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Last update: Sep 6, 2025 5:25 PM
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Better Together
Kemah, TX
We just purchased our dreamboat a Privilege 495! Just 6 years ago we had a crazy idea to close our home inspecting business in Texas and move to Colorado to start an animal chiropractic business. We then bought 70 acres of raw land. Over the years we built a plantation style house, entirely by ourselves with no crew, strictly with the intentions of selling it almost new. Luckily we were able to sell the chiropractic business too, which wasn’t in the plans originally but we found a niche when in Colorado with all the horse owners. So, half the land is sold with the house, still have half for sell, and with the business sold, we officially were able to buy the catamaran outright and retire in our early 40s. Yes, we have a human table for chiropractic in case you see us and need a tune-up! Our two oldest sons are out of the house already (we were both military and had them early) and our 15 year old son will be circumnavigating with us at least until he is 18. And for the moment we have our two cats, Brucey (18) and Church (5). Join us as we do this crazy adventure! Chris: Commercial pilot, turned home inspector to home builder and USAF veteran Steph: Human and animal chiropractor, marine biologist and retired USAF veteran Silas: cool dude, gamer, wannabe sigma
Just hanging out on anchor ⚓️ the last 30 hours or so with 20 knot winds and gusts in the 30-40s Just the cool breeze is nice!!! 🥶
The boys being handsome! Church and Brucey just living life!
Met a manatee we named Bobby and saw some beautiful spoonbills near Cats Paw marina. Although in Galveston we saw many spoonbills, they never cease to amaze me. As for Bobby, he was the coolest guy ever! He made our day!!!
Bodyboarding while the hurricane is offshore, free umbrella ☂️ found in good condition, and just hanging at the beach! Another fun day in St Augustine🌴
When you are parked so close to a sandbar....that you can swim to the big boat! 🚤
Finally got over the fear of destroying the husband's and kiddo's heads and watched some YouTube videos on how to cut hair 💇♂️ ! Here is the link I used to quickly learn. https://youtu.be/J9cmcNn8BLI?si=k_dH32bXndq7he86 They look so much better, and probably feel 10 pounds lighter lol 😂
Waiting out hurricane Erin and headed to town to enjoy the day!
Kitties enjoying nightly yard time on the "Funbag"
Just a little sight seeing to get off the boat 🚤 and explore 🌳 ⛪️ 🏰
Was so lucky to be right by Cape Canaveral last night at the perfect time to see a launch 🚀 Chris was going crazy knowing we were technically in the debris zone.... but we made it out unscathed and fascinated!!! We are here and unsure how long we will be here, kinda all depends on what TS Erin decides she wants to do! 🌀
Enjoying the days in West Palm Beach before we head up north to St. Augustine Day three: (today) go to the grocery store, buy the wife a kindle because she reads too fast and runs out of books, buy a better blender and finish the 120 V line to the inverter so we can use the blender and the washing machine finally! Oh, and replace the secondary outdoor shower head 🚿
Enjoying the days in West Palm Beach before we head up north to St. Augustine Second stop Manatee Lagoon
Enjoying the days in West Palm Beach before we head up north to St. Augustine First stop Peanut island
We are tucked away here waiting out the rain that is supposed to start and then we will head to St Augustine Enjoying the clear water one last time for the season! 🏖️
Made it to Key Largo! What a day sail! 6 foot nasty waves and wind right on the nose. It was uncomfortable but we did it! Do not know how long we will be here, but next stop is St Augustine... First we must tackle the no smell filter in the master bedroom that smells like a ripe lift station at the moment 🤢 had to remove the hanging clothes before they rot lol! When you open the closet door the septic smell knocks you down
We are leaving Bahia Honda about 5 am and heading to Key Largo for a few days...only because of the dreaded heat dome 🥵 they keep talking about on the news. Top of Florida looks too hot for the next few days, but it is Florida in the summer so maybe not the greatest excuse to go to Key Largo. At least we can use the scuba stuff one more time! 🤿 Who really needs an excuse to go to Key Largo? 🏝️ 🐠 🌊
We tried running the generator last night only to get a fault to the power and a smell of burnt nastiness... woke up this morning and crisis diverted! We removed the "GFCI like" part of the circuit breaker component which was melted, and seems to be working fine. We will keep an eye on and upgrade with a busbar and properly fix when we get further up the coast
Reshaved 🪒 Church and attempted to shave old man Brucey. Church is happy to be de-fuffed but poor Bren looks like he got into a fight with mange and lost lol 😂 But at least the fur is shorter and nether of them will be hot 🥵 Poor Brucey is so skinny at his 19 years but still has so much life in him!
