Living Aboard on Forgeover

Ordinary Extraordinary S01E02

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 17:00:51 +0000

This week we follow the kids on their Aquatic Adventure, and witness another one of the crew entering their teenaged years!

Ordinary Extraordinary - S01E02 Crêptastic Birthday from Tucker Bradford on (https://vimeo.com).

I’m eager for your feedback. What would you like to see more of, less of? Are there aspects of the production that are harder to watch? What did you love? Comment below!

Days to Remember

Fri, 01 Jul 2016 08:10:43 +0000

A few days ago I was told that my dorades were dusty. The next day another person mentioned how dirty my decks were. And yet another person asked me why I had so much crap in my cockpit. All of these criticisms hit me deeply and personally and brought back every single boat insult ever slung my way. I emotionally fled to a perfectly polished tiny cottage where I could live alone in shiny silence with a hand blown glass vase full of pink peonies on the table and not a single crumb on the floor.

Jump for Joy

Wed, 04 May 2016 09:36:04 +0000

We have an odd tradition on Convivia. I would like to believe that it was modeled after a trait I picked up in my wilderness canoeing days, but really , it is probably more just good fortune. We tend to set a day for departure, work our butts off to make that schedule, and then we realize that we have no real imperative to leave. So we postpone a day. This day, is a special kind of day because unlike other chilled out days, we really didn’t expect it (even after many many iterations). So we end up swimming around the boat (because Fatty is often either on deck or hipped and ready) eating popcorn, and generally being a family of extreme leisure. This photo pretty well captures that spirit.

Yard Dogs

Mon, 08 Feb 2016 18:25:56 +0000

Our time in the boatyard was so long and the spectrum of emotions so vast, that I decided to make it into a little slideshow video. Enjoy!

Yard Dog's Christmas

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 01:11:21 +0000

We have been in the boat yard for two weeks now. Things are moving along at the expected pace (slower than I would hope, but reasonable for this oppressive climate). The boat is covered, and has its first coat of primer. The propeller shaft is off, the old swim ladder (which has been held captive by the Monitor for years now) is being removed and welded over. While we have the hull exposed, we are also adding glass around the keel (about 6mm at the widest point) and removing some blisters.

Indonesian Halloween

Sat, 31 Oct 2015 08:44:59 +0000

In every other place that we’ve spent an October 31st, it has seemed like the holiday would at least have been heard of. Port Villa, maybe less so, but they get enough expats and tourists, that maybe someone spilled the beans. And indeed, when Ruby traipsed through the markets with her fairy gown and Vanuatan headdress feather, it was taken as cute, at worst.

Here on Pulau Parang, it is quite clear that our foreign holiday would be about the most mysterious and possibly offensive sort of festivity. So we decided to have a quiet celebration between the two boats (Peregrine and Convivia). Last night we got together (sans Vick, who was feeling ill at the time) and made arepas, and fried eggs, baked potato wedges, and watermelon drinks, while painting each other’s faces, and carving… you guessed it (no you didn’t) watermelons.

GBR 2014 In Photos

Sat, 13 Sep 2014 19:35:11 +0000

I was going to hold these for an epic post about our trip but time seems to have gotten away from us. In lieu of a narrative, here is a little photo essay!

Migrations

Tue, 06 May 2014 01:54:46 +0000

It’s getting cold here. The crew of s/v Convivia has concluded that cold is stupid and, upon concluding that, realized that we don’t have to stand for it. We have a portable life and I have every programmer’s dream boss who said (way back when I was hired) that he didn’t care where I do my work as long as I do it well.

So we have decided to take this portable lifestyle of ours and move to the Great Barrier Reef for the season*. We have to be back for the Logan’s visit in September, which gives us almost exactly 4 months to enjoy the reef. We plan to leave late May or early June (I want to be in the tropics for my birthday, if possible).

Another Post About How Awesome Brisbane is (i know…)

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 02:34:07 +0000

So this just popped up in our back yard. It’s been behind a fence for months now, slowly coming to form. I didn’t pay much attention but today I took the kids over there so Vick could have some space to put the boat back together after last weekend. This is what I discovered.

And some genius solved a problem I had never even acknowledged was a problem. You know those noise makers that they sometimes have at playgrounds. The ones you want your kids to play because it seems indicative of an interest in music, until you realize it’s just their normal desire to make as much noise as possible.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Fri, 20 Sep 2013 14:07:29 +0000

Coffee is very important to us here on Convivia and we’ve expended quite a bit of time and energy, ensuring that we always have good coffee to drink. When we left the US we were aware that AMPs were king and decided to play it safe with a hand grinder. For the most part that grinder has been a joy. I love the ritual of grinding my morning coffee, and really only mind it when we have friends over for coffee and I have to grind a lot more.

