“All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil. The fight to the finish spirit it the one…characteristic we must posses if we are to face the future as finishers.”
-Thoreau
We’re going to jump ahead for a minute now in order to inform you of our current status. We have successfully moved onto Nila Girl!! Our official move in date was July 1, 2011. If you’ve never tried it before, I DARE you to pack up years of your life in a house, make that two lives in a house, and move onto a 35’ boat. It is harder than it sounds (tongue in cheek).
A view of the port side of Nila Girl’s salon.
Our landlubbing home was full of years of belongings that had to go somewhere. We either had to move our stuff onto the boat, move our stuff to our parents’ houses or sell up. We decided to do all three, oh yeah, and keep a bunch of our stuff in limbo, on a trailer at Ren’s Grandmother’s house. The transitioning of our stuff was/is a huge pain in the neck. I’m getting a little tinge of anxiety right now just thinking about it.
Breathe, breathe, breathe…ok, I can continue.
A couple of days before “the move” my parents came into town to pick up some of our “precious” items. The things we cannot replace. I learned that we have more precious items than I originally thought, or we were completely unable to get rid of everything right away. They took a lot of stuff off of our hands. We also ditched a lot of things with Ren’s parents too. Believe it or not, family is great for taking the things you just can’t stand to sell to a stranger. Man, family is wonderful!!
I stayed those first few nights before “the move” on the boat alone since Ren was out of town for work. This gave me a chance or organize the boat and put my plan into action.
The bow pulpit.
Plan= Writing a list of items on a copy of the boat’s blueprint. I use the blueprint to locate items on the boat. Thanks for the organizing tips from Jeanette Pucella on Puff! I can’t wait to see the inside of her boat someday…and realize how unorganized mine is I’m sure.
When I had reasonably organized the boat Ren was already on his way back into town. The day after he returned, it was Go(h) time (We miss you Goh and Laura!). We spent the day, with help from our wonderful, beautiful, caring, giving, selfless families moving. I Hate moving! Let me say that again, I Hate moving! And yes, I used the “H” word. The thought of moving gives me the same sensation as falling asleep at the wheel when you still have 80 miles to drive. For the academics:
satan:evil::moving:torture
I’m probably being a little dramatic here but I find relief in the thought that if we ever move back on land, we will not have anything to move except a 35’ boat full of stuff.
We spent the day moving and we got it all done. Of course, moving onto a boat and getting her into ship-shape for a November departure is dynamic. We have a list tacked onto a cork board that we see every day. The list includes all of the things we still have to do to the boat. Ren is doing a great job of pecking away at the list. As of day 1 on the boat there were 28 things on the list. As of today, just a few days over one month, there are 13 things crossed off of the list. This may not seem like a lot of crossing off to some of you but bear in mind, we still have full time jobs right now, and are teaching a full summer of dive classes. 28 is my new favorite number!! The boat is looking better every day and even resembles a home. We have throw pillows and Oreo even has his own little private sleeping nook.
