It's been a long time coming

We have just celebrated our anniversay of 9 MONTHS living aboard!  It's unbelievable really, and even more unbelievable that it's been that long since I've written about boat life.  I have so much to say, so much has transpired. I think I needed a little bit of distance from the emotions of it all though in order to write objectively.  I am a very emotionally driven soul, and sometimes can get a bit lost without a little objectivity.  This has been a period of huge adjustments, both physically reorienting to a smaller space, and emotionally as I had to find a way to say goodbye to some of the most amazing friends.  I find it is different now that I have a child, once you find people that not only hold a space for you but also your child in their hearts and love them as their own, and you feel the same about their children... it is very hard to walk away.

After about a month, I have to admit the honeymoon ended a bit.  The reality that simple living isn't "simple"at all, hit me in a big way. As we adjusted to the space, the logistics of laundry (multiple trips to the laundry nap and folding laundry with a toddler is an all day adventure) , showering (try that one with a toddler when he has free access to a toilet that MANY people have used) and contending with the weather (we waited until August before summer arrived) as well as the tidal drops of as much as 15 feet (try going down that ramp during a winter storm)  It all slowly but surely began to add up.  As well as our impending departure in October, I think both my friends and I were in denial, it all caught up to me.  We also were disappointed by the fact that due to mechanical issues we weren't able to take the boat out at all that summer.  Honestly it took me by surprise how long it took me to adjust (but to be fair I think I was simply exhausted....see timeline below).  Simply for the fact of how long we had been planning this and how much I was looking forward to it.

I am happy to say though, I feel I have adjusted, and am still extremely happy we made the decision to move aboard.  We made our first jump down the island at the end of September and are now docked in Victoria, BC. We took about two and a half days to sail down and it was seamless and the weather was stunning. It was a trip initially blessed by the passing of hundreds of dolphins right as we were leaving the marina in Campbell River It is beautiful here and the weather is much milder than in Campbell River, which is a HUGE plus.  Slugging it out in the rain day in and day out for most of the year gets to you after a while.  I find it much milder here and we have spells of rain but they are sandwiched by glorious days of sunshine.  I literally cried the day after we arrived and woke to the rays of sun beaming in our windows.  I am ready to go cruising if it is for nothing else other than chasing rays of sunshine and rainbows. 
I think it was in November when I finally took a deep breath and let go of all of the angst, and surrendered into the uncertaintity of it all.  This experience has totally changed my perception of the strength of our family.  I feel like I really know how strong we are, how loyal we are to each other and our vision., and truly believe in our ability to adapt to whatever comes our way.  Luckily I have Logan to remind me daily to be joyful, spontaneous, and forgiving.  He is such a little trooper and has adapted seamlessly (ok, maybe there was a bit of acting out when we first moved....but he missed his friends. Who can blame him, I was a bit grumpy myself).  Truly though he approaches each day with such zeal and excitement.  Everything is fleeting, happiness, saddness, but no matter what it is  simply one moment at a time.  Each independant of the next, no judgement, no clinging.  And my husband, well I can't say enough about him.  He has been amazing through this whole process, loving me despite all my tantrums. He continually goes out of his way to make sure I am comfortable, safe and most of all loved.  I am a very lucky woman, and find myself falling in love with him more and more everyday.  I absolutely love that we are rediscovering and redefining ourselves....together.

When looking back at the past 9 months, it has truly been a whirlwind (lots of fun and exciting things but a whirlwind nonetheless!).
 Here is our timeline: 

MARCH - Prepped house to rent as a  furnished rental, put all other belongings into garage for storage ( I had no idea what a big task this would be!). Moved onto the boat.  Went to Mexico on vacation for a week
                                    
APRIL -  Acclimating to the boat, fixing up interior to make things more livable.  Started an energy exchange at the local Bikram Yoga studio (work one day a week for free unlimited yoga)

MAY-  I went home to visit my family in Virginia for the first 3 weeks, while Gordon sailed to San Fran with a friend to deliver their boat. Two days after returning home from VA, Gord left for 5 days to sail  in the 'Swift Sure'Race in Victoria
                                       
JUNE-  4 days after returning home from Victoria, G left for 2 weeks to race in the 'Van Isle 360' on a friends
             boat. One week later we went 3hr south to Victoria for the weekend to celebrate a friends birthday.
                                       
 JULY-  We unexpectedly get notice that our friend that is renting our house is moving..... IN A MONTH!  This was a double blow as we were SO sad to see her go, AND it meant dealing with the house again.
                                 
 AUGUST - Has anyone noticed WE haven't been sailing yet??? Yes, the boat didn't move all summer because of  'transmission issues' It was quite a dissapointment, as well as the fact that summer still hadn't arrived in Campbell River yet.  It was STILLraining. We had to sort all of our belongings again and move them to an 8x10 storage unit........I NEVER WANT TO EXPERIENCE THAT AGAIN.  OMG I never realized we had so much useless stuff, and the sad part is that we are paying to store some of that stuff now!  We gave most everything away though, we no longer own any furniture, no bed. nothing!  It was quite a cleansing experience I must admit, and I highly recommend it (once it's over of course ;) End of August, we dragged our sorry, exhausted tails to the airport and headed back east to VA for some much needed R&R at my parents place for 2 weeks. Oh yeah, and on the way to the airport in Victoria we checked out and secured the slip we would be moving to in a month.
                              
 SEPTEMBER-  Returned mid-month from VA, finalized all preparations for our first leg of our journey south.Verified slip vacancy at new marina, Gord got a new job at a hospital in Victoria, and the part missing pieces of the boat FINALLY put back together and we were mobile! Sept. 24th we left CR for a 3 day sail south to our new home, for the next year or two.
                                  
 NOV/DEC -  One trip home to CR tie up loose ends and visit friends. Winterizing the boat.  Otherwise taking a deep breath, finding our way around town, making friends, and reconnecting with old ones.
                                                         
I know this was a long post, but I wanted to get caught up. We've had a lot of computer issues since September and it's made it difficult to keep up on things. I hope to be more disciplined and write more frequently about our experiences.  As long as this post is, there is so much that was left out.  Feels like this was just the tip of the iceberg and it doesn't justify the experience as there have been so so many beautiful moments along the way.  I feel like it is a bit of a 'dry'  no nonsense rundown of things and doesn't give the full picture of life we are living.  I am so  grateful that despite all the hard work it has taken that we have made this change in our lives. It has been truly transformative.......for all of us.