From Blackhawk Pilot to Island Packet 44 Sailor | SV Validated | Salty Podcast #96

The romantic version of sailing is easy to sell. The real version is what Suzy and Sput live every day aboard their 1992 Island Packet 44, SV Validated It, as they pause in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and prepare to push south toward Grenada for hurricane season. They started in Washington, DC, met online, and turned a brand-new partnership into a full-time cruising plan with very real consequences: weather windows, expensive clear-in fees, and the relentless “thorny path” of sailing into wind and current.

We talk through the nuts and bolts that make or break a cruising lifestyle. They share what surprised them most while transiting the Bahamas, why lowering the dinghy can become a daily debate, and how a simple Georgetown message turned into a WhatsApp network of dozens of boats coordinating moves toward the Caribbean. You’ll also hear why accurate local intel matters, including a candid anchorage tip in Tortola and how NoForeignLand helped set expectations.

Then we get into the moments every sailor fears: systems failures and engine trouble. They walk us through a fried DC-to-DC charger, a hydrolocked Yanmar 4JH2-TE that could have ended the trip, and how mentor support and fast, methodical troubleshooting saved the engine. We also dig into practical preparedness: spares that are worth carrying, managing diesel bug risk, and a DIY fuel polisher that costs under $100.

If you’re planning liveaboard sailing, offshore cruising, or a big retirement transition, this conversation is packed with concrete takeaways on seamanship, budgeting, provisioning, and staying calm when the boat demands “damage control.” Subscribe, share this with a sailor who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest question about making the jump offshore.

Transcript

Hello From Tortola

Suzy 0:00

Hi there. We are Suzy and Sput on SV Validated. It is a 1992 Island Packet 44.

Capn Tinsley 0:12

Awesome. Where are y'all right now?

Sput 0:14

Well, right now we're in the BVIs in Tortola. We're en route to Grenada, the long hard way, the thorny path.

Capn Tinsley 0:23

Okay, so that's your destination? Is that where you're gonna hang out or is there a place after that?

Suzy 0:29

I mean, that's where we're headed for hurricane season just to get out of the hurricane zone. And once we get there, I think we'll kind of just take a little bit of a break, enjoy Grenada, and then make a plan for going forward.

Buying The Boat And Leaving DC

Sput 0:45

Okay, and where did you start? DC, Washington, DC.

Capn Tinsley 0:50

Okay, and so this is a new boat to you?

Sput 0:54

Got it in 2022, working at the time. Took a couple years to learn the boat and fix the boat up. Uh, ordered it in Florida, took it to Mac for new chain plates, took it back to DC because I was still working, and then we set off in 24.

Meeting Online And Choosing Boat Life

Capn Tinsley 1:13

How long have you guys been together? Oh, we're really new.

Suzy 1:18

Yes, we are very new. Let me see.

Sput 1:21

November 2023.

Suzy 1:23

Is that what I think it was October?

Capn Tinsley 1:25

That's pretty good, Sput. Do either one of you have sailing experience prior to this boat?

Sput 1:32

I started ASA lessons in 2017. And I took ASA 101 and 103. Had a guest instructor who told me about a program at the Naval Academy that needed volunteers. And that program took the midshipmen offshore to a remote port, to some remote port in New England. The midshipmen had to do a summer program, and one of the programs was sailing. So the Naval Academy made me a sailing instructor and taught me how to taught me how to sail and then made me a sailing instructor. And that's where I really learned how to sail and got the confidence to get an island pack at 44.

Capn Tinsley 2:14

Okay, that was 2017. So this is before Susie came in the picture. So you got the boat prior to meeting Susie. So Susie comes along and goes, You're gonna do what?

Suzy 2:27

Well, he told me what his plan was. Actually, it was it's 2020, it's it's now, it's modern times. So we met online and it said he was planning his retirement of sailing. I didn't believe him. But after we went out and he was talking about sailing, he told me he really had a boat. And then when I came to the boat, he has a home, but on land. But when I came to the boat, I just instantly understood. I was oh, this is your home. It just yes, had a home, but I instantly understood. I was oh, this is your home. He just had a different energy here, and then he was do you want to go? And I don't know, let me think about it. I mean, it wasn't, it was kind of an easy decision, it's within the scope of my personality, but I had a whole life and whole career, and yeah, but it's six months into it, though, she started saying that she thinks she wants to go, and nobody believed her.

Capn Tinsley 3:30

And was it because it was such a beautiful boat? I mean, I have an island packet, not as big as yours, but the island packets are such beautiful boats. Did that have anything to do with it? The the comfort and everything?

Suzy 3:42

I mean, I boats were not just in my world at all, honestly. When I came, it was a beautiful boat and it fit like the shape of the island packet. It looks like a sailboat that you draw when you're a child, so it was like, oh, it's a sailboat, you know what I mean? It has that that picture, so it's very it's romantic, right? That kind of romantic side of sailing and all the wood and all of that. So I guess that captured a part of it, but for me, it was just more being on the water and listening to him talk about sailing and watching him plan for all of his passages. That gave me a level of comfort. I was like, okay, this man knows what he's doing.

Capn Tinsley 4:28

That's what that's what he's doing his study, and he looks very happy hearing you say that. So I recently interviewed a couple that met online and they met on love sailing. It's it's it's have you heard of that?

Sput 4:46

Have you we we know a couple who met as well on uh is it me, Salita?

Capn Tinsley 4:52

Had have you met them? It's them.

Sput 4:54

Um so we connected with them on no foreign land, and we're gonna connect with them in person in Grenada. But no, there's another couple in Florida met on Love Sale.

Capn Tinsley 5:06

Oh, okay. And which one did you guys meet on, if you don't mind me asking?

