This adventure is over for us, Aletheia is ready for a new adventure with new owners

Goodbye from Aletheia!

The open secret of late is that we are done cruising. For now. Everything is "for now," because never say never, right? I sure don't know what the future holds. That's what makes it so fun!

Jenn has a great job opportunity in Denver, near friends and family and all the activities Colorado has to offer. She started the drive back yesterday morning! With her is our friend Marissa, who we met in Marathon and encouraged us to come to St. Pete. We are so blessed to have friends willing to drop everything just to take a road trip with a new friend! Marissa will fly from Denver next Wednesday, back here to Tampa Bay, where her husband Chris and I will be playing while the cats are away.

What you don't get with the boat

I would love to sell Aletheia to someone who has followed our journey, who is willing to take themselves to a simpler time when the wind and the current are all that matter. Check out the Craigslist ad for all the details. I'll give you a deal if you say you saw it on my blog!

Ho hum

Life continues apace here on the boat. Since Jenn's on vacation (who leaves south Florida in the winter to go to Colorado? Intentionally?) there isn't much going on for me and the dog. I'll tell you a bit about what our days here have been like.

We are now in Sunrise Bay, Ft. Lauderdale.

It finally cooled down a bit! Being able to bundle up in blankets at night is so nice. And by bundle up, I mean use them at all.

Wakes from the water taxi and passing mega-yachts on the ICW get us rolling sometimes. Mostly at mealtimes. Walking up our steep stairs with your hands full is an invitation for spilling disaster. We live dangerously around here. Wyatt reaps the benefits.

The ICW, in a rare moment of calm.

We have to wait for the tide to be right to go to or from the boat, which is kinda inconvenient. Our current anchorage is on the other side of a bottleneck from where we land the dinghy. The tidal current goes fast enough through there that I can't row against it, so we need to wait until the current is going with us. Every 6.5 hours (roughly) it changes direction. When the tide is going out in the morning and in during the afternoon, all is well. But right now we are getting to a time where it is coming in during the morning, and out in the afternoon. So if I want to leave the boat today, I do it at 7 am, or between 1 and 7 pm. It also means I can't get back to the boat until after 7 tonight. In a couple days the tide will flow in a more convenient time for me. But not being able to go back and forth as many times as I'd like whenever I want is a little inconvenient. Almost enough to make me want to move the boat somewhere else where I can do whatever I want. Maybe next week I'll get to that.

Not what my cockpit looks like. But it is me driving a 127 foot motorboat. Work work work.

Grocery shopping is an all-day affair. Have breakfast, read, clean, pat the dog, time the tides, row 10-15 minutes to land, walk 30 minutes to the beach, play volleyball for 3 hours, get some ice cream, walk 30 minutes back to the dinghy, walk another 15 minutes the other direction, shop, carry bags 20 minutes back to the dinghy, hope your food doesn't spoil in the 80 degree heat (in the shade. We're pouring sweat in the sun), visit our friend's community pool for a bit, row 20 minutes back to the boat (dinghy is heavier now, and I'm tired), try not to work up a sweat again, and perhaps have a celebratory cold beer upon arrival for having had such a rough day.

Shopping is hard

P-Town

We got this gift upon arriving into Cape Cod Bay including a 5kt wind to push us into our dark anchorage.

Sunset on it's way to Colorado!

How did we get so lucky to have such great connections?! We stayed in a lovely seaside condo last night; I made a sausage-Italian parsley pasta dinner not long before crawling into bed for a superb night's sleep. Peter and I went on a 5 mile run (yahoo!) this morning around the quaint town as the streets were beginning to stir.

P-town is a charming little town that can mesmerize tourists into buying a summer cottage. Art galleries, hat, soap and homemade ice cream shops line the main strip. The town reminds me of a book I'm reading, Cocaine Nights (J.G Ballard), a murder mystery novel set in Gibraltar where the streets transform when the sun goes down in a dystopian-like community. Where art and tourism has taken over the fishing industry. Where people's wild side shines under bar lights. Locals awake in the morning from their drug-induced comas to work out. Where people live behind sunglasses and sunscreen. And where people retire to hide their true identity. P-town is as close to my imagination as this book gets!

