Spring Fever/Planning

Despite having had the 3rd snowiest winter on record and what feels like the windiest EVER, our heads are drifting off towards spring. Perhaps it's just a form of escapism (delusion?) or perhaps it's because we're on the other side of winter. As Tim says, "it's not like it's November & we're staring down the barrel of a gun with winter approaching." 

This was our neighborhood during "Nemo"

But, what a winter it's been! Having never been a fan of winter since living down south for 5 of them, I'm 'sensitive' (Tim would say I'm miserable). But, I have to say I'm proud of myself for not leaving Tim, packing my things & bailing to a trailer in Miami! It's crossed my mind every now and then, especially when I'm walking up to the showers at the marina club house at 7am in sleety, snowy, awfulness. But it seems I can ALWAYS find something gorgeous about my surroundings, whether it's how the sun is coming up over the Navy Yard or a loon off our stern or a fresh, salty breeze filling my lungs. 

Toby, a native of Maine absolutely LOVE the snow

As we've written about before we live & breathe the elements in our lifestyle and you just have to persevere through them. I recently read that life aboard in New England year-round is like a Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Thing is, we only got a small taste of what it's like in the best of times since we moved aboard in September. So when we're persevering though 30 mph winds and 6" of snow we aren't really able to think, "well, remember July? This is worth it to get to July." So needless to say here we are at the end of February and we're starting to daydream about life outside 'The Bubble'. 

This past weekend we attended the Boston Boat Show. It's perfectly timed for all boaters who are starting to dream about summer, who are sick to sh*t of winter and for us young boaters it also coincides with our tax refunds! Perfect! We wandered around, attended some seminars, chatted with some riggers, sailors and 'boat people'. We scoped out some new toys and tried to avert our eyes to the sleek, new, million + dollar Beneteau sailboats that we can only dream of affording. The booth that caught my eye was the EZ Hang Chair booth - imagine flocks of people lounging in hanging hammock and canvas chairs, complete with leg rests & cup holders. The photos of the chair mounted on the deck of a sailboat was all I needed to sell me. 

The sales guy knew he had a ripe one when I asked - "does the cup holder fit a large sized Tervis cup of Rum & Coke?" Signed, Sealed, Delivered - we left the Show with a new boat hook and a promise of awesome Summer afternoons. 

The other big Spring Fever project currently underway - a new stereo system for the boat. A stereo is something we'd wanted since the day we moved aboard but there were other more important (think: utilitarian)  things we needed to install to make life aboard livable (i.e. water filter for drinking water). But when my brother Pete gave us a very generous gift card to Amazon we thought - let's splurge and get a sick stereo system complete with cockpit and main cabin speakers - I mean who are Jill & Tim without our music??? We got the top of the line in marine stereos a Fusion MS-RA200. This baby can link up to our VHF radio, it connects to NOAA Weather forecasts, it's got dual zones so we can rock out in the cockpit when someone else (Toby?) is sleeping below deck. Tim is like a kid in a candy store with a new electronic gadget to not just play with but also install (i.e. run wires around the boat, tie into electric panel, cut holes in the boat for the speakers, etc.). Tim plans on posting a blog post about how the install goes...good thing I'm away this weekend so it can be man-town electronic install time. 

So though we have A LOT more to do to get ready for sailing season, A LOT more. These couple things are helping us get over this last hump of the doldrums of winter. Thinking about hanging above the foredeck, cocktail in hand, stereo cranked, the sweet sounds of music floating around us might just get us through the inevitable next snowfall and wind storm. 


"One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain 
So hit me with music, hit me with music
Hit me with music, hit me with music now" 
- Bob Marley "Trenchtown Rock" 

Life Under the Bubble

Random Guy at the Bar: So you live aboard in the winter? in Maine?
Jill/Tim: Yup. Full Time. We're under the shrinkwrap.
Guy: Are you crazy?
J/T: Yup!

Life under the "bubble", as we lovingly refer to our shrink wrapped boat, is going well, we're 2+ months in. When we first started researching life aboard in New England in winter we read a lot about shrinkwrapping. The white vs. the clear, the pros and cons, the cost. It seemed most liveaboards use the clear shrinkwrap because it allows for more light, sun (i.e. warmth) and you don't feel quite so claustrophobic. The funny thing is it's not totally clear so you can't really see out. You can tell when it's gray or sunny but you can't see a boat going by or when your boat neighbor calls to you, you can't tell who it is. It's a rather an amusing and bizarre experience - life in a foggy bubble world. 

