Find…
No Fridge, One Burner, Two Weeks: Cooking Aboard a Small Sailboat at Shackleford Banks
My wrist caught the bowl of oatmeal on Grit‘s galley table. It did a steamy Charlie Brown loop and landed next to the centerboard case with a plop, spraying oatmeal across the settee.
“Damn I miss the dogs,” I thought. “Lucky and Diggity would have licked this up in seconds.”
Instead I spooned the oatmeal back into my bowl and chewed carefully, avoiding the grittiest bits. Welcome to Oatmeal à la Grit.
Here’s how my wife Julia and… Continue reading
Wild Ponies of Shackleford Banks Have the Last Word
It was our last day observing the wild ponies of Shackleford Banks and my wife Julia and I went out to see what they were up to.
Jail to Sail: New Interview With Sven Yrvind on my Travel Grit Podcast
Oh man, I’m excited. I just posted an interview with one of my all-time sailing heroes, Sven Yrvind, on my Travel Grit podcast. Short version: Sven was beaten by his teachers, locked up for desertion, built a sailboat in his mother’s basement, and sailed off to sailing legend. Long version: the wonderful 1-hour, 19-minute interview that I had with Sven on Travel Grit.
Click on over to listen to Sven explain how he got his boat out of his mom’s… Continue reading
Best Long Riding and Horse Travel Books: 8 Picks from a Long Rider with 6,000 Miles in the Saddle
I’ve ridden 6,000 miles in the saddle and spent over 1,000 nights on the road with horses and mules, and people often ask me what I recommend they read about Long Riding and long distance saddle travel. A Long Ride is a continuous, unsupported saddle journey of over 1,000 miles. Here are my eight favorites.
Any of these books would make a great gift for the horse, mule, donkey, travel or adventure lover in your life.
Our Tiny Library Up… Continue reading
What is the Long Riders’ Guild
Twenty years ago, I owned a mule named Woody. Woody was cantankerous. I wanted to ride him across North Carolina – and maybe a whole lot farther. Too bad nobody could tell me how to ride a mule 300 miles. This is the post I wish I’d read all those years ago.
25-Foot Sailboat: Are We Closer at Sea or on Land?
My wife Julia and I have spent the last two weeks anchored off Shackleford Banks on our 25-foot sailboat Grit. We came here to learn more about how wild horses interact when they’re largely left alone by humans.
The morning before… Continue reading
Life in 8 Feet: A Couple Lives Aboard a Small Sailboat
The last thing I do at night on our sailboat Grit before I drop off to sleep is say, “Goodnight Chickadee,” reach over the table that sits on top of the centerboard case and kiss my wife Julia goodnight. “Goodnight, Bubbie,” she’ll say, and we’ll tell each other we love each other, then snuggle down into our berths. She sleeps on the port berth. I’m on the starboard side. My toes will knock against the bottom of the berth, where… Continue reading
Wild Horses, Rough Seas and Lessons from Shackleford Banks
This week Julia and I joined Lynne Carnes on her Creative Spirits Unleashed podcast to talk about our time aboard Grit with the wild ponies of Shackleford Banks. Lynne interviewed us directly from the Grit‘s wood-lined cabin as were anchored 100 feet of a sandbar. You can hear the energy crackling in our voices.
Thanks, Lynne, for having us on!
Creative Spirits… Continue reading
How to Provision a Sailboat for Two Weeks: Why the Sausages Worked but the Wine Didn’t
The homemade cured sausages that survived Lucky and Diggity were a hit. The bottle of red wine that had a cork instead of a cap was a bust. Here is a list of the provisions that Julia and I took on our 2-week long trip aboard our sailboat Grit to study the wild ponies of Shackleford Banks. Here’s what worked, what didn’t and why every sailboat should carry a corkscrew.
Sketching Grit: How We Fit a Life Aboard a Nimble 24
How do 2 people live in 8 feet? I’m writing a post about that right now. The working title is Life in 8 Feet — it’s about the two weeks Julia and I spent living aboard our sailboat Grit, our Nimble 24 sailboat. Here’s a sneak peek at part of a sketch I drew to illustrate the piece.
Note: You can now read the article Life in 8 Feet here.
Julia’s… Continue reading
The Rock, the Vine, and a 40-Knot Gale: Anchoring at Shackleford Banks
“The single commandment of anchoring is, ‘Thou shall create scope.'” Reese Palley / flamboyant art dealer, author, sailor, environmentalist and businessman
The best time to write a post about anchoring is on an anchored boat during storm conditions. The second best time is after the winds start dropping but your body and mind are still buzzing from the pounding, lurching, jerking, and groans in the night. That’s where I am right now. Julia, our sailboat Grit, and I recently… Continue reading
Someone to Stand Watch: What the Wild Ponies of Shackleford Banks Still Know
My wife Julia and I had been anchored off Shackleford Banks on our sailboat Grit for nearly a week, studying the wild ponies that call the 8-mile-long uninhabited island home.
The goal was a slow, unhurried look at the bands — to really understand their social… Continue reading
How Not to Pack a Canvas Tent: A Shackleford Banks Lesson
This week I found myself in a similar predicament to the time my wife Julia said we should carry our kayaks on the deck of Grit, our Nimble 24 sailboat. I said no, we’d be fine towing them. That turned into a debacle.
My advice to Julia this time involved how to pack up the wall tent we’d pitched on Shackleford Banks. In this video I will instruct you… Continue reading
The Day Grit Went Adrift, Ge Fouled and Sideswiped off Shackleford Banks
Yesterday I wrote about how Grit fouled her anchor, went adrift and got sideswiped off Shackleford Banks. That night, after the day’s adventure settled down, Julia and I sat across from each other at Grit’s cabin table and recorded what went down.
Adrift, Fouled and Sideswiped off Shackleford Banks
Six days after dropping the anchor off Shackleford Banks, and two days after the 40-knot gale beat us up, it was time to move Grit to the Bight on the eastern end of the island. The Bight is the large anchorage next to Cape Lookout lighthouse. The eastern end of Shackleford Islands is flatter, with more windswept dunes than the more forested, higher western end we’d been anchored off for nearly a week.
