Sailing, power-boating and camping

Enjoying our boat and a little about cooking aboard.

Over the years we have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of our boat.  We have gone sailing too many times to count.  We have tubed and explored areas on the lake when there was no wind for sailing.  And we have over-nighted on the boat many times, both at anchor and beached.  We have towed the boat to Pensacola twice now with many future trips planned.  We have also taken many of the kids friends sailing and tubing.  Here are just a few random pictures of the boat fun.

A winter sail

One thing about over-nighting on a boat is that food just tastes better at anchor than it does ashore.  When we overnight I typically cook dinner on the Magma grill out in the cockpit.  Burgers, steaks and chicken never tasted better.  However the grill is not the easiest place to cook breakfast food.  So I’ve got a cheap Coleman propane camp stove that I use out in the cockpit for breakfast or frying pan type foods.  

Propane is heavier than air so I always cook out in the cockpit for that reason.  I don’t want to create a fire/explosion hazard.  The only problem with my current cooking method is that if it is raining, or cold it is a pain to have to be outside cooking.  That is why one of the mods, I’ll make soon is an Origo alcohol stove.  They are safe to use inside the cabin and on cold mornings it sure would be nice to brew coffee inside.  

One of our favorite places to stay as a family is beached down at Sand Island.  It is a nice sandy island just north of Watts Bar Dam.  It is typically a weekend hangout for all boaters and is sort of a laid back party cove, with a great little sand beach.  One of the funny things is that most of the boats are power boats.  When they see me coming in with sails and a tall mast, people start frantically yelling and waving me off, as it is very shallow on the beach side of the island and people just assume I have a deep draft keel.  It is so funny to yell back, “I’m good, I’m gonna beach her right next to you!”  It always amazes people that the sailboat can be beached.  Now the regulars who know us don’t bat an eye, but they like to watch those who don’t know about our shallow draft capability freak out a little as we idle in.

Beached at Sand Island

Sunset Sail

Beautiful Sunset