What's the plan?

Plan?  We don't have a plan.  Well we do, but it is as changeable as the wind.  

We originally were shopping for a traditional, monohull sailboat.  After several boat shopping trips, and taking one boat to survey, we ended up switching to catamarans.

We originally planned to start from the Seattle bay area and work our way down to the Mexico and the Sea of Cortez.  We ended up buying a boat in Maryland.

SO, we are somewhere around plan C and we haven't even started yet.  Yes, we have a tentative plan.  A couple weeks at the dock to finish up some boat chores and do some day sailing with an instructor.  A few weeks anchored out as we adjust to life "on the hook" which involves a dinghy, water and electricity management, limited TV and internet, and life without a car ("Who wants to walk to the grocery store?"  Me!  Me!).  Then we'll begin to explore the Chesapeake Bay before we head south down the coast and the inter-coastal waterway (ICW) for warmer waters. The Bahamas is the first tentative destination--but stay tuned.  Husband once said he wouldn't do the ICW or the Bahamas, but now that we have a shallow draft boat, it's back on the table.  It's hard to keep up.  I can tell you after doing some kayaking with him in Missouri, he's definitely is a "ooh--what's over there?!" kind-of-guy.  The plan changes with the wind, water, checkbook and whim of the moving parts of Odin.

Google Map Chesapeake Bay

Amelia the cat, is going to live on a cat!

(Amelia aka "pukey," "princess," "bossy," "baby bear" or "butthead.")

"What about the cat?!"  Surprisingly, this is the 3rd or 4th question after "are you moving", "do you know how to sail" and "did you buy a boat".  The short answer is, she is going with us.  

(Yes, this is a very long post about a cat.  If you are not a pet-person, then you can skip it, but I'm not sure why we're friends!)

Amelia was a stray who adopted us about 14 years ago. The vet thought she was about 2 at the time.  I thought that would make her an old lady in cat years, but the vet says cats can now live to be more than 20 years old!  She's always been an indoor cat, only going for a yearly car ride when it's time to go the vet (or taking a few steps off the front porch to eat grass when Daddy let's her--this is not authorized by Mommy).  She can be cranky "princess" who usually hisses at people who aren't her Mom & Dad (yes, a little spoiled and an only child!)  Vet trips have historically been embarrassing because in the car and at the vet, she has a blood-curdling scream and hissing combo that makes it sound like she's being tortured.  (The kid's a talker and has some LUNGS).  It's absolutely, incredibly embarrassing.  Vet assistants don't want to go anywhere near her without a muzzle.  "She's really very sweet.  She's doesn't bite, just nips {smile}."

(Can I be in the picture?)

About 3 years ago, she lost a bunch of weight and we were worried.  The specialist couldn't find anything wrong and put her on a prescription digestive and a gluten-free diet (Me:  "The cat's gluten-free now."  Husband:  "Of course she is!")  She's doing well and the nickname, "pukey" is used less often.  Then she started pooping next to her litter pan instead of in the litter pan (YES, it's clean!  She urinates in the pan & steps out to poo!)  The vet said, "she's made at you."  No kidding.  (This makes house showings tricky.  Somebody has to go home & do a "poop check").  Also, the idea of having terds rolling around a boat didn't sound fun (this is going somewhere, I swear).  On her next vet visit, Dr. Julie didn't flinch at the idea of moving onto a boat with the Amelia, but immediately said "that's a long car ride.  Let me give you some anti-anxiety medication."  For me or the cat?

(Practicing for the road trip. She prefers the drivers seat.)

When we set our one-year goal for moving aboard, we had to address the real probability she would be going with us.  Husband pleaded, "we can't leave her behind."  Me:  "But the car ride alone will be unbearable!"  When I came home after a weekend trip, Husband had taken Amelia out to sit in the car several times, to the point where, at least the howling, had stopped.  She was used to traveling in a carrier, so I bought a harness and leash (for Mom's peace of mind, really).  Being out of the carrier helps a lot.  We began taking practice rides around the neighborhood and successfully did a vet visit without humiliating Mommy.  When the house went on the market, she became a regular passenger in the car.  (It's very difficult to explain to people why there is cat hair on your dash).  She even started going to the hangar with Dad every once in awhile (and started pooing in the litter pan at the hangar.  Baffling little brat!)  There's a story about a hole in a wall & the origin of the nickname "butthead," but that's for another day.

(Tell them the showing is OVER.  I need a nap!)

