Affordable cruising sailboat Archives

Lead Acid Batteries can dissolve a sailboat!

Our latest video is out! So much work to take out the old corroded wood and build a new battery box! Share in Patricks misery as he sees just how extensive the damage is from these lead acid batteries!

Whether duribg rough seas, equalization, or every day use, the battery fumes while chargibg, or actual leakage, battery acid has ruined all of the wood in the battery compartment/battery box on our sailboat. Trojan t-105 batteries are awesome batteries, but the ecscaped battery acid has rotted everything and Patrick replaces the entire battery box in this 2 part series!

The history of Brick House…before we owned her…is the history with Garry and Carol Domnisse, her previous owners…when she was named “Yellow Rose”.

Their new book describes in detail, the adventures they had outfitting and sailing “Yellow Rose”. Everything from SSB radio schedules, to their daily lifestyle and their passages. Carol is a lady after my own heart and you will hear from her personally in this book. You will see why I say that…

The book is available in Kindle edition and hardbound Here On Amazon and at Barnes and Nobles, and on Garry and Carols blog at https://ourislandinthesun.com/

Here is the recent history of “Brick House”…during our ownership…

How exactly, does “BRICK HOUSE” afford to sail around the world for over a decade now? How did Rebecca come to own Brick House aka Yellow Rose…and How did Patrick come to be co-owner?

Before SV Brick House became my sailboat, “my island in the sun”, Garry and Carol Domnisse owned her, and called her “SV Yellow Rose”. They cruised between Alaska and Texas and beyond, and had some of the best years of their lives cruising on this 1976 Valiant 40, in the 1990s.

But then they sold Yellow Rose…to me, Rebecca…Here is the story of how we afforded to sail off on this cruising sailboat..and how Patrick came to join me to sail around the world on Brick House, and how we manage financially, to keep sailing and cruising on her, and probably will for life.

In 2001, with my previous husband, with my dream boiling over with enthusiasm, we purchased SV Yellow Rose, and thought we were off on a new adventure with her. However, what was really MY dream didn’t quite work out as planned. My then husband, it turned out, wasn’t “onboard” with the dream we, or more accurately, I, had been planning for more than a decade, and well…

…I tried to rid myself of my sailing and cruising dream/addiction but alas, I was too contaminated to take the dream back, and settle for what I saw as a “second best” life, on land. Jim was a good guy, but I didn’t want to drag someone along, nor did he want to be dragged. We then divorced, but still, I put Yellow Rose up for sale, since sailing it and maintaining it by myself just didn’t seem reasonable at the time. I had just met Patrick, but he had already sailed around the world once, and I didn’t think he would do it again, and he concurred…he didn’t want to cruise this time, on such a small boat as Yellow Rose. He wanted a Swan 48 or equivalent, because this was what he has become accustomed to sailing offshore, in the NARC rallies that he sailed from Newport to the Caribbean on.

I figured that was probably just an excuse for not truly wanting to cruise, but I fell head over heals in love with Patrick anyways… so I continued to try to sell Yellow Rose. Yes..I had a little big of baggage…and should have believed Patrick Childress when he said he was earnest in wanting to sail around the world with me!

Just before signing a P&S on Yellow Rose, Patrick and I attended a seminar by Douglas and Bernadette Bernon who preached to “take the boat you have and go now”. Douglas and Bernadette has just returned on the Shearwater Cutter 39 footer, from full time live aboard cruising. Patrick quickly learned from their wise words, and concluded that a Swan 48 would mean working for another decade. He had friends younger than him dropping dead of various ailments. He decided we should call off the sale of Yellow Rose, and go cruising soon! She was paid for, and not such a bad boat!

So I got rid of the P&S in the nick of time, and we started our preparations. I still wasn’t completely convinced Patrick would actually go…oh yee of little trust…. But saving every dime wouldn’t hurt nonetheless, and so we worked hard, saved every penny, and slowly prepared Yellow Rose for world cruising. Every weekend she was further ripped apart, and I cried to see her become a shell of a boat in the name of renovation. We renamed her “Brick House” since Patrick refused to cruise on a boat with the soft name of a flower. She splashed in June 2007, we married on her in July, and we actually sailed away in August. We waved goodbye to a friend on another sailboat as we left Newport Harbor…”see you in 4 years!”. I felt like that was a lie at that time. No way could the money possibly last that long! Would we even really leave the USA, or would it all fall apart just as my hopes rose?

