The First Of Many

It is so much of a relief to have sold Wave Sweeper. We both feel a great weight off our shoulders!!! We are looking forward to doing the projects here at the house that had been put on hold due to lack of finances. We wanted to get some of the boards in our deck replaced before we went north but all they had here in town were cabinet grade plywood that was way too expensive. But that will wait until we get back from our vacation in Washington this summer. Since selling Wave Sweeper I have done a lot of reflecting on my life since cruising and how I have grown. My eldest sister thought I was crazy to take off on a sailboat on the ocean since she knew I was afraid of deep water. Something I have always been afraid of since I was young. I tried to conquer that fear but finally realized it is what it is and as long as I follow the safety rules and use common sense the rest is up to God. My thought at the time was I wanted something new and exciting and in order to do that I needed to step out in faith and leave my comfort zone. I knew there were things that could happen and maybe I could die, but if I let my fear of deep water keep me from doing something I really wanted to do that would have been a shame. Life is an adventure and I can’t let fear rule over me. This was something Dave and I had planned for years and we had the opportunity to do it so we did. A lot of people talk about doing things and say someday, and then never do them. I didn’t want to be one of those people. First of all I have to tell everyone that Cruising is not the relaxing, carefree lifestyle it is made out to be. You don’t have to be rich, but it helps as moorage, boat parts and etc., are very expensive once you leave the United States. Getting those parts can be very difficult. Don’t get me wrong------I loved the lifestyle as it challenged me and life aboard a boat is simple. You must be somewhat self sufficient in most things and love the quiet of beautiful anchorages and visiting beautiful places. But all in all it was a growing experience for me. I learned the feel of the boat and when it was doing good and when it wasn’t. I steered the boat across many sand bars going into marinas off the coast, which can be dangerous if you aren’t careful. We dealt with seasickness, rough waters, cold and wet conditions, and running into commercial crab pots that had been abandoned and hot humid weather. We knew starting out it wasn’t going to be a bed of roses but we wanted the adventure. I learned how to rely on radar, my instincts, my Captain, my skills, and knowledge from all the classes I attended, to be as prepared as possible for those times when you least expect it. I learned I don’t panic quickly, I can do more than 4 hour watches at a time; take turns staying up most of the night watching the anchor in high winds and rough water at anchorages so the anchor didn’t drag. When it drags you are in danger of hitting rocks and beaching the boat. I was always alert even when Dave was at the helm as it took both of us sometimes to be watching for fishing boats and people who put their boats on cruise control and leave the helm during the night crossings. We almost got run over twice due to no one at the helm on those boats. They just set a course and go down below and go to sleep. No one is on watch!!! I just learned a lot about myself and it was good. I am stronger than I thought I was and can face difficult situations when I have too. Even though the lifestyle can be frustrating and stressful at times, I enjoyed meeting new people and hearing of their travels and being in different countries and learning about their ways and getting to know some really special people. And of course the places we went had adventure and the beauty was hard to describe. So it was good for us despite the hardships. I am so glad I did it. Don’t think I would do it again, but life is funny sometimes!!!! My faith in God grew by leaps and bounds and at times the only thing I could do was let Him guide us. The most important things in my life now is God, my husband, and my family and I have come to realize that life is very short and we need to make as much out of it as we can and cherish those around us. Follow your dream!!! Today is one of our youngest grandsons 1st birthday!!!! Cameron, who is my youngest sons youngest is one now. It will be fun to see him walking and hear him babbling!!! Jonathan Jr., his brother will be big. He is 3 years old. How they grow so fast. My eldest son’s youngest son turns one in August. At least we will be there for HIS birthday. There is a lot we miss being so far away, but when we get together it is a special and quality time spent. We just got over a really hot spell here in Bahia. The temperatures were inching up to 100 but we still managed to stay cool. The other night we were invited across the bay, to have dinner with some friends. It was a hot night but to our surprise while