Here are a few pics from Provincetown, MA:

Gloucester to Provincetown crew!

"The Cape" (similar to a superhero's cape) - this windvane is a well-oiled machine!

End to a great sailing day!

View from the condo into Cape Cod Bay

Lunch with the boys!

Love to all,

Nate & Jenn

Driving. Man the US is big

Departing Denver

By golly, we are en route!

We shipped a few boxes of luxuries that we won't need immediately. Other than that everything 2 people own, as well as ourselves and a 70 pound golden retriever, are in a 2004 Honda civic. We estimate the living space in our 36' boat to be about 200 ft2. There will definitely be things we buy once we get there, once we see what we're dealing with.

We left Denver about 2:30 Sunday afternoon, and headed east on Rte. 36. Remarkably, 36 goes in a straight line from Denver to Indianapolis, where my aunt and uncle live. It took about an hour more than driving the interstate. This route, however, was really pleasant, and interesting! It didn't feel like a chore, or boring, so even though it took longer to get there, it actually felt pretty short because we were entertained by looking out the window.

The first night we stayed at Prairie Dog St. Park in Kansas, after not going 1/2 way to Indianapolis. We started late, we were tired from the stress of packing and leaving, and it was getting dark. We pitched our tent at sunset and were just breaking out some mini champagne bottles as a departure gift when the fireflies came out to join us! We each grew up in firefly country but haven't seen them in many years, since Colorado is so high and dry.

Almost firefly time!

Monday we drove across the rest of Kansas (holy moly that state is big!), crossed Missouri without incident, went over the Mississippi river into Illinois at the town of Hannibal, MO, almost missed the exit leaving Springfield, IL, had a surprisingly good dinner at a Mexican place in a strip mall in Decatur, IL, and made it to Indianapolis at 11:30 after getting into eastern time.

My aunt and uncle (Lynn and Jim) are as generous and welcoming and hospitable as ever, and was very interested in our plans and the boat. Tuesday morning Jim helped us clean up the car battery and educate us on how batteries work. Apparently some of our acid had capillaried (yup, I said it) up the posts and out onto the case, and was conducting some electricity. Not a big deal in the short term, but it would run the battery down if left alone for a couple weeks. Which is exactly what we found when we got back from Alaska. Having it diagnosed and understood was really nice. So we cleaned it all up, refilled the water, reinstalled, and were on our merry way.

Mid afternoon Tuesday we left Indianapolis for Cleveland, to visit Jenn's brother Steve. We drove through a couple of rain storms, and made it safely and happily to Cleveland.

Yep

As Jake predicted, we didn't leave today. Sigh.... The best laid plans yadda yadda. You all knew it, Jake just said it to my face. :)

We just got the title to our Subaru in the mail this afternoon, and my motorcycle sold this morning. I have some interest in my mt bike, I really just need to accept that it is worth less than I think it is. Nobody else has all the memories of riding with Rupp, Carew, and Jake like I do. You guys make Colorado home for me.

Biking with my dad near Durango when my bike was new. I wheezed the whole way up the hill, and he kicked my ass.

Also, I support Oxford commas. And I support Weird Al's new videos. Especially the Word Crimes one. I'm a grammar nazi, and I'm not even in the closet about it. (I'm not alone. My brother had to remind me - with appropriate heckling - that I meant "commas" above, not "comma's." Argh!)

So the boxes are packed to be shipped to my dad's house in Vermont, the car is half packed with tools for working on the boat, and my clothes are in the Black Hole (I love Patagucci, that old thing is still kicking! My dad gave me that bag after he'd used it, so I got it used in 2003 for our motorcycle trip) ready to go in the back seat with the varmint.

Jenn has been consulting with the Book Face (Women Who Sail seems like an awesome group!) about what she should bring, and I'm happy to hear that they tell her to take less than she started with. I'm really glad we sold our condo last fall, and started downsizing then. We have so much crap! Having to fit everything into a Honda Civic is a good start to living small.

So, we originally intended to leave last Wednesday, then Saturday, and now I'm really hopeful we can get out of here Sunday morning. Maybe.