A Laundry Tour of the South Pacific

Wed, 07 Aug 2013 05:07:14 +0000

A reader on a women’s sailing group I’m part of asked if it was possible to sail the South Pacific without washing laundry in a bucket. Laundry was much harder for me than being on a boat for 24 days straight, cooking underway, or seasickness, and something I stressed out about far more than the weather, ships, or squalls. I got over my stress about laundry by finding other people, and sometimes machines, to do my washing for me. It was expensive and it was worth it.

Brisbane is Seriously Awesome Folks, Seriously

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 00:14:32 +0000

You have seriously got to be kidding me. I love this city so much I want to dig up the homes of my family and friends and move them all here. Today we went to the Queensland State Library with the kids. We tricked them (yes, I am that devious) by telling them about the Augmented Reality treasure hunt that uses the ipad to find clues. In reality it is the best ruse ever to get kids to follow their parents on a magical tour of the coolest library I have ever been to.

The Nature of Community

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 15:24:21 +0000

I’ve always been a pay it forward kind of guy. I love helping my friends out and I love to build community. Every once in a while I ask for help, and every time it’s hard. I don’t fully understand why, but I do know that I am distinctly averse to receiving generosity. This past week has been a learning experience for me.

It started, I think, when the lights started to flicker. We nursed our failing batteries all the way across the South Pacific but when we got to Bundaberg we just let it go. By the time we arrived in Brisbane they were near dead. Then a few nights before Christmas, when Ceildyh was over for dinner they died for good. We were eating and making merry and the whole boat went dark and silent. I switched us over to the starter battery and we finished the night with light (but no music). The next morning Evan called to let me know that he could help out with some old (but hopefully not as dead as our batteries). Then the sink fell in…

Oooh heaven is a place on Earth

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 03:51:45 +0000

Krister summed it up pretty perfectly over margaritas the other night, “This place is like a joke, it’s like they said let’s take all the money the US spends on the military and spend it on public services.” Nail, meet hammer. Brisbane has free museums, free multi-city-block-long-swimming-lagoon-with imported sand, free public transportation in and around the city center, free bikes to ride, reliable water fountains, tons of live music, and a government mandate that building owners provide public facing art installations. This place is like a joke, and I love the punchline.

Ruby's First year of Cruising

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 02:08:10 +0000

This week we had a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our first year of cruising. A mother on a group that we belong to asked for suggestions for a reluctant soon-to-be-cruising 7 year old. We mentioned it to Ru and asked if she would like to write a letter to this girl and she jumped at the chance. Here’s what she said:

My name is Ruby. I am 8 years old and have been cruising for a year. I left from San Francisco a year ago today with my mom and dad and little brother. I heard that you might be a little worried about cruising and I want to let you know that it is really awesome.

Big Drama in Little La Cruz

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:55:44 +0000

Someone dropped a bomb on the morning net today. We were speeding right through our regularly scheduled broadcast when the voice of Marina La Cruz came on to inform us of a policy change. “The dinghy dock” (which had hitherto for been free) “will now be $5USD/day. We will also be issuing a day pass for the cruisers in the anchorage; $20 for use of the ‘services’ [VIP lounge, showers, etc.]” The net nearly imploded. For a few minutes all you could hear were boos and clicking as every boat that was listening echoed their dissent. $5/day is easily twice the most expensive dinghy dock fee in Mexico. We cleared out of Cabo (the former champion of excessive price) in just a few days, largely because of their API and dinghy dock fees. My mind was racing. Where could we go and still provision and get work done on our boat. Are the tacos in Punta de Mita anywhere near as good?

FAQ #4: Packed In Like Sardines

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:00:44 +0000

Q: What are some of the best things about traveling in close quarters with your family?

A: I get this question phrased in many ways. The most generous and upbeat of which is reflected above in a question from my friend Penny. Other, less positive variations include “Don’t you ever just want to get away.” or “You are so brave” or “I bet you want to throw them overboard sometimes.”

Where I Need to Be

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 22:19:32 +0000

Other than Tucker not going to work it seems like our day to day routines are really normal. Tucker wakes up early with the kids and makes me coffee before he gives me my wake up call. We make a breakfast or two and get dressed for the day. We go about our day doing boat projects or walk to a grocery store, or look for a place to do laundry. The kids play, read, do workbooks, make crafty projects, make messes, play games and video games, go for walks, find parks, climb trees, go to the beach, and visit with friends. All of our meals are at home or packed up as picnics. The pace is really perfect. Ruby has time to sew with my help; to concentrate on her cursive handwriting; or to sit in between Olive and I and give us very specific and serious lessons so that we can become competent Angry Birds players. Olive looks for jobs and fixing projects whenever he can. Today he very seriously threaded buttons onto embroidery thread (really a distraction so I could work with Ruby on her project) and made several strands as gifts for all of us.

