The Big Test!

With the celestial navigation class under his belt, Henry is officially better versed in sailing than myself.  This wasn't hard to do, quite frankly.  He had likely surpassed me before we even started. After all, I still can't remember how to tie a bowline unless I do it two or three times. 

A side note: Gotta brag about the big brain I married. He scored a 98 percent on the celestial nav test, a test which apparently only about 50 percent of students pass.  WOW!

Anyway, the real test awaits.  On December 25th, (yep, we're traveling on Christmas Day) we fly to Florida for a week-long charter on a 41 foot FP.  Will we hate sailing by the end of the week?  Will we hate seafood?  Will we hate each other?  These are questions for which we must find answers before we can commit to this plan full force.

The four of us, plus Captain Frank, on a 41 foot boat for 7 days, 8 nights.  His plan, he says, is to take us out of the marina and not return there until January 2nd.   Just to give you an idea, this is the boat shown on the Charter School's web site:

Now, it's not all fun and games. We are getting a class after this as well, ASA 114 (otherwise known as Multihull Fundamentals).  We already have the book.  And here's what I've learned so far:

1) Nothing you've learned so far is of any use to you, because multihulls are different in every possible way than the boats you've already been on.

Yep, that's it. 

You know how you learned to tack on that 23 foot sloop?  Yeah, that's useless now.  Catamarans have no momentum.

Oh, and you know those hours upon hours of Man Overboard Drills? Yeah, kind of useless.  We do those different on a Cat. 

Okay okay.  To be fair, the cooking part will probably be similar, but I didn't really take a class for that.  And sure, the radio will be about the same too.  lol 

We're letting the kids bring their tablets.  I'm taking bets on how long after their batteries run down before the mutiny begins! 

Cooking on a boat?

Someday I know that I'll look back on this period of time and think, "That went so fast!"  But today, it feels the opposite.  Most of my dog business has been transferred to the new trainer.  The house is pretty clean.  "Pretty" because there's little point in a home with two kids attempting "spotless".   And the big stuff all has to wait.  So, here I sit. 

Fortunately, the distractions are helpful. I'm having lunch with my cousin today, and the weekend promises to be full of play dates and activities for the kids.  I've also been following more and more closely the Eat to Live program.  The recipes and cooking techniques are foreign to me, so I've been learning a lot about food for the last couple of weeks. I think of this as helpful for the cruising lifestyle as well.  A more plant-based diet is a more flexible diet.  When we run to a local market, I am hoping to have a better idea of what I'm seeing than I would had we continued to follow our meat and potatoes with the occasional pizza routine.  I'm becoming a squash connoisseur.  Butternut, acorn, spaghetti - I can make something out of all of these now.  My next conquest shall be sourdough bread.  With a culture, you can apparently keep making fresh sourdough day after day.   Hopefully, with the added bonus of fresh fish, we will not starve. 

And coffee! Let's not forget coffee. I will be giving up my Keurig, which is limping to its death anyway.  Instead, I'm opting for the more portable, and just as effective, French Press.  Since I'm the only one in our family who drinks coffee, it's perfect. I can still make just one cup at a time, and it's really easy to clean.  The cream that I seem to still require is going to be a little trickier.  I'm trying to wean myself off of it, slowly but surely. I'm down to a couple of spoonfuls/cup.  But that last dive into bitter is going to be tough for me. 

So, that's it! These are my distractions.  Limbo is not a pretty thing. 

The What If Game, and how not to play

What if the market crashes?
What if a job in radio comes along before we set sail?  An actual possibility.
What if the job in radio comes along 3 weeks after we set sail? 
What if we hate the week on the catamaran that we have planned in December?
What if we are seasick the whole time?
What if I have a mental breakdown before tomorrow?

The what if game is really not as fun as, say, volleyball.  I don't know why we all play.  There's a quote I really like by Lao Tzu that sums this up perfectly for me.

"If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future.
If you are at peace you are living in the present.”

Yeah, I know. Easier said than done.   About a week ago, my friend in the radio business was let go from his current job.  He's now actively looking for another job.  If he were to get a morning slot, I might get a phone call asking me to join him.  Which I would.  But the What If possibilities surrounding this scenario are impossible to contemplate.  Which market?  Which slot?  When?   Why wouldn't this produce extreme anxiety?  It's not enough for me to worry about stepping out of the dog training business. It's not enough for me to worry about Henry leaving a lucrative career behind. It's not enough for me to worry about homeschooling, renting out our home or selling all of our stuff. No, no, let's add another brick to that overflowing wheelbarrow!  It came to a head for me yesterday, and I crumbled under the pressure.  

