I met fellow photographer Aubri, owner of Pink Sky Photography about a year ago while her and her family were still living in Naples. Jereme and I quickly became good friends with her and her hubby, and were super bummed to see them move back to Michigan several months ago.
This past weekend, Aubri was in town for work and luckily stayed with Jereme and I for a few nights. Although we didn’t get to spend much time together because she was busy photographing a wedding and a full family session, we somehow managed to sneak in a little mini-shoot with Jer and I down at the City Dock before catching a bite to eat.
As many photographers (and I’m sure moms alike) know all too well, we oftentimes find ourselves almost always behind the lens, but hardly ever take the time to step in front of it ourselves. As much as I love photographing Jereme (and Oliver’s) handsome faces, it’s nice to have some photos of the three of us once in awhile too. And to get those from a super talented photog friend? Bonus!!!
Well, needless to say, I am absolutely in L-O-V-E with this sneak peek Aubri posted! It is SO us! I cannot wait to use some of these photos on the blog, our holiday card, probably a large canvas, etc. etc. etc.
Thank you Aubri!
Pink Sky Photography is located in Southeast Michigan… Hey Michiganders, be sure to book Aubri for your next session!!! She’s freaking awesome!
>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing.
…Learn more about us and our sailing adventures.
When cruising on a sailboat, having a dinghy is pretty much non-negotiable. If there isn’t a dock or marina, and your boat is anchored or moored, a dinghy is really your only link to land.
Luckily, our boat s/v LAHO came with a West Marine RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) dinghy and a 2007 8HP Yamaha Outboard motor.
>>A quick fun fact about us storing our dinghy flipped upside down on deck… Oliver thinks this is his own personal tiny little dog house. Early on, he discovered this shade sanctuary, and we often have to pry him out from under it on hot days and bring him below deck.
 ^^maiden voyage where we strapped the dinghy on deck + haven’t moved her since.^^ Would you believe we’ve owned our boat for about six months and haven’t even remotely tried using the dinghy since we relocated it from the dinghy davits to the deck during our maiden voyage from St. Pete to Naples in May?
Heck, we don’t even know if the Yamaha outboard motor even works? Time to dust off that dinghy and test the motor too!
So this weekend, Jereme and his buddy Chris got to work testing both. They inflated the dinghy with a foot pump and used the main halyard to lift it off the boat. Good news! The dinghy is in great condition and really just needed to be inflated and cleaned.
Then they got fresh gas for the motor and put the motor on the dinghy. And tried starting it. Nothing! 🙁
After a few attempts at starting it, they gave up and took everything back out of the water.
But have no fear! …Jereme and Chris were not worried in the slightest. They used the halyard again to hoist the motor off the boat. And brought home the outboard to tinker with it in the comfort of our garage.
And after an hour or so of motor-tinkering (and Chris taking one for the team and blowing out the fuel filter, checking the spark plugs, etc.), it worked like a charm! What what! Thank you Chris for your superb expertise! I seriously love when things go this smoothly. The tilt and steering needed to be lubed up as well because they were seized.
^^pretty crafty little setup in the garage!^^
(PS – I just went to cross this off the project list and it wasn’t ever a list item. bummer.)
>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing.
…Learn more about us and our sailing adventures.
In emergency situations, there are certain procedures to follow to ensure prompt response to your need for help. There are three distinct phrases that you might hear on a VHF radio, and they all relate to safety…
MAYDAY – is the distress signal, and requires the most urgent response. This signal is only to be used when a person, or boat is threatened by grave or imminent danger, and requires assistance.
PAN-PAN – (pronounced pahn-pahn) this signal is used to signal urgent information, such as when someone has fallen overboard, or a boat is drifting into the shore or a busy shipping channel.
SECURITE – Is the safety signal. This is used to transmit information about the safety of navigation. For instance, if a large commercial vessel is coming through a narrow channel, this signal would be used. Can also be used to transmit weather information, such as when a powerful storm system is approaching.
Last week, I tried to be all cute and go bloggin a “mayday” post about how the inside of our boat was a total mess, and then, of course, the very next day we have a stupid seacock break. 🙁
That’ll teach me!
Don’t worry, we didn’t sink the boat. But it could’ve been bad.
On Saturday, Jereme was working on the head re-plumbing project, and part of doing so included installing a new hose onto the seacock for the raw water intake because the toilet uses raw sea water to flush. This particular (original) seacock has always been a little difficult to operate and a little loose. Jereme fitted the new hose on the seacock (which was in the “closed” position at the time), then opened it up…and it worked fine (toilet flushed, etc. etc.).
