Harry Potter World

Posted by Christopher

Harry Potter World is a wonderfully magic world of witchcraft and wizardry which has very advanced animatronics and great actors.

We entered this wonderful world after completing some other rides in the Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios, Orlando. It looked really fun so we crossed the bridge from Jurassic Park into the bustling Hogsmeade. As we began our wizarding experience we saw that they had barrels of butter beer which tasted like creamier sweeter root beer. Next we saw a ride being flocked. As tourists we just couldn't pass up a chance to join the crowded area so we quickly placed ourselves in line.

Hogsmeade, where I became a wizard.

The next 25 minutes were filled with cheap storyline to get you prepped for the ride and well decorated rooms, making it better than most ride lineups (except for maybe Space Mountain which has multi player video games lined up which is really cool). Eventually we got on the ride which was a four seating bench with classic ride restrainers. When the ride started I realized we were on a giant moving arm as video was used to make us feel like we were doing more extreme things than we were. Although a little cheesy it was also very fun making it a ride I returned for later to do again.

Rides, rides, rides.

Besides that I became a wizard after being chosen from a crowd of about 30 people. My brother and I ended up using some magic which you can read more about in my brother’s blog. As well there was a really fun roller coaster that I recommend you go on. It was called Duelling Dragons and it is basically an upside down roller-coaster where you hang instead of sit on top. Sadly as you go from start to finish it gets less thrilling and gets lower.

I should have taken off my clothes before I went surfing.

A message to those who wish to accompany me in the world of wizards:
uqudssi rpfk dstvdzgyd rdf uktyt. Fkt rqosg’nt tzlqitg ukdu xqyt kudz dxiqzt!

It's a boat! Test drive...

Posted by Scot

After getting back to the boat on Thursday night, we had another couple of hardcore days of boat projects.  Saturday was another big day with Rafael - we installed the electric winch.  As usual, we managed to add in a few unanticipated projects as well as other things cropped up, so the rule of everything taking 3-5 times longer than expected held true.

While we had the headliner down in the aft starboard cabin, we fixed a through bolt for the nav seat, so that doesn't wobble any more.  Then, while we were drilling the hole for the electric winch, the bit on the drill snapped, so the hole saw skipped and gouged a fairly decent chunk out of the gelcoat (no fingers involved, fortunately).  Anyway, that actually worked out OK, since Raf called his gelcoat guy, who came and repaired that, and did a few other small holes too.  We had one hole in the non-skid in the cockpit that he matched perfectly.  I can still see where it was, but if you didn't know where it used to be, you'd have a hard time finding it.

Sara managed to snap a picture at the only moment all day when I looked busier than Raf.  Putting the finishing touches on the electric winch.

The upshot of all that was that we were still putting the boat back together at 9:00 Saturday night.

So, when Sunday rolled around, our impatience finally got the best of us.  We agreed - it was time to finally move this beast!

We stowed away everything that looked like it could fall or roll, and went over the engines both with a fine tooth comb, checking all the fluids and belts, and topping up the saildrive oil.

We then fired up the instruments, and lo and behold, my fix on the chart plotter wasn't working right.  Fortunately, having done it once already, it was only a few minutes to pull off the offending button, find the problem, and refit the new button properly.  Voila, chart plotter.

We untied and headed out into the ICW, and then out through the Hillsboro Inlet drawbridge.  This was our first bridge opening, and I was a bit nervous.  I knew you had to call the bridge attendant to let him know you wanted to come through, but I wasn't sure what we were supposed to say.  Fortunately, it was Sunday, and there was tons of activity at the bridge, so it was easy just to listen to all the other people calling on the radio, and copy them.

Of course, all those people transiting the bridge made things pretty rough, and there was a good current to contend with as well, but we managed to make it through.  Once we were on the other side - open Atlantic!

Finally, some real ocean under our boat.

