Struggling to Reach the Dream - An Honest Post

Sometimes we have to look at this quote to remind us not to give up. As anxiety creeps in, we get impatient and the "what-if's" take over. It's easier to be a pessimist than an optimist! But, that's why I'm writing this post. I'm keeping it real, and hoping to inspire others to hang in there with whatever dreams they have. The struggle is real, and you're not alone!

Ken & I have been working on "living the dream" for nine years now (see our refit photo album here .. and that doesn't cover earlier years!), and I'm not gonna lie .. sometimes it's really tough! For starters, we thought we'd be cruising within 3 years of purchasing Nirvana, which would have meant "sailing away" the end of November, 2012. We're about six years behind schedule!

Anyway, we continue to miss our deadlines ... the latest one being this month. We had hoped to have enough done on Nirvana to head towards Florida this month, but after an unintended inspection of our standing rigging we were told it really should be replaced before entering the Gulf. We believe the rigging is original (1987), and it did show signs of damage & age so we reluctantly agreed.

The standing rigging was completed about two weeks ago, except for the forestay. The wire has been ordered and the roller furler will soon be disassembled and removed for the new forestay installation. While we hated to miss our deadline, our safety (and peace of mind) is more important. It is somewhat of a relief to now have new standing rigging. After all, it does hold the mast up!

It seems Nirvana has had everything replaced .. except the engine, rudder and a few other things. Wait, what if after all the recent repairs our engine goes out .. or what if we run aground and have to get a new rudder?! You see what I mean? The anxiety creeps in.

It wasn't just the rigging that held us back, but our barely used Tohatsu has started acting up. Ken has spent four days cleaning, draining and replacing parts with no success .. talk about a downer! He finally decided to take a break from that project for a bit. 

We're also in the process of installing our new Raymarine EV100 autopilot, as well as connecting our Lowrance GPS to our new Lowrance VHF with AIS. This means running a bunch of wires down the cockpit pedestal and into other hard-to-reach places, which also meant a few modifications along the way. The wires have been run down the cockpit pedestal and the four components of the auto-pilot have been mounted, so we're getting close. We just need to run the rest of the wires inside of Nirvana and to the components. 

Oh, and here's a little tip .. grill covers are on sale this time of year, and they make great pedestal covers. We got this "kettle grill" cover for $10 bucks! If fits great, and gathers at the bottom. Now our new GPS & autopilot will be protected, as well as our compass.

All of this will be worth it, as the VHF/AIS allows us to see other boats with AIS and we can contact them (via VHF) if it's on a collision course with us .. or just get outta the way! Other boats won't be able to see us, but that's because we chose the less expensive AIS option. Need I say anything about the auto-pilot? Once we get it going, it will be well worth the investment. Who wants to stand at the helm for hours on end?!

With the current state of things, we weren't ready to "just go". We definitely want our rigging complete, and the comfortable weather of November that we'd been looking forward to didn't come. November in Louisiana is usually in the mid-70's .. perfect for finishing our projects and starting our sailing adventure, but Winter (and rain) arrived instead. We also found ourselves with a vacant rental this month, and we spent a fair amount of time making repairs and finding a new tenant. We finished repairs this past Friday, a new tenant moved in this past weekend .. and we have another vacant rental as of today! More repairs & interviews in December. Ugh!

So anyway, things have been a bit of a bummer for the past month. The weather pretty much sucked, our projects aren't finished, and we're still at the dock. Once we finally admitted to each other that we weren't gonna make our goal, things were pretty somber. We didn't wanna spend another Winter on the boat. We hated last Winter on Nirvana .. the condensation & the cold really sucked! I want to keep this blog as realistic as possible, so I'm not gonna say it's all about the journey. We're ready to sail to some sort of destination after all these years, and we're getting impatient. We wanna start having some fun with Nirvana!

If another person tells us to "just go", I'm gonna scream! I know plenty of folks seem to buy the perfect boat and start cruising a couple of months later, but that's not our reality. We bought a project boat and had no idea what we were doing. We also needed to keep working full-time (until recently) to keep up with the boat expenses .. you know BOAT stands for "Bring Out Another Thousand"!

A reader who meant well told us to "just go" and not worry about having "so much stuff". The thing is, we're not going with all the fancy stuff. We won't have a windlass, a water maker, hot water, radar, or davits. We may leave without solar panels! 

