It won't be normal untill it's strange.

[MarkJ]

Congratations.


Its a great life

[hpeer]

Starting to look like March 17 is our shove off date. Maybe to 18th. Then try to get to Norfolk or Deal.

Speaking about cleaning out the closets, we are going to intern Mom And Dad on Friday. Their ashes have been in the closet for 30 and 16 years respectively. I didn't think they were in a hurry.

Someone say something to make me feel normalish.

[lilbabypenguin]

This is so exciting! It s a life of adventure (and slower pace at the same time) that many people only ever dream of. And you are one of the few who are doing it.
Hats off to you!!
I know change is hard, but once you are settled into your new "normal" I bet you won't be able to imagine it any other way.
So excited for you, and can't wait to join you myself. ☺️


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[hpeer]

Well.....weather intervened so we didn't leave until April 2. We left at night so as to catch a fair tide down the C&D canal and make a good run to the Rhode River. We left at 10pm wearing t shirts, arrived cold and wet. And it stayed that way for 5 weeks. We even had snow, hail, sunshine, and a gale force blast in Deltaville, Va, all within one hour.

The last week has been in Ocracoke, and the weather has been great.

A couple of weeks ago my Wife's friend asked her opinion on how it was going. She herself was surprised by her response so she shared it with me. She noted that things were, despite the bad weather, better than she had anticipated and that she was happy here, happy to be here. Woo hoo!

Although I still have some doubts, whenever I think back to my old life they are quickly dismissed. We have made the leap, we are itenierate boat people.

This being our first year, we have some logistics to attend to. This, our big boat is our main base. But we have a small cabin in Newfoundland, and that is where our small boat belongs. Next are going to put the big girl on the hard in New Bern then launch our small boat and take her to "the Rock" via Erie Canal and St Lawrence. Then we will be set with our summer home in my Moms home town in Newfoundland and our winter home somewhere warmer.

I'm really looking forward to that trip. If we get hung up somewhere and don't finish it this year, so be it, we will finish it next year. I can get used to that approach to life.

Thanks for everyone's good wishes.

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by GILow

25 for me. And that's if they don't change the age.

Still, nice post by the OP. I liked it. Kinda poetic in a subtle way.


Sent from my iPhone so apologies for weird autocorrect typos.

No no no. This is wrong! Surely you can plan to get away earlier than, what is it now? 62? You are too young to resign yourself to the governments game. You have time but get going as soon as you can. Right now if you can. Why wait until you can collect ss? Trust me, in just 10 years you will reget that idea. Scrip, save, get on the seas now. You have been warned. Adventure gets harder the older you get, its harder to take risk, harder to recover from faulty moves.


To the op - congratulations! We are right behind you and will close on our boat next week. House is nearly empty now...cars next.

[Fishman_Tx]

Congrats on the move guys! Will be in Deltaville, Va. myself next week to check on our new-to-us 1970 Morgan 40 Ketch for sea trials and closing. I'm jealous that you are on your way. We have 2 more years before we can bail permanently.

[krafthaus]

Hpeer, we are right where you are and interesting you call it strange. I've said that exact thing to my wife & hadn't heard any others describe it that way.

Last year we helped the kids buy their own house, sold our house, bought & moved into a condo, organized the business so we can be away, bought the boat, spent 10 weeks onboard in the Carib. Back home in Canada for the summer/early winter then heading back to the boat in January.

It's been a strange 18 months for us.......but in such a marvelously fantastic way!

Best of luck! You are definitely on the right path. Have fun. 😊


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[hpeer]

Got a couple of hours free so I thought I'd post an update.

We've been out since April 2. Got the big boat to New Bern NC, we went back and got the small boat and we are taking her to Newfoundland. In Gaspe, QC now waiting to cross to the Madeleine Islands overnight.

We have adapted well to this life style, we usually know where we are when we wake up, but dealing with French has been a bit of a challange. We were both surprised at how many French Canadians have no English, the younger folks are usually better.

But it has gotten to be the new normal for us. I think we feel right at home where ever we are. We can alspways retreat to the boat and our own company.

Internet has been a challange for us. Luckily Verizion came up with a better plan that is saving us some money.

Once done getting this boat to Lewisporte, NL, her home port, we will be back to NC to get the big boat and head for warmer climes. Not a clue where or when we will be doing what. But, it seems like that is OK with us.

Not to give a false impression, there is some unease, but no more, and probably less than we had being land based. It seems our relationship has improved, we are more in synch. That seems to help us with the rough spots.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by hpeer

(...)

We were both surprised at how many French Canadians have no English, ...

(...)

Most English speaking Canadians speak no French at all either. Most who claim they do, speak very bad French ...

Not sure why they should either. It seems to have worked like this for them over 200 years or so.

You can learn basic French in about a year or so. Pretty useful tool when traveling the world.

Cheers,
b.