She's also become quite the socialite.  She has let several of the guys at the airport pet her.  She even let the house cleaners pet her (although I got a pitiful look of "do I have to tolerate this?")  Then today, she let the lady at McDonald drive-thru window pet her (What?  You don't take your cat to the drive thru?  "Filet of fish--no bread & a milk, please.  Yes, I'm cute.  How are we doing on that filet of fish?")

(She's a back seat driver...)

So in summary, we're her people.  Since we can't explain to her why we were dropping her off with family, we are taking her with us.  She's seems to be adapting to all the change in the house quite well.  Other sailors have moved aboard with elderly cats (Facebook page gatos del mar).  Unfortunately, the best way to do it is gradually but that's not an option.  SO, we will take our bedding from the house with us and lock her in the master berth while we unpack.  We've switched to the Breeze litter box/pellet system so at least there won't be litter everywhere.  She'll also be blogging, so stay tuned.

(Pillow fort!)

(Blogging is exhausting.  I'll finish later.)

Do you know how to sail?

Back in his younger days, Husband bought a McGregor 26 sailboat and the Coast Guard handbook and taught himself how to sail. (If you know him, that doesn't sound strange at all.) Then he moved to Florida for a couple of years, and did some sailing with his brother and friends on bigger boats.

(Spartina & the Colgate 26)

In April 2013, we did Offshore Sailing's Basic Sailing course in St Pete on a Colgate 26.  Then in August 2013, we did the 5-day Liveaboard Bareboat course on the Catalina Morgan 44, anchoring out every night in Tampa Bay.  Unique to Offshore, we soloed on our last night, sailing back out to a prior anchorage, anchoring and sailing back to the marina the next day.  We had a blast.  It's unusual for us to take that long of a vacation that cost that much money, but it was worth every penny.  We highly recommend it, even if you don't plan on sailing into your retirement.

(At the helm in Tampa Bay)

(Drawbridges)

(Beautiful sunsets)

(Sundowners)

(Boat galley's have crazy configurations.  Husband dropped the cookies down the rabbit hole)

(Dinghy ride into the bar on our solo with Spartina in the background)

(Sunrises.  Just me, coffee & the dolphins while the boys slept)

(Rainbow while raising anchor)

Annapolis, MD

"You're moving?  Where will you be based?  Where's that?"  When you are shopping for a sailboat, it's difficult to avoid a trip to Annapolis, MD.  It's considered the sailboat capital of the US.  Describing it as a suburb south of Baltimore doesn't do it justice.  "On the Chesapeake Bay" and home of the Naval Academy is a better description.  (It's also referred to as a "drinking town with a sailing problem."  Don't look at me.  I think that's their official slogan.)

If you had asked us 5 years ago, if we would ever move to the east coast, we would have said, "NO WAY!"  We originally intended our adventure to begin in Seattle.  When we decided to switch from shopping on yachtworld.com to ACTUALLY going to see boats, we were advised to visit Annapolis, because "every possible kind of sailboat is there.  It will help you narrow down your list."  After making the necessary pilgrimage, we fell in love with the people, the town, the astounding number of marinas and lets be honest, the number of bars & restaurants.  Trying to explain it to our friends & family from Missouri by saying that "it's a sailing town" isn't helping.  So here you go!  Forbes listed it as one of America's prettiest towns:

forbes.com/2010/04/15/americas-prettiest-towns-lifestyle-real-estate-top-spring_slide_14.html

One of my favorite memories was our first visit.  We arrived on an early morning flight and ended up downtown with a few hours to kill before an 11:00 am meeting.  We quickly found coffee and went for a walk.  We ended up on the drawbridge, watching the sailboats pass through (yes, we are from Missouri.  This is FASCINATING!)  When we walked across to the other side, there were little kids getting into tiny sailboats (dinghies) for lessons.  There were several instructors (in a separate boats!) with approximately 5 dinghies per instructor with 2 kids in each dinghy (approximately 5 years old?)  We were awestruck and we returned the next morning with more coffee and watched it all over again.  Another favorite memory was the evening we stumbled into a restaurant on Wednesday night and snagged a table on the patio above the city marina.  To our surprise, it was race night and we watched them lift at least 25 the boats out of the water with military-like precision, lower each one onto a trailer and push them back.  Yes, we're newbies.  We're still awestruck by the travel lifts!

(Odin on the lift during our pre-purchase survey.  See our surveyor underneath?)

