We are in the 1 week count down for leaving South Dakota for the boat for the next 6 months. This last few days has been constant review of lists. Provisioning list, general packing list, how bills will be paid, what bills there are, having the dogs taken care of to get into the Bahamas, having the camper ready to be left while we are gone and most importantly spending time with family we won’t see for awhile. Of course, we are trying to do school in the midst and Christmas is around the corner.
Last week we were in the Bahamas on a vacation that had been planned before we owned a boat or had a definite plan. It was nice to relax without all the preparation we have been doing. Mike has barely been home (in SD) as he has been working the ER in Pierre then travelling to the boat, otherwise. He has been working like crazy and I was so happy he had to take a break- he needed it.
As for goodbyes, my very sweet Bible Study group had a bon voyage party for our last night of study. We made sailboat tree ornaments and they blessed my with food for the boat. I had complained enough about the provisioning prospects. I strongly dislike shopping and the thought of buying roughly 6 months of food in one trip was making me nauseated! I took home a kitchen sized garbage bag (double bagged) of soup mixes, baking mixes, muffins and more to take! About 50# of food! This was an amazing send off! Of course, we had delicious snacks, as well. One of these ladies won’t be here when we return, so it was a two fold going away gathering. I will miss these Sisters in Christ immensely!
Our Pastor also called us forward last Sunday the congregation to pray over us. What a comfort to know so many people will be lifting us up! We are truly blessed.
This next Sunday we will have a get together with Matthew’s birth family, who have all been like family to us. We will have supper at a pizza joint that has an arcade and the kids can play while the adults visit. We are going to miss these people like crazy!
We had an early Christmas celebration with my brother’s family this last Sunday. They will be traveling to WA state this weekend, so we had to say farewell to them a little early. I’ve always thought Jamie and I were very close, we have some sort of communication daily. He has been away on deployments with the military, lived on the other side of the state, that sort of thing. He now has a lovely wife and beautiful 1 year old baby as well as their older kids and it seems a little harder.
My dad, as mentioned in other posts, will be going with us. The plan is he will spend our first 3 weeks with us on the boat, then fly home. Our son, Sean will fly down and visit for a weekend, then the 2 of them will fly home. Dad will be a help and I will delay a couple of goodbyes for a few weeks. I really am not sure how the full time cruisers deal being away from home…. maybe they already were, so it’s not so jarring?
Mike has seen to Voyager having several updates. I wanted him to do a separate post on all of this, but he only gave me his list. Mike is a man of lists… He has lists for everything. So, take my word for it, he has done a ton of work. There has been a new kitchen sink installed, a big (for a boat) farmhouse style stainless one. The faucet was already a newer one, so it’s overall gorgeous, now. He has gone through countless hose clamps, fixed the windless, repaired the voltage regulator and alternator, flushed heat exchangers, wired the solar panels, built bimini gutters, among several dozen other things. We should certainly be ready to throw off the dock lines! There will be a stop a day or two out for a haul out to paint the bottom, but we should be underway shortly thereafter.
Matthew began taking guitar (for the 2nd time) about a month ago. Last night he played his first recital. He has done well and we look forward to his playing on the boat. He still plays piano and has practiced that everyday at the house when we are doing school. I love to hear him play and hope he will continue into adulthood.
Matthew will also be in charge of some posting as part of his writing assignments. Look for these special blogs in the future.
I think I’ll go ahead and close out here. There’s probably more news, but I’m short on attention span. I would like to write more regularly as we go as I would like to see our growth while sailing. I know there is so much to learn and comfort to be gained. Bare with us 😉
Until next time~ Fair winds
Here are my precious people-
SV Voyager/The Preys Project 