 

So today, I'm attempting to refocus.  Today, I'm going to take my kids to the dentist.  Today, I'm going to go out to lunch with my family. And today, I'm going to do some laundry.  That's about all I can handle. For today.  

Leveling up

An interesting phenomenon about learning about bigger boats is that the little ones get a lot easier.  We took our Hobie Cat out for possibly the last time this year.  And what a piece of cake that sweet thing is to handle now.  I wonder if that progression continues so that if you learn all the way up to a 70 foot yacht that then tooling around in a 40 foot cat is a breeze.  Here's our 18 foot Hobie on Red Rock Lake in Minnesota. 

Meanwhile, things continue to get real.  We have found renters for our homestead.  Not my niece and her fiance as we initially thought.  Instead, the renters we have had in one of our town homes for the last couple of years are going to move in.  We estimate that move to be in August of next year.   Getting rid of, giving away, storing or selling our mountains of stuff is the next big hurdle to overcome. I'm going to start sending boxes home with my mother when she visits. There is some furniture that we'd definitely like to keep in the family as well, but we'll save that until the Spring.   A few friends have stepped up and offered to store things like art work or Christmas decorations.  But that really doesn't make a dent in a 2200 square foot home. 

We also have started the kids in semi-private swimming lessons. They're not completely incompetent in the water, but they're not as strong as I'd like. 

I think the biggest question on our minds now is how much boat we'll be able to reasonably afford.  Do we go for the biggest one we can?  Or the one with the most amenities?  I think some tough choices are in our near future.  "Tough" being a relative term.  lol 

A frustrating, yet necessary, weekend

Looks pretty, right?  Well, not so much in 30 mile per hour gusts and rain.  That's what we faced when we tried to charter a boat here this weekend.  First lesson in chartering a boat.  You have to go when you say you're going to go, regardless of what the weather is doing.  I do not believe that, had we been on our own boat, we would have gone out based on the forecast.  But we went, because we only had a (very expensive) 24 hour window. 

Leaving the slip was trickier than we had anticipated with a party pontoon directly behind us and a strong wind blowing us to starboard and into another boat.  We managed to back out, though we tagged the boat next to us with our bow. I am still kicking myself for not dropping a fender.  Nothing was damaged, but it was the principal of the thing.  

Sailing downwind was great. And I had my first experience cooking in a galley while underway.  I'm happy to report that was a success.  But then we realized that one key bag of our groceries for the weekend was sitting in our refrigerator at home.  Choices dwindling, we headed back into a headwind so strong that we could not make any progress with the reefed mainsail up.  Again, had this been our boat, we could have messed around with the jib.   Instead, to play it safe, we motorsailed back at a much slower speed than we had earlier in the day.  What started as a nice sail quickly turned into us bashing into wave after wave as the gusts hit 29 knots.  I struggle with seasickness, so to play it safe myself, I ducked down into the cabin where things were a lot bumpier but at least I could lie down and close my eyes (which always helps me).  Unfortunately, this left Henry and Reese alone in the cockpit where the adventure got trickier.  The reef line that someone before us had tied came loose, and Henry was forced to tie it down while underway while being pelted with the waves. 

When we finally got back in, I questioned the plan the boys had come up with. That went over like a bag of rocks, and I'm now kicking myself for that too. I was groggy and in no position to know what had been going on up above.  It turns out it didn't matter, because after three unsuccessful tries at our slip we ended up docking.  Second lesson in chartering a boat. People are so nice.  Several other sailors came out to help us tie up to the dock and were very reassuring about the wind and the difficult conditions.  One very experienced sailor told us he even had trouble. I doubt he was telling the truth, but I appreciated his kindness.

Overnight, we had a storm but all of us seemed to survive that without too much of an issue. Henry complained of seasickness because of sleeping on the boat, but I slept really well.  That we both experienced some seasickness though has us both questioning whether this lifestyle will work for us. I'm curious to hear about others' experiences with this. 