Packing...

We are closing up our land life, and getting ready for a water life. I just made deals to sell our fancy Subaru, need to sell my motorcycle still, and my fancy mountain bike.

Fancy mountain bike

Jenn can't let go of her mountain bike, so it is waiting for us to return and/or visit back in Colorado. My road bike is sold, her road bike is given to her sister.  Our road bikes weren't valuable like the mountain bikes, just cheap bikes for getting around town and occasional real rides.

My bag of hockey pads is under there too

This is the pile of my clothes that are going to Goodwill. I guess most of it is going back to Goodwill, since that's where I buy most of my clothes anyway. I can always buy more at another Goodwill or Salvation Army when I need something new. It feels good to purge the wardrobe, make space for something new. And, of course, not spending lots of money on clothes makes me really happy. And that's how this whole thing works, of course. We needed to not spend money for some time to be able to afford this, and we need to continue not spending money to be able to sustain it. What a great feeling it is to not spend money. I love the self sufficiency.

Double Hugs

As our lives become simpler in quantity, our hearts feel weighted as we prepare for our departure and spend time with family and friends while finding extra hours in the day to transition our lives for 200 sq. ft of living space. We've been having a wonderful, quite busy, and bittersweet time after arriving home from Alaska. For the last two weeks we have been indulging in food, drinks, tears of joy (and sadness), extra long hugs and laughter with humbling friends and family.

Upon our return Mom hosted an amazing and "Sail Away" Party. Sailboat balloons, festive decor, tuna and roasted red peppers in the shape of a livesaver, a watermelon fruit boat complimented with a red mainsail, clam chowder, salmon patties, "quicksand" hummus, fish sticks (yum!) and chocolate pretzel rods finished off with a fishing line & bobber, no details were spared! With the help of Lyndsi and Aunt Bev, our party was beyond our expectations and to say thank you would never be enough. Friends and family made it so very special to celebrate - we took it all in as we surveyed the love and support that surrounds us - we are so very lucky! This experience has already turned me into somewhere of a practical cruiser as I cried opening a 60-pack of rags (multiple beers were consumed in the making of this emotion, but nonetheless, rags - what a thoughtful gift!) 

Where does she find these things?!

For the record we have the most generous friends that truly make us feel loved and assure us there is always a spot at their dinner table when we return. A dinner party for 8 and a birthday celebration was a must! Our traditional Thursday night trivia turned into a reunion of sorts where friends stopped by to bid us so long. A short-lived adult sleepover tradition with Cory and Jess was a necessity. Our theme this month: Captain Ron and Mojitos!

Jazz in the Park, last minute happy hours and family dinners with mom will polish off our last week here in our landlocked state before heading East to our boat. While all these faces I will miss, we each have our own adventure to live and in return, we get to share new stories, live with greater compassion, find new opportunities, and become moore better people in the making! 

For today,
J&N

July 4th Celebration

Life is Grand, Love is Real, Beauty is Everywhere! ~Roger Clyne

We just polished off a wonderful 4th of July weekend celebration in Seldovia, AK with our entire Alaskan family. There are so many cool things in Seldovia, least of all the seclusion-no roads connect Seldovia to other towns, so we took a ferry ride over for our visit. This place is the quintessential summer destination to celebrate a long-lost art: Community. OK, so not everyone I came across this weekend actually lives in Seldovia. There were tourists, us among them, but locals, renters and second home owners happily filled the streets on a perfectly sunny July 4th morning.  

Thursday coming in the Seldovia Bay

We began our July 4th celebration with the Seldovia Salmon Shuffle 5K that wound its way through small town roads, out to the airport, and up multiple hills that surprised me! The whole family participated in the race. Nearly 150 runners, the largest shuffle to date, came out to run and support the local arts program. I came in 4th place at 24:01, almost beating my cousin...next time!

An annual chainsaw competition leaves artwork on display

The evening Seldovia Slough

The 4th of July celebration was super cool and the entire community was involved in some way. A wonderful parade kicked off the day through "Main St", costume contests and local vendors sold wares and homemade foods. As the sun continued to shine, a traditional egg toss and salmon toss brought the entire community together for endless entertainment! Nate and I participated in the Salmon toss, but didn't make it far into the competition. I was rather disappointed I wasn't able to throw a fish at my husband more than a handful of times...slippery little suckers!