we were over there we had a west wind that blew hot air into our house. We had left all the windows and doors open just to keep it cool. Ha! When we got home about 11:00pm the house was like a furnace and you could tell from the way the blinds were that there had been some wind and it was hot. Some friends, that don’t live far from us, said it blew around 52mph. Thank goodness the wind wasn’t blowing any more but even with all the windows and doors open and fans going the house didn’t cool. It was still in the 90’s the next morning. Yuck!!!!! There was a tease of a breeze during the day but at night nothing!!! So about 2 days the house stayed hot and the refrigerator was struggling to keep things cold. We run on propane which doesn’t help cool the kitchen down, plus it got so hot the night of the west wind that the seal on the door shrunk, therefore causing the refrigerator not to seal. The temperature stayed at 54 continuously. When the freezer started getting warmer we knew we were in trouble if it stayed hot. So what to do????? Dave read the weather report and it said it was going to start cooling down that evening. We could hardly wait. I would sit on the deck and read in the afternoon breeze but the wind was still hot. Pretty soon as it got to be late afternoon we could feel the breeze cooling and it felt marvelous!!!! We have an air conditioner by the bed but usually we don’t use it as we have to run a generator all night. We really haven’t needed it up until now. So Dave started the generator and ran the air conditioner for about an hour to help cool down the house. We had the fans going and so at the end it was much cooler and we knew we would sleep better. I was wiped that day. The heat really got to me and I didn’t feel good and I was tired plus had a headache. I was drinking lots of water and Gatorade but the heat was just taking everything out of me. When I was a teenager, I spent some time with my cousin Don, in Chula Vista, California and it was really hot. I remember going out in the back yard to see a skunk he had caught in a trap. They lived near a canyon and had trouble with the skunks. I guess I was out there for a little bit (in the morning) and started to sweat and feel light headed so I came inside to get some water and told them I didn’t feel so good and they had me go to the bathroom and put my head between my knees so I wouldn’t pass out. Then I had a bad headache for the rest of the day. Since then I haven’t been able to take much heat at one time. Plus I am much older now and my body doesn’t do heat anymore. So when it starts to get hot here in Bahia (95+) we head north to Washington where the family is. As long as there is a cool breeze at night, so I can sleep, it is fine but when that stops it is time to get out of town!!!! It has finally cooled down and our refrigerator is now working like it should. Thank goodness!! We did end up running the air conditioner by the bed for an hour. We had to run the generator for that. The breeze outside was cooling off and I spent my afternoons reading having the breeze keep me cool. We are planning to leave to go north on the 13th. Our neighbors, Lynn and Tom are leaving the same day but they will go along the coast and stay overnight in a hotel on the beach and then be at their come in San Diego the next day. We are planning on taking the highway 5 that goes to Mexicali. We went that way once in our jeep but it was way too hot as we had that black rag top and the air conditioner would have a hard time keeping us cool. With the truck it should be better. Tom and Lynn invited the neighborhood over for a potluck dinner so that was fun. It was a cool evening but beautiful. On the 12th, our neighbors’ right next door to us invited us and Tom and Lynn for dinner since we are leaving the next day. We had a great dinner and conversation and said our goodbyes until Fall. The morning of the 13th we got up at 6:30am and since we had the truck basically packed all we had to do is shut off the refrigerator and open the doors and put 2 big towels to catch the melting ice. We had already given a little bit of food we had to the neighbors and the gate guard. We are looking forward to seeing family and friends. We made the trip to San Diego from Bahia in one day and got to our friends house around 4:00pm. It was a good trip and it wasn’t really hot yet. Once we got to Phil and Creela’s house we got settled in their trailer and then had a great visit with them. We visited our friend who is suffering from cancer and her husband and had a nice lunch. Creela and Phil were there too. We got the truck serviced and then on Thursday we headed toward Oregon. It is the 16th and it is my niece’s birthday today. So happy birthday Sandi! We got past the grapevine and stayed just outside Coalinga in a Best Western. Then the next day we made it to Redding and called our friends we were going to stop and see in Brookings, Oregon, and it is