S/V Hippokampos

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S/V Hippokampos

This is the page for Sailing Vessel Hippokampos out of Kemah, Texas, USA.

09/08/2026

When it's in the 90s with direct sun every day (about 34° C, give or take) and you don't have air conditioning on the boat, you start to rethink life choices.

But when you are able to create and implement a solution to problem using just what you're carrying around on the boat, life is sweet. Add in the justification for carrying that stuff around for *years* and it doesn't really get much better. This power distribution point is in the cabinet in the aft head and the green cover is non-conductive and will prevent a can or something from creating a short.

(In the interest of full disclosure, my resin was bad [it was several years old, purchased in Greece] and I did purchase more. This was to impregnate the plywood and prevent it from rotting down the road. While not necessary for the project, it was a "good idea" upgrade.)

21/07/2026

We left Croatia (and the Schengen) and returned to Montenegro yesterday. We need to preserve Schengen days for our September and October cruising. I noticed something very interesting as we checked out using the new Entry/Exit System (EES). The facial recognition was *very* fast, but the interesting thing was that as soon as it completed the recognition, it showed "you have 43 days remaining." It presumably shows it to the official as well and alerts them if you've overstayed!

It reminds me of the immigration officer when we leaving Corfu who hurried out of the office telling us "you're at 89 days", to which I replied "that's why we're leaving."

04/07/2026

Today was the first day away from the dock in a week and a half. So, of course, the wind blows off the port now ... gusting as high as 27 knots. Upon releasing the mooring lines we blew right against our neighbor boat! We both had fenders in place and no harm done. We got to exercise some skills involving winches and spring lines and got our boat we'll positioned. Then, we called the marineros for an assist and were able to get away cleanly with their help.

Our reward? Several hours of nice beam and broad reach sailing! And now, now we are are sitting on the beach at Tri Grade, looking and swimming in beautiful water and enjoying old beverages.

Can you spot the Stars and Bars on 4 July?

21/06/2026

Komiža has been a wonderful spot with scenic cocktail bars and restaurants. Most importantly they had laundry service and trash facilities! It's those little things that are appreciated.

18/06/2026

One of the rare days Hippokampos chases down a catamaran under sail. The Spinnaker helped!

We had a great day all around, which helped soothe the wounds from yesterday. Long story short, I can no longer free swim to a depth of 30 feet and our only boat pole (which we've had for over 11 years) was at 30 feet! Getting on the mooring ball without a boat hook in 14+ knots of wind was a challenge that involved wailing, gnashing of teeth and sprinkling of crying, but we succeeded!

This morning I awoke with an idea and formulated a tool with thin line, weights and a metal hanger. I was able to grab the hook with the hanger and retrieve the boat hook! It got a thorough fresh water rinse and tomorrow we quest for a backup, which perhaps we should have acquired 10 years ago. Or at least a couple days!

17/06/2026

Some say this is why they are called the Kornati Islands, because these cliffs look like a crown.

Since we entered Croatia and all through Brian's stay, it was as the adage goes; the arrow on the top of the mast points the way we want to go. That is, if there was wind. On this day though, we got to sail from mooring field to mooring field and it was a beautiful sail. Today we are getting another beautiful broad reach in and actually have a decent signal (for a bit) to catch up on some posts. Tonight is our last night in the park, then on to new places!

31/05/2026

We made the transit to Croatia. Seeing that a boat was fined earlier this year for not stopping at Cavtat (the closest port of entry) to clear in, we stopped at Cavtat. We cleared into Croatia (and the EU) fine, but the harbor master doesn't work on weekends so we couldn't get our vignette until Monday. So, we could pay €60/night to anchor on our own with no services, or twice that (plus a €40 garbage fee) to stay on the town wall with limited services for two nights. The final option was to go on to Dubrovnik to get the vignette and proceed to our intended anchorage. We chose the latter and we're done in Dubrovnik promptly, but it would have been preferable to do it in one trip! Clearing in to Croatia from the south continues to be a confusing mess!

26/05/2026

We realized we forgot to get our sailing vignette for Montenegro before we launched. Clearly out of practice. We dropped by a harbor master's office to rectify that and *hopefully* avoid the €100 fine! I think we're good, but I guess we find out this weekend when we clear out!

20/05/2026

Hippokampos is wet! The yard workers had to really squeeze the travel lift in to pick her up. Honestly, their treatment seemed a bit hazardous, but not to us at least. If my boat was next to us, I'd be peeved about the exhaust on the hull!

All systems are functional, we're anchor down off Solila National Park and looking forward to a pleasant evening and night!

18/05/2026

It's been a long time since I engaged in marlinspike seamanship. A new line for the outboard hoist gave me the opportunity to make a small eye splice in double braid. I don't think it's too bad for the first attempt in many years.

Ignore Jayne's comments about cursing though.

Address

Tivat

Website

http://barefootsailor.com/

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