School is out. Which means that I have zero kid free time to get this family packed and moved onto our crucible of family relations. I have absolute confidence that the house will rent to the perfect renters by the end of the month. John has none. We are communicating remarkably well, given our circumstances. I’m convinced that will mean our first week on the boat will be pure Hades. My father is flying up for a last visit and to take possession of our car. He is not thrilled with the prospect of having to spend part of his visit on the boat. He inquired if there were showers available at the yacht club. I reminded him that there is a shower on the boat. “I know that,” he said with a tone that suggested only resigned defeat. One man’s palace…
The boat yard came through…the diesel leak is fixed and the drive shaft work was done without having to pull the boat out of the the water. I drove the boat from the boat yard in Yarmouth to the moorig in Falmouth…very smooth. Everything was working very well. I can’t say enough good things about these guys at Royal River Boat Yard in Yarmouth, ME.
Next was getting the boat ready (putting on the sails, cleaning the water tanks, cleaning the boat). This took me all of Saturday. Unfortunately while bending on the mainsail, I discovered a hole in the sail. So off it came and on the Hallett for a needed repair.
I have to say that getting the boat ready is often the most dangerous part of sailing…..here are some examples:
-I almost poked my eye out with the full lenght batons….I walked face first into one protruding in the cockpit
-I feel/miss-stepped in cockpit three times resulting in a couple of significant bruises….you know the kind when you step and you get nothing but air?
-I got my leg caught in the life line when stepping off on to the dock.
I bet more people die on boats doing maintenance then at sea on boats…I bet that boat yard and docks are the most dangerouts places for boaters.
Boat is in the water…Still some more work to do, but this can be done at the mooring. Next is loading about 1000 lbs of gear on board.
There was a glitch at launching with the engine. Aparently one one of the injectors was leakiing fuel….not good. She is staying overnight at the dock to get a check up in the am. The found the problem when checking the allignment of the V-drive (I had them re-build it over the winter….as well as the entire drive train). All in all these guys are an excellent boat yard.
I’ve been having some troubles with the website (e.g. cant get comments working)…funny…. I am (soon to be was) the manger of the web team at IDEXX.
In five weeks, I move onto a boat and make it my home for the next year. I’ve lived on Indulgence for up to a month before now. It’s quite comfortable, almost well appointed. The space invites connection – warm toned teak and mahogany on floor, walls and cabinetry. A beautiful little galley, with a blessed hatch over the stove, that fits my five foot three frame much better than my kitchen at “the house”. An intimate salon that wherever we sit, we are so close that we can hear one another breathe, and sometimes think. My three bedroom cape is not large by most standards, but it feels palacial after a week on the boat.
I wonder if the physical proximity with one another will change us in a tangible way. Are there unseen body chemicals that in close proximity reach out and penetrate us, improving our ability to tolerate and understand one another? I am reminded of the intense closeness I felt with each of my children when they were babies. I could hardly distinquish my own emotions from theirs. Literally wound together with arms and slings, day and night, was there, perhaps, more driving our emotional connection than maternal hormones? I imagine the physical closeness and the emotional closeness pulling at one another in a magnetic dance, each intensifying the other. But, the sibling bickering in the V-berth? The heated spousal sputtering while setting the anchor? Well, I can only wait and see what our forest green fiberglass sling can do.
Departure date July 15, 2010. John is readying the boat and I’m readying pretty much everything else! Have hired a property manager to rent and manage house while we’re away. Starting the home schooling process. Portland Schools have been very cooperative and supportive. Researching medical insurance. Revising home and car insurance. Meeting with accountant. Replacing decrepit dishwasher. Repairing and painting house where needed – so far I’ve “built” a new towel bar for the shower out of a steel rod, replaced the sprayer for the kitchen sink, refinished dining room table, replaced broken cabinet knobs and re-installed the kitchen counter kick-plate. And, oh yeah, I’m packing. List is overwhelming, but a little piece gets crossed out (or ”I’d” out for you old Price Waterhouse folks) every week. Next on the list – replace dying, unreliable computer and fixing the broken garage door.
I am beginning to think the toughest job is getting ready to go….
-House needs to be rented
-Health insurance t be researched
-Last minute home improvements
-Purchasing the necessary charts
-Getting the boat ready
-Setting up home schooling
…….
The list goes on and on….Here’s the plan:
We move on board July 1st
Leave Falmouth July 15th
Spend a month cruising Maine
Meet up will some friends on Cape Code 8/20
Spend a couple of days in NYC in Sept
Spend a couple of days in Baltimore in Sept
Spend a week in Washington DC in Oct
Depart for the Caribbean as part of the Caribbean 1500 Nov 1st
Spend a month in the French Islands
Spend the Spring in Bahamas
Return Via Bermuda