After at least five visits, some less than 24 hours, we are started to get the hang of the town.  We've been declared as "residents in training."  Every conversation begins with "Where did you eat last night?" and ends with "where are you going to eat?"  My kinda town.  (We are still being chastised for not remembering the name of the restaurant across from Burt Jabins marina, inside the gate community, overlooking the marina where we had one of our most memorable lunches.  Boat shopping would have ceased for the day if Husband hadn't stopped me from ordering the second coffee-with-pumpkin-Kahlua.  "I want another one!  No you go ahead.  I'll wait here.  It's cold outside!").  Our second favorite restaurant is Cantlers on Mill Creek (I had to look that up on a map because, apparently the "crab restaurant on the next creek over" doesn't narrow it down).

Another charming feature of Annapolis is:  we are perpetually lost.  This can be fun if you don't have anywhere to be!  A common feature of many east coast towns is that they are old and the roads were laid out before the automobile was invented!  The streets aren't straight and definitely not laid out on a grid or named in any kind of common sense way.  Husband was sure, on our last trip he could make it to from the hotel to the marina without the GPS.  Fail.  "I wouldn't do it without the GPS, but I KNOW it's a left out of the hotel..."  Every road eventually dead ends on the water and ANOTHER marina.  And then you get on the water.  SO MANY inlets, bays, rivers, harbors and "creeks."  I laughed the first time we motored out of the "creek" in a sailboat with a 6 ft keel.  Creeks in Missouri are something you step over!  And don't navigate by the bridge (the way we did in Tampa Bay).  There's more than one bridge and not all of them open!  The worst case scenario was, while on the boat, the broker points to a bridge and says, "we'll meet tonight at the bar at the base of that bridge."  Well, there are two bridges and bars everywhere!  Did I mention we are perpetually lost in Annapolis?  It's OK.  It's "fun" lost and keeps the natives entertained.  I suspect they are doing it on purpose and they seem surprised I've cracked their code so soon (see below)

To make it more interesting, directions are given with reference to restaurants, bars and liquor stores.  "Across from Boatyard Bar & Grill."  "Between Carrols' Creek Cafe & the Charthouse."  "The boat we're going to see is over near Cantler's Crabhouse."  One broker trip took us to at least 4 different marinas in one day (and yes, the natives get lost also!  But don't tell.  I think that's a secret).  By the end of the day, I was getting the hang of it.  If you are at an intersection where there is a liquor store (or "mart" with ice) then you were very close to a marina.  Always make a right--I'm not sure why (all lefts on the way back to the liquor store).  "Is there a liquor store because there is a marina or is there a marina because there's a liquor store?"  Does it matter?  Apparently not.

Marinas.  So many marinas!  On our 4th(?!) trip, we walked into a marina and I said, "We've been here before!"  It was next door to the very first boat we ever looked at--a Beneteau First at Burt Jabins.  Wow.  How far we've come!  

New electronics

Odin's new avionics panel (I mean, electronics!) on the test bench.  (And the Captain's first contribution to the blog!)

Throwing stuff away (or packing for the move!)

(The "boat" closet)

We are moving from a 1500 sqft house to a 36 ft sailboat.  I'm not sure of the exact square footage of the boat, but I'm guessing it's about a third of that!  What to do with all of our stuff?  Before you think this doesn't apply to you, I have several friends who have lost family members lately, and they are left to dispose of a lifetime of a possessions.  If you've never done this, you may not be familiar with the problem.  Much of what you own means NOTHING to anyone else.  Our dirty little secret?  Even though I considered our decorating style "minimalist", I'm a good organizer. Therefore, we had a LOT of junk stashed in our house.  Husband has been known to drag things to the basement that were supposed to go to the curb (ie. the flat screen tv that had to be disassembled to get it back up the stairs to the dumpster.  "It went down no problem.  Gravity.")

We've been planning this move for awhile.  For at least 3 years, we've made an attempt to quit bringing things into the house that wouldn't go the boat (no new clothes, no new paperbacks, no new furniture!)  Then, I've attempted to get rid of the books that two fanatical readers accumulated over almost 20 years together.  (When Husband finally agreed to part with his portion, he "couldn't watch.")  We sold some.  We gave some to friends.  We donated A LOT (many were worth less than $1/each, according to Amazon).  We've also tried to cut down on the clothes.  We consider ourselves "jeans-and-t-shirt people", but we had at least 4 times as much as we needed.   Husband has pilot clothes, mechanic clothes, golf clothes and bicycle clothes (oh, the bicycle clothes!).  I had an obscene amount of charcoal grey turtle necks (a few will go into STORAGE.  I won't need them where we're going!)  I made monthly passes through the house.  Each time, parting with more books and clothing and bric-a-brac.  I even returned all the antiques that I had "borrowed" from my sister's house.  (A former antique dealer, she was surprised at how much I had "accumulated" over the years!)