Sput 5:11

Bumble.

Suzy 5:12

Oh, yeah, it was Bumble.

Capn Tinsley 5:14

Okay. Well, uh, after that podcast I did with them, we never said it, and a bunch of people were messaging afterwards. What was it? What was it? No, they want to get on there and find somebody.

Suzy 5:27

But now we have two recommendations to see.

Capn Tinsley 5:30

Yes, Bumble and Love Sailing. So that's interesting. So you guys both wind it down your careers, and are you still working, Susie, or you wound it?

Suzy 5:41

I am not I'm not still working. I know. Okay. This is a lot to do and work, especially in New Sailing.

Capn Tinsley 5:51

Well, you've really gone a long way. Uh so Spot, you took it down to Mac in 2023.

Sput 5:57

So I bought it in 22, took it home to DC, and then took it back to Mac for chain plates, and then back to DC. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That that Eastern Seaboard, I got to know it pretty well.

Capn Tinsley 6:12

As

Bahamas Weather, Dinghy Pain, Big Fees

Capn Tinsley 6:13

a matter of fact, I'm in Fort Latterdale and I I'm from Gulf Shores, Alabama, and my home port is Orange Beach, Alabama. I'm taking the boat to Mac as well for new chain plates. So I'm about to peel off some major bread for that. So you guys started in DC and you passed me in the Bahamas.

Sput 6:34

I think you we were anchored right behind you. But really, yes, we were, but during the time we were transiting the Bahamas, the weather was so weird that a lot of times we didn't get off the boat, we didn't even lower the dinghy. I always say tell her that lowering the dinghy is my favorite time of day because it's just so painful for me because the way our dhy is up so high that I I really hate lowering it if it's only gonna be for you know a day. It's work, yeah. So the weather was bad and we didn't put the dinghy down. You were way up against the the shore. We couldn't get that close.

Capn Tinsley 7:14

Yeah, well, that's what Hayden said to do that. He said, just get up there and get in front of people. I said, I don't mind doing that. So it was before Pig Beach.

Sput 7:22

It was the one right before Pig Beach, and then we saw you again. We saw you on AIS at Pig Beach, yeah. But we were literally right behind you.

Capn Tinsley 7:31

Was that at Shroud?

Suzy 7:32

Shroud was at Shroud, and we just did it overnight and it was really blowing. Yeah, yeah.

Capn Tinsley 7:40

That was the thing about the trip down, it was so windy, it wasn't as fun as the trip back.

Sput 7:47

Right, right, right. Yeah, we were watching your progress the entire time from the time you crossed over, because we were also over in the Florida on the Florida side together. I think we watched you leave. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah, from dinner key. We were in dinner key, and I think you were over there. Were you really? Yeah, no name. I think you were at no name.

Capn Tinsley 8:09

Yeah, I did. I was at dinner key, and then I was at no name, and I was paying a fortune at dinner key, waiting on the weather. So right, right.

Sput 8:17

Yeah, we we anchored out at dinner key, and we saw you, yeah.

Capn Tinsley 8:22

So and no, that's good. So you boogied on down to Georgetown, and how long were you in Georgetown?

Suzy 8:28

I think just a week or seven days or less. We were really just waiting for a weather window because we spent last winter in the Bahamas, so we just really wanted to get going, get out.

Sput 8:41

Oh, yeah, we weren't really interested in the Bahamas this year because the prices had gone up and we knew we were only moving through. And we I think we crossed over on the 22nd of March, and the prices went back down on the first of April.

Capn Tinsley 8:57

I know, after I got there too, yeah.

Sput 9:00

We paid the full price, yeah, and then eight days, eight or nine days later, it went down to the regular or the last year's prices.

Suzy 9:08

No, we thought it was an April foolish joke at first. Oh man, it's just somebody's pranking.

Capn Tinsley 9:13

Mine was $712 plus $50 for a pet permit. So is that what you guys paid?

Sput 9:19

Or we paid a little more. We went to NASA thinking it would be quicker and easier and cheaper, but it wasn't. I think it would have been better to do it at Bimini. They made us pull into a marina uh because we carry a shotgun. The marina charged us. Everybody wants their little tips.

Capn Tinsley 9:39

Yeah, I know. Tell me about it. Okay. Yeah. And I checked in three, three uh hand. I don't know. I'll I'll bleep it. Three handguns. So this isn't the first time you've been to the Bahamas on your boat.

Sput 9:57

No, we we did a full season last year as a shakedown to see what because we knew we were preparing to take off and not head back to the States. So we really wanted to see what the boat would need. And I don't know if Tim B at C, he's an island packet guy as well.

Capn Tinsley 10:15

Oh, I've heard of him, yeah.

Sput 10:16

Yeah, as and he's he travels on SV Paquita. But we traveled with him through the Bahamas last year because he had done it before, and it was just so easy to follow. Oh, sure. So we did that last year, and then this year we uh we wanted to just move through. Uh but they charged us the full price, and all we did was wait in Georgetown for or wait at each acreage for weather to keep moving forward. And we were in Georgetown for about a week or so. And it's funny, in Georgetown, I put out a thing on Facebook for the Georgetown cruisers and asked if anybody was interested in heading to Dominican Republic. And we found there was a person who started a group on WhatsApp, and it started with three or four boats, and now we have over 40 boats trying to move to Grenada together. Well, semi-together. Right. We just keep each other appraised of our moves.

Capn Tinsley 11:16

And Hayden was helping me once I got into the Bahamas, or actually, I had crossed the Gulf Stream before in a smaller IP that I used to have. I used to have IP27, but he took over as my weather advisor once I got in there because I got Aquamaps. Okay, now I gotta use this one instead of that one. And so on the way back, it was much easier. So the first trip, it must have gone well for both of you. You said, okay, this life is for me.