The marina we're at typically only installs white shrinkwrap but this year all of us who were spending the winter there requested clear. The marina guy said he "doesn't guarantee clear" but he'd do it to make his customers happy. So clear it was. Right after Thanksgiving the guy came to build the wooden frame.

After the frame was up we went to Habitat for Humanity to buy us a front door. Tim built a threshold over the toe rail of the boat and framed out the door. 

Inside our front door.

Then came the team with the shrinkwrap...

The roll of shrinkwrap wrapping up Zephyr. 

Once they wrap her they use a propane heater blow torch to warm up the plastic so it'll shrink around the boat

Balancing on the seat of a little boat to work on her port side- risky business! 

For Christmas we even had a wreath on our front door. 

Christmas Card 2012 featuring our bubble door 

Another Christmas Card Outtake, not a bad backyard! 

 This winter has been particularly windy, exceptionally so, life under the bubble helps us keep out of the wind. It's nice when you come in our front door on a windy night and all of a sudden it's quiet and calm. The Bubble also helps with condensation issues and on sunny Saturdays it's about 80 degrees under there. 

Not a bad vantage point for reading a book on a sunny day

Just last week we suffered a bubble blow out, on a wicked windy day - not to be compared with a flip-flop blowout. One of the seams burst and then the wind got up under the bubble and caused it to rip open. 

We shouldn't see the sky through the bubble, that's a blow out

The Bubble blow out around the where the boom meets the mast

Tim's temporary fix - DUCT TAPE! How's the saying go - "if you can't duct it -- "

 This Friday we're expecting A LOT of snow, some forecasts are calling for well over a foot, hooray (said very sarcastically). And though we do trust duct tape's strength we know it probably won't hold up to a foot+ of snow. So, lucky for us the marina guy is coming over this afternoon to properly patch our bubble blowout using the proper materials and tools and HOPEFULLY she'll hold until we happily hatch from our bubble in late March. 

Our Marina Swans who visit daily love swimming amongst the "bubble people"

Life inside a bubble can make anyone long for the outside world :)

Reasons Why Wednesday: A Front Row Seat for History in the Making!

An interesting part of living at Badger's Island Marina this winter is the fact that the bridge over the Piscataqua River that looms over the marina is gone. The Route 1 bridge, called the Memorial Bridge in honor of World War I was closed to all traffic Summer 2011. The Memorial Bridge was a lot more than a mode of transport over the river to most of us in Portsmouth. It was a symbol of our great seaside city, the city with 3 bridges. Our good friends even named their new yoga studio 3 Bridges Yoga. It was the backdrop of many a fantastic time at Harpoon Willy's and the Portsmouth Decks and summer concerts in Prescott Park. 

Sunset from Prescott Park 

A great grey afternoon at Willy's with the Bridge's center span going up behind us 

The old bridge floating out to sea (well, Quincy, MA where she was scrapped out)

On my birthday 2011, the city even held a "Farewell Party" for the bridge with a beer garden, commemorative t-shirts and an AMAZING fireworks display over the bridge. The whole city came out to send the bridge off in style. The following April she was floated out by barge and people lined the shoreline to see her float by. 

Something's missing in the heart of Portsmouth! You can see Badger's Island Marina on the left with the shrinkwrapped boat under the bridge. 

Fast forward to this fall and winter. We move into the Badger's Island Marina and have been lucky enough to witness the engineering miracle of building a new bridge in the 2nd fastest tidal current river in the world. Don't get me wrong, the pile driving at 2am did not make us feel 'lucky'. But to see the construction workers day in and day out through rain, sleet, snow, to see what one day was a wooden structure turn the next day into a concrete piling, is pretty neat. To know this structure will far outlive us and our kids and to know we lived there the one year it was gone and witnessed it being rebuilt is VERY cool. To walk down the middle of Route 1 because there's no traffic coming over the bridge and know that this time next year it will return to being a major American highway is a unique experience a once in a lifetime period of time to live where we are living. 

At 9am Tuesday this week was first major event of the bridge rebuilding - the float-in of the southern span. We'd watched the span being built up river and it was very cool to see it all come together and then yesterday morning it was floated down river to be placed on the new concrete pilings. They had 40 minutes and 1/4 of an inch in which to operate. Tugs from Moran, the US Navy and the Coast Guard were all deployed out in the river. Once again the whole city lined the shoreline in Prescott Park, and lucky us, we made fresh coffee, walked to the end of our dock and had a front row seat for history in the making! 