The thing is, we're new to all this sailing & cruising stuff, even though we've been at it for 9 years! We had a lot of projects to make Nirvana safe on the water, and a ton of projects that required hours of research .. everything was new to us and we wanted to do it ourselves. Even with doing everything (except standing rigging) ourselves, the expenses have mounted up.

There have been times we've felt like giving up, moving into one of our rental houses and enjoying the conveniences of mainstream society. A warm shower just steps away, a comfy bed that doesn't require climbing in & out of, no long walks to our car in the cold and/or rain, room to spread out or walk around inside when it's bad weather, a dishwasher .. hot water! But you know what .. we couldn't live with ourselves if we gave up on our dream after so much time and effort. We think the sacrifices will be worth it once we start traveling .. and sailing. Unless something unknown throws us a curve, we're gonna do this! 

It's easy for us to get impatient & depressed, dwelling on the money & time spent and the sacrifices we've made. That's human nature, I think. So, we have our down days but we never forget how lucky we are. We celebrated Thanksgiving with family, and we're looking forward to Christmas with our grandson. It will be his first Christmas, and we're excited about being around at this special time. Our little guy will celebrate his 1st birthday the beginning of February, and we're really glad we won't miss that either. Is he cute or what?!

We spent Thanksgiving in the country .. at my brother & sister-in-law's place in Mississippi. We were lucky to have a break from the crappy weather the days before, and the day after. The weather was perfect! Here's my brother with us, our daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and my mom & step-dad. My dad & step-mom were there too .. wish they were in the photo. My brother and I are thankful that our mom & dad still get along after being divorced since I was an infant. It's nice to spend the holidays with both of them!

Another silver lining ... we're around to repair and rent our properties ourselves instead of hiring someone else to handle it. One more rental to repair, but it should be occupied by the end of the year. We should also complete our auto-pilot & AIS installation, our rigging, and a few other projects (like installing our new Mantus anchor) on Nirvana. I sure hope we get that Tohatsu running! We'll always have projects waiting, but we're focusing on the "must-do's". So, everything always works out as it should.

We've licked our wounds and .. we're escaping to somewhere warm after Christmas! We're headed to a 5-week adventure, and that's what our goals are really about .. making the most out of life. We'll be back on the boat the beginning of February for our grandson's birthday party, then we'll finish up any "must-do's" on Nirvana (shouldn't be much) and leave the dock the end of February/beginning of March. We'll avoid freezing our asses off this January and we'll get to visit a new tropical destination. Yep, things always work out.

When we expose ourselves to so many folks "out there", we sometimes feel vulnerable. We sometimes feel like we need to "just go" this Winter and freeze because ya'll are "watching us" and judging. Not just ya'll, but so many co-workers and friends ask why we're still here. But, I often tell Ken that we're doing what's best for us. Most people who ask what's taking so long don't have a boat and don't have a clue what's involved. We sure didn't! Anyone who judges will be eating their words once we finally do leave. If something tragic happens before then, they'd be cruel to judge us.

If you're reading this and are struggling with turning a dream into reality, know that you're not alone. It may be more difficult than you anticipated, and it may take much longer than anticipated but every baby step forward is progress. As Helen Keller said, a pessimist never "opened a new doorway for the human spirit". Hang in there!

So, we still have our down days but we're looking forward to the holidays with family .. and our getaway after Christmas. More about that later!

Hasta luego .. until then. Mid-Life Cruising!

Two Months As Liveaboards!

It's been just over two months since we moved aboard Nirvana. Man, time flies ... especially on a boat!  A lot has happened the past two months .. good n bad!

While at the boatyard, we had a local rigger inspect our rigging, replace the mast lights with LEDs, and replace our three mast-head sheaves with upgraded ball-bearing sheaves ... this should make raising the main sail much easier! The inspection went pretty well, but he did find that our halyard "retainer" needed replacement, as well as our spreader boots & a shroud. He came back another time to replace the shroud & retainer, and we're hoping that we can replace the boots ourselves soon .. time to buy something to go up the mast!

After a couple of weeks of living at the boatyard where Nirvana had been for over a year, we moved to the local marina, which is so much nicer! Our "kids" came along for the ride .. no sails yet. It was a great day to be on the boat .. it's been way too long!

Our new home .. and only $150 a month! The first photo is from our cockpit .. what a view!

Nirvana's new slip .. notice our "cajun a/c".  The Bristol next to us sails to the Bahamas every winter!

