Well today is May 31st, yes, I have finally got the website completely updated (well photos for April and May will be uploaded later). What a month it has been! Andy had a business/work trip for the 1st week of may so nothing was completed for the 1st week. We have had to shift our focus to packing up the house and getting ready to move onto the boat.
We have returned to staying on the boat on the boat on the weekends in hopes of being able to get some projects done so we can start to get settled into the boat. Our expectations vs what the reality of what is to be done is not matching up. At times, we are both getting discouraged because their is just not enough time in the days for us with packing up the house and trying to figure out what the keep vs what we want between the RV and the boat. Plus the forward cabin is not in any shape for the kids to be ready to move in so it’s a work in progress and as usual I am sure that it will come down to the last minute for us but somehow we will make it work.
We of course did what we could do when we could. We needed to move some of the wood paneling so what did we do? We used it for the ceiling in the salon and can I say just how amazing it looks? Andy was able to start working on getting the forward shower installed and installed the stove so it’s gimballed. We still need to install the plumbing for the shower and the a way for it drain so it’s not just going into the bilge. The stove needs to be re-wired and a stronger circuit will need to be installed as it requires more power than we initially thought. We also brought down the anchor chain (all 300 ft) to the boat and the pattern to see about measuring for the new anchor (85lb vs 105lbs) as well so while we didn’t really complete much we have done some items.
We hope that June will bring us lots more progress so we can clean the boat and see what projects we can complete and make some plans for the 2nd half of the year. All in all, given all of the challenges and changes that May brought us, we are still moving forward but taking it one day at a time and we are grateful for the little wins that we do get when we are on the boat. She continues to make progress each weekend and some changes you can see and some you can’t.
We finally closed on the house on May 30th so now we will need to take a few weeks off so that we can get settled and moved into both the RV and boat so we can comfortably split our time between both places. Nancy was also able to find a new job and is working again. Hours are slightly different so it’s going to make editing videos and updating this website a little more difficult but we will do our best.
thank you for staying with us on this adventure and journey as we continue to work on and getting Free Spirit ready for her next circumnavigation. We hope to be able to throw the lines and start the journey once the kids are done with high school and provided Free Spirit is ready to go and we have sufficient funds to make the journey. Time will tell for us.