This is the bridge coming down river, that barge in the foreground is fixed in the river to assist in the building process

Here it is moving through the navigable channel that's still open for traffic - HUGE 200' tankers go through there, it's quite a sight! 

Being pushed into place by the tugs

A helicopter circled above helping the tugs site the barge carrying the bridge

A picture taken from the helicopter  courtesy of Archer Western Contractors

The new Portsmouth skyline 

 And just like that the skyline of Portsmouth is forever changed, again. Our view of Portsmouth is  forever changed and we're all one step closer to once again being able to walk over the bridge into downtown Portsmouth. Life at the marina in the winter can be challenging but it's times like this that we feel privileged to be where we are - it's exactly where we are meant to be! 

**If you are geeky and fascinated by these engineering marvels like we are, check out the Memorial Bridge Project Page - lots of great info, photos & schematics of the future bridge**

Who is Zephyr?

Tim and I have an affection for modes of transport that are older than us. 

OJ in the Cape Cod sunset 

OJ the orange VW bus was born on July 4th, 1975. We only know a small portion of her story that we learned when we bought her from the hippie in Maine. He bought her in California, drove her cross country, lived out of her in downtown Boston, drove her up to Rockland, Maine where he was a lobsterman.  The day he sold her  to us we bought him a Greyhound ticket south since he'd sold his home and was moving on to the next adventure. We love to think about all the adventures she's been on through her years. The families who camped in her in California in the 70's. The concerts she went to - did she get to see The Dead? The roads she traveled, the memories she made for people. We love building our memories upon the ones she already has. She shows her age sometimes, especially if we try and push her above 55 MPH. But we love her and we always 'pet' her dashboard when she gets us to our destination safely and without major incident. 

Zephyr's specs & history is contained in these binders

When we bought Zephyr we thought, "Well, she's younger than OJ!". Sure, it's only by 3 years and yes, it's still older than both of us but in the same way we love life moments in OJ, we felt we would love life moments in Zephyr. We know a lot more about Zephyr's past due to some very loving and meticulous past captains who kept copious notes and records. When we bought Zephyr we were gifted with 4 MASSIVE binders of maintenance notes, users manuals, ship's logs, past records, hand drawings of chain plates, detailed instructions of rigging - you name it, it's in there somewhere. 

A hand drawing of the refrigerator compressor

My favorite has been reading the past owners' cruising logs (green spiral book). Detailing where they sailed, who joined them, secret little general store where they ate breakfast, games they played aboard in the rain, swimming holes along the coast of Maine. It's both bittersweet and completely exciting knowing that we will get to do all that soon enough too! There's also great things to learn about Zephyr contained in those pages. What wind conditions she's her best at, what ground types her anchor holds the best in, anchorages she's the best suited for. We feel very grateful to have these records to learn from, it's like all her past captains knew that two young, new cruisers would one day have her and would desperately need these resources! Thanks to all who loved and owned Zephyr in the past! 

So here's what we know about Zephyr's life:

• Designed by V.S. Lazzara; Berthed August 1, 1978 in Tampa Bay, FL (for more details on the history of Lazzara and the Gulfstar Yacht Company check this out).
• First owner named her Testa Rosa and she sailed the waters of Florida Bay
• At some point she was sold and renamed Dulcinea and hailed from Cape Coral, FL somehow she made her up to New England to Warwick, Rhode Island
• April, 2000 - Capt. Jim & Judith Reed bought her 



This is the survey Capt. Reed had done on her in 2000 when he purchased her

• Capt. Reed & his wife renamed her to Summer Time she was moored in Hyannisport, Cape Cod and sailed her extensively all around the Cape, Islands, Narragansett Bay and even in the annual Figawai Race from Hyannis to Nantucket. 

The entry of our boat on the Gulfstar Owner's Website.

.

In July, 2008 Burleigh and Deb Loveitt bought her in Newburyport, sailed her north to South Portland, renamed her Zephyr and enjoyed many wonderful years cruising all along the Maine coast. 

A very Grateful crew!

