Bumfuzzled

I think I first heard about Bumfuzzle, Pat and Ali Schulte's 35-foot catamaran, over at cruisersforum.com a few years ago. It was the topic of much debate by overzealous armchair captains fighting in the cats versus mono battles. Boosted by the anonymity of the Internet the debate over Bumfuzzle even wandered into a split between those who admired the Schultes for circumnavigating at such a young age and those who derided Pat for being a money-hungry stockbroker who undeservedly bought his way around the globe.  People on the internet are jerks.  

For the most part, I ignored it all, but the name "Bumfuzzle" kept popping up.

It wasn't long after Mary bought Gimme Shelter that we started discussing the possibility of our own sea voyage, so we started looking for books and blogs for information and encouragement. That's when we picked up their book and read it together.

Not like "together" as in reading it out loud to each other. That would be weird. We just read it to ourselves over the same general time period, so we would have something to talk about during Houston traffic jams.  I remember our shock, as this was the first time we had heard about someone with as little sailing experience as we had, who was leaving on a real adventure. Before this we had always assumed it would take years of honing our sailing skills before we could ever consider doing something so crazy. It was amazing to read them figuring things out as they go, just as we had been doing. For the first time, we thought, "We could do that!" 

Their bravery to step into the unknown and their adventures around the world were inspiring. Pat and Ali came off as two really great people.

Of course, it's easy to come off as a great person when you're writing about yourself -- but even so, they still came off as good people.

The book led us to their blog, which was being written from Mexico while Pat overhauled the monohull they were now cruising in. I was excited that they were still out there and still having the same kind of boat repair issues we were facing on a regular basis.

Then all of the sudden, they quit sailing. They just left Mexico and went back to Minnesota.

It was a little disappointing. We had just found our new sailing heroes, and they had given up sailing.

Then suddenly there was a bus.

The Schultes were still cruising, just not on a sailboat, and I really enjoyed following Pat's renovations of the 1966 Dodge Travco. I also realized Pat had written another book, and I had just started reading, "Live on the Margin."

Never in a million years did I think Mary and I would ever meet them. Then suddenly, they were in Kemah.

We scrapped our plans to anchor out all weekend and headed to Super Target to find something to take to the pot luck barbecue being hosted at the marina next door.

As excited as we were to meet them, the weather was absolutely perfect for sailing, and still not having taken Gimme Shelter out of the slip this year, I began second-guessing the entire thing. I leaned over to Mary and said, "I'm kind of sad we're not sailing. I really hope they're not assholes."

She just gave me a look. He deserved the look. 

As you approached Waterford Harbor Marina, there was no missing the bus. It was proudly parked near the road, a beacon to all Facebook followers clutching their serving dishes and coolers full of beer.

And there they were -- looking just like the photos in their blog.

And guess what? They were some of the nicest people I've ever met.

I took my camera, but I think I was actually a bit star struck and just kind of forgot to take photos.

Pat indulged all my questions about the book and the blog. Ali gave us a tour of the bus. Ouest served us MANY well-decorated sugar cookies. It was a blast. Most people were polite the first time Ouest came around with cookies but then turned her down after that. Fred ate a cookie EVERY SINGLE time she came around, lol. No self control. 

It was also great to meet so many other people from the local sailing community. I met two different cruising couples about to throw off the lines -- one heading east, one heading west. I also reconnected with an old co-worker I hadn't seen in several years. Not to mention the fact that we witnessed the nautical send-off of a pair of newlyweds.  It was so great to hear that we are not the only people trying to figure things out.  It's nice to know everyone does not have such a clear cut plan for escape. Maybe we're over thinking it. 

One thing that absolutely amazed me was the organization of the bus. It was so neat and clean! How do four people live there?  I can't believe Pat and Ali sleep in bunks. I don't know if we would consider that...maybe after a few more years of marriage.  :)

We were only on Gimme Shelter for the weekend, and when we left to drive over to the party, there was already laundry piled up on the couch. Organization is something we're definitely going to have to work on. Nothing is neat and clean in our lives. We need to work on this for sure.  

I asked Pat if there was a secret to keeping things clean. He just said that Ali was a neat freak and that over the years it had rubbed off on him as well. (Neither Mary nor myself are struck with that particular affliction.) I try so hard. 

Eventually the afternoon wound down, and as we were saying goodbye I think I shook Pat's hand about four times. (Yeah, so much for not coming off as a weirdo.) Then it was back to Watergate where we spent the rest of the evening dreaming about sailing around the world.  I'm pretty sure a key part of boating is to sit around with your friends and talk about how you're going to finally make it happen. I feel like with each conversation, we get a little closer.  