Our first night .. so pretty. We're really enjoying the sunsets!

The marina's restaurant (really good) and Yacht Club ...

Nirvana under the moonlight!

We celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary by washing Nirvana and adding some much needed shade!

I wish that I could say that we've tackled all sorts of major projects on the boat and we've been "living the dream", but I'd be stretching the truth a bit. We're still working on wrapping our our businesses, and we've had quite a few unexpected things occur that were really tough to deal with. 

After leaving behind the boatyard and the two weeks of rain, we were starting to get in our groove until ... a tropical storm that brought even more rain a few weeks later led to a flooded rental! We were quick to deal with the damage, and luckily we kept our tenant. Around the same time we had a vacant rental .. and a ton of disgusting trash left behind. Again, we wasted no time getting the house cleaned and occupied with a really nice woman.

Just as we were finishing up our rentals, we were dealt with some pretty tough, emotional stuff. Friends of ours lost their teenage son in a car wreck and just earlier this week Ken's younger brother suffered a heart attack and did not survive .. talk about a shock!

This photo was taken on our dock of the kids at Summer Sailing Camp just seconds before we got that terrible call about Ken's brother .. life can change so fast. We were really looking forward to taking Ken's brother sailing when we reached his hometown in Florida. Our hearts are heavy .. Steve was a great guy!

Needless to say, the past two months have been challenging.  However, life is short and we try to make the best of each day. Not all has been bad the past two months. In fact, this past Father's Day we learned we're gonna be grandparents!  We're really excited, and the baby is due in February. We'll definitely be around for the birth of our first grandchild, so we're gonna have to figure out our travel plans when we get our heads cleared.

The photo below was taken on Father's Day with our daughter, son-in-law, and his parents. We all got together at our beach-town condo, and the two "fathers" found pacifiers with a cute little note .. what a great Father's Day! We haven't stayed at the condo since Father's Day, and haven't been able to enjoy the condo as much as we'd hoped, but we plan on making up for it soon.

Our little salon has a place for the special gifts from our "kids" .. a sun hat, a knife .. and a pacifier!

We've made new friends at our dock, most of them liveaboards. In fact, the couple docked next to us sail to the Bahamas every winter .. we've been picking their brains! We've had many sunset "happy hours" on the dock and on our new friend's boats. The folks on our dock have been amazing .. our "neighborhood" is pretty awesome!

We now do our laundry at the marina's laundry room, walk to the marina's bathroom for showers, and get our water from our tanks that we fill about every 7-10 days. These little inconveniences have been worth it ... but the heat is a different story!  It's been hot as hell in the boat .. even with our a/c window unit. Yesterday, our thermometer read 95 degrees at 6pm! We're looking into different options, as we'll be at the dock until the Fall and the heat & humidity have been brutal!

Nirvana is starting to feel like "home", and I'm anxious to bring a few sentimental items on the boat. However, Ken has to run some wires soon so I'm trying not to fill up the boat until he's done. As shown in the first photo, I have added a "sun" tapestry and burnt orange sheets to the salon to give our little place a sense of my style. We've also added a couple of gear hammocks for storage, a hanging shoe storage in the "head" for random items, and some Steri-lite plastic bins in the aft cabin for storing tools & spare boat parts. While our boat is considered tiny by today's standards, we've been doing pretty well with storage .. so far. We still have quite a bit to bring on board, so we'll see. I'm optimistic!

Cooking has been a challenge on board, and it doesn't help that I'm not fond of it! After several times of pumping the alcohol stove's tank in the heat and then finding a leak, we decided to ditch the stove! 

We decided to keep things easy and just order a 2-burner propane stove to use with our Omnia Stovetop Oven .. not so easy. Most of the stoves were too wide for our opening, and when we finally found one to order ... it had a propane attachment on the side that just won't work for our situation. We returned the stove, paid the shipping fees, and ordered a "drop-in" that is used in RV's. The stove is on its way, and our fingers are crossed! In the meantime, we're using a Coleman one-burner propane stove. We even used the Omnia for the first time last night and it worked great .. chicken & rice casserole!

Through trial and error, we also ditched the idea of using our 12v Engel as a freezer .. it was just too much of a pain to switch ice packs daily to try and keep our icebox cold. Plus, all we were freezing was the ice packs! It just didn't make sense, so we now use the icebox for dry storage and the Engel as our fridge. It's so much more convenient, and we don't miss the freezer. Ken was a little pessimistic at first, thinking the fridge wouldn't have enough room for our food .. it's just big enough and he's been pleasantly surprised. It makes a great coffee table too. Whew .. the Engel was my idea!