We motored more or less straight out from shore, then pulled up the main.  We couldn't use the electric winch, because we still need the deck fittings to lead the halyard back to that winch, so we did it the old fashioned way - lots of pulling and swearing.

Christopher kept us upwind while Alexander and I dragged the mainsail up.

Once we got that up, we quickly unfurled the jib and... watched as the sails flapped in the total lack of wind.  But at least we got them up.

We bobbed around for awhile, and ran the engines, which seem to be working well now that the starboard engine has been fixed up.  Our new hour meters, instrument panel, winches, and all our other little projects seemed to hold up as well.  Unfortunately, the waves were a bit steep, with a short interval, and with little wind or movement, things got a little unpleasant.  Before long, Katie was looking pretty green, and was unhappy.  That is unusual, as she has never gotten seasick before.  We ascribed it to her having a bit of a cold.  Either way, we felt we had given it enough of a trial, and after a couple of hours, headed back in.

Feeling a bit better sitting on the bows.

Docking was a bit tricky, as we had to spin the whole boat in a fairly tight canal, but we got tied up without mishap.  Now that we know it all works, we can't wait to get moving again!

The boys took to the boat right away.  They seemed really comfortable, and remembered a lot from all our previous sailing trips, so were a big help.

Ancient Pharaohs, Magic, Killer Robots and Blues

Posted by Alexander Oct. 7

On the third day of our trip to Orlando we went to Universal Studios. We had already been to the one at L.A. but this was very different. There were loads of rides in Orlando Universal and we had tons of fun on them. Quite a few of the rides were this weird sort of 4D. There’s a big screen and the seats move around so it feels like what’s happening on the screen happens to you. It actually works very well and the 3D they use is amazing.

How surfing should be done

One of my favourite rides was transformers. It felt like all those giant robots were really smashing each other apart. And we got to be in the middle of it. The mummy ride was also tons of fun. At one part it looks like you’re supposed to get off the ride but it’s actually the mummy trying to devour your soul.
My dads favourite part was when the blues brothers came in their car with the big megaphone on it and did a show.

Blues Bros in the house

There are so many other things that happened I can’t describe it all but I will say my favourite thing that happened. At Harry Potter world Christopher and I got picked to participate in this show happening in Olivanders Wand Shoppe. We got given wands and he said we should try them out. Christopher tried to call a ladder towards him, using "akio ladder" but the drawers went crazy instead. I tried to ring a bell and it rang - along with everything else in the shop! Then he switched the wands and a blast of air came at us. It must have looked awesome. It was hilarious as well as really fun.

Yaaaaaay We're going to be wizards!

Back from our break - exhausted.

 Posted by Scot

Universal rocks!

OK, I won't be so insensitive as to complain about 3 days of amusement parks in Orlando.  In fact, we had a really great time.  But I will note that if anyone is looking for a break to rest and relax, theme parks are not the way to do it.

Universal's Islands of Adventure was tons of fun.

On the other hand, if you do want to go to some theme parks, and walk all day until your feet hurt, you couldn't pick a better time than the last week in September/first week in October.  It is definitely low season for the parks.  The hotel was super-cheap, and we got a great place for what we paid.  The parks were as close to empty as they get, and we pretty much walked on to whatever ride we wanted for three straight days.  It was a pretty great feeling walking straight through these huge line-up corrals, where it was easy to envision sweating tourists waiting for hours to get on their favorite ride.  Then, we would just hop on whatever crazy roller-coaster we wanted, and ride as much as we wanted.  Which for Sara and I was usually about once.  My stomach is no where near as rock solid as it used to be, and I don't tolerate being flipped and twisted as much as I used to.

Splash Mountain at Disney is a lot less wet than the water rides at Universal.

Nausea inducing spinny rides.  Fun!

Which is a bit of a problem, since as the kids get older, they are really into the full on hard-core roller coaster scene.  And the parks are happy to oblige.  Some of the roller coasters are totally insane, with climbs that literally go straight up, dropping into a straight down plunge followed by a lot of upside down loops, etc.  The kids loved them.  It usually took me about 1/2 an hour to recover before going on the next one.