Suzy 11:45

I think, yeah, it did. He said we were with our buddy Tim for in the beginning, not the whole time, and that really gave us some confidence because his draft isn't as deep as ours, but it's still pretty deep, I guess. For the Bahamas. Ours is five nine. Yeah, five nine? Yeah.

Capn Tinsley 12:06

Okay. Yeah.

Suzy 12:08

That's a little nerve-cracking for what they say about the Bahamas, but we followed him through and learned some tips, and we were fine the whole time.

Sput 12:20

About a month, almost a month and a half. We had a good lead. Yeah, that's awesome.

Suzy 12:25

After that, we were on our own for two and a half months. Okay.

Capn Tinsley 12:30

Don't you find that the sailing community is just so helpful? I know they've been helpful to me. You're a lucky woman.

Suzy 12:37

Another reason I felt comfortable doing this.

Capn Tinsley 12:40

Do you do you have a background in that or something in the military?

Sput 12:44

Initially, I started out as a helicopter mechanic, but then I became a helicopter pilot. So, but I was always mechanically inclined. Um, speaking of things going well though, things did go well the entire time we were in the Bahamas.

Breakdowns And The Hydrolock Save

Sput 12:57

We had minor issues. The biggest thing in the while we were in the Bahamas is we fried a DC to DC charger.

Suzy 13:04

Oh, yeah.

Sput 13:04

And Susie flew back to the United States on New Year's Eve, or was it Christmas Eve?

Suzy 13:10

The day before New Year's Eve. I did a quick turnaround trip. So I'll be back to celebrate.

Sput 13:16

It was cheaper for her to get to go to Nassau, fly back to Fort Lauderdale, stay in a hotel, stay in a hotel, get the part, and come back the next day. That was cheaper than trying to have the part shipped into the Bahamas.

Capn Tinsley 13:30

Because you didn't have to pay the tax or whatever that is.

Sput 13:34

Right. And they a lot of people were having their things held up in customs. Yeah. So we avoided all of that and got the part right away. She had a nice night, nice long shower in the hotel. All was great. So that was the first thing to happen to us in the Bahamas. When we returned from the Bahamas, we went straight to No Name Harbor, stayed there for about a week, and then we went to meet our buddy Tim in Fort Lauderdale in Lake Sylvia. While we were in Lake Sylvia, we went to start the engine to take showers, to heat the water up to take showers, and found out that the engine was hydrolocked. It did not start, it was seized up. So I called What caused that? Well, if you don't check this piece and you you're doing a lot of motoring in salt water, it could get crusted up with salt and fail, and it allows water to backflow into your engine and get on your on your heads, and it could destroy your engine. Well, I immediately called Colin. Well, can I well?

Suzy 14:47

I will say that this was a new one, though. You had just changed it, right?

Sput 14:54

Yes, you had just changed that part before we went to the Bahamas, right?

Suzy 14:58

And so I just want to put that out there. If someone's oh, mine's brand new, it'll be fine.

Sput 15:02

No, you should expect it, just look up at it and see if it's crusted with salt, make sure it's still working and doing its thing. But I I called Colin and told him what had happened, and he said, I didn't know what to do. I thought the engine was just done. And he's nope, you can save it, but you have to move quickly. And I didn't know if I could do it. And he said, Look, I could send somebody, but that's just that's gonna cost too much. You can do this, and he threw it step by step. Colin, shout out to Colin.

Capn Tinsley 15:36

He's done the same things with me, not quite that extensive, but yeah, he answered the phone every day, every morning.

Sput 15:42

We would talk on what the next step was for the day. He would give me my steps and and have me do them, and then we'd talk the next day, or later that day if need be. And he got he walked me through it, and we're on the same engine. We saved our engine.

Capn Tinsley 15:56

And what engine is it?

Sput 15:59

Yammar 4JH2 T E. It's a 62 horsepower Yammar. It's original to this old boat, it has like it has over 9,000 hours on it.

Capn Tinsley 16:13

I haven't even said this on camera yet. Uh I'm in Fort Lauderdale stuck because when I I went to go check my coolant and my oil before I was leaving to go north, there was oil in the coolant. Oh wow. Do you know how that was a new one? I'd never seen that before. And guess what it is? It may be a cracked head. Wow.

Sput 16:36

Wait now. Was it running hot? Do you under you have any idea how?

Capn Tinsley 16:40

It did once when I was going across the bank coming back, and I saw it because the the light was on, and I turned everything off, and I called somebody, and and then after about an hour of checking coolant and checking oil and all this, couldn't figure it out. And I started it back up and I just ran it at lower RPMs, like around 2100. And it didn't do it again. I know that along this whole trip I left in October that the coolant has overflowed several times. I think that was overheating. But I'm not saying I'm not a mechanic, so I'm just learning about this. But I'm here at Lauderdale Marine Center amongst these huge yachts. I had to be towed back here. This is, I mean, these guys, these kind of boats don't worry about the bill. Right, right, right. And then I'm going to spend some money with Colin. Right, right.

Sput 17:38

Yeah. I always tell her as well, though, things are gonna go wrong. But it's it's always great when they go wrong at the right time.

Capn Tinsley 17:48

I'm glad I was here.

Sput 17:49

Right. At Black Point. Yeah, some remote out is of the Bahamas. Yeah.

Capn Tinsley 17:57

Oh, I want to put up one of your reels, and you can tell me if this is the situation, then this is a funny one. Look at that look on your face. What was going on there?

