When I moved up from sunny California, I experienced something different, which I relive every year. I moved up here in February when the skies were clear, the air crisp. Even though it snowed in April, while I was stringing a fence for Dante, the real change didn’t happen until summer.
Since I started this blog, I’ve gotten a few emails from folks asking where I live/moor. Before living on a boat, I noticed that people found my website by searching “Courtney Kirchoff address,” which I admit, freaked me out just a bit. Though I believe most people are good and decent, I’m not naive, and know some people in this world are not to be trusted. Anyone and everyone uses the web, both good and not so good. I deliberately avoid talking about my current location for my own safety. Most people asking for my location are doing so for innocent reasons: just wanting to connect with another liveaboard, become friends, whatever. But it’s always the weirdos who ruin it for everyone else. While I’d love to say “I live here, come and meet for coffee and tales of windy adventures,” I will always refrain. So if you’ve emailed me asking where I live, please don’t take it personally if I never respond to your inquiry. I’m being safe. Avid kick boxer and believer in the second amendment though I may be, it’s still unwise for anyone on the web to proclaim their current location. I shake my head at people who always update their Twitter or Facebook feeds with things like “Visiting family in wherever,” or “I miss my husband so much, can’t wait for him to come home,” etc. Such trusting individuals have made it that much easier to be robbed, stalked, or something far worse.
To my family and friends who read this blog: I absolutely love getting comments from you, but please keep my whereabouts private.
Though we’re approaching winter here in the Pacific Northwest, I felt it was prudent to go on an overnight sailing adventure to somewhere. What’s the point of living on a sailboat, I said, if one doesn’t sail it anywhere to stay the night? I couldn’t have had this spurring thought in early September, when the sun shone warmly–no, no, I had to get the cruising bug well after the cold temperatures had caught hold. I have a propensity to make life a little harder for myself. Oh well.
So I just posted a new blog post over at True Northe, called “How Websites Work: A Housing Analogy.” The analogy has helped my clients understand how the pieces of the web work together. Now that I’ve done something helpful and productive, it’s time to get ready to sail away! I must strap everything down, get some diesel, check charts, and head out for a few days. I’ve never had an overnight sail, so this should be interesting.
Over the weekend, whilst in the final battle of a cold, I redesigned this website. It’s a child theme for Twenty Eleven, and is therefore the latest and greatest in site functionality. It will respond to whatever browser width you have, and even conform its size to a mobile device. If you don’t have a modern browser (read: anything older than IE9), you may want to go update it and accomplish two things: 1) see how awesome the web can be, and 2) add ten points to your column in my good books. 
So…what do you think of it?
When I first moved to my sailboat, I was anchored out, or “living on the hook.” For winter, though, I’m living on a dock. Like anything, it has benefits and drawbacks.
Yesterday I happily posted photos and gloated about the amazing morning view. Even my neighbor, who’s been living aboard and sailing for years, was out of his boat going ga-ga over the painterly display. It was too beautiful not to share, and based on the comments, I know it made people jealous. So, to help you get over the jealousy, I wanted to share the rest of the day with you Trust me, you won’t be envious.
On September 21, 2011, while enjoying my morning coffee, I looked outside the window of my sailboat and was dazzled by the spectacular sunrise. The photos below are completely unaltered and untouched. They were taken between six and seven a.m. I’m a early morning riser, preferring to work while it’s dark and I’m totally refreshed. Boy am I glad I was awake for this amazing display.
If you like sailing, wind is always something you want. But there are times when the wind is just too much to handle, especially if you’re new to sailing. Then there are times when the wind is strong enough to send boats skipping across the bay, their useless anchors hopping the muddy bottom. That happened this past weekend.
Why me? I’m so good to all things avian, why did you shite all over my car? Is there something I did to offend your kind? You know, a few weeks ago, as I was enjoying the final few bits of my spaghetti while sitting in the cockpit of my boat, a single seagull came and sat in the water, waiting and hoping that I’d give him a small little morsel. I looked around and made sure he really was alone, and then, seeing as how he was so patient, decided to give him some noodles. I tossed him everything that remained on my plate, and he gobbled down what he could catch. Wasn’t that nice of me? Can you imagine what would’ve happened if that lone gull had called to his buddies that dinner was served? Chaos, that’s what. Poo everywhere. Continue reading
Since it’s been warm enough, I almost never leave my home without my Vibram FiveFinger shoes. What are Vibram FiveFingers (VFFs) you ask? They’re funky looking shoes that look more like gloves for the feet, with little pockets for the toes. If you’ve seen them worn out in public, you may have pointed at them, laughed, or gone up to the person wearing them and asked “Are those comfortable?”
You came into my life last winter, the second winter I’d spent in Western Washington. I was shopping for groceries in the Walmart Supercenter (ours is a nice one), and something in my heart led me to the coffee machine isle. There, sitting cute and tidy, was a small Mr. Coffee. I purchased it. Coffee, I know in the past I ignored you, I dismissed your ways, and shrugged off your attentions, but something about this cold day changed me.
I can count the number of times I’ve been sailing, which means I haven’t gone out much. And today, with winds billowing at 15 knots, I certainly won’t be heading out to add to my paltry experience. I’ll leave these sorts of winds for later days, when I’ll need a calculator, not my fingers, to count the number of sails I’ve made. Continue reading
Every boat needs a great name. While it is traditionally considered bad luck to change the name of a boat, the name my boat came with was…not good. Let’s just leave it at that. To really make the boat mine, I had to change her name to something meaningful and dignified. She’s not only my home, she’s a major source of pride, inspiration, and a vessel of adventure. Continue reading
Some consider being single to be the waiting room prior to marriage. Others view it as what comes after being a teenager, that time of soul-searching where young people travel the globe or dance on table tops. Being single involves struggle, fear, self-discovery, and if done successfully, it leads to confidence, bravery, and love. Not love in another, love of thyself. I’m not trying to be mushy or philosophical, I’m writing frankly. Being single can be a wonderful, beautiful thing, and only recently have I discovered that. I love being single, and wish someone had told me about the greatness of it when I was down in the dumps, moaning and groaning about not having a man around, hence this blog post.