Everyone has a story. Each day of our lives is a short story composed of many smaller stories. When living aboard S/V Flapdoodle it is our hope to make our daily stories the best we can, making the most of every opportunity to smile, laugh, […]
All posts filed under “The Boat”
A Sailor went to sea, sea, sea…
Finally! Actually 2 sailors went to sea, sea, sea; to see what they could see, see, see. In April the Captain and his first mate, aboard the good ship S/V Flapdoodle, left the docks four times for some mini-adventures to test out the systems that […]
TAKE 2
Our lives are full of so many “Take 2” opportunities. Often, it can extend to “Take 3”, “Take 4″… you understand, I am sure. Maybe it is the trial and error approach, or the scientific method of hypothesize, experiment, analyze, deduct and then repeat. Or […]
PROGRESS is in the eye of the beholder
Life is never a journey that proceeds on a straight path. We move along doing a dance – two steps forward, 4 steps back, side step, swing and hold…. What seems like progress to some, may seem like misadventure, stagnation, being frozen, procrastination or regression […]
Todo de Nuevo – All Over Again
After a lengthy hibernation period, I return to the Flapdoodle Blog for a 2022 update. With this comes the feeling of, “Todo de Nuevo – All Over Again.” Following four months at Koehler Kraft Boatyard San Diego, doing the engine refit and hull repainting, and […]
A Welcome Visitor
Look at what materialised out of the sea breeze! Many cruising stories document about birds dropping by their boats during their passage. To see a bird while sailing is good luck. To have a bird land on your person, can also bring good fortune your […]
A Man of Many Hats
Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor! It does not take long to realise that Harry is a man of many hats. Some may say “Gilligan” is more fitting. Then we could move onto Skipper, Professor, or Movie Star! Harry is a man who tinkers with many things. […]
Southern Migration
After many farewells, countdowns, some delays and false starts, and with the checklists growing arms and legs; we made the decision to leave American waters. Were we ready to migrate south to Ensenada? Had we accomplished everything that needed to be done? We had bought […]
Birds Eye View of Shelter Island
In the weeks leading up to sailing Flapdoodle to Ensenada, some helium balloons floated near the mast and attached themselves. The crew were so busy that they didn’t attend to the situation straight away. Eventually the balloons escaped leaving the top of the mast wrapped […]
How We Got Here!
When Harry turned 60 in October, 2019 I passed this essay onto some family and friends. Now he is retiring and we are even closer to “Living the Dream” and heading south, to Mexico. I post it here for more eyes to read and more […]
Slow down! Simplify! Set sail!
Happy New Year! This blog has been very challenging to compose, as it has been in my thoughts for a long time and I have written it many times in my mind from different angles. Despite my suffering from information overload, I will forge forward […]
Exercise Deep Freeze
This exercise actually started off as “Exercise Refrigerator.” It could also have been named “Exercise in Patience and Endurance,” “Exercise in Frustration,” “Exercise of Love and Devotion,” or even “Exercise in First Principles.” [How much quicker it would have been if we had done it […]