Safe travels to the Schultes as they continue their voyage across the country. You can follow their adventures here: http://www.bumfuzzle.com/

How do you prioritize your repairs and upgrades?

Something is always broken. Our list of repairs and improvements for Gimme Shelter is about two pages long.

Of course, some things jump to the front of list -- like a ripped sail or dead batteries -- while others never seem to get resolved.

I've got a propane oven I'm planning to install, but I need to spent about $100 on a shut-off solenoid, and I just haven't brought myself to order the part since it's 99 degrees outside and the thought of making the boat any hotter by turning on an oven seems ridiculous. However, I walked into West Marine and dropped almost $75 on a portable 12 v fan. 

Could we have lived without that fan purchase? Yes, but it just seemed to make more sense than the propane valve.

We also have a missing hot water heater. It would take $250 and maybe an hour to get a new one fitted, and we'd once again have warm showers. But who wants a warm shower when you're already sweating in a boat. So that project has also hit the back burner.

We had been conveniently ignoring the cracked deck hatch since we bought the boat six months ago. Then we finally had some Texas style rain.

I awoke to the feeling of water sprinkling on my leg, and I immediately jumped up thinking one of the dogs had decided to pee on me.

I don't know why I thought this since neither dog has ever peed on the boat. The dogs obviously didn't know why I thought this either since they both groggily raised their heads as they tried to figure out why I had jumped out of bed.

Then I saw it.

 The rain was coming right through the crack in the hatch and dripping right onto the bed where my leg had been.

I grabbed a trash can and managed to lodge it between the bed and the table where it would catch the drip and went back to sleep. In the morning I had collected almost three inches of water in the can.

Looks like putting new plexiglass in the leaky hatch just got to the top of the list.

Another pirate brought to justice

Lots of cruisers like to play pirate. At Halloween 90 percent of our marina dresses up like a pirate, and I would guess that at least half of the sailboats in the marina fly a pirate flag for fun. I'm no exception. One of my friends even made me a custom pirate flag as a boat warming gift when for the Seahorse a few years ago, and I flew it on many a weekend voyage.

But earlier this year we had a character show up in the marina who seemed a little too serious about the pirate thing. In fact, he referred to himself as Captain Skeleton, and he had created several facebook profiles and web sites about himself touting his skills as a modern day pirate. He supposedly had circumnavigated solo and fought other pirates by seizing or disabling their ships. He was currently making his living by paying back slip fees on vessels in marinas, putting a lien on the boat, and then selling them to unsuspecting buyers at around half of retail value.

He'd started hanging around Marina Del Sol in January and had sold two big motor boats and a Peterson 34 sail boat to residents of our marina.

They all supposedly came with titles. Being the investigative type, I stopped him to say hello and query him about the boat sales one afternoon. He gave me his story about how he seized boats with liens and helped marinas recover their money, then re-titled the boats and sold them. He even said he had a Tartan 33 he could have trucked down from Dallas for us for only $12,000 if we were serious about wanting a bigger boat. Something sounded fishy, so I emailed him the next day and said we weren't interested.

Well, this guy just rubbed everyone in the marina the wrong way. Soon there were postings on craiglist with photos of his truck warning people not to do business with him because he was a crook. Then in April, he disappeared. This is why ...

http://www.khou.com/news/crime/Alleged-yacht-thief-wanted-on-both-coasts-found-in-Houston-area--201700421.html

Yep, the long arm of the law finally got that pirate.

Accessorizing

I'd love to do some product reviews on here, but the problem with being thrifty (read, "cheap ass") is that I only buy old stuff.

One of the first upgrades in store for Gimme Shelter is the installation of a Robertshaw Shipmate propane stove and oven I picked up at an estate sale last summer. I'd review it, but they haven't been made in over 20 years.  Now this is awesome. Fred has promised to make me bread at the beginning of every weekend. We still have to do some more measuring to ensure it fits in the boat, and I'm hoping and praying it does.  

Theoretically the first money spent on the boat was going to be for new sewage hoses. However, sometimes when a bargain pops up on craigslist, I just can't help myself.  Read: Fred has a serious addiction to Craigslist. It forces us to do things out of order, but we do end up saving money.  

Today I scored a Pelican kayak with paddle for $80. I have to admit this is a pretty good price. I looked at Kayaks forever and never saw a deal like this. I ended up buying one without a paddle, and the paddle alone cost me 30 at West Marine. 

No, it's not going to be a permanent dinghy solution, but you can't beat the price. Plus, it was blue, so it matches Gimme Shelter's stripes and canvas work.

I promise to consult with Mary before I make the next accessory purchase -- unless it's a REALLY good deal. If anyone has any suggestions on dealing with a man with an overactive ebay account, I'd love to hear them.