Confidence shaken, we mulled over whether we should attempt to take the boat to pump out and fuel up. Finally, we decided to go for it.  And we pulled it off without a hitch!  We even managed to put the boat back in the right slip when we returned!  Another sailor came over to tell us how brave we were for doing it.

Now, almost 8 hours off the boat, I still feel like I'm moving...or the ground under my feet is.  I wonder if one eventually acclimates to that or if I'll always feel a little unsteady after sailing. 

Next up - Florida in December.  This is the big test. It's a full week on a catamaran.  Yikes!

Another piece of the puzzle clicks into place

My niece and her fiance have agreed to live at our home!  The plan is tentative, but things look good. This is a giant puzzle piece, and it's a big relief to have it sliding into place.  Of course, it's also another thing making this whole idea a whole lot more real.  The practical questions of what to sell, what to keep and what they will want to keep have hit me full force.   My guess is that they'll want the riding lawnmower to stay!  It's 10 acres of property with about 2 acres of lawn and yard.  They might want our Jeep to double as snow blower.  Those are the obvious ones. But what about everything else?  Do they want the big TV?   Will they use this couch or that bed frame? What about the dining room set?  My brain might explode.  We will see them in a couple of weeks and I will attempt not to bombard them with these questions. 

My greatest challenge seems to be breaking the To Do lists down into manageable pieces.  I find that there is so much to do that I am frozen, overwhelmed.  There is so much to do that I do nothing at all.  I'm paralyzed.  I need to figure this out.  My hope is that when the kids start school in a couple of weeks, I will be more focused and able to answer these questions. 

Suddenly, leaving this place is bittersweet.  The hummingbirds will definitely miss us!  I'm a tiny bit jealous of my niece.

Another BIG hurdle overcome!

Certified in three sailing classes? Check! (Well, at least Henry is - I only have two under my belt, but I'm okay with that...mostly)

Sailing a 35 foot monohull?  Check!  This, up from the 23 foot sloop we started on.  Pretty proud of us.

Bringing the whole family sailing for an overnight?  Check!  And we didn't kill each other (bonus points)! Pictured below was our home for two days and two nights.  We took the live aboard option, so the first night was spent getting settled. Another bonus, Henry and I slept in the very tiny V-berth.  All 6'0" of my husband getting in and out of it absolutely made the trip for me.

Most of the first full day of sailing was drills. And more drills. Oh, and then we did more drills.  I lost count of how many times we did the Man Overboard drill, but after trying various ways of doing it I've decided that the quick-stop method is the toughest. I don't think there's anything quicker about it either, given our experiences.  Once again, I'll admit that I like sailing much more than I like sailing lessons. At some point, my brain is just FULL and I can't absorb anymore.  I found that aspect of being on the boat exhausting.

However, the rest of it was fantastic!  I actually loved the small space. We had plenty of room, and I realize that everything else from here on out is going to feel pretty luxurious.  The boat we plan to buy will be in the 40-43 foot range, and it'll be a catamaran.  Having been on a 43' foot catamaran on a charter, I'd have to say that it felt like two different worlds.

Our kids felt a little queasy at times, so we'll have to keep an eye on that.  But they did so well with everything that, at the end of the trip, our Captain said they were sweet kids!  And she was ever so impressed with their dedication in cleaning the boat for the next sailors.  We can thank my mom for instilling that value in me.  Thanks, Grandma Cherryl!

As far as galley cooking goes, that's going to be several more posts, I think.  But it really wasn't that different from cooking at home. Sure, everything is a little less spread out, but how much room do you really need?  Preparation is key.  If you have a stove top that is covered by a counter top, use that first to chop your veggies and get your ingredients ready.  I think having a few small, stackable bowls is going to be essential.

I was extremely relieved to discover that I do not get seasick from sleeping on the water!  The seasickness aspect of sailing has worried me, but I've only really gotten sick once. On the Pacific. After a storm.  It was rocking and rolling, and I wasn't the only victim.  I haven't had an issue since.  I briefly felt nauseated motoring in to the harbor, but I think that had more to do with the diesel fumes than with the water.  So maybe it's really true that everyone will get sick once in awhile...going to keep my Sea Band and Bonine in stock though, just in case.

Our next hurdle is taking out a 35' boat without a safety net (no Captain)!  That's only two weeks away.  I feel that we are, obviously, better prepared than we were before this trip, but I have a sneaking suspicion that there's a huge learning curve in here somewhere...stay tuned!