The one interesting thing we noticed is that our kids are really too old for Disney now.  We have been to the one in California before, and they were perfect for it.  But as Christopher said, after about age 10, Universal Studios is more interesting than Disney.  So, for that reason, we bought a two day ticket at Universal, and just one at Disney.  That worked out well.

Hogwarts Castle at Universal was really well done.

...it came complete with great statues.

...talking paintings and tapestries.

...and dragon skeletons

The crowds in Hogsmeade were pretty manageable.  But tons of muggles.

Butterbeer and pumpkin juice.  Actually pretty good!

Today, we are back at the boat, and are finishing up some projects from last week.  I finished bolting down the windlass with some bigger washers, to grab a bit more fiberglass, and reattached the anchor.  We then proceed to replace the port side instrument panel, since it was broken at the screw holes.  We also tried to fix up the bow speakers, but the wire seems to be pretty corroded.  I might have to consider re-wiring them so I can install our new speakers, but that looks like a pretty big job, running lots of wire, so I think I will leave it for another time.

Chilling out after the parks.

Seeing the Blues Brothers at Universal was awesome.  I'm a big fan.

The Bluesmobile was pretty cool too.

Tomorrow, Rafael comes back and we start in with our last big project - an electric winch to help raise the main.  This is the last big-ticket item we have budgeted for, and is not strictly 100% necessary.  In fact it is really not necessary at all, since we could easily continue to raise the main through manual power.  However, that would mean going up on the foredeck, and we want to be able to handle the main without doing that if we can.  By having it lead back to the cockpit, and having an electric winch, the boat should be really easily sailed by 1 person, and it should minimize having to leave the cockpit, which will enhance all our safety, and hopefully free one adult to spend time with the kids while the other sails, if necessary.  Also, we have spent some time on boats with electric winches, and once you get used to the ease of using one, it is pretty hard to go back.

So hopefully that install will go well, and we can then focus on our final provisioning, and think about actually going somewhere!

Suess land was perfect for Katie's age.  And the boys liked it too.

The drive 'em yourself cars at Disney.  A classic.  Still gas, though.  When will they go electric?

Spongebob Storepants - Universal didn't miss a chance to get you to spend some dough.

Taking a break from our break

Posted by Scot

When the weekend comes, most people with a boat head down to the water, maybe spend a little time working on the boat, then head out and enjoy.  This is evidenced by the number of boats we saw out this weekend.  The ICW (intracoastal waterway), which is just up the canal from us, was whipped into a froth with power boats zipping by, clearly flaunting the 25 mph posted speed limit.  The "lakes" around here, which are really mostly just wide spots in the ICW, are so crowded with boats in some places that you could almost walk across touching nothing but fibreglass.

Not for us, though.  Instead of taking a break on our boat, we are planning to take a break from our boat.

We had a big day of project finishing on Saturday.  Rafael came by again, and we spent all day replacing the windlass motor, wiring in the new hour meters, cleaning the carb on the outboard, and putting in the new blower on the starboard engine.

While we were doing that, Zack came by and put in the new dampener plate on the starboard engine, and put the whole engine back together.  So now, theoretically anyway, we could actually move the boat if we wanted to.

Rafael putting the finishing touches on the wiring to the new windlass motor.  Me "helping".

I know the list of jobs may not sound like a full day's work, but everything we do on the boat leads to finding several more jobs that need to be done.  For instance, to replace the windlass motor, it turned out we had to remove the entire windlass to get at the through bolts (that took a while to figure out). Then, Rafael noticed that there was a bit of soft deck around the bolts.  Also, there were old bolt holes from a previous windlass that had never been filled.  So, that led to reinforcing the deck with epoxy in order to make sure it was super-strong.  The last thing we need is to have our windlass pull free of our deck when our anchor chain puts some pressure on it.

