Preparing for the Adventure

September 24, 2012....Well, I thought the outfitting would be finished in Kemah....boy was I wrong.  I think this boat thing is an ongoing "outfitting".  We did make the move to Freeport.  It was a 19 hour sail from Galveston, going against a current and a headwind.  In retrospect we should have motored, but live and learn.  Our good friends - Eileen and Les Pettigrew and John Trevathan made the trip with us.  Thinking that it would only take 9 hours tops, we sailed into the night and into the next morning.  Some problems with the navigation screen and the lack of wind direction indicator, but that was all of the problems with the boat.  She sailed beautifully.  Nighttime sailing hopefully will be less stressful with more experience, but the dark did make me a little nervous.  The stars were beautiful and the albatross that followed the slip stream of our main sail was an awesome sight for a good 20 minutes.  The mast light lite up the underbelly of the bird and it was just a little surreal.  Made for a good memory.

We are now moored at the Freeport Municipal Marina.  It is a secured marina behind a guillotine gate, which, in case of a hurricane would provide some protection from the storm surge.  We, again, are meeting some nice people, but the town lacks the expertise of workmanship that is needed to fix up a boat.  As we do more research into cruising, we are finding more and more things that we need to do.  And, the leaving date of March is looming, in the very near distance. But, we will not hurry the necessities that must come.  So, we continue to buy....you know what B O A T means? Break out another thousand.  So hurry out and get you a boat too, and live for an adventure!

Dog Days of Summer...July 31, 2012

My, my...how time flies!  Our dream has come to fruition, Island Sol is ours!  We did open a bottle of Moet Chandon and had a wonderful meal aboard our new "baby".  We can hardly contain ourselves....  Boooat!  June and July have been filled with almost every weekend aboard making changes and outfitting her for living aboard.  We are in Watergate Marina on Clear Lake and it is NOT where we want to be.  The marina life is grand and we have met some lovely people.  Hopefully we will visit Tom and Sharon (Cantamar V) in the Caribbean next Spring.  When outfitting is complete we will be moving to Freeport, TX to the Municipal Marina (behind the guillotine gate).  That trip will require a blog unto itself.

June 10th, Henry (my father-in-law), passed on to a better place.  What a man...he was 92 and had lived a very busy life. What do you say about the father of your husband?  There were times I wanted to "bean" him and then times I wanted to hug him.  He was not a physically emotional person, so there were not too many hugs in the 39 years that I knew him, but I know he loved us all.  I am hoping he is fishing for some awesome trout with his buddy, Milton, and that Kathleen will be frying up that trout later on.  I love you Henry!

Thanks to the Lord for all the blessing that have been bestowed on Charlie and I.  The adventure will begin soon.  More to come....

Memorial Day 2012

A blessed Memorial Day to all in the USA.  I am thinking of you, Bob Neal!
The adventure, or rather, the ability to have an adventure is about to come to fruition.  Our loan is complete, except for the $$$..."show me the money"!  After closing we have a 3 day waiting period, just in case we want to change our minds. No way!  So being the holiday and all, tomorrow is the day the $$$ should be wired and then transferred several times and then the Island Sol will be ours....glory hallelujah!

Charlie, you are my hero.  Your tenacity and perseverance has made that long ago dream come true.  You are the one! Hopefully the next blog will be on the boat with "White Star" in a fluted glass and big grins on our faces.  Until then....

On a second note...I have retired!  Not too sure about this retirement thing.  I have already found myself obsessively talking about language acquisition, behavior management and all things school to anyone who stands there long enough to listen OR when I actually hear myself and stop! Leaving my classroom for the last time I stood at the door and gazed across the room, saying "I was a good teacher".  Then the tears fell, just for a few seconds, and then out the door I went.  Teaching has been a curse and a dream for me.  Started out as, "well what else is there to do...oh, I'll just be a teacher".  After all they do get holidays, summers off and not much pay.  I truly didn't know shit about teaching in the real world after finishing college.  It was all learned on the job and in the trenches.  Back then, in the fall of 1972, in Houston, TX I got a job on the southeast part of town and began 3 days into the semester...that is a whole other story....and began a 3rd grade position with 36 black children.  The first words out of my mouth, was, "hi, my name is Saundra".  Oh so much too learn.  I was taken under the wing of a wonderful woman/teacher by the name of, Mrs. Vivian Bowser.  Her first lesson was, "tell them your name is Miss Schreider, honey". With many things in the middle, I ended with a endorsement in Early Childhood Handicapped and then finished as a behavior specialist working in a private residential placement center for emotionally disturbed students. It was a wild ride and looking back at it now, just 4 days into my retirement I loved it all and it has become part of who I am.

