48 Hours

Early in the morning, before the creaking of floor boards that signify awakening on board, I find the time to reflect. It has been a whirlwind over the last few weeks. Final stages of packing and planning. Both are never really quite done but constantly amended. Fluidity is a necessity. We find we wish we had more time to just hang out with our dear friends but boat projects keep us occupied. We had a lovely Bon Voyage and were overwhelmed at the sea of faces that came to bid us farewell. I look forward to having some time to download so many pictures from the past month to share so stay tuned. Countdown is winding down!

19 Days and Counting

Less then 3 weeks to go. I placed the last container of clothes today on the boat. Yes, we already know that we overpacked and will probably be unloading "stuff" along the way. We have completed one shakedown breakdown cruise which led to an oil leak, saltwater leak, and a broken spreader light.  Such is life on a boat-perpetual fixing in exchange for amazing opportunities. During our week away, we went on some great hikes, met some lovely people, read some books, played some games, and watched Orca whales breach in front of us while on the dinghy. No complaints.
Over the next several weeks, we are completing logistical details. We moved out of storage and our lovely friend is storing our possessions while we are gone. We continue to bounce between staying with dear friends and the boat while we move aboard, and lean on our friends in our community for support.
 There aren't enough words to express how blessed we feel with the support we have been given. This process has brought us to our knees on many of occasions but we have been lifted by our community which many we consider more "family" then friends.
We can only hope we have visitors to come and play with us!

BALANCE IS ABOUT RAINBOW SPRINKLES

Over the last month we have started the task of "moving aboard." Since Namaste had been hauled out for a year and half and stripped of just about everything on board, we had to clean and then begin to move on board. As we started to bring cart after cart, watching the water line sink (we did raise it 4 inches), we also noted a very obvious lean to starboard. Initially, we weren't even thinking about how much we had packed and to what side it all was packed on. We were myopic, just packing everything away. John was actually quite organized in cataloguing all the spare parts and tools, then methodically placing items in containers and noting the contents and placement on a chart. Painstaking but efficient. Back to our listing problem. Once we noted that we were listing to starboard and the reasoning behind it (not balancing the boat when packing), we unpacked and repacked with more mindfulness to the process.
One evening, John was looking in a drawer that contains galley items such as baking supplies and he noted a large container of rainbow sprinkles. John immediately called attention to this oversize container and how we must be more mindful of boat balancing and  the Rainbow sprinkle container was not helping. After a brief pause, we all just laughed at how ridiculous he was and enjoyed some levity.

To Do Lists or TDL's

We all live by "to do lists." Many of us have TDL's that multiply or are endless or both. As we prepare for this endeavor we review our TDL's, cross off items and add items. It does feel good to have some of the larger and more challenging items crossed off.  Currently, I am procrastinating studying for the General license. This is needed to talk on the SSB which is important for us as we want to be a part of the various nets that are available. We studied for a few weeks and passed the Technician part but we are stumbling over the General. I feel resentful when there are so many other things I would rather be doing than study for this exam but it is a necessary evil.
I can't wait to cross that off our list! 

Namaste

We had many challenges in Port Townsend. The people we hired to work on our boat let us down beyond words. We finally got our girl back in the water in the winter and took her back to Port Ludlow. We then were busy showing and then selling the house. Once the dust settled, we took her to Seattle where she is at CSR. We are comforted to know that she is in good, kind hands who will finish and clean up the work that was supposed to be done. I don't want to spend anymore negative energy on that topic.
As we anxiously wait to get her back, we are busy with more sorting, studying for the General license, parenting, and planning.
We continue to be blessed with the support of so many friends who we could not have achieved so many milestones without their support.

Choices

After the unfortunate events of Rebel Heart, much discussion about choices many us make to live a life aboard in various capacities. The judgement of people, often harsh at times, is unnecessary. I understand debating scenarios-we all do it. I just took offense as many of us did of people blindly judging decisions that we all make without know the amount of time, energy, education and thought we put into achieving these accomplishments. The choices we make to move aboard and sail away are not all whimsical. We have planned, strategies and over thought many aspects of our adventure. We have tried to account for as many issues and contingencies as possible. We have read, watched videos and discussed how we would handle various situations. We know that it is not the same as "doing. " This is just part of the prep.
We whole heartedly support Rebel Hearty and their crew. Every family, whether sailing or not, make choices that we hope are the right ones for our families. It might not be a choice that you would chose but that doesn't make it wrong.

Transitions

Many of us have transitions that we deal with daily. Some are small ones like going from home to work, or home to school which we do without hesitation-well mostly. Sometimes we experience larger life transitions which can equate to change. Change means uncertainty.
For us, we sold our home of almost 11 years and closed at the end of February. We sold most of our furniture and farmed out the rest to our awesome friends until we come back. We moved into a fully furnished rental about 4 miles away. This was a difficult transition for Journey, who at 12 years old, had to give up the only home she knew, give her guinea pig away as well as getting rid of her many life long posessions. Milly, the guinea pig went to dear friends and their boys who are enjoying their new pet. Trying to maintain some sense of normalcy is a challenge when we are packing, moving, working, parenting, and trying to still have routine.
Journey has rose to the occasion after a period of adjustment, thankfully. We have also transitioned to our "new home" which we will be in until the end of May. The Beach Cottage as we call it, is serving as a staging area. The endless sorting of things that are going versus things that stay behind. Trying to make time to study for our General license for the Ham radio is also peppered in the list of things we are trying to do.
I look forward to not having to multi task to this level. Our lists have lists but it is part of the process.