And as you can read in past postings of this blog we found her in May of 2012 and purchased her in August of 2012. We are still deciding if we'll change her name or not, she's been very good to us as Zephyr and we know there are some serious things one must do in order to change a boat's name (think virgin & bow peeing). But the one name we keep coming back to is Grateful because that's the feeling we continuously find ourselves feeling. Grateful for the experience, grateful to the boat for being so stout and sound, grateful to past owners of our boat, grateful to the weather for not (YET) causing us any serious damage, grateful to Mother Ocean for her kindness thus far, grateful to our parents, family and friends for their support, grateful to our bodies and minds to be able to take on this huge life shift, grateful to be able to live in a society that allows us to follow our dreams...the thanks are endless. Oh, and we're also giant Grateful Dead fans! :)

So Zephyr's story continues with us and it's up to us to keep good records, logs and provide the fodder for many more stories. This is why buying something older is the best - your stories with that car, boat, house only serve to build upon the growing narrative of the story that was begun long ago by others. Boats especially have a soul to them and we're so grateful to share Zephyr's soul. 

Ol' Joe's got a Boston whaler
he bought in Key Biscayne
He swears since the day he's got her
she's been nothing but a pain
when the sun's at his back
and the winds in his face
it's just him and the wheel
he wouldn’t take a million for the
way it makes him feel

boats
vessels of freedom
harbors of heeling
boats

Newport is where John hung his hat
til he lost his wife Jo
now forty feet of sail and teak
is where Ol' John calls home
he watched his life pass before his eyes
in the middle of a hurricane
came out alive on the other side
that’s where "the other side" got its name

Boats
vessels of freedom
harbors of heeling
boats

twenty years of a landlocked job
was all that Tom could take
sitting at his desk
all alone and depressed
says this just cant be my fate
went home that night and told his wife
you can tell all of your friends
it's been real but it ain't been fun
gonna get us one of them

boats
vessels of freedom
harbors of heeling
boats

vessels of freedom
boats

-Kenny Chesney "Boats" off Lucky Old Sun

Deep Freeze and The Deal With The Heat

  By far one of the most common questions Jill and I get about life aboard is, "What's the deal with the heat?" This question comes from worried moms and dads, friends, boat neighbors, and even others who can not seem to mind their own business. It's okay though because we love telling just about anybody about our rag-tag-jury-rig of a heating system.

  Good news first because good news is better than bad news. We have air conditioning! This is very useful in this frozen wind swept river where waves crashed six feet high over the docks last week. I honestly wonder if we'll ever use it. It came with the boat and is part of a non-existent heat system that was supposedly part of the boat as well. The previous owner did mention he never used it. It is basically a heat pump manufactured by a now out of business, Eastern Marine Manufacturing. The heat is extracted out of the ocean water...I think. It's been a few months since I tried to fire that bad boy up and investigated any potential solutions. The bottom line is there no heat coil in the heat pump nor is it wired to the controls for heat. So bum deal there...but there is AC and we're able to run the fan on the system for air circulation. 

  

  With this great news...Jill and I started looking for alternate heat solutions throughout the fall. Apparently an Espar heater is like the Rolls Royce of heaters. Does anybody else have a Rolls Royce in their basement? Seriously? We got quotes starting at 8k and it just seemed liked a huge investment given our cruising plans (i.e. places where the bathing suits never come off and they put an umbrella in your drink)  They are nice and they are the best...but just not in our budget...not this year!

  

  We had an old Lasko electric heater from our old house. This got us through the fall pretty good on those cool nights, but knew it could not handle the deep freeze like we find ourselves here in January. Enter the world of balancing electric loads on the boat's 125v/30 amp shore power service. I could bore you all talking volts and amps...but here's the the quick version...volts is potential energy and amps is the energy being used. 

  

  I bought 3 West Marine electric furnaces  all 1500 watts. I still do not know what a watt is, but I was able to convert it to 12.5 amps. 

                 Okay folks...quick math...3 heaters x 12.5 amps = 37.5 amps

And we have 30 amps available to us...again good stuff here Jill and I are learning our first winter. After blowing a few breakers and talking to anyone who would talk to us, we got this all figured out. We can only run two heaters. We still needed to have power to run a the fridge, cell phone chargers, TV, computer, etc. Note, we actually have to unplug one heater to run the coffee pot in the morning...once cruising the coffee pot will most likely be deep sixed(sent overboard) in favor of something more efficient. 

