Living in the Gap…

Well it has been one BUSY October!  We are still working on s/v Alchemy.  The new toe rail has not arrived yet so work on the stanchions on the starboard side has not moved forward, and so while the fiberglass work is complete and the stainless steel that was bent is being repaired, the starboard side is still looking a bit undone.

Chris has spent time installing a new hot water heater which we ordered right after our return from the Bahamas when we saw a small leak from our old one.  It was time.  He has installed a new fresh water pump for the engine all though we are contemplating converting to raw water cooled only engine.  Many have done this with our model Volvo engine and have had good luck going this route so we may decide to do this.  There have been a myriad of tasks Chris has completed and a few on my list I am working on.  We installed an opening port light above the galley stove and we are very happy with the results.  We now have one opening port light aboard the boat and that is a great addition!

We traveled to the Annapolis Boat Show rather spontaneously and had a whirlwind trip up to Maryland.  We spent time in Cruising World Seminars, talking to vendors about everything from wind generators, sails, and pressure cookers to radar mounts; only to walk away with six $2 sail ties and a chafe guard.  We gleaned a lot of information though and caught up with friends, old and new.

A week later we headed to Houston, Texas on an airplane to surprise my Dad for his seventieth birthday!  He was completely surprised by the incredible party his Aunt Patsy, Cousins, Wife, and Son threw for him.  It was so fun!

So now back to the grind, both figuratively and literally. Our next steps are to paint a new stripe and boot stripe on the boat, then the bottom paint, then re-installation of the new table down below that Tipper Davis has made for us.  We need to re-install all the new, teak slats in the cockpit, and the list goes on.

So that is an update.  Pictures will follow if and when I can get them posted…

I have neglected writing these last few weeks mostly because of the ever changing landscape before my eyes.  Chris surprised me with a new to me, micro four thirds camera, and I have been snapping away.  As I got set up on my laptop with a new photo editor, I revisited some shots I snapped with my point and shoot prior to getting the new to me camera.  There was one that caught my eye.

When I started this blog I had a lot of difficulty defining just one intention I had with writing and sharing here.  Of course, there is the adventures of living aboard our sailboat I wanted to share, however I wanted it to be more than that.  After viewing this photo I took while going to Beaufort, N.C. one day in September, it became very clear to me that I want my blog to be inspiration and fodder for other people out there to question the way they live; and give them the courage to choose ‘different’ as a way of life.  I want to be a beacon out there to facilitate people to ask the hard questions of themselves, and to be an active participant in their life.  I may decide to share pictures and experiences of sailboat cruising, or the nuts and bolts of keeping a boat afloat, but at the heart of this blog I want the beat to be one of license to live one’s true life, their calling, unencumbered by what society or other’s may feel is the best prescription for a happy life.

Over the last five years as we prepared to possibly redesign our lives in a big way, I found courage by reading other’s blogs.  There is a wonderful woman named Tammy Strobel who I followed regularly here http://rowdykittens.com/  Her story of awakening in regards to she and her husband’s life style was one I could relate to.  She lived in New York City, working in a high powered career, and had closets brimming with clothing and shoes; but she found her days were filled with frustration…she finally started analyzing her life.  She and her husband decided to leave it all behind them, and start over in a tiny house.  Her story is powerful and resonated with so many.  While blogging about her journey along a path less followed she found the New York Times was interested in her story, as well as the Today Show and others.  She has just published her first book, “You Can Buy Happiness (and It’s Cheap)’.  Check out her blog and book – no matter where you dream of your life taking you, courage to live differently can be found in her words.

So my blog may meander here and meander there at the moment because I do have many different interests, am living in the Gap at the moment both mentally and physically, am learning to embrace spontaneity and accept impermanence; and with this I am shifting in the way I perceive the world and my values are changing.  It is a lot and I think there is value there, because I see my present process reflected in many other’s thoughts who I talk to.  So with this I leave you with the next transitional blog entry, ‘Rail Meat’, read on, if you dare…