Live Simply & Simply Live!

We have had to update some of our plans timelines after a premature departure from my place of employment. Our plans didn't call to leave any jobs until summer 2014, but life is an adventure in itself. So we are making some adjustments, and will be moving aboard our boat by next summer,  either in the San Francisco Bay Area, or in the upper Puget Sound. The evolution of downsizing life and life's finances from the "normal" to the simplified version they must be in before proceeding to a cruisers lifestyle successfully.

 I came across this story on another blog, and agree that it really show what is the meaning of life

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.
“Not very long,” answered the Mexican.
“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.
The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.
The American asked, “But what do you do with all your time?”
“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs…I have a full life.”
The American interrupted,
“I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant.”
“You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise.”
“How long would that take?” asked the Mexican.
“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the American.
“And after that?”
“Afterwards? That’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the American, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stock and make millions!”
“Millions? Really? And after that?”
“After that — and this is the best part — you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends!”

step, by step

Ya know, the hardest part of our whole situation, >for lack of another word< is the waiting, the not being able to go down to Napa and get to work on finishing up all the things we have started. Then get her ready for the next adventure. I feel like the limbo part is going to be the hardest leg of this journey. The not knowing what the next step is, where we are starting our cruising life.  Bunkmate 

Leap and the net will appear

We went back down this weekend, and put the refrigerator back in working order, we planned to put in a new freezer section, but a year is a huge chunk to take off of the scheduled improvements. Things will be changed in due time. The kiddz are getting used to the 'puppy elevator' aka ladder, and all the time they spend on deck is helping them get used to the boat before all the rockin' and rollin' that they will be getting used to when we splash. We are still putting our plans in order, since our Cap'n is no longer employed at PRM, he will have plenty of time planning our splash plans. It's kinda hard to believe after 14+ years he is now just Cap'n Carey.      bunkmate

Big Changes

Well, alot of things have changed this week.  Cap'n Carey has had some changes at his work, sooo it looks like our plans have jumped up,,,, about a year.....
    His job has just about ended, -right after his paid vacation-. So we are going to spend the week contemplating on our future, we are definitely  moving to Cerridwen. where we want to have her be when we do this, is the question. Do we want to do this in California?? Or do we want to have her shipped to the Puget Sound?? This is going to be the question that we will decide on our vacation.

     Our whole lives are going to be moving in the forward motion, Fast motion. Fast, a year fast, a whole year fast, motion.
     We will know the best scenario when we get back from vacation.
   We are taking the rest of the galley, cabinets, doors, etc. down with us to put everything we can together, and get rid of of a bunch of stuff when we get back.
WOW, a big move comin' up.
Here we go!!!!
   

bunkmate

Summer Plans

We have finally decided on our vacations. We are planning on going down for plenty of long weekends, but, , , our first vacation is in July, and of course our Anniversary week in September.
Our Cap'n has been busy getting our fridge insulated, and we have almost decided where we want to put the shelves, the freezer, and, he also has eliminated the outer shell, and has fiberglassed layers of insulation completely sealing it with R???? rated insulation. When we are in the tropics our fridge will keep everything cold, and frozen. 
Cap'n Carey is going down to Napa and spend a weekend sanding and varnishing, without me and the kids, kicking up puppy hair and dust. He is taking the fridge to see how well it fits, and how much room we are looking at to fill the hole.

12 more payments

We are 1\2 the way through our payments, and we are so ready to actually be sailing and cruising. Our professional lives are starting to be getting in the way of our sailing life we are ready for.

It was so cool getting to see Debbie & Joe at the boat show in SanFrancisco. We did a lot of checkin into stuff at the boat show. Measuring things and getting some prices on high expense items, that are going to be some of the last minute things, choosing the kind of refrigerator configurations that we feel the size of the freezer space will allow, and that will fit our needs.

The Cap'n came prepared basicly, putting the galley back together. They aren't set in stone yet, we have to pick a sink first and finish the icebox, but its nice to have a counter to make coffee on again.  bunkmate

boat show after party

So we had soo much fun at the S.F. Boat show. we ran into Joe and Debbie Graham. The pair that we hooked up with last year, and they are in the picture with us. And we also ran into the Couple we chatted with last year, and they also live in the Rogue Valley.