Sput 18:09

So that was uh 100 degrees in the boat yard. Uh yeah, we were in Solomon's Island, Maryland, and we had a leaky rear main seal. It was just a nuisance leak oil in my yeah, in my engine build. And I just I like a clean, dry engine builds that it looks good, and this is just oily, so I wanted to get it at that oil leak, so I had to take the transmission off. Well, it was just so hot in the boat yard that yeah, that that's what even on our boat.

Capn Tinsley 18:42

We had a look on his face. Oh, it was miserably, it was hot, it was it was hot. So I had a rear sail leak too, and I got a professional, I've got someone else to do it. But is that how you do it? You take the transmission off. You learned a lot about that, yeah, yeah.

Sput 18:59

So, yeah, that wasn't even part of the plan. We went there because on the way north, we had a vibration, the cutlass bearing was gone, but that just sent us down a rabbit hole that uh we wound up, we couldn't get the propeller off, so we had to take the whole shaft out. Well, we couldn't take the whole shaft out because it wouldn't go past the rudder, so we had to drop the rudder. So we learned all this stuff, all these things ourselves because we went to a yard that will remain nameless that just didn't have any experience, and they didn't know how to take the rudder off or drop the rudder. So I wasn't gonna pay them to learn.

Suzy 19:41

Well, the boat yard's closed now.

Sput 19:43

Well, the boatyard closed because they didn't have experience, right? Oh few calls to to Colin, emails to Hayden, and between the two of them, you can do anything.

Capn Tinsley 19:53

I've been using Hayden since uh I got my first Island Pack in late 2015. He's been a part of my team, my support team. Right. And I don't know if you say I've interviewed them like five times. I don't know if you've ever won. They come with the visuals and already prepared.

Military Skills, Minimalism, Debt-Free Cruising

Sput 20:14

Right.

Capn Tinsley 20:14

So tell us about your military.

Sput 20:17

Well, just short of 29 years in the army, helicopter pilot, black hawks, the court. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It was it was time to let it go and come and do this.

Capn Tinsley 20:32

You were a young man when you started.

Sput 20:35

Yeah, well, yeah, I started at 23 and called it quit, said 50 something, 51. Yeah, when I think that's what I wasn't interested in the next job after the next no, it was time to go and just enjoy life.

unknown 20:54

Right.

Suzy 20:56

That was another reason I was comfortable just coming along and joining him on this journey. Being a pilot, he his career was in survival, was based on the weather for his career. So he was used to looking at weather and reading weather and understood all of that. So that made me super comfortable as well. Before this, I have always worked with nutrition programs, so federal nutrition programs and okay, yeah.

Capn Tinsley 21:27

That's good for your for the vote. A good skill to have. It's just not every woman will do this. I don't understand it.

Suzy 21:44

Yeah, it's it's a different, it's a definitely a different lifestyle, which is probably what a lot of women are thinking about. I mean, I got rid of basically all my high heels and most of my lovely, fancy. Any dresses I've had, makeup, uh can't survive all these temperature fluctuations. So it's definitely a different lifestyle, but all of those material things you're giving up, just looking at we're in the BVIs right now. I mean, that natural beauty is I would so much rather wake up surrounded by all of these mountains and this beautiful water than have I have this fancy bag sitting in my closet. What does that matter?

Capn Tinsley 22:30

Now, do you guys have a storage unit back home? You sold your house?

Sput 22:34

Yeah, so we got rid of everything except an RV and a truck to pull the RV. Perfect. And right, and that RV holds a little bit of uh a few things that she wanted to do. If she could get rid of the China and the books, we'd get rid of the RV and the truck.

Capn Tinsley 22:59

Yeah, but you need something to travel on when you're back in the States, right? Or you don't know that you're even gonna come back. Right, or or when.

Suzy 23:07

But the RV came in handy because we ended up, he said, our boat work spiraled last summer. And so we thought maybe a month, and it ended up being the whole summer, and so it was so hot in that boatyard that you could not have stayed on the boat. So we used the RV, and I'm so grateful we had that. We would have been paying for Airbnb and all of that.

Sput 23:29

So it did come in handy during our refit.

Suzy 23:33

Yeah, yeah.

Capn Tinsley 23:34

So you've got it somewhere, hopefully, that's not expensive to park it.

Sput 23:39

And that's the thing. Uh, so I keep it on on Chronicle, and the military is a lot less expensive for their storage. They yeah, they have RV storage and a lot of different types of storage that they offer, and it's relatively inexpensive. So and it's open to retirees. That's the good thing.

Capn Tinsley 24:00

So well, that is you guys have got a great setup. Your whole life has prepared you for this. So a lot of people ask how financially, but I can I can tell that 29 years in the military and how they can manage it financially, but also I like to ask people what did your families think when you said you were doing this? And your friends.

Suzy 24:25

Well, my family, I guess there's a few different groups, but my friends and family, no one was surprised when I floated the idea. People were like, Oh, yeah, that sounds cute. No, I mean, I've done different. I left our career before to go live in yoga communities, travel, and I've had a let's see, a very varied career. So no, I mean, no one was surprised. They were like, Well, who is this person? What are their skills? They were worried about my safety. So I had to explain to them the type of boat and why he chose this boat and what his skills are as far as handling the boat and researching all of that and how he what the safety measures are. So no one was really surprised.

Sput 25:13

Well, my family and friends, they really didn't understand the extent to which this was gonna happen. They probably envisioned trips from DC down the Potomac, up the Chesapeake to Annapolis and Baltimore and day sailing, and they didn't think that it would be oceans going to Grenada and other all these other countries. So, yeah, they they didn't know what to expect. And this is why we try to make YouTube videos just to keep them in the loop of what it's really and what we're doing, and yeah. As far as managing it financially, my advice to anyone who's really planning to go, I think would be to clear up as much debt before you do. I this this wasn't an overnight thing for me. I knew I wanted to retire debt-free, so I didn't stop buying things that I would have to pay off after retirement. Well, before retirement. So when I retired, we were able to just go and concentrate on the boat because the boat is going to take money.