So, the past two months have been a blur and we're looking forward to better days ahead .. and hopefully cooler ones too?!  Time really does fly on the boat, and I've even lost 5 lbs. with all the extra walking I've been doing .. and sweating too! I'm hoping to manage my time a bit better in the future and start keeping up with blog posts again. It takes much more time to write a post than you'd think, but I miss it and enjoy documenting our life to look back at one day.

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

Simplifying!

Since moving aboard just almost two weeks ago, I figured I'd share some of what we went through to get to this point and to downsize yet again. This "simplifying" thing has been hard work .. especially when still working full-time and tackling a ton of boat projects! We've been downsizing since October, 2014 when we sold our house and moved into a 2-bedroom condo.  At that time, we got rid of a ton of stuff and stored a few sentimental things at my dad's oversized garage. After a year, we downsized again to a 1-bedroom, furnished condo. That's when we sold all of our remaining furniture and brought a few more things to my dad's place.

A year and a half later, we just moved again and went through the last few things we had in our furnished condo. We vacuum-sealed our winter clothes (pic below) that we decided to keep and we moved them to free storage along with some of Ken's tools, kitchen items & sentimental items that we want to keep.  It's definitely nice to have a place for free storage.

We also moved things that will go onto the boat to either our part-time beach condo (the closet is packed) or our temporary storage unit that we have been using for Ken's work storage. Since we're still tackling electrical work and a few other interior boat projects, we're not quite ready to fill the boat up with our stuff.  For now, we're roughing it on Nirvana.

Since we were lucky enough to have free storage for sentimental items & other things, "letting go" wasn't as difficult as it could have been, but I wouldn't call it easy. While it was hard to part with some items that we've always held close, it was comforting to know that they'd be waiting for us someday. I went through a ton of costume jewelry, and threw most of it away. Boy, those earrings were huge in the 80's! I held on to a few things to give to my daughter, along with a few valuable items. We're still holding on to a few tiny items that we'll have to make decisions on at some point .. but not just yet.

Ken & I aren't fancy dressers, but we still seem to have a ton of clothes! We'd donated a lot of clothes when moving into the 1-bedroom condo, but it was time to donate again. As mentioned earlier, we stored our winter clothes that we wanted to keep. It's the summer clothes that have me scratching my head! I know that the elements will cause us to renew our wardrobe when on the boat, so how can I get rid of these good clothes?! The truth is .. I can't! With the beach condo available, I've stored way more summer clothes than I can keep on Nirvana. I figured that I'll enjoy the clothes this summer, get rid of what's worn out by then, and then decide what I can fit on Nirvana. Whatever can't fit could be vacuum-sealed in tiny bags & given to our daughter for mailing in the future. This would save money later, and give me piece of mind now.

While "roughing it" on Nirvana, we'll pretty much be living out of duffel bags that we'll bring back & forth about once a week to the condo. When at the condo, we're able to wash clothes at its laundromat. Before the condo came along, we figured we'd be sitting in a laundromat for an hour. Instead, we'll be able to hit the beach, pool or whatever while the laundry is done .. we're so glad this condo came about! Once we get a our new LED lights installed & tackle the electrical, we'll fill up our closet & four tiny drawers with some clothes .. no more duffel bags!

Storage bins in the aft cabin will soon be in place, and then we can really start to bring more items aboard and get things organized. The tools will be removed from the galley and we can set up our kitchen. We ordered a bunch of reusable ice packs that we'll freeze in our Engel and transfer to our ice box. We're hoping this system works, and until the ice packs come in we've been buying ice to store water and ham for sandwiches. We're both still finishing up loose ends at our jobs and we've always brought our own lunch .. buying it everyday adds up! We have been buying cheap take-out for dinner lately and can't wait to install our grill and mess around with our alcohol stove. Here's my fortune from Chinese take-out the other night .. I like it!

We got our 12v television a few days ago, and it's sitting on top of our navigation table until we get it mounted. We bought a HD antenna (50% off at local Radio Shack closing) and have been able to get our favorite local news station in the morning, as well as quite a few other stations. We haven't watched much tv the past two weeks, and we haven't missed it. However, we have been enjoying it in the mornings before work & in the evenings when we're done for the night. Nirvana's salon is pretty comfortable & cozy! 

