Tell me, How Does it Feel...

Like a rollin’ stone!!!!!

Jim asked how it feels to be actually doing this.  

This comes after months of really intensive planning and organizing, like playing a chess game and thinking eight moves ahead.  So many times I felt like my brain was overheating , and  I often woke during the night to mull over a problematic situation to be dealt with, all the while working full time and trying to get the boat prepared  while she lay in her slip three hours from my house. Pressure and stress. Now, I live hour to hour and day to day.  The weather determines what we do, and the boat tells us what she needs.  It seems light years from my working life already, though I am staying closely connected with family.  I really like it.

Our home is our boat, and everything we have is on board, for better or worse. Not owning a car adds an element of uncertainty. We’d like to have a full length mirror, but since we were unable to get one to leaving, it will be a bit trickier now with no car.  We stuffed our laundry into our backpacks today and humped it to the Laundromat, which fortunately was just across the canal.  We bought our groceries and likewise carried them back to the boat in our backpacks, last time a mile each way and uphill both ways, so there were no gallons of milk or 12 packs of soda.  Don’ t know how we will get to West Marine, or when, and that’s a necessity!!!

Also you would not believe how easy it has been to lose things right in the boat. I’ve lost my bite splint (it’s still missing, though I don’t grind my teeth as much now , see Paragraph One above).  We are still sorting, consollidating storing things here, them moving them again as practicality suggests.   But we’ve  only been aboard a couple of weeks, so  it will become organized in time.

Randy and I are getting along well as always, and mainly what we are working on is learning up to  communicate completely with each other.  Our mindreading skills are not super keen, so we are learning to verbalize our thoughts more completely when we are engaged in a boat maneuver, or working on a project since our life experiences have been so different. I am still learning a lot about tools and systems that Randy knew in kindergarten. 

We learn new things daily, especially during passagemaking. Our first lock experience in the Canal system was pretty awkward, and the lockkeeper at the second lock gave us some pointers which helped.  We research each leg of our passage ahead of time using charts, cruising guides,NOAA coast pilots, and of course our smart phones, which have been a real asset.  Soon we will be learning about tides and currents and lots of different types of boat traffic .  We have to be willing to embrace constant change during passage making.

Randy is really good at waking up during the night to check on the boat.  This has saved our bacon at least once.  I will need to get good at that too, but at present  I could sleep through a hurricane most nights. Our days are usually pretty busy and often physical, which makes for good sleeping.

How do I feel?  I haven't yet felt fear, but urgency.  I  anticipate the future and in general enjoy the constant change.  I can  feel  growing self sufficiency and confidence which are the rewards of taking on a task with whatever preparation I have.  At some point, you just do it.