Suzy 26:21

Right. And I I totally agree with that about the debt you were saying. Sounds like our lives were leading us to this point. Many years before this, I decided that I wanted to just pay off all debt and so smart and to try to just live within my means and save. And it was so funny when this opportunity when I met him and this came up. I was, oh wow, is that why I was doing I mean, it's a good thing to do it, but I was that why I was doing all of that?

Capn Tinsley 26:50

You guys were both financially you're debt-free, and you probably had some savings or some income, and you were ready. This was almost like it was meant to be.

Suzy 27:00

Yeah, definitely. I will say, I'm sure so many people say this, but we do try to stock up on food as much as possible because the food is so expensive everywhere, and I really I don't want to eat cans all the time, eat out of cans. I do want to eat good food.

Capn Tinsley 27:19

So how do you handle that? Because it was it was hard in the Bahamas because I eventually ran out of stuff and I have cats on board. I was scared I was gonna run out of litter. And you run out of litter, you can't do that.

Suzy 27:34

Well, I think I don't know. I mean, him both I guess we had to eat. I like to eat healthy. I think we like to eat healthy, we like to have like vegetables and good grains, and yeah, that's a challenge. So we just had that in mind, so it was just so fortunate before we crossed over to the Bahamas, even before knowing really how expensive it is, we just stocked up. I mean, we had three months worth of food.

Sput 28:01

Yeah, thank God we have a deep freezer, right?

Suzy 28:05

Lots, so many frozen vegetables, not ideal, but they're frozen frozen is fine, it's great. So many frozen vegetables, and then when I could find cabbage or the bread lady in the Bahamas, sometimes she would have greens or calaloose things that, and I would buy that, but lots of frozen.

Capn Tinsley 28:26

So the problem frozen vegetables taste good.

Sput 28:28

Yeah, they're the issue in the Bahamas was scarcity, the the food just wasn't available a lot of times. Uh and everybody's running when they see the mailboat coming with the food. Uh, and you also had to balance the cruisers, had to balance not buying up everything before the before the locals could have a chance to buy things as well. So that wasn't really the issue once we got past the Bahamas. Plenty of food and vegetables in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Yeah, and it looks as there's plenty of food in the Virgin Islands, it's just expensive here.

Capn Tinsley 29:04

But it's real expensive in the Bahamas, too.

Sput 29:07

Right.

Suzy 29:08

I think that might be the I mean that probably has to be some of the most expensive food, I think, along this island.

Sput 29:16

Yeah, it looks the BVI might be uh competing for pretty expensive food too. Yeah, that is pretty expensive here, right? Yeah, so the good thing is we're still full because we went to Costco in Puerto Rico.

Tortola Anchorage Reality And Charter Reset

Capn Tinsley 29:31

Uh I'm gonna pull up a Google map so we can see where you are.

Sput 29:35

Yeah, that was a good thing. Puerto Rico was right before here, and they have everything that we have in the state.

Capn Tinsley 29:43

Well, the prices were decent. Yeah. B B I. Here we go.

Sput 29:50

We're on Tortola, it's the main island. Yeah. Yeah, we're right. Uh on Tortola.

Capn Tinsley 29:59

Okay. So you're anchored out of here.

Sput 30:03

So normally we anchor. We caught such a break this time because we have some friends we're meeting uh to take a chart. That our friend has two charter boats here at one here at the moorings and one at BVI yacht charter. Well, he's bringing about 20 people here tomorrow, and we're going on a charter for a week. And since he has one of his boats here in the moorings, they and we're going on the charter boat with him. They allowed us to put our boat right here. Yeah, while we're gone. They said don't leave it out at anchor for a week while we're gone. Just put it here in the slip.

Capn Tinsley 30:45

Is this where you were anchored? Right in here, and but you're over here.

Sput 30:50

We were trying to anchor, but those derelicts that you see there are there.

Capn Tinsley 30:55

Okay, these are probably the same boats.

Sput 30:58

Yeah, yeah, so there's some sunken boats in there. Look, and uh looks the moorings may keep a couple hurricane damaged boats in there as well. Those boats are still there and they take up good valuable space, right? So it was really tight, and they allowed us to just put our boat our boat in the slip at the moorings, right?

Suzy 31:19

But I think the information, little write-ups about it on no foreign land gave a much better description of what you should expect than where we were looking before. So just words of the wise. If you are planning to come here, that do not count on that as an anchorage.

Capn Tinsley 31:36

Good to know. Tip of the day. No foreign land. You found accurate information there about it. So tell me about this charter you're gonna go on.

Suzy 31:45

And well, we really can't tell you much. No, I think the most well, for me, the most exciting thing is that they're both catamarans, and I've never sailed on a catamaran, so I'm just interested to have that experience. Um it'll be different for me. I like the island packet because you feel so cozy and protected in the cockpit, and catamarans are so open.

Capn Tinsley 32:11

It freaks me out a little bit, but we'll have your own cabin, right?

Sput 32:15

Yes, yes, and I'm actually looking forward to a bit of a break. We've been pushing hard since Florida. Like you said, we were in Florida and the Bahamas at the same time. We've been trying to push east, and when you go in a thorny path, it is really slow and hard. You're always going into the wind and the current, so you're either going slow or you're bashing into six-foot waves with no second, with no period.

Suzy 32:42

Um, and really early mornings to try to keep catch the calmer winds, but I don't know, as you saw in the Bahamas, it's just the very the winds are just high here.