Kids winning carnival prizes, parents enjoying some adult conversations, beer and ice cream warming too quickly by the sun, the day continued with a canoe jousting competition. It is what you think, standing up and jousting from a canoe. Nate participated, but ended up cooling off in the salty bay!   

Silver canoe - Nate at the helm!

Nate & partner in the bay!

We enjoyed some low key sea kayaking the day we arrived and a group of sea otters welcomed us to Seldovia, included a mama and her pup! Mother Nature and Uncle Ted gave us the wonderful opportunity to experience sailing their 20 ft. Flicka sailboat both Saturday & Sunday out and around the bay. On Saturday, the winds were strong, dipping our starboard rail into the water, we clocked b/w 5.5-6.5 knots. Sunday we were becalmed and had to start the engine to get us back into the harbor. I ended up steering us back into the marina before Uncle Ted took the helm to the boat slip. Thanks Uncle Ted for letting me drive through the narrow channel!

A boardwalk once lined the Seldovia waterfront, but after the 1964 earthquake, the contours of Seldovia changed. Higher tides became common, and houses and businesses needed to be rebuilt due to flooding. The small town feel still remains and we hope to revisit Seldovia in the future!

Spending a couple days in Homer with cousins and looking forward to biking, the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitors Center and visiting local spots before thumbing it back to Anchorage on Wednesday!

For now,
J&N

p.s. Don't worry mom, we're not hitch-hiking back to Anchorage, just wanted to see if you were paying attention!

A to the K: Gyre Exhibit

Despite the rain, we don't really think about NOT going out to explore, but we do carry a dry pair of socks with us. Although I do miss the sun a bit, the landscape is still beautiful under the clouds. It's like being inside a snow globe at times.

We walked down the trail this morning and enjoyed a leisure breakfast at Elfinwood. On this rainy day, looking for something to do, we visited the Anchorage Museum and the Gyre Exhibit that will be on display for the next 2 months or so. The exhibit displays trash, in art form, found on beaches, awash from rotating ocean currents, stunning the visitors, myself included!  

This was a very powerful, sad and critical exhibit of how, as consumers, we're burying ourselves in trash, specifically plastics, and unconsciously destroying our existence. The things we consume and throw away have an incredible impact on our planet and its inhabitants. It's scary the things that man has created are also killing us! 

I shamefully admit, I recently purchased a Vitamin Water bottle. Then I lost sleep over what would happen to it after I threw it away or even recycled it. Where would it fall and remain? Three days later, I'm still using it and afraid to get rid of it. It's not that I cannot or should not use resources available to me, but I do know that using consumables wisely will reduce the impact on the environment and help my conscience feel more pure.

There is a documentary coming to the big screen that shares one species' story of The Pacific Gyre and how what people throw away is affecting the lives of Albatross birds - if this doesn't scare you, I don't know what will.

View the trailer: Midway - A Message from the Gyre 

A to the K: Day 3

Awaking to a second day of clouds and rain, we borrowed the family car and headed into downtown Anchorage for brunch at Gweenies.

The Sun (to scale)

Downtown

We've also decided to make breweries part of our experience, so we located our first, King Street Brewery, for a local pint and filled a growler to take home for happy hour. The one server we met was really friendly, the beers were tasty (and inexpensive). We certainly recommend King Street Brewery for a pint and who can resist free popcorn!

We did our first Orienteering race at Ruth Arcand Park in Anchorage. It was a really fun (and very wet) experience for the both of us. We located 16 "controls" on a map and even came in first place in our category! Our names were in the local paper the following morning. Once home we warmed up our innards with lemon ginger hot totties before dinner - so perfect!

