departure

Michael finally wrapped the last spreader boot...standing rigging wire replacement is DONE!

Our race to be “ready” to leave the dock has officially begun. With only 10 days left to go we are literally making sure every last minute counts so we get our last few Must Dos done. While the list sounds basic: finish refrigeration install, pack spare parts and tools aboard, finish moving stuff from our big to our small storage unit, pack Leah’s old clothes up for Holly to wear over the next two years, sell camping gear, shop for and pile provisions onboard, decide which skeins of yarn to bring aboard from my two-crate stash, find room for 50 lbs of books, restock our first aid kit and ditch bag… well actually that sounds like quite a lot for the next 10 days. Which explains why for the past week we’ve been working non-stop from the time we wake up to the time we drop into our bunk late at night.

This part sucks, folks. I’m not going to sugar-coat it. While we have tiny flashes of excitement here and there that we are actually going to be cruising in 10 days, mostly we are just really anxious for this last part to be done with. We’ll leave with many many things undone but at least we’ll leave knowing we’ve given it our best shot at getting stuff accomplished while having access to our car and familiar stores while we can. After all, at this point the only thing that has to happen is making sure all the stuff piled on the dock is piled on the boat. All the rest will continue underway.

Even so, my lists of things to do/buy/sort/store/get is constantly running through my head and there are many moments each day where I feel like I’m teetering on the finest of edges between calm and completely losing it. I’m getting very good at focusing on what I’m doing, each minute at a time. Truly living in the now. Otherwise I find myself bouncing around between 20 things, and not getting any of them done. One of which is making sure our girls are fed and relatively happy: since they’ve been given pretty much free reign to our DVD collection and streaming Netflix for the next week I think they are doing fine.

Yesterday, Michael finished putting up the very last of our 22 new standing rigging wires, a huge job we are happy to have behind us. He’s putting the finishing touches on installing new shelves in our engine room which will house most of our tools and many spare parts. Nearly all of our mementos are sorted, crated and stacked neatly in our 5×5 storage unit. Our last unneeded valuables are getting sold via Craigslist and many more items have been donated to our favorite local thrift shop. Final doctors appointments and immunizations are done, summer clothes are onboard and folded away, our mail forwarding cued up with USPS. We officially sold our trusty Subaru today to a friend  (Thank You Angela!!) and will hand it off the night before we cast off.

Sometimes, when you look ahead too much and can’t stop thinking about how far you have to go, all you need to really do is look back and see how far you’ve come. Then you realize, you’re practically there.