A lot has changed in a year

It was almost a year ago that we mentally took the plunge.  We had always talked about selling the house and moving aboard to cruise, but the boat show last year was when we decided to do it...sooner.  We did not want to wait, plan and save for it, only to be too old and have health issues for some other unforeseen issue to keep us tied to the dock.  Now is the time to chase the horizon!

We looked at a beast of a boat called a Cape Horn.  It was 65’ of steel expedition trawler.  A go anywhere boat that turned out to be a mess.  Fortunately for us it did not work out and we are on a 46 Nordhavn.  She is a much easier to handle boat for a couple both financially and logistically.  It is much easier to go places with a smaller boat and she is much easier to work on as I try to do all the work myself.  Which is essential if you want to keep the cost down.

In that year, we sold our house. We sold or gave away almost all of our possessions.   At times it seemed overwhelming getting rid of 20 years of crap.  Who knew how much stuff a person can accumulate and “store” for that moment of need that never comes?  We are still getting rid of stuff but we are down to those tough keep sake items like pictures and kids’ things.  We will work on digitizing everything.

In the process of all this change, our youngest kids have undergone a lot of change in their lives.  Hailey and Jack have been troopers and rolled with it.  Our oldest, Mikayla is a graduate student and is on her own so she has observed this from a distance.  They are all rocking it and we are proud of them.

Hailey and Jack have gone from 3600 sq/ft to less than 800 sq/feet.  They have lost a lot of privacy because, on a boat, nothing is really private anymore.  But we get to see them more which is a huge bonus for us, but I am not sure they always think that is true.  Their biggest complaint, that I hear about anyway is the poor interweb speeds/connectivity. Truth is, we are training them for the third world experience of no internet.

That is about it for now.  My next update I am going to talk about some of the questions that I get from people.  Peoples reactions fall into two camps...cool or crazy.

Happy New Years ~ Patrick


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