Since we've "cut the cord" when moving out of the condo, we're saving over $100 a month on basic cable & internet. We've looked into getting a "hot spot" on our mobile phone for internet, which would allow us to use our laptop (using office computer for now) & stream movies n stuff on our Roku. It will only cost an additional $15 a month on our phone bill, so we'll be adding a hot spot soon. We'll still be saving about $90 a month by not having internet & cable through the local cable company. It feels good to stop giving them our business .. their prices are crazy!

We've been "simplifying" a long time now, so we're taking our time making Nirvana our home. Organization is the key to moving onto a small boat, so I'm sure we'll be moving things off & on until we get it all figured out. Meanwhile, we're diggin' our new home. It's an adventure!

Hasta luego .. until then. Mid-Life Cruising!

Beach Town Living!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we took possession of a condo one block from the beach just before vacating our boring condo near our boat in Louisiana. It's weird how fate stepped in at just the right time and threw this opportunity right in our laps! It sure is making the transition to living aboard and getting Nirvana ready for cruising a lot easier.

The photo below is the entrance to our condo's complex, and the photo above is the marina just one block away. So where is this condo located? It's in a little beach town in Mississippi called Bay St. Louis. It's a cool lil town that Ken & I have often visited, as it's only about 35 minutes from Slidell, where Nirvana is located & where we have lived since childhood. It's also just minutes away from Biloxi, Gulfport & Pass Christian, where we once marched in a parade for the Honorary Mayor of Key West, Mayor Gonzo!

The town was devastated during Hurricane Katrina, but has rebuilt into a charming community .. with a new marina! In fact, Bay St. Louis was named one of the "Top Ten Small Beach Towns in the Country" by Coastal Living Magazine in 2014. The marina is on the bay, which opens into the Gulf of Mexico and also has a nice beach area. Parallel to the bay is Main St., which is filled with cafes, bars, boutiques & live music. Side streets are a mix of cute cottages that are both residences and more boutiques & cafes. Our condo is one block off Main St., which means we can walk everywhere! The entire area is full of gorgeous live oaks trees, which really makes this a beautiful area for us to retreat to every now & then. (Note the fallen oak tree in the photo below .. we've had some rough weather lately. So glad the other oak tree survived!)

Below is a photo of the bay and the Bay Bridge, with a peek of the beach just left of the pier. Just outside of this photo to the right is the marina .. then about 8 more miles of beach!

Below is a photo from one of the afternoons that we made a quick trip to drop off some items at the condo. This is a popular bar named Bouy's that has live music every weekend. The "hot spot" on Main Street is between this bar & the marina. Like New Orleans, you can walk around the streets with alcohol in hand! There's also tons of golf carts .. bar hopping & roaming the streets. As you can see, just past this bar is a stretch of beach. There's a 4.5 mile concrete bike path, and the beach continues on another couple of miles to the Silver Slipper Casino .. a place we like to go every now & then for $5 blackjack and cheap, good buffets!

Here's a few quick pics (poor quality) I took at night .. I can't wait to walk the beach or bicycle the neighborhood & take some photos of this area!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our first stay was for Mother's Day then we were back to Nirvana for the week. This past weekend we headed back to the condo in hopes of avoiding the storms in Slidell. While the storms followed us, there was a break in the weather just in time for the annual "Pirate Day in the Bay" parade! The parade starts at the marina, and we watched the pirates line up.

 

The pirates took to the streets!

There was a band, the "Raw Oysters" marching club, and several golf cart "floats", which threw beads, pirate trinkets & oyster shells. We caught some beads .. wish I could have gotten one of the shells!

The parade ended at "The Ugly Pirate" .. a tiny bar just steps away from our condo. This bar is where the locals hang out, and they have great pizza. In fact, this is where fate stepped in and the beach condo came into our lives!

So many things fell into place that night in late March. Ken & I had taken a ride to Bay St. Louis for a change of scenery, and we'd stayed a while on Main Street enjoying music & beer. We were getting hungry and decided to try out the pizza at "The Ugly Pirate". We'd never been there before and had been wanting to try it out. It was just off the main drag and probably a bit more laid back. As we walked to the bar, we passed a set of condos and noticed how pretty the setting was. We briefly thought how cool it would be to live at a place like that .. so close to the beach & the bars. We sat at "The Ugly Pirate" a while, enjoying pizza & live music. We watched all the golf carts come & go, and really began to realize how cool this town was.

