Happy Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving on the boat was great.  While we missed our families in various other states, we enjoyed spending a quiet, relaxed day with just the three of us.  Our day began with cartoons, pancakes and bacon.  For "dinner" Andy rigged up the grill to cook our Turkey breast (wrapped in bacon...because anything wrapped in bacon is good) and I cooked the side dishes one by one in our tiny little oven...turning every 10-15 minutes to cook evenly (it heats from the back).  At the end of the day, the turkey and pecan pie was great, oyster stuffing pretty good, and broccoli/gruyere casserole tasty.

While we were making dinner, Jake occupied his time by drawing spaceships, volcanoes and fire.

Jake played on the front of the boat while we called family and began predicting Thanksgivings to come (my favorite comes with a lobster).  I ended the day with giving away the remainder of the pecan pie (Andy still hasn't forgiven me) to our neighbors getting ready for a weekend sail to Catalina.

I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving as we all continue to count our blessings and give thanks for those we love.

Main Salon - Before and After

As promised, I'm putting some before and after pictures out here of the main salon. We bought this boat from an older gentleman who had sailed around the world twice in her. She had/has every spare part you can imagine as well as very solid electronics and navigational equipment. But she didn't have much in the way of style. Hopefully, we've changed that. You be the judge.

Before:

After:

We (i.e. The Chief) ripped out all of the insides (including the heater) and added more seating and storage.  He added a new radio and cool little shelves.  We had new cushions made, refinished the table, and installed wood floors.  Since this picture, we've managed to improve on the windows and I, yes me, sewed some curtains.

This past weekend, with one foot, he managed to start and near completion on remodeling Jake's cabin.  I'm so lucky, a man with skills and ambition!  I was laid up in our cabin after Lasik Surgery (I said I was going to find a way to get taken care of) milking it for all I could.

I'm taking The Chief to get his cast off tomorrow and have really high hopes for this holiday weekend... installation of a new stove?  expansion of the refrigerator?  I'll keep you posted.


Update:  Cast off, another cast on...the foot is still broke :(  3 more weeks.  I'm not giving up on the new fridge though...

My introduction to "Blue" jobs

The Chief informed me last week that our zincs needed to be replaced...right away. Well, if anyone missed it, his foot is broke. Diving down under the boat is not on his agenda for at least another 4 weeks. Guess who he enlisted to do it? Me. I was both flattered and flabberghasted. I don't do ship's husbandry...I organize, clean, shop, cook. You know, the girl stuff, what they call "pink" jobs in the cruising world. But I am an equal opportunity kind of girl (and have read all the cruising books saying I need to learn "blue" jobs as well) so I agreed.

It turned out to be quite fun. The water was freezing and I did have an audience (apparently most of our dock wasn't quite sure I was up for it and had to see for themselves), however once I got down there and could see that indeed it wasn't rocket science, I actually enjoyed it. Usually when I dive, it's to look at fish or reefs or things along that nature and it's in 80 degree water in the Carribean. Diving in murky, cold water and actually accomplishing a task was something I had never done before.

Since I did so good on the first task, my "honey do" list has expanded to scrubbing the boat and cleaning the solar panels, ripping out the headliner in Jake's cabin, going to Home Depot to buy wood to replace the headliner, and then, get this...use the saw to cut the wood :). All while keeping my day job, taking care of the kid, cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. Am I whining? Not intentionally. But I am gaining a healthy respect for all the things The Chief does that I take for granted. Now, when he's well, I think I'll fall down or something and return the favor ;)

One step closer....

We're finally done. We've moved out of our house and onto the boat...for good. The idea seems simple but the task itself was very complicated. It started with me getting vertigo about a week and a half ago. Not so good on land, even worse on a boat. Then, in the last week of packing, moving furniture to storage, loads and loads to the boat, piles of trash to the dump...Andy breaks his foot at work after shooting a special for National Geographic. I have a whole new respect for both single parents and men in general. I have to say that I prefer "woman's work." If I never have to move furniture again, load a truck, or drive a truck, I'll be ok with that.

The boat is an absolute mess though. We haven't even begun to find a place for everything. The head is temporary home to my scuba tanks while the navigation station is currently a garage for Jake's favorite garbage truck.

But we're living on the boat!!! We've been waiting for this for 10 years and it's finally here. While stressful, it was very liberating finally getting rid of all that "stuff" that we just had to have. The last 12 years of our life together was sold for less than $5000. But the freedom to just get up and leave at any time is priceless.