  

  The heaters work well and surprisingly keep up with the demands of this harsh environment. We have one in the main salon/galley and one in the aft cabin. They switch between a heat and fan setting and have a heat selection dial for low-high settings. Do not let their size fool you, they crank some serious heat. 

  Finally, we picked up a propane "Mr. Heater Big Buddy". Besides the heat, the surly looking camper on the box is the best part. We use this to help the electric heaters catch up and for heat during my nightmare scenario of the power going out. This is pretty new, so I will keep you posted on how it works out. 

  

    We miss our fireplace at the old Dupe, but our boat is warm and cozy even as we head through our first deep freeze aboard.

  Does anybody know what the #1 most common question about living board is?

  

A Stormy end to 2012

I'm not sure what the old adage is for December, I know April showers bring May flowers and March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb but since we're in New England I'm going to venture to say no adage truly fits anyways. The adage for our first December aboard is December winds bring sleepless nights & nervous frights. The past 2 weeks brought lots of good cheer, holiday celebrations, family time and LOTS OF WIND, SNOW & COLD. Within a week we were slammed by two big storms. One wasn't even named and it was BAD! The other was a 'classic New England Nor'Easter'.

The first storm struck on Friday, Dec. 21st. The winds were directly out of the south/southeast which means the winds were funneling up the river and churning up the waters of the Piscataqua. The winds and waves caused our boat to "hobby horse":

Though when a boat does it it's not nearly as fun as a this 2-year old. It's more like the boat CRASHING back and forth and every time your heart ends up in your throat and you question the strength of those nylon dock lines. For whatever reason our boat got the brunt of the waves and wind. 

This video was taken earlier in the day on Friday and doesn't barely do it justice. For the first time since we've moved aboard both Tim and I felt a bit queasy and seasick. As you can tell from the video, Toby wasn't digging it either. We left the boat for a while (saying our prayers to the dockline gods), had lunch with old friends who were in town, did some food shopping and when we returned around 3pm things had progressed far worse than earlier. 

Our boat stern is marked by the smaller mast after the white wrapped boat

The waves were MUCH bigger and were crashing up over the docks, slamming on the stern of our boat. Tim and I were SOAKED from waves almost sweeping us off the dock as we ran down to check lines. It was too dangerous for Toby to go down on the docks and we had some laundry some do (and for full disclosure, we weren't too keen to go back aboard a hobby horsing, crashing boat) we took refuge at a friend's house who was away on vacation (Thanks Needles!). All ended up OK. The docklines held, the boat was ok and our neighbor Toralf clocked wind speed at 45 knots. It's still amazing to us how our 'neighborhood' can go from frightening, dark, unsafe one day to calm, beautiful and peaceful the next. 

Our boat is on the left with the 2 masts of lights

We enjoyed a wonderful night of wine & cheer with our boat neighbors the night after the storm. Amongst them they have over 35 years of liveaboard experience. They wanted to know how things were going for us on our first year living aboard and we all laughed at their first year experiences. Our neighbor Tim said, "you wouldn't believe the stupid stuff we did our first year - don't worry, you'll learn!" It was fantastic to share our stories with them, get roused for bailing in the storm, get advice, tips and laugh about it all. 

Christmas was spent with our families down in South Shore Massachusetts, it was lovely and very special as we don't know where the seas or life will find us next year. It was full of great, utilitarian, boat gifts, including a wrench set, head treatment and a grill for the stern pulpit (SWEET!). 

No sooner did we arrive back aboard then we were walloped by a Nor'Easter. Luckily the winds were coming from the Northeast (hence the name) and so the hobby horsing did not occur this time. But the winds were STRONG and the sound of the crashing halyards and the wooshing through the stays, the jerking of the boat off the docklines is just too unsettling to sleep. The three of us clocked a max of about 20 minutes of sleep that night. We were at the ready for any lines snapping or fixes that might need to be made. This we're told is pretty typical for boat life so we are anticipating many more sleepless nights. 

We were proud of ourselves for riding out our first Nor'Easter and allowing the fear to come in and deal with it. We awoke that next morning tired but victorious in our own resolve to continually gain more comfort with our boat, with our dock lines (till one snaps) and our own capability to handle whatever might come our way. 

This week is the first bitterly cold period we've faced. Last night it was down to 9 degrees. We were still warm and toasty aboard Zephyr thanks to our little heaters and a new electric blanket. 

