Sleeping With Oars!

Crew Wanted!

May, 2012

Charleston – Washington, D.C. – Philadelphia – New York

The Voyage

Candide and I are currently in Charleston, South Carolina. A major repair is being completed on the port-side chainplates which is expected to be finished by the second week of April. Once this repair has been completed, I hope to set sail as follows:

Leg 1 – Charleston, S.C., to Washington, D.C. Most likely route is outside (i.e., Atlantic Ocean) from Charleston to Beaufort, NC. A decision will be made to go around Cape Hatteras (outside, if weather is very favorable) or inside. In either case, eventually get to the Chesapeake, Potomac River, and then Washington. I plan to spend at least 3-4 weeks visiting museums and all that D.C. has to offer.

Leg 2 – Washington, D.C. To Philadelphia, PA. Plan to take the Potomac to the Chesapeake, head north through the C&D Canal, up the Delaware and to Philadelphia. I have family in the city, and plan to spend a couple of weeks in this area.

Leg 3 – Philadelphia, PA to New York City. Plan to take the Delaware south, through Delaware Bay, and either take the ICW or go outside to New York City. Plan to stay for at least a month, checking out the city.

That’s the plan. There is really no timetable for this trip, other than a start date of early May to leave Charleston. For once, I have the luxury of time on my side…so we’ll be hopping from port to port only with favorable weather conditions and all boat systems fully functioning. If there are less than favorable conditions…we’ll stay put until conditions improve.

The Crew

I am looking for one or two people to join me in sailing the boat from one port to another. The first leg is from Charleston, South Carlina to Washington, D.C. I’m looking for crew to help sail the boat, enjoy Washington for a few days while living on the boat, and then return to their regular lives. When I’ve been in D.C. for a while, I’ll be looking for crew to help sail the boat on the next leg.

Here are some guidelines for what I have in mind crew-wise:

• Flexibility. This voyage is meant to be enjoyable. I am not hell-bent on getting to any particular destination in any pre-determined amount of time. In general, I want to head from Charleston to Washington to Philadelphia to New York starting in early May. I plan to stay at anchor quite a bit (and sometimes marinas), and enjoy the area in which we happen to be. I do not plan on sailing if the seas are very rough, the wind is blowing too hard, or if the dolphins go on the attack again. I need crew with a flexible schedule.
• Physically Fit. Even under the best conditions, sailing is physically demanding. I need crew who can help set the sails, pull up the anchor (yes, Candide has a windless, but there’s still work involved), help get the dinghy on and off the deck, stay awake during their watch, etc.
• Boating Experience. I have taken inexperienced crew on voyages in the past. Generally, this causes a lot more work and anxiety on my part. I’m not saying that I won’t consider inexperienced crew…but I’d definitely like to find people with some navigation, boat-handling, and sailing experience.

The Captain

I have sailed Candide all over Florida, the Dry Tortugas, northern Bahamas, and Cuba. I have approximately 4,000 nautical miles under my keel. Some of my sailing adventures have been posted on YouTube; just look for my user name “DotyRS”. These videos should also give you an idea about my personality.

Professionally, I work in international sales. I have the luxury of working from home with extremely flexible hours…all I need is a cell phone, internet connection, and an airport nearby to do my job. I will most definitely be working on this voyage; spending a lot of time on the phone and internet doing my job during the week.  I hope to do most of the off-shore passages on the weekends or when I can schedule the appropriate time away from my day job.

The Boat

Candide is well-appointed and has all the creature comforts that make a comfortable home including:

• Hot and cold running water
• 5.5 kw diesel generator
• Ice maker (33 lbs./day)
• Gas oven with 3-burner range
• Gas BBQ grill
• 22,000 BTU air conditioner / heater
• 2 private sleeping quarters
• 1 head with shower and toilet
• Robust entertainment center (large flat screen, surround sound, 400+ movies)
• Refrigerator and freezer
• Mobile / wireless internet (WiFi, 3G, and 4G)
• 2 full-size, folding bicycles
• 2000 Watt inverter
• 12V, 645 Amp Hour house bank batteries

Not only does the boat have these creature comforts…ALL of them actually work!!!