Taking a break at our new favorite Ft. Lauderdale restaurant, the Whole Enchilada

Anyway, long story short, the whole thing took quite a while to repair properly.  The impressive thing about both Zack and Rafael is that no matter how hot it got, or how long the job stretched out, both of them remained calm, patient, and pleasant to work with.  And no shortcuts were taken.  So now I know our windlass is solidly fixed in place, the deck is in one piece, and we have a brand new windlass motor that should happily pull up our anchor for many years to come (fingers crossed).

So, yesterday, as Alexander noted in his post, we took a break, and headed to the beach.  This week, we are going to spend a couple of days at Disney World, since we couldn't really hang out in South Florida for a month without doing that.  And the kids really deserve it - they have been troupers through two weeks worth of trips to Home Depot and Ikea, with little to break the monotony besides the occasional trip to the beach or mall.

The kids have been working too - Christopher doing math, Katie doing French with Rosetta Stone

OK, reading that back, I realize it doesn't really sound so bad, but trust me, there has been a lot more shopping and boat work time than beach time.

One of our many exciting stops last week.  Actually, it was really educational for the kids, learning how to do laundry in a laundromat.  We realized none of them had ever done that before.  It made Sara and I nostalgic for all the hours we spend in the laundromat during university.

Departure Anticipation

 posted by Christopher

With the reality of departure on the horizon you actually begin to consider not only the fun and adventures but the things you're not too satisfied about. I mean, virgin white beaches, Pina Coladas and beautiful coral reefs are hard to argue against.  However, for a twelve year old boy who just got pulled away from his Xbox at home it’s hard to hear that he’ll have little or no Wi-fi and limited charging on his IPod. I know it might sound pretty spoiled, but try and pull your twelve year old boy or yourself away from internet and power for a year.

No internet?  Are you serious?

Although that test is a little unfair because of the things you're missing from my reality. I'm hoping to be VERY entertained by snorkeling and playing on palm tree lined beaches. I have snorkeled previously and think it’s really awesome to feel like a part of the fish and just notice little things about them. You begin to learn from your own discoveries.

Not so bad after all.

The real question: Is this a real problem or is this just something I've kind of made up?  We have solar energy, a generator and engines, meaning we may end up having enough power to just charge everything without concern. We really don’t know.

A night of restless conspiracy theorizing

for all those who are not satisfied with the quality of bubble blowing goats in South Carolina.
tdutz dspnt mi qzt xqfeopuq# zq xdsdypd ktyt ukqojk 1+

It Gets Worse! Then Better.

Posted by Alexander Sept. 30

A couple days ago I was sleeping like regular people tend to do. Then I had the the joyful experience of bashing my foot into the wall. I don’t know how I managed to do that in my sleep but Christopher has the sound theory that I was fighting off ninjas in my sleep. Well the next morning I got up and I could barely walk so dad had a look and said I may have broken it. Joy. It is already feeling a bit better though so it’s probably not broken.

More exciting than that is we are going to Disney World! We actually leave today (but still have to do school first). It sounds like Disney World is comprised of four parks and Disney Land (in California) is only two, so it might be a little crazy.

Yesterday we all went to Palm Beach to swim and relax. The waves there were colossal and it was pretty scary.

The waves were even bigger than this one

We went swimming a few times and the current pulled us down the beach. When we tried to get back to shore we had to fight the undertow all the way in and get dragged back out if we weren't careful. Katie stayed on the shore so she wasn't having to swim in the waves, and had a cute little game where she sat on the beach and let the waves come up to her and push her around.

Katie playing in the water

 I tried this but when I stood up after I was covered in wet sand, everyone was. Luckily for us there were showers.

The forest above the beach was full of huge spiders and I couldn't help but feel like a spider was going to drop on my head. It was kind of like that scene in Harry Potter with all the huge spiders. It was freaky.
See you at Disney World.

We decided to walk there, Katie got a little tired.