Goodbye Key West! Now we start the short little hops up to St Augustine to see @kwylie76 before heading north. Instead of fueling up at the fuel dock ⛽️ we saved 1.50 a gallon by going on base which took an entire day going back and forth, but worth the monetary savings. Plus a lot of sweat and walking just means we worked off the Key Lime pie 🥧 🍋🟩 @SilasParent
Will park here for the night Nice beach access 🏖️ and we are all alone out here on ⚓️
Finally can say we are out of the Gulf! We will wait out here for a few days to a week... depending on the new update from the NHC and go north! We had a lot of fun this last trip with multiple storms, crazy waves 🌊 and crappy upwind angles. Last night was a real trip for Silas and we are all a bit sleep deprived @SilasParent @CLP Oh hey @sailingblisslife we are parked in your old spot lol
Leaving tomorrow for Key West. NHC is not predicting anything in the Gulf but other news sources are saying there could be something brewing in a week or so (20% chance long range forecast) Plus we know where everything is in Key West and like the familiarity of the place. Then we shall creep up the coast little by little. Or large by large!
Almost out of the Gulf, but had a quick stop in the Tampa and St Petersburg area. We may leave tomorrow or at least by Friday to get to Key West! The water was calm and the winds were non-existent...so calm in fact we stopped mid-way to jump into the water and swim for a bit. We had to motor most of the way. But we want to get outta here before something happens in the Gulf. We got in at 03:30 this morning and slept till 10... then went to see some tortoise 🐢 on the beach. 🏖️ @SilasParent @CLP
Took the dinghy out for a party cove Fourth of July 🇺🇸 day! Lots of boats 🚤 and lots of people. Tons of big Gulf of America flags. One person had a flag that said Mayor of Boobtown...but oddly enough I didn't see any women near him 🤔or boobs... Lol Happy Birthday USA 🎆 With @CLP and @SilasParent
See if you can find the second cat Took them to an island via dinghy today and Church is easy to find but Brucey hides good
Church being beautiful today! Brucey just woke up to join the fun outside
We have made it to Pensacola, FL to hide out from whatever the storm decides to do. We were trying to get to Key West and were watching the National Hurricane Center over the last few days before jumping this way to avoid the mess!!! We had the sails up at times, but the wind was 3-5 knots for much of the trip. The sea state was not bad....nothing like the Gulf crossing we did a few months ago! So we will tuck in here for the weekend and see what happens! Have not been here since doing my water survival school for the USAF back in 2002! @CLP and @SilasParent have never been here. Also saw some cool water spouts yesterday
Got the car 🚗 shipped off and the last bit of laundry done this morning and pushed off the dock! We are anchored in Galveston for the night, and will be heading out in the AM for Florida! Hopefully the Gulf stays quiet and the people and cat sea-sickness stays away, but everything was smooth today! With @silasparent and @CLP Saw 50 plus bottlenose dolphins in the ship channel today as well!
Last items on the checklist complete! We are leaving for Galveston tomorrow after our Carvana pick up! We will anchor out for the night, and leave Sunday morning for Key West! Car is sold, provisions are on the boat, and litter is switched to the Pretty Litter It was a longgggggg couple of months, and a big refit...but we are ready to head up to Maine!