As we started prepping the house for sale, we sold some bigger items to friends and family.  We sold a few things on ebay.  We had a moderately successful garage sale (as garage sale virgins, it's interesting what people will and won't buy.  Used guest bedroom set--SOLD.  I wish we had three sets!  Loveseat SOLD!  Tools and kitchen appliances--meh).  After the garage sale, the donating started in earnest.  One truck-load was picked up at the house.  Then at least 10 more car loads to various charities.  And finally, trash.  I could fill a trash can with just one hall closet.  At least 5 small dumpsters were filled with things we couldn't GIVE away.  It was difficult to part with some possessions, but the most depressing part was the amount of money we threw in a dumpster.  Our current stage is:  one closet is full of the plastic tubs that go to the boat.  The other closet is full of the tubs that will go to storage.  When they get full, we'll unpack and throw more stuff away!  (And yes, the cat has her own bin!)    The end result will be is a FULL minivan and few pieces of furniture in storage.

("MOMMY, did you pack Moppy?!  I CAN'T FIND IT!")

The moral of the story is, clean out your house!  A majority of what you own is worth nothing to your friends, neighbors or family--and you aren't using it either.  Yes, there is the occasional thing I might want later, but the house is infinitely easier to keep clean.  It's also very liberating to not be the caretaker of SO MUCH STUFF!  We've vowed that, even if we move back to a house, we will never own that much stuff JUNK again.  (Do you have company in those guest bedrooms more than twice a year? Or just use them to store stuff?  Do you use that office? Or sit in the living room with your laptop?  How often do you sit at the dining room table?  A couple times a year?)  If you can't get started, consider moving.  We've been in this house for 14 years, which allowed things to be stuffed in the back of cabinets and forgotten.  And honestly, we found multiples of things we knew we had, but couldn't find.  When you look at something and think, "is it worth packing and driving it across the country?", suddenly things aren't as important as you thought they were.  Now go throw some stuff away!


(More "boat" stuff)

And the boxes are starting to arrive:

New running rigging, chart plotter & VHF

We bought a boat!

It's official!  We bought a sailboat!  A catamaran to be exact.  It's a 1993 PDQ 36, currently in Annapolis, MD.

(a stock photo of a PDQ 36)

The boat will be named Odin.  Odin is a Norse mythological god.  His nickname is Odin the Wanderer, who "often ventures far from his kingdom, on long, solitary wanderings throughout the cosmos on purely self-interested quests."  Also, the Father of Thor and a inspiration for JRR Tolkien's Gandalf.

The boat has a covered cockpit, large salon, galley (kitchen), head (bathroom) with shower, and two queen berths.  Here's a walk-through video:

http://youtu.be/Ks6Rz_fdFtA

A review in Sailing Magazine by John Kretschmer:
http://sailingmagazine.net/article-553-pdq-36.html

Another review by Bob Perry:
http://features.boats.com/boat-content/2000/08/perry-design-review-pdq-36/

Top 10 funny things at our survey...

Top 10 funny things heard at our survey (on the boat we didn't buy!)

1. Surveyor: The autopilot doesn’t work
Owner: Yes, it does.
Surveyor: It doesn’t turn the wheel.
Owner: I use it all the time.

2. Surveyor: The stove doesn’t work.
Owner: Yes, it does. I’ll show you (see separate post)
Surveyor: OK. We’ll call it hazardous and unusable.

3. Husband: Did you know the (400 hr) engine is smoking?
Broker: (crickets chirping)

4. Surveyor: Four of the batteries aren’t secured--unless someone is laying on the ¼ berth.

5. Surveyor: Did you know the boat doesn’t have a hot water heater?
Me: Yes.
Surveyor: (crickets chirping)

6. Surveyor: Let’s go sailing.
Husband: Did you see the whisker stays?
Surveyor: Yeah, let’s not put that under a load.

7. Me: Are those blisters in the hull?
Husband touches one & it squirts in his face.
(OK, not “heard,” but still funny)

8. Me: (after blisters are discovered) Did you know the broker is starting to touch my knee?
Husband: (laughter)

9. Surveyor: The alternator isn’t working.
Broker: Should we start the generator? (we’re motoring)
Surveyor: Sure. (To me, sitting on the generator). Is it loud?

10. The broker backing the boat into the haul out (too long and to much cursing to share)