For now,
J&N

Perspective

Had a great visit with Jenn’s great-uncle, and his 2 sons in their 50’s. Got to talk about our plans for the future and, most interestingly, the rationale. It was a wonderful experience to be understood by a WWII vet. It gives me great confidence that this is a good thing we’re doing. We discussed how the country is not heading in a good direction (which every old person says). We talked about how life now is too fast, how there isn’t enough personal responsibility for ones actions. How pocket screens and 60” screens have overpowered parenting. How parents spend so much money on screens and big houses and big cars and toys that they don’t have the time to combat those screens. How there used to be a community that we lived in, now it’s just a group of houses very close to each other, with the residents so exhausted from the rat race that everyone hides inside.

I heard stories of how he had just arrived in the south pacific when the second atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. How the World Trade Center attack felt very much like the Pearl Harbor attack. How rare it was that his father had a car in 1929, and that was because he used it for sales from his bedding store. How he started walking to school at age 7, hand in hand with his parents.

It reminded me of my first time in the Caribbean on a sailboat, talking with the older cruisers. Every person, 100%, said they wished they had gotten out of the rat race earlier. There was audible envy that I was living care-free at age 26. It took several years for that to sink in, back in the rat race. Then several more years to wait out the great recession. Then I found Mr. Money Mustache, who was living purposefully, the way I had accidentally fallen into it. His blog clarified a great deal for me, and pointed out details, such as FIREcalc, that convinced me now was the time to live my life. Then I started convincing Jenn. Undoubtedly the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Nearly gave up on several occasions.

The plan is to move to the coast this summer, perhaps Aug 1! Save up a few more shekels before then, take a few trips (Canada! Alaska!) to spend time with family. I might even be able to tolerate this job that long.

Maybe by then I’ll start writing something that’s fun and happy, not this stuck up crap any more.

We actually saw water! Salty water!

We took a trip to Washington DC to visit my grandparents. It was great to spend some time with them. While there we took a day to look at boats in Annapolis. We scheduled to see 5, and ended up on board 8. The one I was most excited about before the trip ended up being only in the middle of the pack of favorites by the end of the day. Of that trip, a Cal 35 was our favorite.

We also got to talk with my mom's cousin, who has been sailing for many decades. He approved of the Cal as a tolerable boat. He also suggested that several of the boats we looked at would not be good, safe, sturdy boats capable of withstanding some nasty weather. He didn't know much about the Allmand, therefore didn't have an opinion. That particular boat didn't inspire me, so it is probably out of the running.

I still want to sail away for $1,000/LOD. I think that is easily achievable in a sturdy boat roughly 35 feet long, without too many luxuries. We shall see what more internet research turns up.

Steps have been taken!

We sold our house! Now we’re moving in with my mother-in-law for an undetermined length of time. She’s wonderful, unlike the stereotypical mother in law. Jenn will have a harder time of it than I, but it won’t be hard for either of us. We lived with her before, actually right after we finished our last sailing trip. It was great.

I’m expecting this stay with Sheree to be for the winter. Perhaps, if I’m really lucky, I’ll get a sailboat for my birthday…

Now that the house is sold I will take a week or three to calm down a little, and really start thinking about the future. Planning, even!

Boredom and Excitement

I found a neat boat! Since I live in Denver right now, looking at a boat requires a flight, which adds an epic amount of pain-in-the-ass to the process. Obviously I’d like to think this is the one, but I’m not quite that naïve (probably pretty close though!). If I’m going to fly somewhere to look at boats, I’ll set up several boats to investigate. I need all the help and experience I can get. Hopefully I always say that.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!

During the weekdays, I sit in a cubicle. I am a sustainability manager for buildings, which is awesome and I love the skills and the effects, but my new job doesn’t involve much of that work. I feel a little bit deceived, and I’m not very dedicated to the job at the moment. I also think I didn’t set my salary high enough when starting the job, which is completely my fault. I’m just not sure how to fix it after the fact. Also, the guy who hired me quit 3 weeks after I started. Really. He put in his 2 week notice 5 days after my start date. So I’ve floundered for a bit. Especially so because I’m not using any of my skills. I think I could have done this job right out of high school.

So I have a job I’m not well suited for, that I feel underpaid for, and just found a boat in my price range that, while not everything I want, is pretty close. I’m having a hard time concentrating on my job, you might imagine.