Christmas 🎄 🎅 in June ☀️ We ordered some more appliances (ice maker, induction cooktop, vacuum sealer) from East West International in Houston yesterday afternoon and for $38 overnight shipping we got them in this morning. If we need anything over the season, I will definitely order through them! Awesome customer service Also got the Jerry cans filled up and doing a rigging inspection now. Still on track for Saturday to head out!
Finally getting some last minute things checked off the list before leaving Saturday, and I was able to turn the aft starboard cabin into habitatal quarters! @SilasParent even got a cool new hat 🧢 In hopes of catching more fish 🐠 Saturday morning we will go to Galveston and anchor ⚓️ out, and leave early Sunday morning to get to Key West!
Finishing up last minute projects There seems to be a weather window Sunday to get outta here! We are thinking of anchoring out in Galveston Saturday and leaving early Sunday! In the meantime, we have a list of projects to finish and a rainy week ahead 🌧️ Finish support boxes for the batteries Weld the cracks Support to helm seats💺 Provision 🍱 Fill up the fuel ⛽️ Buy beer 🍺 Clean bottom 🧽 Pray to the gods for no hurricanes 🌀 That is bout it!
Pics of family hanging out on the boat! Over the last few months we have had some family come see us, and I figured I would post photos of the fun times we had visiting with all of them! @altheaparent enjoyed being able to go out sailing with you two!
Today Chris designed and 3-D printed a faceplate for the new air conditioner's thermostat. The older unit had a much bigger hole, and now it looks awesome! Also, check out @ET1VEG group 3-D at Sea! I think it is absolutely amazing that you can print parts for next to nothing and that the machine pays for itself in a matter of no time! You
We decided to reset our backs, bodies, and minds and take a break for the day installing the victron and batteries 🔋 Instead, we opted for some light work and installed some vinyl. And since Chris vectored it himself and we cut it at the Creator Space, it has only cost us the month membership of $40 to get it all done! We still have the logos to put up, but we will do those on anchor ⚓️ in Key West in a few weeks! Plan for tomorrow, back to the hard labor! But now we rest and drink an IPA 🍺 before hitting the pool!!!
Still working all day every day! I think I will make a list of everything we have done since March with an approximate running 💵 total tonight. That will hurt lol! Today we updated the Epoch batteries, ran wire, finished the SUP holder, and @SilasParent organized the pantry. And we reglued some headliner that was falling down. Tomorrow we will run more wires, eventually finishing the install of the batteries and victron systems. It is still hot as Hell here 🔥 but we are knocking projects off the list to get outta here ASAP!
Just taking a break for 5 minutes to watch the flags fly and listen to good ol' George
Pardon the stick figures but couldn't get any live-action photos since all hands were on deck! Took three of us in the smallest of space to get the Victron Quattro up. So stick figures are provided to show the maneuver! It is hot, we are tired and drenched in sweat, but still working! Next up, is finishing the connection from the MPPT controllers to the new panels and tomorrow, maybe, getting the AC working fingers crossed 🤞
Last nights Friday night fireworks at the Kemah Boardwalk 🎆 BECAUSE WE ALL NEED A BREAK! Current status: AC is in but only one of the 4 230 v AC saltwater pumps is working, and that is the one that the front bedrooms use. So we will wait till Monday to get another pump. Current temp is only 256 degrees with 1005% humidity. That is ok. Great weight loss plan! Solar is almost done, started Victron. Water maker is reinstalled. Had to wait for a .7 cent oring to come from France to reinstall it. Shipping was only $57 dollars. Tariffs. Cats are good and @SilasParent is at the boardwalk likely riding the roller coaster 🎢 over and over again.