Capn Tinsley 32:52

So when it when it comes on and it lasts for days and just kind of pinned down, all right.

Sput 32:58

So now we're gonna take a break. And because we have friends who say, Why are you gonna get off of your boat to get on another boat? Well, we need a break. I don't blame you. Right, we won't have to worry about navigation, anchoring, anything. We're just along for the route.

Capn Tinsley 33:13

You don't have to make any decisions.

Sput 33:15

No, but it's don't we'll take a week off, eat good food, and hang out with good friends.

Suzy 33:21

And I want to be one of those people who are on their catamaran doing yoga in the morning. People are exercising, running around. Um I have this much space between the table and the other area to work out. So I'm gonna enjoy all that space.

Capn Tinsley 33:37

And is there a chef? Is somebody gonna be cooking food for you? You'll deserve that break. So, where do you think you're gonna go in the in in the BVIs on this charter?

Sput 33:49

They said around yeah, around all the islands, Joe's Van Dyke, the Baths, uh yeah, we're just gonna circle toward Tola, I think, to all the other islands.

Capn Tinsley 34:00

That's really cool because now you can take notes on where you want to go.

Sput 34:04

Yeah, well, once this charter is over, though, we're we're we're gonna dip them out.

Capn Tinsley 34:09

Yeah, we gotta boogie, you know, boogie on down to the next place.

Routing South To Beat Hurricane Season

Sput 34:13

Hurricane season is coming, and we really want to be in Grenada prior to any storm talk. Yes.

Capn Tinsley 34:20

So do you know the route you're gonna take? No, we were talking about that.

Sput 34:26

Well, we want to go to St. Martin if we can. If we can, but into the if these winds are 15 or better, we're gonna be doing three and four knots, and that's just so painful, and getting knocked down to the one knot or something. When you hit an eight-foot wave, it knocks you down to one knot, one and a half knots, and that's just that's demoralizing.

Capn Tinsley 34:48

You must have experienced that going across the Mona Passage.

Sput 34:53

No, so probably we were we we waited in Dominican Republic for the perfect window, and it was perfect. There was no wind, and this was before these winds that we're seeing now filled in, so that we had a crossing with six knots of wind, and we just went on across.

Suzy 35:14

Yeah, I was so nervous, but it was wonderful. But once we got to the Virgin Islands, what happened? Oh, yeah, once we got to Puerto Rico, we've been feeling it.

Sput 35:26

Yeah, the winds just non-stop, very salty 15 to 20 out of the east. So they've been on the nose of 15 to 20 since we got to Puerto Rico, and it's just so slow. So if that continues once we get off of this charter, if we can't get better winds to go east, we're just gonna take a comfortable point of sale and head south. And if that puts us in Guadalupe or Martinique or wherever, or even Grenada, so be it. Then we've missed all those islands and we'll see them whenever we come back north. Yeah, yeah.

Capn Tinsley 36:03

Let me uh put this back up.

Sput 36:05

So if we wind up doing that, we could be offshore for three and a half, four days going straight from the Virgin Islands down to Grenada.

Capn Tinsley 36:16

So you're thinking about just going all the way across.

Sput 36:22

Right. Right. That's not our first choice. We would we would go over to St. Martin so we can hop down the islands and take rest that night. We can do day hops and just stop uh every night at an anchorage by one of those islands. That's the primary choice.

Suzy 36:38

And I can stop at a French grocery, but I mean that's not a priority, obviously, but it's a priority.

Capn Tinsley 36:44

Sure it is. So have you talked any at all? What happens after Ganeda?

Suzy 36:51

Very loosely, it really just depends. I mean, really, we're taking this day by day. We knew we wanted to get to the Dominican Republic, and we were gonna make a decision on where we were gonna go once we got there. So we were like, okay, either we keep going through the islands or we're gonna go back up to Maine. So we decided to keep going, and I think it's just basically about our experience and what we're learning and how the boat handles and yeah.

Sput 37:20

So our buddy Tim, the reason we stopped in the Dominican Republic was for his wedding, and like we didn't know if we were gonna turn around because Tim crossed over to the Mediterranean and he came back to St. Lucia and he's been working his way back up towards the states. He stopped in the Dominican Republic and got married. We didn't know if we were gonna turn around and go back to the states with him, keep going south, and we decided to keep going south. So once we get to Grenada, now he's on Tim, he's on his way to the Chesapeake to do a refit right now. Then he's gonna come back down to Panama. Yeah, his plan is to come back down to Panama in February and go through the canal and cross the Pacific. So we don't know if we're going to go through the canal with him in February and cross the Pacific, or if we're gonna go to Honduras and Guatemala and check out the Rio Doce, or stay in the Grenada, Trinidad area and come back up through the island chain and see the islands that we didn't see. We though those are the options, and we don't know which one we'll pick.

Capn Tinsley 38:30

It's all open. And are you guys pretty much in sync when you decide on something you're supposed to? Yeah, that's a good idea. Or do you disagree on we're pretty in sync?

Sput 38:40

The only the only thing was the Florida Keys. She really wanted to go to see Key West. And I really it was just to me, it seemed so far west and out of the way and hard to get to because we're against the Gulf Stream. And I'm just I I really didn't care to go there, but since she wanted to go, I said, okay, fine. Oh, you did go. Yeah, we went, we went okay if she wanted to go, but other than that, we pretend to agree on all the other destinations.

Suzy 39:10

Yeah, that was really sweet. It was and we know like what we want why we want to go to certain places and the impacts of it and how long it'll be. For instance, if we go to Panama, once you cross that canal, it's so expensive and so far. We're not gonna turn around and come back. So that's what I mean. So at that point we've committed a year of our life, like not coming back anywhere near home. That's a big consideration. Not that I'm not open to it, but all those things we're thinking about.