By well-appointed, I mean that the boat has the following:

• Cutter rigging (one mast; jib, stay, and main sails)
• 39-HP Yanmar diesel
• Hydraulic ram autopilot
• 100 gallon water capacity
• 90 gallon fuel capacity (diesel)
• 6 gallon hot water capacity
• 5 bilge pumps (three installed, two backups)
• EPIRB satellite emergency transponder
• Digital Windspeed / Direction indicator
• Depth Sounder
• GPS / Color Chartplotter
• CQR and Plow anchors
• Electric anchor windless
• 10′ RIB dinghy with 8 HP outboard

Let’s Go!

That’s about it! If you’re interested in joining as crew for any leg(s), please send an e-mail to me at robert@sleepingwithoars.com.  Please give details on your boating experience, availability, and personal situation.

Since August, 1999, at 3:15 that afternoon, I’ve maintained a Web site dedicated to my experience living aboard a 38′ Hans Christian Traditional sailboat named Candide. According to Alexa (a site that tracks Website statistics), SleepingWithOars.com has received over 3 million hits since its inception!

Over the years, I’ve received thousands of e-mails from people who dream of living aboard. I’ve dispensed information about air conditioning, auto pilots, teak care, selecting a boat, choosing a marina, and slip fees. The site went for several years without an update, and readers spoke their minds. Update the site! More pictures! More stories!

Your voices have been heard. So here’s the brand-new site complete with new text, photographs, and video. I’ve also come into the 21st century, and have created the new site using WordPress. You’ll now be able to post questions directly to a discussion group and have them answered by other readers of this site (I’ll moderate the discussions to help keep them civil). You’ll also be able to view my regularly updated blog so you’ll know about my current projects and adventures on board.

A lot of people have asked how I came up with the name “SleepingWithOars” for the site. During Christmas of 2000, my sister came for a visit and stayed in Candide’s aft cabin. One morning, I went into her berth to retrieve a pair of shoes and realized that I’d forgotten to remove my dinghy’s oars from their normal storage place. They were still on the bed, and my sister had been sleeping on top of them! “Sis!,” I said, “You don’t have to sleep with those oars!” For a few seconds, she had a confused look on her face and then burst out laughing. It took a while for me to realize what she found so funny.

I then realized that I had found the perfect domain name for my Web site: SleepingWithOars. I’ve come to accept that fact that I’m no longer living a normal lifestyle. I don’t have “next door” neighbors, they’re “next hatch” neighbors. I don’t have windows, they’re “portals.” It seems rather silly to call a bath-less lavatory a “bathroom,” so I refer to it as the “head.” There are a thousand other little differences about my sailboat-based lifestyle, and I’m proud to say that I “sleep with oars!”

Maybe you’re thinking about sleeping with oars, too. When I first considered the lifestyle, I was filled with countless questions; How does one purchase a sailboat? What types of things make a boat a comfortable home? How much boat can a guy like me afford?  There were also a lot of questions that I didn’t know enough to ask; How much does it cost to maintain a boat? How will my desktop computer get electricity? How will I get a reliable internet connection on board?

Unfortunately, this information just isn’t readily available. Sure, there are a lot of books you can read and classes you can take on boating and sailing…they’ll cover things like docking, tying knots, setting sails, and the nautical Rules of the Road. But they aren’t likely to teach what you need to know to live on a boat. They generally skip details like what happens when you flush the toilet on board (it either goes overboard or into a storage tank), where the water comes from at the faucet in the kitchen sink (fresh water tanks that have to be filled regularly), and how to keep the lights on (big banks of batteries which must be kept charged).

The purpose of this Website is to help you understand the things that make a boat liveable. So sit back and fix yourself a mimosa (if it’s morning), grab a beer (if it’s afternoon), or pour a glass of wine (if it’s evening). If you’re at the office, you may want to stick with coffee for the time being. Once you’ve secured your beverage of choice, find a comfortable reading position and start following the links! Enjoy your visit here, and please share your thoughts and questions (on the discussion forum, or by sending me a private message).

One last point on this introduction. My sister, who by sleeping on top of my oars, was a bit miffed that the old site didn’t include a picture of her. “Hey, I helped you name the site, and you don’t even have a picture of me on it!” she said. So, in loving tribute to my sister (who is alive and well in Philadelphia), I hereby post not one, but a few pictures that truly captures her spirit. Please click here to see them!