a good thing we did because they weren’t home. They were at Arcata at an Oyster Fest. We decided to head toward the coast and stay in Lincoln City. We hadn’t stayed there before so it was something new. The Best Western wasn’t on the beach and it was cold and windy when we arrived so we really didn’t feel like going anywhere. We relaxed. I did 2.5 miles on the treadmill and that evening we walked across the street to a pub restaurant for dinner. Tomorrow we head for Oregon and before crossing into Washington, we will stop at the liquor store and buy some booze for our friends and a little for us. It is much cheaper there then buying it in Washington. Today was Father’s Day and Dave wanted a steak for dinner but unfortunately the Pub stopped serving steaks and now served pizza, sandwiches and ribs. So he had the ribs and enjoyed his dinner. We left the hotel around 8 or 9 as we will be in Bremerton in about 5 hours. We had some rain yesterday and again today but not too bad. The weather is muggy but comfortable temperatures. We arrived at the Brownsville Marina around 3 and went down to see Ron. The tide was out so the ramp was steep so decided to bring all the heavy stuff down later. It was good to see Ron and Noreen again. They are living on the boat right now and we will only stay with them for 3 days. They have a busy schedule and we do too so it works out just fine. The next day we went to storage to put a few things in there and then went to Silverdale and stopped at the Oxford Suites. Dave had already made reservations at a place in Bremerton called the Flag Ship, but they didn’t have kitchenettes so we thought we would ask at the Oxford. Sure enough they did. They showed us the room on the top floor with a view overlooking the tide flats and we decided it wasn’t worth the extra money. They did have kitchenettes on the lower level but couldn’t look at them as they had people living in them at the time. We wanted reservations from the 23rd to July 2nd. The kitchenette was available on the 23rd and 25th on but was booked for the 24th. So what we decided to do was get a regular room for 2 days and then move into the kitchenette on Saturday the 25th. That will work perfectly. Dave called the other hotel and cancelled our room. With the room we have with a kitchen, it will work out about the same amount of money if we went to the other hotel and ate lunch and dinner out every day. Yuck. I don’t mind eating out, but just don’t like doing that on a regular basis. So everything worked out. We went back to our friends’ boat and then we got a call from another friend who has a Hunter sailboat in the same marina and wanted to see us before they left on a trip to California. So we walked over to her boat and visited for a short time and we discussed staying on their boat after we got back from Marysville around the 7th of July. So we have a place to stay when we return from my Sons place in Marysville. So God is providing. For our last night with Ron and Noreen we took them out to dinner. We thanked them for their hospitality and letting us stay with them. That night we said goodbye to Noreen as she was going to be leaving very early in the morning for work. Next morning which is Thursday the 23rd, we packed out stuff up and loaded the truck and left to do some running around. We checked into the Oxford Suites in Silverdale, Washington and got our room right away. Then we were off to the mall to the AT&T store to get our tablet and phones set up. We had spent about 3 hours yesterday getting new phones and the tablets we got for $5 each which was a steal. Dave’s old phone he has had since working for NOAA was going to be shut down in November so he had to get another phone. Well I needed one too so we got the 2 smart phones and tablets. We are set. Then we went down to the marina where I dropped off Dave as he was helping Ron take the boat to Bremerton Marina for the weekend. Then I picked Dave up near the Bremerton Ferry. We went back to Oxford Suites and enjoyed our evening. We like this place, as we have stayed in these hotels in Eastern Washington and they treat you very good. You get 2 beverage tickets every night and 2 breakfast tickets every day. So we went to the lounge and had a glass of wine then went next door to a pizza place and had salad for dinner. Came back to the lounge of the hotel and used our last ticket and had another glass of wine then went upstairs to our room for the night. Next morning I got my blood drawn for my cholesterol check as I have a doctor appointment on Monday. When I got back to the hotel I had breakfast and then Dave dropped me off at my best girlfriend’s house and we visited for a while and she gave me some neat material for my fabric fish and turtles. Then Dave came back to get me and we went to storage and got a couple things then back to the hotel. I had leftover salad from dinner last night so Dave and I shared that for lunch today. Well