Capn Tinsley 39:47

I think if I could ever uh get to the canal, I would like to go through it and then do the the west coast of Central America and Mexico and Baja and all that stuff. I don't know that I would want to cross the Pacific in my boat, maybe in your boat, but that's a long way. But I've interviewed plenty of people that went from Panama to Fiji. It's a long haul.

Suzy 40:15

That is a long haul. I've been to Fiji, it's in the middle of nowhere.

Capn Tinsley 40:20

Yeah, and look at the globe. I mean, that's Panama. And then and then look at this. Whoa!

Sput 40:29

So you can make it look so scary now.

Capn Tinsley 40:31

I'm yeah, I'm I don't think I'm well it must be respected. There's Pitcairn. But yeah, it would have to be like your situation where you have a mechanic on board. Because that could kind of get messed up for someone like me.

Suzy 40:48

Definitely. I'm so grateful. I mean, we've had at least one incident where he had to fix something underway and the engine was different. Oh, our belt broke. Yes. Okay, I've done that.

Capn Tinsley 41:02

I've done that. It's minor, but if you felt comfortable, but it can turn into something major, right?

Sput 41:12

Yeah, the important thing was, and the good thing is we had spare belts on board.

Spares, Diesel Bug, And Fuel Polishing

Capn Tinsley 41:17

Sure. So tell me about your spares that you have on board. Do you do you have everything or everything that uh okay?

Sput 41:26

I I still wish I had a spare alternator, but it's too expensive. That is great. And if we do decide to cross the Pacific with Tim, I would definitely have one then. Uh right now I'm still within a relatively easy distance of getting one right now. But I think that's the only thing I really wish I had an extra of right now.

Capn Tinsley 41:52

Um now Hayden says if you get to St. Martin, you can just you can get a lot of parts there.

Sput 41:58

Right. So I'll be looking for these things for that, especially as we go. And Hayden is how I build a lot of my spares because you're looking at the uh at his website, he's always coming up with something. And the latest spare he got me on was the raw water sea strainer. He had told the story about I think his it leaked or broken, and he had a spare and he replaced it over there.

Capn Tinsley 42:25

You're talking about the glass thing, the the the hole, the it broke, yeah, that can break. I didn't even think of that.

Sput 42:30

Well, right. One of the one of the things to keep the water uh the cap on had broken. Oh yeah, so it's no good if that breaks. Oh my gosh, yeah, the spare, and that kind of scared me because ours is kind of old and ratty looking, and I said, What if ours breaks? So we were in uh Fort Lauderdale at the time, and I went in and no, we were in St. Augustine, St. Augustine, and I found a spare one. And what I didn't know is how expensive they were. Hayden made it sound so so how much was it?

Suzy 43:05

Oh, yeah, I do remember that. Yeah, it was like five hundred dollars.

Sput 43:08

Oh my god, yeah, it shocked me. Wait a minute, is this is this the right part? It didn't seem but yeah, it really wasn't a big thing.

Capn Tinsley 43:18

Is it because it's an older model or something?

Sput 43:22

No, uh, they're all that expensive. Uh yeah, because it's on a boat. I guess you're right, and it's a pretty important piece.

Capn Tinsley 43:30

So that's another thing about starters.

Suzy 43:33

Oh, I was gonna say no, go ahead.

Capn Tinsley 43:35

No, go ahead. Go ahead.

Suzy 43:36

Oh, I was gonna say another thing about saving money. Him, he will scour the internet, he will find the cheapest, the least expensive, not cheap as in quality. If it exists, he will find it.

Sput 43:50

Yeah, because there's so many variations for the same or price variations for the same part that one one supplier might save you 15, 20. I mean, I guess at that point it's just on principle. I want to pay $15 or $20 less.

Capn Tinsley 44:05

We found out the hard way on this trip. I went through I'm on my fourth starter. And over the holidays, I had to get a cheap Chinese knockoff. And those they can last a couple months.

Sput 44:21

Right. So when I funny story on starters, when we were hydrolocked, I thought it was a starter. Because I turned the key and it just said click. So I thought it was a starter. So I changed the starter. And we had two spare starters here on that came with the boat. So I put one on and thought that it was bad because it just said click again. So I said, okay, that that spare starter was probably junk. So I ordered a brand new starter. Click, and that's when I found out it was hydrolocked. So we still have some spare starters that are good. And yeah, I haven't had any starter issues, but I do have spare starters.

Capn Tinsley 45:02

So what other I have a spare fresh water pump for the for the air conditioning. And I have fresh and for the fresh water pump. I got I'm out of starters now, though. So I got belts and fuel filters and all the stuff for the engine. What else do you have?

Sput 45:22

We we do have spare belts, spare water pumps, and and fuel filters. So we just we picked up some more fuel filters. We bought all the ones they had at West Marine in Puerto Rico, which was six for the Raycore, the Raycore replacements.

Capn Tinsley 45:40

Um were they expensive? Were they pretty but they were expensive?

Sput 45:46

Oh yeah, in the States I can get them for twelve dollars each, uh buying a lot uh off of Amazon or eBay. But here they were 20 in Puerto Rico, they were $20 each. But they're very important to have because if you have any kind of uh diesel bug or anything in your tanks, going through these inlets can ruin your days because it gets so choppy that it's gonna churn up anything in your tank. And if you file that filter, you need to be able to change it quickly, and you have to have spare uh fuel filters on board.

Capn Tinsley 46:21

And one of the how easy how easy is it for you to get to your engine to do that?