But then Jereme noticed that there was a tiny little drip where the new hose attached to the seacock so he tried tightening the hose and clamps a bit more. Unfortunately, that didn’t solve the tiny drip.
So, Jereme needed to disconnect the new hose in order to be able to reattach it better. He closed the seacock and took the hose off, all the while knowing that there would be some water still in the hose line. After he disconnected the hose, a good amount of water flowed out. BUT DIDN’T STOP!!! He immediately realized that the water was coming from the seacock and not the hose! CRAP!!! And tried desperately to wiggle the seacock handle open and shut, and nothing! Notta! Zilch! 🙁
He quickly put his hand over the hole to plug it. Talk about a major OH SHIT! moment when you realize water is coming into the boat, your hand is plugging the hole, it’s 5PM on a Saturday night, and you’re alone on the boat. Awesome.
So…
Jereme decided to put the hose back on the seacock and clamp it again, knowing that a teeny tiny drip leak was a hell of a lot better than a massive seacock leak. I showed up shortly after this little ordeal and we called the closest haul-out marina, but of course they are closed until Monday.
…Looks like we’ll be hauling out the boat pretty soon to get it fixed. Awesome. Just what we wanted to do.
>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing.
…Learn more about us and our sailing adventures.
Posted in Boat Life, Boat Projects, Sailing BlogTags: Best Sailing Blog, Boat Projects, Broken Seacock, Cruising Blog, Endeavour, Haul out, Head Renovation, Laho Wind, LahoWind, Removing Sewage Hoses from Sailboat, Replumbing the Head, Sailboat Projects, Sailing Blog, Sailing Couple, Seacock, Sewage Sailboat
But that’s okay. We’ll take what we can get.
Now that it’s officially “pumpkin” season, bring on all of my favorites! …Starbuck’s pumpkin spice latte, Sam Adam’s Octoberfest, Trader Joe’s pumpkin ice cream (or any TJ pumpkin products – they’re all good), pumpkin bread, pumpkin butter, pumpkin cream cheese, okay you get the point. 😉
Fall is BY FAR my favorite season (even though we live in florida and don’t really get the so-called “full experience”). And since we don’t get to see leaves change or feel the cool, crisp October temps like everyone else up north, a pumpkin patch is always our next best bet to help get in the spirit.
We decided to take a teeny tiny break from boat projects for one evening last week to swing by the local church’s pumpkin patch (it took a lot of convincing to get *someone* in the pumpkin pickin’ mood, but he finally came around). We ended up with one perfect pumpkin addition for the house and a few cute photos too!
Happy Fall ya’ll!
>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing.
…Learn more about us and our sailing adventures.
Posted in Boat Dog, Other, Sailing BlogTags: Cruising, Cruising Blog, Cruising Photography, Endeavour, Fall, Laho Wind, LahoWind, Naples Sailing, Photography, Pumpkin Patch, Pumpkin Photos, Pumpkins, Sailing Couple, Sailing Dog, Sailing Photography, Sailing Photos, Sailing the Caribbean Blog
Our quaint little sailboat is in shambles. 🙁
…Probably the result of too many concurrent boat projects.
Forget food or water. The galley is Jereme’s full-blown work bench at the moment.
The v-berth is a total biohazard clean-up zone. Yikes!
^^major bleach cleaning action after removing the holding tank and hoses.^^
Wanna sit down and relax? Forget it! An entire wall/cabinet section from the head is hanging in our main cabin.
^^note the dryer sheets sticking out of the AC vent. nice touch.^^ And the head. Well, it’s just the root cause of everything else.
^^since I snapped this photo, all new hoses and the new toilet have been installed!^^
…BUT!!! I will say the total head re-plumbing+new tank+new toilet project is *this* close to being complete. I can hardly stand it. 🙂
Man will we be thrilled to get this place back in order soon.
>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing.
…Learn more about us and our sailing adventures.
Posted in Boat Life, Boat Projects, Sailing BlogTags: Best Sailing Blog, Boat Projects, Cruising Blog, Endeavour, Head Renovation, Laho Wind, LahoWind, Removing Sewage Hoses from Sailboat, Replumbing the Head, Sailboat Projects, Sailing Blog, Sailing Couple, Sewage Sailboat
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“My soul is full of longing
for the secret of the sea,
and the heart of the great ocean
sends a thrilling pulse through me.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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