Debbie~n~Joe

Mike~n~Lisa

this Cap'n got a new helm wheel

flashing ear~rings

We had a ball, we didn't win any prizes, Debbie won a prize, but we didn't. Free beer n pizza, that's where you can always find the sailors.    bunkmate

Boat Show Time Again!

Strictly Sail Pacific

 

  For as long as we have been sailing (I think even before), we have been attending the Strictly Sail Boat Show in Oakland. It comes that time of the year, tax day weekend strangely enough, when we shake off the winter blues and dream, drool, look, and talk boat stuff with people who actually understand our obsession. It is the time when we talk to people about our plans, and instead of getting responses like "aren't you afraid of ...", or "what about ...",  and don't forget "well how will you ...", we get responses like "I know, we can't wait for that either",  or "we have this much longer until we cut the lines and get out there", oh yeah, and don't forget "we have this and this left on our to do list, and then we will be ...". And that is what makes the cruisers party so much fun. And this year we are poster children for the boat show guide, under the, wait for it .........., "Let's Party" section, with some fellow dreamers/cruisers we met last year. How kewl is that!

 We have met more people that I would call friends, even though they are mere acquaintances, in the short weekends of the boat shows and cruisers parties, than we have in 15 years of living in Medford, Oregon as a C.L.O.D (cruiser living on dirt). People who dare to dream, who aren't as concerned about being defined by our possessions, and who refuse to be the ones who look back from there death bed and say "I sure wish I would have ...". You don't see too many people that at that point say, "I sure wish I would have worked more", but a small percentage do have the desire or courage to break the trend, and live outside the box. 

  But wait ..., don't think for a minute that the boat show is not also drooling, fondling, fiddling with, and just plain messing around with all things sailboats! You just gotta love it! Dreams just fill the air. And here is where a transition is beginning. Where we once were attending the boat shows just for kicks, and to see all the cool stuff available, not to mention reassure ourselves that we are not the only whack jobs out there willing to get rid of all their worldly possessions, and throw caution to the wind. But we are now at a point in our own plans to begin researching the gear and equipment we will be outfitting our own ocean going vessel with, to carry us safely to distant shores, and that is the stuff our dreams are truly made of.

Pre Vaca visit

March 16th, 2013
     Wow, it seems like Forever since we've been down to Napa to visit Cerridwen.
         Boy was she a mess. Climbing up onto her in the dark Thurs. pm. you could totally feel the grime.
     Friday morning Cap'n Carey started her bath. Wow, you just don't realize how much bugs and dirt get into places that you didn't even know were there. And the bugs came out every time you moved something. 
     We/Cap'n noticed the bilge was full of water, and the 'auto pump' wasn't 'auto' because the batteries were dead. After we plugged into the power, everything was fine. Cap'n Carey is so awesome about figuring stuff like that out. The rain water coming from the anchor locker is where we 'deduced' >haha< the water was coming from. We washed out the anchor locker with the spray nozzle , and realized the tube that was supposed to be like a snorkel, wasn't so snorkel. It was flush with the 'Gypsy' anchor winch. There wasn't a snorkel!! So we pulled the whole winch. That was a biggo chore in itself. The 'auto' bilge os working awesome now. We let the locker dry out and shop~vac'd it out, then put the bolts back thru the holes and siliconed them back in.
   We scrubbed her down from one side to the other. You can tell she is lovin' the attention. She is so bright~n~shiny now. Friday night we watched 'Captain Ron', it was fun.
     Today we did alot of wrap~up stuff. Stuff to help us be ready for our VACATION!!!  And make sure she is totally safe when we aren't here. The siliconed bolts are dried, and the plug is tightly in place, so no water will be going down that hole!! Now to find a windless to fill our locker. =]  
     It was so nice to have the canopy off. You could see everything. We cleaned all the insides and outs of all the canopy windows. It felt so good.
     The board Cap'n made from the template, that fits under the fridge, fit perfectly, now we need to make one for under the stove. The Cap'n sealed all the beams with "wood rot" stuff that makes the wood hard again.
     So tomorrow before we leave, we need to get some measurements on stuff for the boat show, April 11th thru the 14th.