Disaster Strikes in Volvo! BREAKING NEWS

Team Vestas Wind has run aground and plans to abandon ship see the full story here. Hearts and prayers to the crew and their families.

Writing can be tough

I haven't felt much like writing lately. I just can't seem to drag myself to the computer or open the app on my phone.  Writing takes time and energy both of which I am short on. Additionally all three women in the house are sick. Which is just fuel to the lazy blogger fire.

Whine, whine, blah, blah.

I just wanted to post this before I forgot or deleted the photos

Shout out to another blogging pair Katie and Jessie they made it on the cover of Cruising Outpost. I found this copy in the West Marine here in NOLA. They've been sailing the "Great Loop" in their little boat Louise with a dog and a cat. Great writing and amazing photos. Check it out. There's a link in the sidebar.

Shout outs to Europe!

To my Readers from Sweden, The Netherlands and Denmark (in no particular order)!
I just happened to check my analytics today and just saw that you all are popping in quite a bit!
Honestly, I had no idea and it makes me feel kinda warm and fuzzy on the inside.

Thanks for the love
Mr Stand By

Cape Town In-Port Race! plus a bonus drinking game!

The in port race was held on saturday at some ungodly time in the morning. Which is why the replay is being posted here...a day later...and well into the night. I dislike timezone and how it is affecting my sailing obsession.



If you want to play a fun drinking game try taking a shot every time Alan from Sailing Anarchy (the American Voice) underhandedly disagrees with the owner and super power ($$$,$$$,$$$) behind Volvo Ocean Race Knut Frostad (the heavy Norwegian accent, you'll know it when you hear it). They have an interesting relationship to say the least...I can't believe they sat on the same boat together and no one drowned.



Enjoy!

This Is Nola

My "sister" came to visit last week. Which meant lots of gifts and spoiling for the girls and an awesome excuse for us to get a baby-sitter. During her stay we had a pretty incredible 72-hour period that further solidified New Orleans as "Home". We went over to the Treme Creole Gumbo Fest and got caught in a second line. Mixed reviews on that from the kids. Jasmine has always loved a brass band but the mass of people made Violet really anxious. It's like she forgot about last Mardi Gras already. The Treme Creole Gumbo Fest is always a good time, hanging out in Armstrong Park, sitting in the sun, listening to music eating food...yea it's a bit of bliss.

riddle of the day: if a band has 3 Tuba's how many pieces are in the band?

She always scores the best seat in the house

I've developed a love for brass bands since I moved here. Especially the tuba, it's just impressive to see this huge brass horn dancing through a crowd of people.

I've also discovered a love for Alligator. Sorry National Geographic, but those prehistoric buggers are delicious! And someone at Woody's managed to find a way to put them in a burrito?! Alligator to go? Why yes please.

Woody's Fish Tacos

Finding your kid can be like "where's waldo" sometimes

obligatory Bike Porn

Cape Town In-Port Race

A day late and a dollar short but that's just how life can be. Enjoy the Replay!

Jasmines Birthday!

Jasmine turned 4 on the 15th! Which means that this post is super late and that my little girl is growing up! So in honor of her birthday a little photo montage of some of my favorite Jasmine moments...

Jasmine's First Week home...she was almost an entire month early and was so tiny
which ironic because she is so freaking huge now

Jasmine has always been cooler than you...always

My Travel Buddy always ready

We took her on her first sailing adventure for her birthday since she seemed to be into boats and is always excited when she comes by the marina. Also we had gotten a set of child sized PFD's and it was about time the girls got used to to them. A little while ago we had tried them out to see if either of the girls would freak out while in the water and they did wonderfully...

      

We went out on Grace a 50' Columbia and really just a pretty boat. I figured that since it was a fairly big boat meant that it should be pretty stable and easy for the girls to move around. It has a flush deck so there would be space to sit etc etc. It seemed like a good plan. I'm sure that the other 20 or so people who were out for the evening sail with us said the same thing before they left the house.

Yea what was that saying about, "best laid plans...something something...think again dummy"

I saw the forecasted weather 15+ kts from the north and sort of shrugged it off, Grace big boat can handle big north driven swells. Right? Eh not exactly. Yes, the boat powered through the waves without much effort however that power meant a serious amount of heel which tossed people, parents, and my future sailors around quite a bit on the deck. The cupcakes that Tiff made were catapulted to the salon floor. At one point I saw people passing Dramamine out like tick-tacs. Jasmine and Violet did fine until the boat really started to heel over and water blew across the deck. Jasmine apparently has developed a bit of a sense of fear and it kicked in then and she demanded to be taken below deck. Violet, who has not developed the same fear made every attempt to get closer to the source of the water.  Thank God my wife is patient with me. I feel like maybe I forced this trip on the girls because I really want them to have something, anything in common with me besides a general love for cereal as a snack. That caused me to disregard the weather and my common sense. The good thing is that basically anytime we get the girls on a boat it will most likely be a much smoother ride. Jasmine did seem to enjoy some of the ride mostly in and out of the protected harbor. So maybe it wasn't that bad. Only time and experience will tell I suppose.

She really was extremely excited about the boat ride

 

She did spend a fair amount of time impersonating my grandmother and inspecting everything on the boat before we left the harbor. She also got to take in a pretty amazing Lake Pontchartrain sunset which is something the sailing community cherishes here.  So yea, maybe it actually went fairly well. I guess the only way we'll ever know is ask her if she remembers it in 20 years. I know I will.

The Team Brunel Song...Finished 3rd

Keeping their spirits up as they cruise to the line!

Dongfeng Finish Line 2nd place!

First Three Boats Cross Finish Line in Cape Town!

The first three boats have crossed the finish line in Cape Town, South Africa! Here's some footage from the crews...and don't forget there are still four other teams that haven't finished yet.

oh and this is just LEG 1...

Fast & Furious | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15

Looks like we'll start seeing boats coming into Cape Town tomorrow!