Backyard Bouquets

One hundred percent ready to be back on our boat. But, trying to enjoy this time here.  We are so, so, so busy. 

~~~~

Paring down our materials to the bare minimum. 

Getting our house ready for our renter... Which is super challenging while we are still living here. 

I'm finishing up my Yoga Teacher Training.

 Hubs is cranking out some serious hours at work. 

Coco heads to sailing camp next week. 

School plans for next year. 

Collecting and purchasing the things we need for Airabess. 

Trying to see all the people we are going to miss while we are gone. 

You get the idea. LOTS TO DO!  

~~~~

It's so weird to think someone else is going to be living in our house. And exciting at the same time... Because that means we have taken the leap. 

We have widdled down to only a few material possessions each. It was a process. Now that it's done though... It's so liberating. I can honestly say I'm not missing any of the things that I've already parted with. And it's getting easier to let things go. Some things we donated, a few we sold, and others we gave to friends and family. The only things we've really held onto (besides necessities) are pictures and art work. 

Longing for family dinners and sunset chats. But it's coming. This time we have perspective. This time we have unloaded some financial and mental burdens. This time we are ready.... Well as ready as you can be we when you sell everything and move aboard a 34 foot ancient catamaran with your family of 3 and dog. 

For now, I'll be patient and enjoy what this space has to offer~ backyard bouquets. 

Stuff

While we sort through our stuff in a house we have lived in for 12 years I am so glad Hubs and I are pretty minimalist.  Not that we don't have a ton of things (some we need, some we don't), but we both like to keep it simple. 

After living aboard Airabess we realized that even we have too many things.  Things that we really don't need to have a full, amazing life. 

In an effort to get the heck out of here and get back to our boat we are trying to process all of our possessions.  There are a few items that are super sentimental and I am fortunate to have an amazing friend who is going to hold on to those items for me.  Everything else has got to go.  

If we don't use it it's outta here.  

As I've stated before here, this process is overwhelming.  Clothes, and furniture, and knick knacks, tools, and books... 

Even Coco is on this bandwagon.  And she is 7.  Most children are pack rats.  They want to keep everything.  EVERYTHING.  But, she has surprised me as of late.  The week we came home she, of her volition, went through her room and started a give-away pile, and a sell pile.  She still isn't too keen on tossing anything (and some of the things she wants to sell... well they aren't really sell-able), but she is motivated.  She is as ready as we are to get back to our boat.  She wants to go home.  

Home.  It has changed for this crew.  I love our beach cottage. Over the last 12 years, Hubs and I (mostly Hubs) have ripped out every wall, cabinet, and counter top... even the floors came up and were replaced.  It's ours, part of us.  I never thought I would so willingly let someone else take up residence.  That was before our Shakedown. 

That was before I realized home, for this family, isn't our house.  It's us and it always has been.  I/we just needed to remind our selves of that.  We are not completed by the things that we own, but the experiences we have.

The Shakedown

The Next Step

I haven't posted in awhile because we have been readjusting to being on land.  And I'm sad and overwhelmed by it all.  

A sad sight.  But it is temporary.

I am so very grateful to have a home to return too and wonderful friends to welcome us back.  But,  the novelty of a big bed, reliable WiFi, and unlimited water... it's kind of worn off.

We left Airabess patiently waiting for us in the Keys.  And when we return we have a ton of projects to do.   Some before we get her wet, but most we can do while aboard.  I never thought I would be so excited to work on her. 

Unfortunately, we have sooo much to do here at home.  We have decided to go big for our next adventure.  To do that we need to rent our house.  To rent out our house we need to sell most of our belongings and get our little beach cottage ready. It's going to take some time. It takes time to make time... wait that's money.. anyway.  We are busy, busy, busy... again.  

Hubs is in crazy work mode (we hardly see him anymore).  Coco and I are wrapping up this school year.  I am working with the nonprofit I started last year, Earth's Lifeline Global Warriors,  teaching eco-classes around our little town, along with the odd job here and there.  And, because I really don't have much to do, I am working on getting my yoga teacher training certification.  