We had paid the bill and were just about to leave when I noticed a familiar truck pass by. It was our daughter's in-laws .. what were they doing here?! We decided to wait until they arrived and say "hello".  As we talked, they mentioned that they were in the area because they were meeting "friends of a friend" to look at a condo ... at the same complex we had admired earlier that day! They were thinking of renting one for 6 months & looking for another couple to split the 2-bedroom with them. Just about the time they casually asked if we'd wanna go in with them, their friends showed up and they left to look at the condo. We didn't know if they were really serious, and we didn't know if they were coming back anytime soon so we headed home.

The entire way home I kept thinking about that condo. Were they really serious? Should I call them in the morning? Wouldn't it be cool to have a condo in a beach town to make the transition easier? After all, we were about to give our 30-day notice to our landlord and Nirvana really wasn't as far along as we'd hoped.

The next morning I texted our daughter's mother-in-law .. I didn't wanna put her on the spot. I asked her how she liked the condo, and she replied that it "was pretty nice". Hmmm .. what next? I then texted her & said to let us know if they were serious and wanted another couple to share the condo with. She asked if I was serious, and I wasted no time saying "YES!". We talked on the phone, and she said that she'd been talking to another couple but they hadn't committed. Sight unseen, I said we were in. By mid-April, we were signing a 6 month lease! We borrowed a bed from my dad, our kids contributed a futon, kitchen table & entertainment center, we brought our two tvs & a bunch of kitchen stuff that won't fit on Nirvana, and our "roommates" have provided a bunch of cool stuff for the condo & the beach. We love it!

Oh, and did I mention this place is cheap?! It's just over $350 month for our half .. and it's really nice. We're saving about $600 bucks a month by switching condos! Plus, our condo is right outside the pretty in-ground pool and grill area. We've already met a few of the neighbors .. all extremely nice, all about our age, and a few of them also sharing with another couple. It seems that every weekend everyone gets together and hangs out ... pinch me!

Now, what are the odds of this happening?! We'd never been to this bar, we were just about to leave, we just happened to run into our extended family, and we just happened to rent a condo in the same place we had been admiring! If we hadn't seen them that night, none of this would have happened .. and talk about perfect timing with vacating our other condo! Also, since their son is married to our daughter .. it's all family. The kids came down the past two weekends .. we're already making priceless memories with them! 

We'd like to think that this is a sign of things to come, and that this was a little "push" in the direction we want to go. If this condo hadn't been available, I have a feeling that we'd have stayed past mid-May in our boring condo. We probably would have stay another 4-6 weeks until our jobs were complete & Nirvana's electrical and lights were done. The beach condo helped us keep our goal of getting on the boat by mid-May, and we now have an awesome place to enjoy the beginnings of our "unemployment"!  

I tell ya, we hated our boring condo in Slidell. I mean .. hated! While we love the city that we've grown up in, there's just not much to do. Now we have all sorts of things to do .. bicycling, walking on the beach, hanging out & enjoying live music, roaming the streets & people watching .. all sorts of stuff! We've already enjoyed sitting on the beach Mother's Day evening with our "roommates". We packed a small cooler with beer and we were set .. drinks in hand & toes in the sand! Behind us was live music from the bars .. life is quickly changing for the better. We're already getting a taste of freedom. It's kinda surreal, and part of us fears it'll be snatched away somehow. Places further South are in our thoughts, and we're just hoping Nirvana does indeed take us there.

We never know what's around the corner, and we'll only find it if we look!

Hasta luego ... until then. Mid-Life Cruising!

We're Liveaboards!

As we were about to shut the front door of the one-bedroom condo that we'd been renting the past year & a half  I said to Ken, "Take a look around. Another chapter closed & another one beginning"! This past Saturday afternoon we shut that door and dropped off the keys to our landlord. I think both of us were too tired from packing, moving, downsizing (again), and cleaning (the condo & Nirvana's cushions) to feel anything more than relief at the time. We'd already gone through selling our house 2.5 years ago, so emotionally leaving a rental wasn't so bad. The downsizing .. it was still difficult even though we'd downsized twice already in the past 2.5 years. I'll have more about what we did in another post soon.

Here's the stack of dirty cushions that we cleaned just before vacating the condo. "Simple Green" on the vinyl backs, and a cleaning machine rented from "Home Depot" for the front & sides ...