While I (Steph) and @silasparent rips the old aircon out Chris gets to start figuring out the Victron stuff. Tomorrow we may get to use a new and working AC. That is if everything goes easy. Hahahaha. That would be something! Everyday is work but everyday is one day closer to leaving this joint! 🥵
After spending 2 plus weeks building the solar arch with 316L stainless steel, and installing it onto the boat we ran into 2 major issues. Number 1, we cleaned the weld marks with a steel wire brush and impregnated iron oxide into the stainless...and rust set in 48 hours later. A lot of rust. Number 2, there was no way to connect to the hard top with the location of the boom and traveler. The sheer amount of weight needed to support the arch was insane, and even after chem washes and grinding, rust would forever be the nemesis. So yesterday, we cut it off the boat. It was all in all (with the welder, steel and supplies) a $10,000 mistake. All scrapped for $81. But that is what boat life is! Getting kicked down, bruised, and gutted, only to get back up and devise a new plan to continue the dream! Last night we installed new panels on the old arch. The trip is drawn because we will not make it to Maine, as it is officially hurricane season, but dammit we will make it to the statue of Liberty! 🗽 and hopefully can leave the Texas Heat after the finish our Victron and Lithium install before July. To those out there, hold your heads high, it is just a bump in the road, and bluer waters are on the horizon! 🌊
Thank you for the help Lew and @valoriereed helping with the solar arch! Couldn't have been a better day to get some free black fin Tuna from Pura Vida and reminiscing about how we went from planes, to small boats and to big ones! Can't believe the planes were 10 years ago!
All work today! Still trying get get outta here! Moved to a different spot in the marina for now. And it is officially Hurricane Season...but that won't stop us, unless it does lol 😂🧐 @SilasParent
Night off at the 'stros game and couldn't be more perfect! Bottom of the ninth, 2 outs and we got a home run on a tied game! And Friday night fireworks because it is Texas and why not! With @SilasParent
Here is our 2025 Refit so far! January/Guadeloupe: bought the boat after half-ass survey. Was stuck dealing with Chase Bank (to release the funds and realize it was not fraudulent). Replaced: the navigation lights, jib furler, main halyard, traveler bearing, fuel fittings on tank and engine to dinghy and 3 hatches. Cleaned the boat inside and out. Tried to hire English speaking captain but realized that we were going to have to figure out sailing by just doing it, unless we wanted to be there another month or more Montserrat: only stayed the night on anchor St. Kitts and Nevis: bought jerry cans, found crack in water accumulation tank (got a free one from SV Unleashed thanks to this app!) St Croix: tried to temporarily fix water accumulation tank with JB Weld. Only there a couple of days...did some wreck diving Puerto Rico : replaced water accumulation tank, bought more jerry cans, attempted to replace the fuel sending units but couldn't find correct size (for years the previous owners had nonworking gauges. Replaced dayhead light fixture. Key west/ Dry Tortugas: finally installed new and working radar, new VHF. Neither of these things worked until then. Rerigged and replaced lazy jacks (broke on way from PR) Gulf Crossing: lost both engines, one to fuel contamination and one had an "electrical issue" which we were able to bypass via emergency start, so that SeaTow membership came in handy coming into Galveston! Early March to Current Kemah, TX: got inside/outside upholstery done, SeaDek installed, and replaced/repaired: turbos on both engines, fuel sending units and gauges (cleaned tanks), both fridge and freezer were repaired, installed freshwater toilets throughout, built and abandoned solar arch, upgraded solar on existing arch, still currently working on Victron and epoch batteries, repaired dinghy, new prop and fuel tank for dinghy, installed new Raycores for both engines, new fuel lines, oil changes, fixed water exhaust crack, serviced water maker, new water maker filters, bought dive tanks, repaired glass over helm, had all four sails repaired, glued headliner, 3-D printed pulleys for dinghy divot, printed vinyl, serviced winches, installed backsplash in galley, replaced faucet in galley, bought much needed appliances for 230 VAC system, installed washer dryer combo, installed two bodega fridge/freezers by wiring them into existing electrical system, removed old AC, replaced AC and saltwater pump, serviced AC in front cabins, replaced starter batteries, installed wireless sensors for fridge and freezers, installed SUP holder, installed new stereo speakers outside, currently waiting on one hatch to come in so we can replace it, and 1000 other small jobs such as all electrical repair, water leakage, and so many other things. Also deep cleaned interior of the boat! Bought decor and invested in Rest cooling linens for both front rooms (those were pricey but worth it)... Still hoping to leave here in 2 weeks. We are working night and day to get the batteries in and are running new wire, which honestly is a nightmare. But if you have the knowledge then you do it yourself and save as much money as you can! And maybe this time next year, we will be doing the track posted here! In the meantime....Bust Out Another Thousand 🚤 💴 🤪
Printing more "$100 pulleys" for the cost of the PETG filament With @SilasParent At Creator Space in League City, TX
Fellow Houstonians. If you ever have military orders out of the country or have a European boat that requires 220-230 vac 50-60 hz check out this awesome store on (the historic) Harwin st. They also have online ordering and amazing prices! East West International 5810 Hillcroft St Houston, TX 77036 United States ***in a few months they are moving locations but will still be on Harwin st. Just a larger building
Hanging out at the creator space after lugging the solar and batteries to the boat and sweating all day! Can't beat a place where you can do boat vinyl, T-shirts, koozies and 3-D print fishing rod holders for next to nothing...just the $40 membership a month! @SilasParent was hanging a good ol' time making things!
