I was interviewed for a business magazine about turning your hobby or passion into a business. One of the questions asked was what mistakes have you made. I had a hard time answering last night, this morning as the sun was coming up I sent her this follow-up;
When I was in my early 30′s I considered getting my captains licence and pursuing a career on the water. Deep down I knew that this was what I wanted to do but the security of a land based business career made me afraid to follow my dream. So maybe my biggest regret is that I didn’t try to follow my dreams earlier.
As the saying goes, today is the first day of the rest of your life. There is no better time than now to try something new.
We have had 3 customers (so far) that have taken the time to post reviews on yelp.com. In case you missed them;
Wes N writes;
We just returned from our four day couples sailing course and it was a wonderful (and unique) experience. Our goal was to achieve the ASA 101 and 103 certifications, and with Harold and Margie’s help we did it with time to spare. Both of the Ochsteins are skilled sailors, patient teachers, and have an encyclopedic knowledge of the local waters in the Keys and the Miami area. We got plenty of sailing time in the big 41′ Island Dreamer and also in their smaller (and less intimidating) 21′ boat, and still had time for a couple of fun evenings on shore. A bonus was the chance to see some of the local flora and fauna up close and personal – a big sea turtle, half a dozen porpoises, and and endless variety of birds native to the Keys. The calm, broad, shallow waters of the Keys turned out to be ideal for a couple of newbies with no sailing experience. What really makes this different from the average sailing school is that Harold and Margie aren’t just good instructors; the Island Dreamer is also their year-round home (they live aboard), and we got to know these lovely and hospitable people very well by the end of our trip. If your taste in vacations runs to the intimate bed & breakfast experience, and you want to become a confident sailor, you’ll love the Island Dreamer experience. If you’re more the Marriott type, or think that twelve meals a day on a huge cruise ship is the perfect holiday, then you may want to think again; Island Dreamer (and sailing in general) may not be for you. It was perfect for us.
David B;
The Very Best!!!!!!!! Harold and Marge are the friends you have always known but you just haven’t met yet. The sailing and navigation training is the best you can recieve. The experiance, well I was lucky enough to learn more about myself. If you don’t go sail with them you are missing one of life’s special moments. David & Deanne Benn 2010
Peter C;
WOW!!!!!!! What an awesome experience. Capt’s Harold and Margie taught us so much of what we needed to sail safely, while offerring up great food and a terrific time. Would do it again in a heartbeat!
Margie and I sold our house in 2001 and moved aboard our sailboat. Even though we had owned boats for the 25 years prior to that and spent most of our leisure time sailing and diving it still was a big step to leave a land based life. I spent an quite a bit of time reading up on the cruising life before we left, getting different perspectives of the possibilities of the liveaboard lifestyle helped us to shape our goals. I just ran across an informative website about making a sailboat your liveaboard home, Mark has some great thoughts about becoming a full time cruiser.
One of the great things about sailboat cruising is the freedom to choose not only your destination but also how you get there. The more you know about life on board before you leave the easier it will be for you and your partner to really enjoy cruising long term. Happy reading!
One of the great things about cruising is the day to day freedom to go and do what you want to do. You quickly learn that to enjoy those carefree days you have to choose whether today you will head out on a nice downwind run, stay in the harbor, or tuck yourself and your boat in a mangrove canal in preparation for a passing front or tropical system. The key to making those decisions and the root source for weather information is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s forecasting. There are many places that take NOAA’s data and repackage it, some with great insight, but the 1st place I look each morning is NOAA.gov.
On of the critical skills that Margie and I teach couples that join us on for our cruising classes is finding and applying today’s weather forecast to our days activities. It is an inexact science and having different viewpoints when big systems are coming is great. There is some really wonderful computer modeling out there but, and this is a big caveat, you still need to be able to interpret it to for your area with the knowelege that things can change. Getting different viewpoints is a big part of the interpretive process.
Back to NOAA, I was reading a post this morning from Dr. Jeff Masters of Weather Underground, he is visiting the national hurricane center this week as a new tropical system (Tomas) ramps up in the Atlantic;
Since this is such a large increase in intensity from what was forecast–Tomas was not supposed to have 60 mph winds for another 24 hours–this necessitates issuance of a special advisory package. A full set of forecast maps, a marine advisory, wind probability forecast, and a discussion just went out to the world. While all this was occurring, several phone calls to Barbados, St. Lucia, and Martinique were made, alerting the islands to the fact that a Hurricane Warning may be required with the 11pm advisory tonight. NHC has both French speaking and Spanish speaking meteorologists on staff that can coordinate with the islands that don’t have English as their main language. I listened in on a 5-minute conversation in French between the weather service in Martinique and NHC meteorologist Mike Tichacek, as they discussed when Martinique may want to issue a Hurricane Warning.
What a great job our government does in providing this information and making it available to the world. Sometimes it’s hard when you get your tax bill to immediately appreciate all that we get, Noaa is one of the unsung heroes in the US.
When Margie and I leave Miami to sail to the Bahamas one of the scariest parts of the trip are the lights of a big ship heading towards us. The recent development of AIS has made this passage much easier. AIS transmitters are required on all boats over 150′ and optional on smaller boats. They give the location, heading and the name of the boat and are broadcast on a VHF radio frequency with a range of 20 to 30 miles. If you have a AIS receiver on board it can interface with your chart plotter or be a stand alone unit. Now you can you see where the ships are going in relation to you and if you have a transmitter they will see you. It is also easy to contact them on the radio because you know their name.
Josh surprised Purdy with a sunset sail with us in Florida bay, then the big surprise was when he asked for her hand in Marriage.
A happy couple enjoying dinner at sunset in Everglades National Park
With the romantic setting of a calmwater sail, a beautiful ring and a bottle of champagne she had no choice but to say yes. Afterwards we served them a fresh fish and lobster dinner with chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. I did not do nearly as good a job when I proposed to Margie 33 years ago!
Join Captain Jeff and Captain Jean on their Skye 51′ on a 2 week passage from Florida to the Virgin Islands. The boat is a true blue water cruiser with 7′ draft equipped and the latest in marine electronics. You will be able to experience a real open ocean passage with two captains who are both also ASA sailing instructors. What a great way experience an ocean crossing, learning how to stand watches, navigate and do weather route planning all while under sail.
Having this kind of experience can answer the question of whether you want to cross an ocean in your own boat. If you are thinking of buying a liveaboard sailboat to liveaboard and cruise on, this passage can help you decide what kind of boat you really need. You can contact Jeff and Jean directly and learn more about the trip at offshore sail training.
Open Ocean Sail Training with Jeff and Jean
They will be leaving in the middle of November, I think its really going to be a fun trip, to bad Margie and I can’t come!
After a very rainy day when the upper end of tropical storm Paula moved eastward (the storm was over Cuba) cool dry air has moved in. It’s time to turn off the A/C and enjoy one of my favorite times of the year. I was reading the forecast discussion on NOAA’s website this morning and came across this;
THE RADARREFLECTIVITY ANIMATIONS ALSO ILLUSTRATE AUTUMN BIRD
MIGRATION WITH SPLENDOR. THE 25-30 DBZ ECHOES SUGGEST OVER 10000
BIRDS PER MILE ARE FLYING SOUTHWARD TO THEIR WINTER HABITATS...
ACCORDING TO RADAR ORNITHOLOGY STUDIES