We have our lists again.  The working ones, the planning ones, the things to go, to sell~ you get the idea. 

All of this and a summer to do it in.  

I'm not complaining though.  I am so very fortunate to have this challenge and the reward waiting at the finish line is even sweeter.  


If you are interested in Earth's Lifeline Global Warriors, Inc.~ what we do and how we do it~ click the link.  It is something I am very passionate about.  I plan on working on expanding it as we travel.  Let me know what you think.

www.earthslifelineglobalwarriors.org

It's quiet... So I'm contemplative.

The things I crave are changing. 

Before, sitting on a  tin covered porch during the rain would have been my desire.  Now... Well, now a good book in the cockpit after dark is home.  It is comfort. It is what drives me. 

As I have gotten older,  the simple life has come more naturally to me.

 Once I shed the bonds of expectation (or realized that I could)~ the truth of who I am came out. 

I live for sunsets. 

I love good red wine. 

I don't see the necessity of struggle just for the sake of 'measuring up'. 

I want more than that. But less. 

I want time with my little family in beautiful places with excellent food.  And I want it while the water laps against the hulls. 

I don't want the constraints of 'stuff'. Rather,  I yearn for experience and culture and a different view. 

Some of these desires translate easily to shore. But there is just something different about living them afloat. The elements effect you more acutely. You are more vulnerable, but also more alive and aware. 

Everything is intensified~ the joys and the sorrows,  the mellow and the drama. I, after only a few months, will take the extreme highs and lows of emotion this life lends over a "comfortable" existence on land. 

I wouldn't mind (a little) bigger boat though...

Decommissioning... For a little while

We have a little over a week before we head home. It's very bittersweet. 

Right now Hubs is in decommission mode. We are hauling out next Tuesday and since she is going to be on the hard (far away from her crew) we have to get her ready. 

There is an ever growing list of things that need to be done. 

All sails have to be taken down, the bimini disassembled (of course its part of Hurricane season we will be gone) holding tank emptied and sanitized, water tank flushed... And that's just the beginning. 

We are headed north in a tiny car that has to fit 3 people, a dog, a bike, our clothing, everyday electronics etc... There just isn't enough room for everything. 

And we aren't going to be home for very long. So deciding what is necessary combined with what can't stay aboard is the challenge of the moment. 

All food stuffs HAS to be removed. We absolutely do not want to come back to a critter infested boat. Currently we are working our way through the stores and will hopefully only have to deal with a small basket of food, spices, etc.. 

The things we can't  or dont want to take home have to be dealt with (books, bedding).  Mold is a problem... Especially when it goes unchecked for months at a time. That's another present we don't want waiting for us upon our return~ a fuzzy boat. 

I've learned to really love the simplicity this life afloat offers.  This isn't the simple part. This is the work. And bonus~ we get to put it back together in a few months. THAT I'm actually looking forward to because it means we will be on our way again. 

Focus

This lifestyle is an adjustment.  I've said it before, but it's not all sunsets and rum.  It is hard work and planning~ both to get here and to sustain it.  Living on  a boat has many challenges.  Living on an old boat has more.  But we have done it.  This very first adventure has taught us so much about what we are capable of and what we really aren't.

We know now what type of cruising family we are.  A lot of the illusions have been shattered.  Some of them have been tempered, and a select few have been illuminated.  I personally, am grateful for all the ways in which this life has presented itself (some more so in retrospect). 

Now that we have finally, four months later, worked out the kinks... it's time to head back to our home port and take the next steps.

We have decided to haul out Airabess here in the Keys.  For a few reasons.  She needs it.  It has been almost 3 years and she needs a new bottom job.  We could take her back up north... but that just does not appeal to anyone in the crew.  The ICW, while a good way to get our feet wet, is  not the way we want to travel.  It's at times very narrow and the opportunity for actual sailing is very small.  Plus, the bridges.  I NEVER want to do that again.  EVER.  We all agree on that point as well.