It Is In All Of Us

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:46:20 +0000

More than a year ago, when we had bought the boat but hadn’t moved aboard yet I found this print while reading Kind Over Matter.

It says, “it is in all of us to defy expectations to go into the world and to be brave; and to want, to need, to hunger for adventures; to embrace change and chance and risk so that we may breathe and know what it is to be free.” I knew with certainty that we were on the right life path—about to live on our boat while we got ready to travel the world—but I took her message as a huge encouragement. Her prints and her original works are listed on her etsy store and I’ve gone back many times to look and wished that I had a wall for a print. Last week I decided to order an 8x10 print even if I was only going to tape it up on the hanging locker door.

Who Wants My Sh…tuff?

Mon, 09 May 2011 22:59:11 +0000

For the last week or so I’ve been in a terminal velocity free fall of stress. Yes it’s cruising related but probably not what you would think. The stress derives from the notion that I don’t want to own anything (after we drop the dock lines) that we can’t fit in the ManVan or on our boat. I don’t want a storage unit, or a bunch of stuff squirreled away in friends/family’s houses and I don’t want to save anything that I don’t love and expect to dream about regularly while we’re cruising. In fact I want the few possessions that we hold on to to be so significant that I actually consider swallowing the hook in order to be able to use them again. I don’t want to hold on to any sh…tuff.

Heading Home

Sat, 07 May 2011 07:57:46 +0000

Last week we had an unpleasant situation with a guy moving in next door to us. He claimed that he was going to be our new liveaboard neighbor. We would have been distressed if that had been the extent of it, but by the end of the day he had become quite unstable and we were forced to move as far away as possible. (If you are FB friends with me you can read the whole freaky story here.)

Tsunami Report

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:40:35 +0000

It’s 2:30 PST and the majority of the tsunami seems to have come and gone. Reports from around the Bay seem to be marginally more severe than what we experienced but still nothing serious. We observed 2’ walls of water moving at several knots parallel to the Golden Gate Bridge. Just before the tsunami surge hit our breakwater the standing water receded and left the muddy bottom bare. Then the wave(s) hit and created a ton of turbulence, kicking up mud and causing an impressive flotilla of water foul to stream by in parade.

Childhood Experiences… Missing

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 02:00:11 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how the kids’ childhoods will differ from their contemporaries as a result of this wild adventure we’re about to embark upon. Ruby understands that there are many things we will be giving up to go sailing around the world but I don’t think she’s got the context to understand it fully yet. The following are some of the experiences that Ruby and Olive might never share with their peers.

Conserving Water Aboard Convivia

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 13:20:29 +0000

Conserving water has been one of our biggest worries lately. With only 110 gallons of water tankage (plus whatever we can fit in cans on deck), we have a good reason to be concerned.

The average Pacific crossing for a boat of our size is ~21 days. Conservative water consumption for 4 people (adults) is 2 gallons per day per person (or 8 gal/day total). We have been using about 17.5 gallons/day since we moved aboard. At that rate we would have just a little more than 6 days worth of water (sans Jerry Cans).

A dozen ways to make good friends

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 21:24:30 +0000

Say hello to a stranger on the street. If they look interesting and willing to chat walk with them up the block. Tucker met Andrea in Vermont many years ago this way and we had such a great time with her.

Make friends with a friend of a friend. You see someone at a friend’s party and then the next one and so on. At some point, have dinner with the friend of the friend and see what happens.

Home

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 23:46:45 +0000

I wasn’t at home when we were tied into slip A58 in Monterey Harbor. I was homesick. Surprising yes, since I was on my own boat, tied up with my usual dock lines, cooking in my own galley, and sleeping in my own bed. I spent my time in Monterey constantly checking the three forecast areas on NOAA to find our perfect weather window to head north. Again, I was surprised at myself. The trip north is usually hard, wet, and cold. Our boat is in great shape and we could actually (foolishly) cash in Tucker’s retirement accounts and head south for at least a year. I always want to go south, or anywhere warmer than wherever I am. But I wanted to go north, to go home.

Why I Love Boat Life

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 21:01:40 +0000

There are dozens of reasons to love living on a boat. Some adore the gentle rocking as they fall to sleep; some like the gorgeous view from their cockpit and decks; some the ability to take their home on vacation with them; and others cherish the simplicity of living small. I’m sure the list goes on. For me though the thing I love most is the dockside social scene. At first I thought I had just lucked into the world’s best marina but now that we have spent a week in Santa Cruz harbor, I’m starting to believe that there is a universal chattiness amongst sailors.