We weren't headed to our sailboat after dropping off the keys .. we were headed to a little beach town about 40 minutes away to a condo that we're now renting with family. Since Mother's Day was the next day, we were planning a crawfish boil with family. This was exactly what we needed!

I'll have more about this condo in another post, but it's a place where Ken & I can escape every now & then ... and store a bunch of boat stuff until we're ready to bring it on Nirvana. We'll spend most of our time on our sailboat ... getting her ready for cruising later this year. Below is a picture of our daughter & her mother-in-law that we're sharing the condo with. The weather was perfect, our son-in-law boiled the crawfish just right (he learned from Ken), and it was a great Mother's Day!

Monday morning we woke up early & headed back to Nirvana. Ken & I still have a few loose ends with work, and we spent the first half of the day taking care of some of those. Ken spent the afternoon installing a window unit into our v-berth hatch. He had to get a little creative, but we had a/c for our first night on Nirvana!

Our first night was pretty good! Our daughter & son-in-law surprised us with a visit, and they stayed for quite a while. They hadn't been on our boat in a few years because we've been in "project" mode, and they said it was bigger than they remembered. With the cleaned cushions back on & music playing in the salon & cockpit, it was quite comfortable. While they were there, we brought our new 12v Engel fridge/freezer on board & set it in the salon. It makes a great coffee table!  We really enjoyed their visit & appreciate their support. They're looking forward to visiting us in the Bahamas!

I took the photo below just before throwing the sheets on the v-berth mattress & crawling into bed. I love the soft glow at night! With the original v-berth cushions and two layers of foam (one layer of yellow foam & one layer of gel-infused memory foam), we slept pretty well. It doesn't hurt that the weather was perfect for our first night .. no rain, lightning (whew!), or wind.  The boat didn't move! Notice the Engel freezer in the salon?

While we were excited about our first night as liveaboards, I don't think it's sunk in yet that we're living on Nirvana now. Maybe it's because we have the beach condo or maybe because we've been working on our dream for over 7 years .. it's so surreal.

The next morning we enjoyed our coffee with these views. The morning was so peaceful! We've been in a boatyard/kinda marina the past year, and we hope to move to another marina within the next few weeks.

Since we still have a decent amount of boat work to do, we're living on Nirvana with not much more than a coffee pot, our propane grill (gotta hook up & test our alcohol stove), some toiletries, two duffel bags for clothes (one for each of us), the Engel fridge/freezer, and a 12v television that we ordered yesterday. Don't judge .. while we think TV is mostly crap, we do enjoy having something to watch during bad weather. I'm sure we'll appreciate it even more on the boat! We also have a huge music collection with speakers in the cockpit and in the salon. I think that's all we need for now. 

The place we're docked has a bathroom, so we're using their shower instead of cleaning up in our cockpit or tiny head. We were going to join a gym for showers because the bathroom was so funky where we're staying. Imagine our surprise when we went to use their bathroom Monday and found that it had been repaired & painted .. talk about perfect timing! Things have really been timed just right lately with the renovated bathroom & the beach condo opportunity that fell in our laps. Ooh .. I hope I haven't jinxed us!

Here's a morning view of our salon. We decided that the freshly cleaned, original cushions look pretty good and the dark color won't show dirt as easily as the lighter color I was going to recover them with. So, we scratched one project off of our list .. no recovering the cushions.

Since waking up on Nirvana Tuesday morning, we've been spending our days working, running errands & doing random things to get Nirvana and our lives in order. We keep the a/c off during the day & turn it on at night. We've now spent four nights on the boat, and it's been pretty cool! The only thing that takes some getting used to is crawling in & out of the v-berth. It's pretty high up there, so Ken placed a heavy container on the floor as a step. This works well, and we'll use it until we find something a bit higher to use. We're happy we figured out a solution that doesn't require construction! We haven't cooked on the boat yet, but we've been so busy that it's been no problem to just grab something quick. Hopefully we'll have the grill on the stern and the alcohol stove working soon.

Ken's working on some electrical stuff on Nirvana (among other random things), and we're hoping to address our rigging soon. We'll then get our sails back on. In the meantime, we're trying to slow down a bit & mix boat projects with beach life .. instead of our jobs! We're also saving a good bit of money every month since moving out of the condo. Life is pretty good!

Hasta luego .. until the. Mid-Life Cruising!