As we welcome 2013 we are so grateful for this opportunity to live a less ordinary life, we're thankful for brains that are like sponges constantly open to new things and learning new ways of living, we are proud of what we've learned so far, we are excited about the future of this dream and...yes, we are dreaming of tiki drinks, beaches and warm summer breezes filling our sails! :) 

A Week Ashore

We are back aboard after a week house sitting for some friends in New Castle, our old 'hood. This was first time since we moved aboard in September that we'd spent longer than an overnight off the boat. Jill was just coming off of some the most stressful, busy weeks at work she's ever had and Tim had just finished a BIG project deadline so needless to say it was a welcome respite. Not to mention over the course of the week we both got colds and were sick so having a big couch, a pellet stove and a big TV was nice. We also had 6 chickens to tend to, homemade egg nog to shake and a fish to feed. We decided we would blog about what it is we missed about land life and also what it is we missed about boat life while on shore. 

What we missed about Land Life:

• Toast/Having a Toaster: on the boat a toaster is just too much counter space and eventually when we're cruising or on anchor it will also be too much power. So we do without. But it sure was nice to have a toasted English Muffin or slice of bread on the way out the door in the morning. 
• A shower in the next room: it was quite nice to be able to fall out of our bed and stumble into the next room for a shower. At the marina we choose to use the showers up at the marina building to conserve water aboard and to keep the moisture introduced in the boat to a minimum to reduce condensation. So it was nice to be able to shower in the next room rather than get all dressed in clothes, jackets and hats and trudge up the dock. 
• A full kitchen: The boat's galley is small, it's workable, but it is small, including the oven. It was nice to have a full sized oven to roast a chicken in. We liked the front loading fridge with french doors, rather than the 'bottomless pit' fridge we have aboard. It was nice to have counters to put things on and a dishwasher! That was a real treat! 
• A couch: It was nice to have full sized, wide couch to lay out across, especially being sick. The boat's main salon has 2 benches or 'settees' and they are OK. They are meant to serve as 'couches' and as 'berths' while at sea. The current set up is something that is on our list to fix because the cushions are really stiff and the general flow of the salon is overall cramped. Tim's woodworking brain is scheming all the time for our plans. 

We want to push back the couch to flush up against the shelf to allow wider sit space. 

And though these few things seem so trivial, we love that life aboard a boat has allowed us to appreciate these trivial things and to be grateful for them. That's probably the best part of this whole experiment - it reminds us daily to appreciate life and most of all to be thankful for it.

What we missed about Being on the Boat:

This is mid-tide, the ramp is sort of steep

• Rocking to sleep: Our aft cabin bed is so cozy and the gentle rocking of the boat in the water with the sound lapping against the hull is so soothing it lulls you right to sleep. 
• Knowing what the tides are doing: Every time we come home to the boat you can't help but notice what phase the tide is at. The ramp that leads from the shore to the docks is either flat when it's high tide or STEEP when it's low tide or somewhere in between. We didn't even realize what the tide was when we were ashore and we missed that. 
• Knowing what the weather is doing all the time: Same as the tides, we live in the weather, from the sound of rain on the hatch, to wind wooshing through the stays, to ice crystals coating the deck in the morning - we always know what the weather is up to. In the house we often found ourselves hardly ever looking outside to see what the weather was doing. We truly missed being connected to the environment around us. 
•  Being surrounded by our dreams: The boat is the physical manifestation of our shared dreams of travel, adventure and freedom. We love sitting aboard and thinking about the places we'll go, the things we'll see, the projects we'll do to get ready. Living aboard the boat intimately connects us to our dreams and never allows us to lose sight of them. Being in the house we were disconnected, we felt less inspired, less excited. 
• Living a life less ordinary: Though the boat comes with it's fair share of challenges (as I type this Tim's struggling with a drinking water faucet installation that is testing his perseverance and patience - another blog will have more detail, minus the expletives) we (almost) always love the challenges, we love the feeling of conquering the challenges, whether its learning how to cook dinner or how to stop a coolant leak, and in turn learning something new. While most folks write Christmas lists full of stuff, we can't. We don't have space for stuff. Our lists are full of the practical, the utilitarian, and experiences, rather than stuff. 

We don't doubt that some day maybe we'll move back ashore and be land dwellers once again but we'll have a  new sense of gratitude and until then we love living out a life less ordinary out here in the Piscataqua River. 

The chickens were a constant source of entertainment for Toby