments stream in! Or send email via the contact box.

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So, now that that’s been said… Here’s a tidbit about SV Fayaway this mid-January week. As we were socked-in Bermuda back in November, we’re now essentially stuck here in Sint Maarten for the same reason. No complaints – just a fact. 40+ knots of wind gusts have been blasting our “protected” anchorage. Fortunately, we sport an effective 15kg Rocna anchor and let plenty of G4 chain out. So, we’re swinging away, but no worries… It’s like riding out a storm, except it’s sunny and warm! And expected for another four days. Again, a new experience to make our lives interesting. One might say we always make lemonade out of lemons!

Dinghy Motor Saga… Continued

When weather is rough, or we go on a passage to another island, we remove the motor, and lift KoryKory by the spinnaker halyard onto the foredeck. This removes some drag, and keeps KoryKory safe from swamping. Our “old” 2hp Honda tips the scales at a whopping 26 lbs. To remove the little motor from the dinghy, I just lift up and into the lazarette with one arm, while holding the lid open with the other arm! However, we messed up this well-oiled system by buying a motor that starts. 😉 Our new 8hp Yamaha starts easily, and this came at a cost: more fat; so much so that it won’t fit into the lazarette. I cannot lift this beast up for storing onto the rail either. I either need to hang out with Tony Horton, or obtain some mechanical advantage! Hmmmm…

A couple days ago, we had a local rigging shop (FKG) guy come by the boat to give a quote to build a hoist for our new motor. We got the quote, but won’t chance heading into the dock for them to do the work. I guess we made some progress in the new dinghy motor saga, but again, it’s too windy to go anywhere. Stay tuned for another Dinghy Motor chapter!

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Kelly is spending much time now with Duolingo. And I have my list of items to fix or install. Otherwise we play Scrabble, she crushes me at cribbage, or we simply read and watch the planes take off from the adjacent airport. We watch the wind speed indicator and try to guess the speed of approaching gusts. 28?, 32? We have a winner at 33!

We walk the deck a few times each day to check for things, anything, that could indicate a change in our home. Halyards tight? Snubber lines chafing? Anything flopping around that shouldn’t be? I should tie that US flag a bit better before we lose it?

We listen to the VHF for local gossip, Coast Guard warnings, and keep tuned to the local FM station for great classic rock music. (It really is a great music station!) We surf the web and social media sites, using too much data. It’s all in our day now. When the wind abates a bit, we’re planning to meet up with friends, hike, and explore more of the island when we can get off our boat. For now we enjoy swinging on this figurative space capsule.

Enjoy your day and… Hug your kids!