Gobsmacked, he doesn't want to go now.

[watergypsy]

For the last seven years, we have been dreaming about moving onto a boat and sailing to parts unknown, preferably warmer places, ( or should I say I have been dreaming) .

I bought a small sturdy TS Hartley first to get some practice sailing on salty water instead of puddling about on a pacer on small lakes. I lovingly sanded. scraped. painted and polished and enjoyed sleeping in a rocking boat close to the water ( sometimes in water- retractable, leaky keel;-) .

My husband found it too uncomfortable, So then we bought a 34 foot steel Boro Temptress, solid girl that needed lots of TLC. At first I worried about a project boat, ( I wanted to go right then and there. I'm not usually impatient , just felt it was time to act on gut feeling for a change) but the project boat was a great teacher about boat systems, the challenge of rust, how to sail a minimalist boat and a wee bit about diesel engines. We put a pilot house on so it has enough headroom at least in one spot.

Welding too is a useful skill, but my it's murder on fingernails. She still needs work, but not that much. I spend a lot of time learning what I can about navigation, weather and a myriad of other boaty bits and pieces. I hate scraping barnacles and antifouling her, but I do like to see her when her bottom is clean... many have said on this forum before , nothing teaches you quicker than experience on the water. I need lots more practical experience before I could even begin to call myself even a newbie sailor.

My dream of living aboard is about living more simply and meeting people when I feel like it and sailing off to somewhere secluded when I don't, while collecting stories to keep me company in my dotage. A month ago, he tells me, " I really don't want to go off shore sailing, but I am happy to mess about in boats, let's buy another type of boat, a fishing boat and do that one up."

Then he bought a bus. ( safer). I am getting used to him being the 'sensible ' one . Now I am thinking...do I try to sign on as crew somewhere to learn more,or modify my boat so I can sail her short handed, to at least get up the East coast of Oz to some place warmer, just to check if my ideas are a romance? Or be happy that a bus can still drive along coastal shores, to warmer places and doesn't have a stern gland?

Thanks for letting me muse out loud.