Things We Will Not Miss...Or Will We

We are a marathon couple. Running, like sailing, is a big part of who we are. It's always been hard to run outside in Minnesota during the time of year I call the LONG season. It's not so much the snow, but the cold. OMG! The cold creates all kinds of problems.

Last week I took a tumble down our deck stairs. It was really more like a bounce. One moment I was shoveling treads; the next, I was bouncing my way down the slick stairs at a rapidly increasing pace. I hit my lower back and my tailbone on six out of 12 treads before coming to a breathless stop. I have to say, injuring your tailbone has to be one of the most painful injuries of all time. I carted my battered bottom to the clinic for evaluation. My Doc put me through the rigors, bend this way, walk that way, push, prod. He was thorough. He told me that I was bruised and swollen. He said I would heal in time, but mentioned the words, "It could take months due to your age". He suggested that I take a break from running until I heal. He told me it would hurt to run; he was right. I've been running with the hope that the movement will help me heal faster. Instead, all I'm getting out of it is a pain in the ass! Every step feels like a hot poker is being shoved into my tailbone. After a mile or so, the burning goes away and it's just a poker doing the jab jab, jab jab, jab jab, to the cadence of my Hoka's hitting the pavement. I can't run my usual pace and I can't run far. Why do I do this to myself? I don't know how to answer this. I'd like to believe that it's fortitude even though I know it sounds like stupidity.

Our back deck

When we head off to live aboard Mystic, our 35 foot Alberg, we plan to head to warm water and tropical temps. We won't have the snow and ice and the extreme cold to create misery that bring us to our knees (or tailbones in my case). As I sit upon a heating pad each evening, nursing my wounds, I contemplate the thought of spending a winter away from the Midwest. There will be no shoveling, No layered clothing or spikes on our shoes when we run. We won't have to warm our cars for 20 minutes while we scrape our windows. There will be no frozen pipes, no need to spread salt, no potholes or black ice.

Yet, as I think about how different it will be, I realize that everything has it's benefits as well as it's drawbacks. For example, our runs will have to be planned around anchorages and our ability to go ashore. There will be no snowboarding, no gatherings with friends at Mad Jaxx pub. We won't spend frigid evenings curled up in front of our fireplace with steaming Irish coffee. We will not smell the cleanest, purest crisp air that comes with those extreme negative temperatures. We won't hear the special squeaky sound that snow makes when you walk on it at twenty below. We will not meander through empty streets with snowflakes the size of silver dollars blanketing us in a beautiful white silence; making everything fresh and clean. Odds are, we will not see the Northern Lights. The truth is, there are a lot of great things that we have the opportunity to experience during the Great White North winters. We will definitely miss many of them. It's a good thing I like the feeling of nostalgia as much as I like the excitement of new adventures.

MN Winter Landscape

The Ice Project

Hudson, WI Hot Air Affair

Snowboarding at Welch Village, MN

Taking a break at Mad Jaxx, Welch Village, MN

Anchoring Peace of Mind - Our New Mantus

Sailor Sam's, a marine products store, sent me an email thanking me for my recent order. I did not order anything, however; once I opened the email, it was obvious that Dave was the big spender.

He'd bought an anchor. For the record, we already have five anchors. When I asked him why we needed another anchor he dodged the question with the statement, "I bought us Peace of Mind, because we need THAT."

An anchor can be, and often is, a lifeline. Dave tells me he's had more than one bad experience with anchors not setting or holding during big changing wind. I asked for an example. He shared an experience he had aboard our 23 foot Coronado, Keewatin, while he was sailing north of Captiva Island in Florida. He was running ahead of a thunderstorm and sought refuge in a gunkhole. As he rounded a blind corner to enter the anchorage, he realized that four boats were already inside. There was no room for him. He was forced to anchor immediately, while still in high wind and couldn't get the CQR plow anchor to bite into the hard sand. Keewatin was slowly being driven into the other boats. Eventually, Dave was able to throw a Danforth over the stern. That held long enough for him to get the plow anchor to bite. He added a third anchor and kept the engine idling just in case he needed it to power against the wind. He sat there for two hours stressed over the uncertainty of those anchors holding in the intense conditions. The experience made a huge impression on him.

Plow Anchor

How many anchors are too many? Generally, boats carry two anchors; a smaller, lighter version that is meant for short, daytime anchoring and a main anchor, or storm anchor meant to hold fast overnight or in inclement weather. Mystic came with two 25 pound plow anchors. One is a true CQR, built by Lewmar. The other is a 25 pound knockoff of the CQR. Both are marginal in size to hold a fully loaded 35 foot boat weighing 16,000+ pounds when fitted for cruising.

So, even though we are a little anchor heavy, I'm glad that the 45 pound Mantus arrived safely with Peace of Mind and free shipping. It was delivered today in a battered box. I felt sorry for the delivery guy who had to schlep that thing up a dozen stairs to get it to our door. I'm pretty sure there was swearing involved.

Mantus Anchor

Mystic's Windlass

Side view of Mystic's bowsprit and windlass

Traditional vs Composting Marine Toilet ~ A decision swimming around our HEAD!

Our son gave us Poo-Pourri as a gag gift for Christmas this year. It's like pot pourri only it's designed especially for those hard to hide, man made bathroom smells. His timing was perfect since composting marine toilets keep bubbling up on our list of items to consider for cruising.  Dave has been researching them and keeps trying to convince me that we should convert Mystic's head to a composting system. My first reaction was "Doesn't it STINK?!?" Apparently it doesn't. Dave tells me that the bad bathroom smell targeted by Poo-Pourri is from the wet part of human waste. Dry poo does not smell, only wet poo does.

I hate to sound skeptical about this plan but I'm a proponent of the thought, "if it ain't broken, don't fix it"! In an effort to sway my thinking, Dave reminded me that our traditional head doesn't hold enough waste to get us through a summer of weekends aboard Mystic. He also mentioned that during a year of cruising we could get ourselves into a situation where we need a pump out without a pump out station in our neighborhood. Then he tempts me with the fact that we would gain a substantial amount of space by removing the holding tank. Now he's got my attention. I begin my own research and find that composting toilets have come a long way in the past few years. The original models DID have issues with odor and ease of maintenance. In addition, there were health concerns regarding pathogens in the composted waste. Modern composting toilets address these issues. From my research I'd have to say that it's a simply complicated system.

When Dave first broached the topic of installing a composting toilet aboard Mystic, he explained that the solid and the liquid waste must be separated to ensure an odorless system. Of course, I imagined us carefully scooping the floaters with a slatted spoon, but he assured me it all happens below the lid. I was relieved (no pun intended). The composting system has it's own strainer which collects the urine into one chamber for evaporation through the vent system and allows the Poo to fall into a separate chamber where it is treated with saw dust or peat and is composted naturally. The environment is a balance of moisture, heat, oxygen and organic material. A finishing drawer collects the fertilizer by-product which is generated through composting.

So I ask Dave, "What do we do with the by-product?" He answers, "We collect it!" I challenge him with, "And then what?" He tells me we empty the compost tray into sealed containers then carry it to shore. This compost can be thrown away, flushed or added to the base of trees. Apparently, it can be used in vegetable gardens as well, however it has to be treated and transformed into organic fertilizer first. I've been toying with the idea of growing tomatoes aboard Mystic. Compost would come in handy. I wonder what Dave will think about that!

The debate continues. We both need to do more research in order to make a final decision on this bucket list item for cruising. Our kids heard us discussing this over Christmas. Our daughter thinks we should add a Squatty Potty to our new toilet.  That way, we'll have a happy colon along with our happy head!

http://www.squattypotty.com/