Lobster, It's What's For Dinner.

Lately the weather has been blah (rain for weeks). Yours truly has been in beast, I mean work mode and Hubs has been in the project zone (there's a surprise). So, the fun factor has been on hold. 

But today, TODAY,  the planets were aligned. I got out of work early. Hubs was already on hold because Coco had homeschool P.E. at the park- After which we had planned on a quick trip to the beach for a cool down~ but the water was calm and the sun WAS SHINING.  Hubs called an audible and we went (slightly) offshore in the dingy with our snorkels and masks.  

We were handsomely rewarded. Hubs scored some dinner. AND... He cooked it too. 

Here's to bringing back the spontaneity. 

Getting There

Everyone, pup included, is finally getting into the groove. 

We are all feeling the love again. We are pacing ourselves with the heat. 

We are getting the boat organized. We are even (gasp) getting off the mooring ball to have an out island weekend. 

It's good to be home. 

Inferno

It's always a great idea to leave the relative moderate temperatures (in a house with air conditioning) of northeast florida in August to live on a boat (made for winter temps). ESPECIALLY if you are relocating to almost Cuba (aka the Florida Keys). There is only a major adjustment period. 

Um, yeah... About that. Hotter than Hades down here and this crew is struggling to adjust, as much as it pains me to admit. But, DAMN, it's hot. I mean, REALLY! I had no idea. 

Our first week in and we ARE flailing. The heat is oppressive. 

Today we kind of got a grasp on how to handle it.  It goes a little like this~ sleep as long as the sun will allow, while moving to reach the fan. SLOWLY, regain consciousness from a sweaty nights sort of sleep. Skip coffee (because its too damn hot to contemplate) and pour warmish (because cold no longer exists in your universe) water over your head. Regain composure and brain functioning. 

About that time you realize it's already noon and you've moved approximately 2 feet from your starting point... But we're doin it!

Seriously though, afternoons involve something IN THE WATER. Otherwise we will be cooked. 

Stay hydrated. Wear tons of sunscreen. Wear as little clothes as possible. You get the gist. 

Am I complaining?  That's not really my intent. Just laying out the facts. ;)

Would I/we go back? Absolutely not. Is it a major overhaul on the senses? Um, yeah!  So, we are doing what we can to assimilate and then pouring more water over our heads. 

Still living the dream. 

Galley Goddess

We have a new page~ Galley Goddess.  It is still a work in progress.  But, if you want to check out the back story head on over.  

Recipes and tricks along with any and all other galley type info will (eventually) find its way there.  

My hope is that someone will find it helpful.  I know that when I was contemplating the lifestyle it weighed heavily on me.  I live for food.  I am almost always hungry.  I always sometimes love to cook.  I am not a big fan of tons of gadgets.  Give me  sharp knife and a worthy cutting board and watch the magic, sometimes a lot of times mess, happen. 

I love simple, quality ingredients. I want my food to be beautiful.  We eat with our eyes too people! 
I am not a stickler for recipes.  I use them.  But at my own discretion.  Even when baking.  And yes, this has gotten me into trouble in the baking department... but I really don't care.  I figure out what works for me and go with it.   

Food should be fun, and thrilling, and unexpected.  Just like life.  It should be elevated.  There is no reason why living on a boat should change that.  It will at times I begrudgingly admit.  In those cases I will feast my eyes on the horizon and nourish myself and family with sunsets (and an glass of extra wine).   

Ready to Live

We have almost emptied out our house.  What is still here either has a home to go too, or is up on the garage sale block next Saturday.  Hubs left this morning to take most of what we have kept to Airabess and do to a couple of pre-splash projects. 
SURREAL, to say the least.  
You talk about something for so long, you plan, you make the decisions to get to that goal... and then it's right in front of you .  It's kind of hard to wrap my brain around it.  

I have been having trouble sleeping.  I'm sure it has everything to do with the anxiety that comes with this change.  The whole family is a little on edge (even Ms Willow).  There have been quite a few what the hell are we doing's happening around here.  Not that we have any regrets.  It's just overwhelming, and a little sad too.  

I went to a friend's house to drop some things off yesterday and when I pulled out of their driveway it hit me that I wouldn't be going back for at least a year (if all goes as planned).  
I hugged my very best friend good-bye a couple of weeks ago (she lives in New York and we only get to see each other a few times a year) and I was balling the whole way home.  I don't see her often enough, but I always knew that I would get to see her smiling face every few months, but not this next year.  
We have no idea where we will end up.  We don't know if we will come back to our hometown, or set up shop somewhere else.  We might cash in and buy a bigger boat in a year.  We might find a new place to call home.  There are thoughts and pipe dreams of maybe here or there... but anything is possible.  It is the first time we have not had a solid 5 year plan.  The very first time since Hubs and I have been together, 14 years,  that we don't really know what direction we are headed in.  We have a loose sailing plan, which could change based on any number of things we can and can't control.  