So, back to that top paragraph...a new adventure begins...ain't life grand!

Easter Sunday

Woke up to a beautiful day and the first sighting of a hummingbird.  It is one of those mornigs when I am glad to be alive and enjoying the beauty that God has bestowed on us all.  Everything is so green...and if I can continue to just live for today, I will enjoy being with my husband, my cats, my dogs, my plants, and on and on.
Reality does come in to play as I have clothes to fold and a truck to wash...uck...

We are still juggling many balls to make that adventure come true.  I have difficulty letting go and asking the Holy Spirit to give me this adventure, but I ask reverently for it to come to fruition.  We have signed a contract and put $ down toward the Island Sol....just waiting on the all important LOAN to go through....then we are home free...literally.  So, happy Easter....whatever that means to you and yours....missing my children in Wyoming and Austin and our parents in Georgetown and Corpus.

Boat Show

  Yesterday, Saturday, Charlie and I traveled south to Kemah to the "In the Water Boat Show".  It was a beautiful day, 84 degrees and humid....love that Texas weather.  We went with specific things in mind, but came away with a wealth of information for the future as well as for our 30' Atra.  She is needing some sprucing up before she is FOR SALE!  Our main purpose was to look for davits...this is the structure that raises and lowers a dingy in and out of the water.  It is positioned at the stern of the boat (for all my non-sailing friends).  We met a WOW!  She, Terrie Olver, is the owner and know it all of Kato Marine.  Her expertise in explaing her product was spot on.  As a teacher you recognize the ability of someone getting the point across or not.  She was this petite powerhouse and I liked her right off the bat.  Charlie talked to her for close to an hour.  We will buy our davits from her.

Island Sol

Found some other great buys, one which I will share with my WOW's....coming soon to a "farm near you" !  Our day ended with a drive to the other side of the lake for another look at Island Sol.  "Boat lust" is a sickness and Charlie and I are sick to death!  If the Lord willing.....the adventure will continue.

Lake Superior

Spring Break is over and a quick fly by night "adventure" to Bayfield, WI.  Iced over lake?  No-way...for this Texas girl this was a first.  Our trip started in Minneapolis...m i n a S O T A!  A wonderful drive to Wisconsin with awesome barns...the barns in Texas are so blahhh after seeing these awesome ones.  Snow, even though it was melting, due to their unseasonable weather, we loved it.  Our final destination, Bayfield, WI. on a peninsula in Lake Superior.  We could see how beautiful this place would be during their "season" - which is May to October.  The ice was melting on the lake, but still large sheets floated around.  We stayed at the Seagull Bay Motel....$40/night...couldn't believe how cheap and how nice...thank you Mike for a lovely stay.

Our "adventure" was to see a 40' Island Packet for sale.  We are on a quest for the live aboard boat, which will make the real "adventure" begin.  Nice boat and nice owner, Allan and Claudia.  Everyone we met at the Pike's Bay Marina was super helpful and nice. Thanks Aaron and Andy for all you expert advice on the Tullikum III.

Things We Want to Remember:  

•  whitefish livers
• Northern Lights Beer (lavender finish)
• barns
• ice on the water
• artesian well water (right on the side of the road for you to bottle up)
• birch trees
• pussy willows (for real)
• architecture 
• shrink wrapped boats

• 

  Artesian Water Well 

  

  Ice on Lake Superior

  
  

  

  Dinner and Northern Lights Beer