Sput 46:27

Very easy because uh from the galley side is where the fuel uh filters are, yeah. And right on the door that opens, uh uh I have a dual ray core setup. So if it does file, I just go over to the other one and keep going. I didn't have that at first, and we did have diesel bug, which almost made me want to get rid of the boat because I didn't understand why the engine kept cutting off, and it was cutting off at the scariest times, going through inlets or going through the ICW around a lot of other boats and docks. So, what I did was I built a little portable fuel polishing machine.

Capn Tinsley 47:08

Oh man, you're making me jealous because this happened to me going coming across the stream, coming back. Mine got gunked up. I had to call Cito. I was uh they they came and got me nine miles out.

Sput 47:21

Okay, yeah. Well, before I built it, uh the tow boat did the same thing. I just started saying, okay, I'll sail back toward the land and you can pick me up at the inlet and take me in. And they did. But now we haven't had any diesel bug issues for a few years now because we polished the fuel. If we just sit at anchor board, or not board, but we I'll I'll polish the fuel.

Capn Tinsley 47:44

Um after something that happens, it made me look into that too. A fuel polisher and the dual system. That makes so much sense. It's because it it's not easy for me to change a fuel filter underway or under sale, right? Just to be able to flip a switch and handle it later. Yeah, but you have both. I'm jealous. Yeah, well, yeah.

Sput 48:09

So, yeah, the fuel polishing we do just because, well, before I knew what was going on, I'd paid in at Cape Canaveral. A guy came and he ran his fuel polisher for about an hour, and it was about 500 bucks. And so when I finally did get the boat home, I started doing a little bit of research and I found out that I could make a fuel polisher. And all it is is uh a $12 pump, fuel pump, electric uh 12-volt fuel pump. And um I got a knockoff racing for that house from eBay for $30. And I use real Raycore fuel filters in that golf housing, and just push the fuel from the tank through this filter for a few hours, and the fuel stays clean. Another really important thing to do is to treat your fuel, no matter where you get the fuel from, treat it because you never know when I use this stuff called Diesel Shock, and I got it from the guy at Port Canaveral when he came to polish my fuel, and I didn't know if it was a real thing or some snake oil, but it seems but but it seems to have been really good. I think it was a good purchase, and it's called Diesel Shock.

Suzy 49:26

Do you have a YouTube video about your fuel polishing?

Sput 49:30

I do, uh yeah. So yeah, on the YouTube channel, you if you want to go and see the fuel polisher, I think I did it as a short.

Capn Tinsley 49:38

You can look at the shorts, and you'll see that this is the one you made, and it how much did all the parts cost to make it?

Sput 49:44

Less than a hundred dollars. Probably about eight. I think I tallied it up to about eighty-six dollars totally.

Capn Tinsley 49:52

So if I looked at it, could I do it? Uh, could I follow it?

Sput 49:55

You could, you absolutely could.

Capn Tinsley 49:58

That would be amazing, that would be a miracle to be able to.

Sput 50:02

You can absolutely do it. And if you had any questions, you could just give me a call.

Capn Tinsley 50:06

Okay, that's perfect.

Where To Follow And Final Sendoff

Capn Tinsley 50:08

Well, so we've been on here for an hour or so. Is there anything that I didn't ask you that you to tell? You guys can follow at damage control underscore sailing on Instagram. And also saw you on, I think you're on Facebook.

Sput 50:23

Uh yes, yep, we're on Facebook, damage control sailing at Facebook and YouTube.

Capn Tinsley 50:29

The name of the boat is validated. So, where did the damage control come from?

Sput 50:35

Just trying to get this boat home when I first got it. It was I bought it at Fort Pierce, Florida, and had to get it to DC, and it performed marvelously during sea trial on the ICW. But I didn't know about that tank, I didn't know how dirty the tank was. So when we went offshore and the winds came around to the nose, and we had to turn the motor on and the seas were big, the engine died. And just it was yeah, and and not knowing what was going on, it took everything to keep the keep the boat safe. And when we finally got it home, I'm thinking, wow, did a lot of damage control. And it's actually a naval term. Yeah, it's a position on the navy boats. They all have they always have a damage control officer. So I just put the two and two together and I see.

Capn Tinsley 51:29

Yeah, that is definitely fitting. That's what I feel like I'm doing half the time, and I don't have your qualifications.

Sput 51:37

All right, you guys, we're proud of you. We're proud of you cross over, yeah, from the Gulf to Florida, and then and you made a wise decision to go when you were ready. So kudos for that. Oh, you mean what you mean when I went over? Oh, right. Well, when you chose not to go, and then you you waited and then you went. That's the right way to do it. There's no rush, you know, you don't know anybody else's timeline. So could you know? That's right.

Capn Tinsley 52:06

Thank you. I appreciate that. I'm gonna catch up with you guys again because you guys are fascinating and you're living the dream, and I know a lot of people want to be doing this. It's all good, but it's also some tough, tough days sometimes, isn't it?

Suzy 52:22

It is some tough days. I'll send you my Instagram just if anyone wants to show their wife or someone who's interested, or for those wives out there who are sailing, but I'll go ahead and put it up here.

Capn Tinsley 52:36

What is it? It's just that Susie Beth.

Suzy 52:41

Yeah, but it's S-U-Z-I. Suzy with the I. Um B T H all one word. So I have some stuff in my highlights, and I'm putting more reels up, and I don't know, it might be nice for people who are on the boat or just want to see what am I gonna do on this boat? I'm not a sailor. Why should I go?

Capn Tinsley 53:05

Men have reached out to me and said, I'm having my wife watch your videos because I'm trying to convince her. So I know people will find that helpful. Susie Beth uh on Instagram. All right, guys. So with that, we'll say salty abandoned out.

Sput 53:23

Damage control sailing out.