Another reason to go on the hard here is that Airabess won't be a distraction to our planning.  We have tons to do when we get home.  And we have done the 'work on the boat on the weekend' thing for too many years.  We need to focus on getting our family and financial repsonsiblities in order there~ so we can get back here.  We already have a list of projects and purchases that we need to get through.  But this time, Airabess will get our undivided attention... it's just going to be a few months from now. 

We will be in work mode for awhile.  And that feels good too, because we have a clear objective and timeline. 

That is what is going to get us back down here more quickly I think.  We don't want to leave her on the hard for longer than necessary.  And that is just long enough to take care of things back home.  If we took her home... we might not be as focused or in as much of a hurry to get anywhere.  Plus we would have to do the ICW AGAIN.  I did say that wasn't going to happen.  Bonus, we will be super close for the hop to the Bahamas when we are ready to go. 

So, this crew is in transition mode again.  I feel like it will be a very different this time around.  We know what to expect.  We know what we need.  We know what we want out of this thing.  So, we are headed back to make it happen.  A few months of landlubbing for an indefinite adventure... I'll take it! 

I sure am going to miss the sunsets though.  

Yoga Aboard

When we first set out on this journey back in November, I was just trying to survive this boat adventure. I had so many things to learn (and still do). There was sooo much to do. And we were in crazy travel mode because we wanted/needed to get as far south as possible  as fast as we could. 

My yoga practice took a back seat for several reasons. Mainly it was impossible to do any type of asana practice while moving. I was co piloting our tank of a boat and when I wasn't on first mate duties I was asleep. We had a pretty rigorous travel schedule down the ditch. And even if I could make it happen before the sun was up (and we were under way) everything was soaking wet. 

I tried a few times on the dock when we were tied up at marinas. In both instances it was really cold so a full practice would have been unsafe for the body. I did work on breathing and trying to just be (and that is just as much a part of practice as the movement). 

Then, we finally made it to The Keys and it was non stop raining and crazy wind. I had no where to practice. On our bow is where it's at. There isn't space to do it anywhere else on board. Well, not without taking out a person, dog, shelf, bulkhead etc... 34 feet people is a decent amount of space for a boat, but by no means is there room to spread out. Spread out... What does that mean anymore? 

I'm pretty confident our 850 square foot house is going to feel palatial after this little journey. 

But I digress~ yoga. 

Mid January I was totally moody and kind of over it. I was over the whole thing- the boat, the rain, the wind, my family (lots of face time in tight spaces with all the weather. I love them, but if you were squeezed into a tin can with the ones you love the most for weeks at a time... You might be over them too). 

Then Hubs reminded me that I hadn't rolled my mat out in awhile. A long while. And even though they were totally legit reasons I needed to start making it happen, for everyone aboard. That's the thing with yoga for me- yes it's great physically, but it is so much more a mental thing for me. And props to my Hubs for recognizing that and then reminding me. 

So slowly, but everyday (unless there was rain) I rolled out my mat.  It took some time to find my groove again.  I started with what I know- Ashtanga. I worked my way through the primary series. Some days I modified because I just wasn't back yet. Sometimes I modified because, while I have the space on the bow, there is wind and boat wakes to contend with. I'm not trying to hurt myself. 

That's something I had to come to terms with too. I absolutely have to be mindful of what's going on around me when I practice on the boat. Mindfulness is part of yoga. But this is different. Take inversions for example. I love inversions. When I'm home or on land I always make extra time to work on going upside down. I can't do that on the boat. I could be upside down in a headstand or handstand and another boat flies by and I flip over the bow and break my back. It's just not worth the risk. So, when I can't make it to land  I focus on seated postures. I have more control there. 

I thought it would hurt my practice. But, the opposite has happened. I am more open to what can happen as opposed to what should happen. 

Sometimes Coco will join me. She will drift up do a few postures, occasionally help with an adjustment, then go back to what she s doing. 

 I use to have a bit of a complex about practicing on the bow  in the full harbor. I'm over that. Admittedly I was a bit of a novelty for passers by in the beginning. Now, I'm just part of the back drop. 

 I am back to practicing 6 days a week.... And everyone onboard is better for it. 

Namasté