Sore backs later we got the solar arch installed Not complete, but at least on the boat. We used furniture dollies to move it across the parking lot, and flipped it over the fence, used the halyard to get it over the tall concrete pillar and finally ratchet straps to place the legs Lots of man power and luck (almost hit the existing solar panels lol) @Shashon thank you Fred for the help!
Got the Victron stuff in, the solar arch will go up Friday and the cats have silicon nail covers. Oh, and it was 82 today, which beats the 100 degrees of yesterday. Another day of success and we are almost done and out of here! With @SilasParent
Almost done with the solar arch! We should be able to get it installed this week and get the panels and batteries out of storage Chris has been working on the Texas heat nonstop over the last few days and is beat! Sunburned, metal burned, welding burned and one small electrical shock...but he is alive still 🤕 He is not able to finish it today, as we need more Argon first @SilasParent is helping as much as he can! Oh and I learned that it is difficult cutting hair with a beard trimmer, and not having any clue how to cut hair 🤣🤣🤣
Fitting the solar arch today! Chris just learned how to weld this way a few days ago, but he is an exceptionally fast learner...or he is just cheap and knows he can do it himself (As you do)... Thanks for the help carrying it down the dock @SilasParent
Hanging out on a cool breezy Saturday night with @SilasParent Watching The Electric State on Netflix and tomorrow we weld the new solar arch
Went out to the bay today with @Shashon and Fred and friends
After working all day, we had a super chill evening at the marina! Cats hung out at the front of the boat, and took @silasparent over to the pool to play some frisbee. He literally knocked it out of the park a few times, so made him climb the fence to retrieve it lol! 🏊 🌴 Tomorrow we weld up the solar arch! ☀️
****Just in case you are not a member in the group and want to join before the Zoom meeting, here is the plan!***** The first Zoom Meetup for the group will occur at 7 pm CST on May 26th (Memorial day) More detailed to come! If you want to join in on the meeting, send us a DM and the theme will be "meet and greet, and remembering those we have lost"
The boys 🐈 are all tuckered out from moving to the boat today⛵️ 😴 Bet they sleep with @SilasParent tonight!
Marina guest appreciation day! At the Kemah Boardwalk marina Good food 🦞, good music 🎶 and fun with friends!!!
Also, forgot to mention that we added snaps to our ugly but functional window shades Because the Texas heat is coming!!! Thanks for helping @SilasParent
SeaDek done!!! Last things on the list are installing the Epoch batteries, upgrading the Victron system and welding the new solar arch. The new solar panels are here, and just need to order the stainless steel from Houston. The rest of it all will be dealt with on anchor⚓️ We WILL be leaving Texas about mid to late May. The current idea is to go to Maine, down to the Bahamas 🇧🇸 after hurricane season, and possibly Bermuda 🇧🇲 to the Azores to Gibraltar, ending up in the Med 🏖️ But we will inevitably go where the wind and seas take us lol! 😂