We raced down the east coast narrowly escaping fall and winter, and then departed to the Bahamas. That’s when it started to feel real for me. We then raced towards the Panama Canal by way of the western Caribbean. I didn’t want to run out of money in India and have to work for a dollar an hour for the rest of my life to afford an airline ticket home!! I was so jealous when we met cruisers who were just “out for as long as it was fun”. We were on a monetary expiration deadline.

Secretly…I had another bank account though…with enough money for another year, if need be. Later I found out…Patrick had almost the exact same amount, representing another year, if needed!

Just as we started approaching a smaller than comfortable bank account, we drained our accounts with a dismasting in the northern Pacific. Luckily, with some determination to not end our cruising , we landed jobs in Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands where we worked for 16 months to fill the kitty back up again. That represented year 4.5. The only thing we had to buy there were 2 bicycles (no cars on the island), and some boat parts. Everything else was provided and we only had to pay Marshallese taxes of 5%, and social security from our paychecks. Nearly every dime earned went in to the kitty. When we left there in 2013, we had the same money we had when we departed Rhode Island, so we assumed we would be Ok for another 5 years. Patrick started his social security benefits slightly after departing there, and our very small writing income continued, so the money has lasted much longer. As we start year 13, as long as we are somewhat frugal, we manage to keep our head above water financially, and there is now no end in sight!

I think a big part of our financial success on the boat came from NOT buying that Swan 48 that we both would have both preferred. Going with the boat that was well within our budget, and not stretching things very far to have the biggest, fanciest boat we could have. I feel sad for the younger cruisers out there that enjoy nice big new boats, and experiencing this lifestyle, but then have to sell the boat, and work again. I can not imagine having to go back to long term work after living this way. But I do like those fancy big comfortable boats they sail in!

Now, Patrick and I sail, and do not see any end in sight for our adventure. Brick House is our home, as it was for Garry and Carol. It takes us to far corners of the world, and let’s us stay there extended periods of time exploring new cultures, and meeting new people. We don’t cherish the ocean crossings, but we love that the motion of Brick House is kind, that she carries us safely across the oceans we need to cross, and is comfortable at anchor and in marinas. We are glad she isn’t flashy or shiny… we think it probably discourages theft because we certainly don’t look like the richest boat in a harbor. She has what we need, and is well outfitted for all the comforts in life you could need. We do not insure her, ex dot for third party liability, because insurance companies think old sailboats are more of a risk than newer boats, but with Patrick Head of the Maintenance Board, we feel she is far safer and seaworthy than any newer boat out there.

Garry and Carol set off on Yellow Rose in their retirement. They sold her smaller boat, their land home, and everything they owned I believe, to sail off on Yellow Rose. Brick House was a newer boat back then but Yellow Rose was never an extravagant luxurious boat. I think for both us and them, she represented an affordable option to go out and live this lifestyle, and I encourage all new cruisers to NOT stretch their budgets for the biggest newest possible boats. This lifestyle can certainly be enjoyed in a modest boat like Yellow Rose, like Brick House, and the cruising kitty can be preserved for fun, maintenance, and emergencies. True freedom is when the boat is paid off, and you have a comfortable sum of money in the bank. Don’t finance a boat…only buy one you have cash for. I think Garry and Carol would tell you the same.

Garry and Carol just released a second edition of their book called “Our Island In the Sun, which describes the adventures they had outfitting and sailing her. It’s in both his and her voice which adds interest to the story.

The book is available in Kindle edition and hardbound Here On Amazon and at Barnes and Nobles, and on Garry and Carols blog at https://ourislandinthesun.com/

I enjoyed the old version too…how could I not enjoy reading about my Valiant 40’s previous life? This edition is promised to be more organized and edited, and in color! I am so looking forward to reading it again. My autographed copy, hot off the press, arrives this week!