Our planning and saving and dreaming have brought us here, to this moment, and I don't know what is going to happen next.  It is so awesome and so daunting at the same time. 

Regardless, the time is upon us.  It's time to start living.

Too Many Adjectives

One more week and Hubs is finished at work. The next day he is heading down to Airabess to do a couple days of prep work on her, then back to the house. When he gets back it's serious crunch time~ last minute home projects, processing our last bit of stuff, logistics, saying our goodbyes... 

And we are outta here!

Oh, and the day before we leave, Coco and I are going to Soulshine.  It's her first concert. She can hardly contain herself. Neither can I for that matter. While she and I are getting our yoga and dance on my wonderful Hubs is going to be packing up the car and prepping us to head south first thing the following morning. Have I mentioned how much I love and appreciate him.  He does take care of us. 😊

www.soulshine.com/

To say we are excited would be an understatement. If you think we are ready, well, you would be right. But ready, and excited really don't cover it. A lot nervous... We are leaving our home in someone else's hands for at least a year, a little apprehensive to set out... um, yeah!  Ecstatic, joyful, eager, terrified, thrilled, hopeful, you name it we've experienced it on some level. 

But it is TIME! Finally.  Well, in 3 weeks. 

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

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...

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.  

Staying Warm

Feeling a little like a cat... Lounging in the sunny spots. 

It is still winter, even in The Keys. 

Getting what we need

Not really feeling like going to shore... But we have a little person on board who is desperate after a day or two to be around other kids. I can't say that I blame her. But that means I have to motivate and head to shore with her. 

It's not just hop on the dingy and go. It's get everything we might need in our backpacks (today that includes schoolwork, shower stuff, snacks, and paperwork for me). It means getting the boat organized (I hate leaving things in disarray...which happens quickly in a such a small space). It means being fed and dressed and... Well you get the idea. 

It's not always like that. Today it is. It's been cold and rainy so it seems like everything takes longer. It's definitely not like just leaving the house. 

But, we are here. In the marina common area. Coco's working on schoolwork, and I, now that I've finished my work, am free to peruse the Internet thanks to the convenient wifi. 

These days come and go so quickly. It's easy to forget how hard it was to get here. I wonder what she will remember. Will it be the friends she made? 

The excursions we went on?

  This is the dolphin research center. We went ahead and became members for the year since we plan on being here for awhile... And this girl is obsessed with dolphins. 

Evening rituals? 

I wonder.... 

Sometimes I want to not do anything. I just want to be. But, it's not about just me, or Hubs. It's about giving our girl adventure and experiences. 

So today we went ashore. Oh, and we left Hubs on Airabess. 

Which means I was solo driving the dingy. Not might favorite thing to do... 

Settling In

Today was a good day. 

Took it super easy this morning. Did a few boat chores (small load laundry, tidyed up, etc..) then took the dingy to Sombrero Beach. It was windy... Again. But, Coco made a friend, I read my book, and Hubs swam (sort of... Willow doesn't swim) with the pup. 

When we got back to the boat a cruising family we met last week invited us over for cocktails. Our first invite!  

Thankfully I had made some cashew cheese (because we had nothing else to bring). So, at 5 we motored about three boats over in the dingy and had sundowners and snacks with our new friends. 

Coco loved it. She got to hang with kids her own age and see someone else's boat. 

For the Hubs and I, well, it was just nice to talk to other people (I.e. cruising FAMILY) like us. 

 

Finally the wind laid down. So, when we got back to Airabess Hubs went for a night time paddle. 

THIS IS THE LIFE! 

Grrr...

Well, we are in Sebastian through the weekend.  
 Not everyone is on our 'hurry up to get south' schedule.  The folks that work here already had things to do.  We are the extra.  
 
I am sure if we had had the time to take Airabess out while we were still at home we might have avoided some of the issues we are having.  Or maybe not.  
It doesn't really matter though because this is where we are and we are waiting on a guy to bring us a part. 

So, going to make the best of it.  There are some spoil islands we can dingy over to, snook to be caught, and I will be on the paddle board.  It could definitely be worse.

We should, hopefully, be making our way (at least to an anchorage) by Monday afternoon.