Spending spree!

     I had a post-in-progress that I just hurriedly wrote a couple more sentences on and then published because this one needed to be written. We have been spending A LOT of money lately! After scrimping and saving and trying to buy as little as possible over the past few years, now it seems like we're going on this crazy spending spree.

Joe and Rachael rowing in Glacier
Bay in the old 10-foot Porte-Bote.

      Granted, it is all purchases for Kyrie and the final transition to our cruising lifestyle, but it still feels wrong. "We've been saving for years to go cruising and now we're spending all this money!" Yes, to go cruising.
      For example, toward the end of last year, we bit the bullet and bought a brand-new Porte-Bote to replace the old one that came with Kyrie. The foam on the seats was falling apart and the transom was torn up. All fixable and replaceable, but we got to thinking--our dinghy would be essentially our family car for the foreseeable future. Rather than fix the old one and then run the risk of it completely falling apart, or the motor conking out in the middle of nowhere, let's just get a new one while we have a regular income still coming in and know we're in good shape. We love our Porte-Bote. It's sturdy and stable and I love that it can be folded up and stored on deck when it won't be used for a long time. This one is a 12-footer, instead of our old 10-footer.

It's our Bumblebee motor!

      Then, of course, a brand new boat demanded a brand new motor. Joe looked for a long time for a used one, but no one in town was selling what he wanted, which was a 2-stroke, 6-horse, short shaft engine. So finally, Yamaha had a deal we couldn't pass up, so now we are the proud owners of a Yamaha 4-stroke, 6-horse short-shaft engine. A little heavier than we originally wanted, but it will push that new boat, with all five of us in it, without a single problem. We have done a little extra work on it, though, to hopefully make it a little less desirable to thieves. It was rather painful to take that brand new motor, scuff it up and then paint it, but I have to admit, it didn't turn out too badly. (Plus, the yellow looks a lot better than the original pink we thought of!) Joe ordered some stickers for the top and sides, and I promise I will post photos of the motor when it is fully kitted out in all its goofiness. I mean, if the goal is to make it stand out to make it less desirable for someone to steal it, let's have some fun and make it REALLY stand out!
       What else? Parts for the watermaker, a new phone and data plan, spare parts galore, a few more books for the kids for school, warm weather clothes... Gee, I hope everything fits on Kyrie when we move back aboard. Moving back on our boat can't come soon enough. I've said it before and I will say it again, multiple times--it has been nice living in a house this winter, and it's been super convenient to be right here while we're clearing out the garage and getting the house on the market. However, we're getting a little bit too comfortable with the space. I can see more things creeping into the kids' rooms and on to the shelves in the dining room. I fervently hope we have a buyer for the house in the next month so we can finish up here, purge again and get back on Kyrie where we belong, and get all those new parts and pieces put where they belong so we get our show on the watery road!

Disappearing stuff....

     The elephant is slowly disappearing! We've managed to open every single box we had packed away in the garage and the amount of stuff that has gone on to new homes is simply mind-boggling. I can't get over how much we have accumulated in the course of 18 years of marriage and three kids. Joe and I were pretty ruthless about paring down and have about 12 of those Rubbermaid tubs that are getting stored in Joe's parents' crawl space. Joe's toy car--his 1968 Datsun Roadster--will be going into storage on the second floor of his dad's shop. I promise to take pictures when that happens because it will be quite the production to get it up there! My parents will be taking care of all our quilts that aren't coming along, and Joe's dad is also taking a bunch of Joe's tools, which Joe is happy about--he should be able to get them back someday.
      We've sold a lot of the rest of our stuff--it really feels good to be able to just call it "stuff"--between Craigslist, Facebook, and good old garage sales. In addition, the house officially went on the market on Friday two weeks ago. It looks so weird to see that sign! Good, but still weird. It makes all this even more real, as if it wasn't already!
      Also, Joe's final day of work has been determined. We've been operating and planning on the assumption that Joe's contract would be extended and he would work until the end of June. However, the whole government shutdown left contract negotiations high and dry and his contract wasn't able to be extended. Therefore, he is done with his job May 31, a whole month earlier than we had been planning! It's okay because now we have extra time to see some places here in Southeast before we take off for what could be a very long time.
        Plans continue to take shape. More soon...