Reasons Why Wednesday: One with Nature, One with Eachother

Reason Why #8: The Connection to Nature

"You hear that? It's raining."
"I love how I can feel the wind pick up because the boat gets rocked in her slip and then just like that it dies off."
"Is that frost on the hatch?"
"My towel won't dry in the cockpit, the humidity is up."
"Oh the sun's out - open up the porthole in the head, it needs to air out."
"WOOF!"

Life aboard a boat is as close to nature as you'll get outside of being in a tent in the woods. Our awareness of the outside world is heightened daily because we're out in it with just a layer of fiberglass between us and the rolling sea, a rope of nylon protecting us from currents and tides trying to pull us out there. We hear the first drop of rain on the vinyl cockpit enclosure and furiously run around closing hatches and putting the tarp over our bed (fixing the leaking hatch is on the fix-it list). Our halyard starts to slap the mast and we know the winds have gotten up above 20 knots. The shorebirds caw at night and we know its a mild enough night for them to be fishing for dinner. Toby crawls up on us during the night we know...well, that happens every night so who knows what's up!

This is from her listing - we've MUCH improved since then

But it's funny how the connection to the outside world which seems so interwoven into our lives also breeds a wonderfully warm and welcoming inside world. Our 'main salon' is comfy, the warm teak interior reflects the light and creates an ambiance that is so welcoming and comfortable. The little galley has its share of frustrations (you pretty much have to be double jointed to get a pot out from under the oven). But meals taste better when they come out and the smells from sauteing garlic or baking bread fills our whole living space. We live communally - like it or not (mostly love it) - we are literally always around one another. We do at times trip over each other or each other's belongings (Tim Feet) and it's a great lesson in patience, life aboard is a continual lesson in patience. There's no frills or foyers, no sitting rooms or verandas - when you enter our boat, you enter our lives and we really do love it (so far...)!

Life Aboard - the first 3 weeks

 The other night we realized we'd been living aboard for over 2 weeks now, today marks 3 weeks! We moved aboard in Portland and haven't looked back. Little by little the boat's become a home. We've done a lot more purging, giving a lot more of our "stuff" away (all totaled there were 8 trips to Savers AKA Goodwill including the return trip we had to make when we mistakenly gave away a box that had all our winter mittens, hats and gloves - wishful thinking?). 

We held onto a few select things here and there to move aboard to make the boat comfy and feel like home and the other night as we settled in we both said, "we love our microliving life - this feels like home!". Today we bid adieu to our old land based apartment "The Dupe" and the new tenants were already moving in. It was bittersweet but like I've continually said throughout this process - you have to let things you love go to make room for new things to love. 

So I thought I'd give you a little taste of life aboard our first 3 weeks. It's been FULL of visitors - from family to friends to co-workers to fellow boaters. Everyone wants to see this new boat of ours. Some come to investigate to see the how he*l 2 adults and a dog could possibly fit, some come to check out the design, some come to sit on the aft deck rum in hand and soak up the lifestyle. It feels awesome to have such incredible support for our dream out there...thank you to all who have come aboard and shared our happiness with us! Now, you all have to promise to come back in February - OK? OK?

Capt Tim & first mate Toby

Capt. Molly at salute!

A Sunday afternoon Pizza Party with The Farrell Four

Madeline & Mommy in the cockpit

Commuting to work - not bad!

The walk home from work

Our new "front" yard off of our aft deck

Our new neighborhood

Moving "stuff" aboard - where will it all go?

The weather board by the marina office

A typical boat scene - Tim in the engine room, Toby lounging on the bed

Toby lounging on the bed - again. 

Happy Toby in the Sun

Hanging in the cockpit

Life Jacket - he acts like a weirdo when he's in it

A little tour of the boat set to Guns 'N Roses - is there any better soundtrack? This is for Catta!

We've made a lot of updates since this video

So tonight's our first night aboard without anything else to do (i.e. move out of our old house, work commitments, visitors, etc.) and it's raining...Oh Well! We have a full cockpit enclosure that we'll be rigging up so happy hour in the cockpit will still happen - besides we have been gifted A LOT of rum the last 3 weeks, it's got to be enjoyed :)

TGIF EVERYONE! 

Turmoil, Tumult & Elation

Turmoil: A state or condition of extreme confusion, agitation or commotion 

Tumult: A violent agitation of mind or feelings

Elation: Pathological euphoria 

Yup, that pretty much sums up the last week in the world of Jill, Tim and at times Toby. There's been so much going on it's hard to sleep, hard to catch your breath, hard not to want to hide under a pillow and wait for life to calm down. But that's not what this experience is all about - it's about rejoicing in the tumult, embracing the turmoil and soaking up the elation. 

Let's get the elation part out first - the boat is "good to go!". We heard from the broker and owner today that the 4 major things that we needed resolved in order to close on the boat are fixed and she is ready for us! Her shore power system was fully reviewed and verified in good order by a marine electrician this morning, her hot water pump is working to produce hot water, her VHF is in working order and the exhaust plug that blew during our sea trial is plugged once again (i.e. no more hole in the boat, no more water rushing into the engine compartment). The check from the bank for our boat loan is in the mail to us this afternoon arriving tomorrow and the closing is scheduled for Thursday. 

WE ARE ELATED!  

This news could not have come at a better time because since the sea trial last Tuesday we've been in moving and purging mode of our land life. This weekend we rented a U-Haul and packed up all of our furniture to give away to a friend of my mom's and we stored a few important/sentimental items at the Cape house. There's no more pictures on our walls, there's no table to eat at, there's no couch to lounge on, there's not even a shower curtain in the bathroom at our Duplex now. Our home life is in utter turmoil. 

As everything else was being packed & moved this
was the only box that remained

Leaving our stuff behind at the Cape House yesterday afternoon - our record player, our photos of friends and family, the wooden jewelry box that Tim made me our first Christmas together - was very emotional. Knowing that these things were no longer going to be in our daily lives was hard and at the time we hadn't received word that the boat was going to happen - talk about tumult, we were riddled with it the whole 3 hour ride home last night.

This weekend as were ridding our lives of our stuff for a boat that we didn't know if we owned yet we were a mix of emotions. It was hard to be alone because the "what if" thoughts would take over. Analysis Paralysis was running rampant. We sought out times with friends to remind ourselves that what we're doing is awesome, exciting and worth it. We had to be reinforced and our Cape friends delivered in such a big way - thank you to our families, Michelle and family, Catta, Kyle and the beauty that is Cape Cod for helping us during this tumultuous weekend, we needed it more than you'll ever know. 

So today we sit with a boat that's good to go, a check on its way, a crew at the ready to sail the boat with us from Portland to Portsmouth next weekend and our families planning to welcome us upon our arrival on Sunday. Our house is a mess, there's more moving and purging to be done but for now we're embracing the feeling of expectation and sheer excitement! 

Stay tuned...