I think I am going to do down and get on the treadmill and then wash clothes after my shower. Exciting stuff huh????? We checked out of our regular room and the office held our luggage until the kitchenette room was ready. After checking out we did some running around town to pass time. We came back in the afternoon and our room was ready. It is a nice room with a love seat, chair and ottoman, another chair, a desk with chair, king bed and a kitchen with a small dishwasher!!!!! Woohoo!!!!! Since we have been here I have relaxed in the Jacuzzi, walked on the tread mill and walked to stores just to snoop. It has been fun having a lot of the stores I like close by. The mall is down the street but I really don’t have any desire to cruise the mall. But there is Michael’s, Ross, Tuesday Morning, Dollar Tree, Joanne’s and more. There is also an antique store right behind the hotel that Dave and I went to. It used to be a bank so they have the big vault in there with the more expensive or priceless items in it. Just doing things and trying to get some walking and exercise in. Dave is busy with meetings and helping with the Kitsap Maritime Foundation which is non-profit. They help to educate the public about the tall ships and the history behind them. Our friend Jonathan and his wife Carolyn have started this here in Kitsap County and now have a full board of volunteers and a crew whom are refurbishing a tall ship, Fiddler's Dream, at Brownsville Marina where we use to live. So this is right up Dave’s alley and he loves being busy. I love having time to see my girlfriend; do crafts and go shopping!!!! I spent about 3 hours at my girlfriend, July’s house, the other day and she sewed on a quilt she is putting together and I cut out a couple fish patterns. We had a nice visit. We plan on taking a road trip in August to various quilt stores in the Monroe area which is north of Seattle. It will be fun as I took a day trip with her last year and had fun looking at all the different fabrics. The weather has been cloudy in the morning but sunshine in the afternoon and the temperature has been in the 70’s. It is very comfortable and surprising to me-----not cold. It is great walking weather. We like the free tickets we get for a couple beverages at night and a full breakfast in the morning. The lounge looks out onto the Silverdale bay inlet which most of the time the tide is out!!! No smell though!! I have finished stuffing my turtles and made one fish which I was very unhappy with. The sewing machine I brought with me is a small singer and it does everything my big machine does except layers and there isn’t a light to see for threading the needle. The needle hole is really small and without light I can’t thread it so I put on a headlamp and do better. But it wasn’t like sewing on my big machine. So I will just cut out patterns and maybe once in a while go over to Judy’s and sew with her. She is a seamstress and quilter and has a serger and 2 sewing machines. We had side rails put on the truck yesterday afternoon which makes it easier to get in and out of the truck now. Then we headed for Tacoma to see Jon and family. He gets home about 4:30pm so we stopped at Safeway and bought baked chicken and 2 salads and got to his house before he left to get the boys from day care. There wasn’t room for both Dave and I so I went with Jon to get them. Jonathan saw his dad first then dad told him to look behind him and there I was. He came over and gave me a big hug. It felt soooo good. Then we went to get Cameron in the nursery. He had been sleeping so they woke him up and he wasn’t a happy camper. He doesn’t know me so he cried when I took him so back to dad he went. He doesn’t like to be separated from dad or mom if they are close by. We went back to the house and Cameron wanted dad only so I took Cameron outside in the front yard and he was just fine and played and even talked to me a little. Well made sounds!!!! Ha!!! Jonathan came out and we played ball so Cameron saw I wasn’t so bad after all. Then we went inside and Cameron clung mostly to dad but came over to us a few times and gave us bingo cards. He was helping brother while we played picture bingo. It was fun and the kids had a great time. We did some rough housing on the couch with Jonathan until he started to get a little cranky. Then mom came home and we had a nice visit with her and Jon. Before it was all about the boys!!! It was sure good to see them and now Cameron will know who I am. We left their place and got home in time to have our free glasses of wine in the lounge then retire to our room. I can’t wait to find ‘our’ home here in Kitsap so we will have a permanent place to go to when we come up. Also to have the kids visit. We are still thinking of a boat but not making any rash decisions. We have plenty of time for something to pop out and say this is it!!! Ha!! It has been a great June. Now for a great July!!!!! See you next month.