Posts

Posted on

Birthdays, Books and “Bbbbrrrrrs” in the Mornings! Ep. 14

Birthdays ~

Late August is always accompanied by cake and candles for both our youngest and I and this year was no different. Ok, a little different ~ see, I don’t have my good stoneware baking pans … or, more accurately, they don’t fit in the boat’s oven! So, we all got pretty good at cutting off the slightly burned cake bottom while maintaining the icing position above! One never knows when THAT skill will be needed again!

Here is our youngest in front of their cake in the cockpit of our boat!

Continue reading “Birthdays, Books and “Bbbbrrrrrs” in the Mornings! Ep. 14″

Posted on

Difference Between Houses and Boats Ep. 12

By the youngest member of the Thalia Crew!

There are lots of differences between living in a house and living on a boat. A boat is always moving because of the wind, water currents and ocean swells. All of the rooms in a boat are smaller. In fact, my room, my bathroom and by brother’s room would fit three times in my bedroom at home. Another big difference is how we get electricity. We buy it at home and we generate it on our boat by running our engine. The last big difference is water. We carry it with us all the time in four tanks. We have to be very careful about not to use too much. My favorite difference is that we can travel in our home.

Posted on

A Day On The Boat Ep. 10

By Zachary:

A day on the boat is much different than a day at a normal house. Starting at the beginning of the day, you wake up in a small bed with a shelf around you and a clothes hammock right above your bed. You get up and get dressed in the small floor space available to you. Then you come out to have breakfast, and find your Dad working on the computer and your Mom still in bed. You beg Dad to make breakfast and he shuts down to make warm cereal, on a good day. And on a bad day, he’d tell you to get some cold cereal, like Cheerios. When Mom and my sibling get up and have some cereal, we leave port or anchor, at an average time of about 10am. Then we set off, sailing usually at about 5 knots for 20-25 miles. During the day, I usually read, write, do school work, or just look at the surrounding landscape. For lunch I might have crackers and peanut butter and/or hot pepper jelly, hummus or a sandwich, depending on what is available. Around mid-afternoon we usually arrive at our destination. It takes a good hour to settle down, at which point we usually, depending on what time it is and where we are, kayak around the area, have dinner and then “veg” out, take a walk ashore, or if it is really late, go to sleep. And that is the end of an average day on the boat!

Posted on

Pay it Forward Ep. 9

This week was a little more mellow then past weeks. We spent most of our time in the Halifax area, taking in two more days of the Busker’s Festival. I think the kids would have been fine if we had stayed for the whole 10 days, seeing the same acts being repeated time and again! We moved down the harbor front away from the immediate hustle and bustle that marked the Maritime Museum wharf to a wonderful area called Bishop’s Landing. Within a short walk was a very substantial grocery store, but even better than that was a Saturday morning farmer’s market at an old brewery building. This market was like none other that we have been to, and we’ve seen a lot of farmer’s markets! It meandered through old passageways inside the basement and two upper floors of the old brewery — it was truly a labyrinth of hallways and oddly shaped rooms. Near the end of our foraging, the path opened up into a sun drenched courtyard, pictured below — looking like something out of an old European village, complete with an string quartet playing Pachelbel’s Canon!

Continue reading “Pay it Forward Ep. 9”

Posted on

Halifax or Bust(ers) Ep. 8

We have had a busy week and have covered some ground … or well, water! After we enjoyed a few more days of the Classic Boat Festival in Mahone Bay Harbor (where we saw more boats anchored, moored, rafted, sailing or just motoring around than we have seen the entire time since arriving in Yarmouth, NS two weeks prior) we took in a few more special destinations within the larger Mahone Bay region of the same name as the town and harbor! We quickly learned that the good sailing is NOT around the Yarmouth/Cape Sable Island and Southern portion of the Southeastern Coast of Nova Scotia! Mahone Bay alone is reported to have some 365 islands to sail around and explore and boasts more lovely seaside towns than we had time to visit!

Here is a picture of the boys in the town of Chester in the Northern reaches of Mahone Bay. This is a very New England town–from the architecture to the summer residents!

After a night in Chester, we had a very windy sail to Big Tancook Island, also within Mahone Bay. This is a year-round island for 115 people and it has their own elementary school! We walked around the rugged cliffs and supported the local ice cream shop before the skies darkened and the wind picked up. Here is a picture of our boat within the anchorage at Big Tancook Island.

Continue reading “Halifax or Bust(ers) Ep. 8”