Preppers

49 Comments

Crunch time. No matter how long you take to get ready to go cruising, the last week will be insane.

Our Bum friend finished up our names just in time. I don’t know why we waited so long to get those ordered up—it’s not as if we were debating on the name.

Christmas parade in St. Augustine. This one was over two hours long and ended with the kids having more candy than on Halloween.

His spelling is really coming along.

Lowe built a washing machine to help out with the chores.

Sunset view from the restaurant on the other side of the river.

Impromptu banjo pickin’ lesson from Bum friends who dropped by.

Kid’s bathroom is done. A little sanding, fresh coat of paint, some varnishing in the shower, and we’re good to go.

A friend gave us this. I was gone at the time of creation, and by the time I got home all that was left was a gingerbread man, with no candy and only a tiny smear of frosting on it.

A gift from Aunt Katy. The fairies were quite impressed with their new home.

Intense concentration.

Everybody loves a beach. Even three burly guys can’t resist selfies in the sand.

Lowe has turned into our kid who is best at quiet imagination play. With a car, and this mat, he’ll spend hours—all we’ll hear are cars screeching and people talking.

Boy being a boy. There were two boat hooks on the boat. We’re down to one. There are old abandoned crab traps everywhere, but they are heavy, so Lowe would extend the boat hook all the way out and use it as a lever against the edge of the dock. That’s what did this one in.

I’ve been experimenting with different ways to save money on gas.

I really should have known better. Maybe I did, actually, and just didn’t want to face it. We put the dinghy in the water three months ago, and have used it almost daily, but that didn’t stop the growth. Scraping this clean was an all day job.

Loading  the dinghy back onto the boat for the first time was a family affair.

Two days until departure. I honestly don’t know how anyone ever goes anywhere if they don’t just set a firm date and force themselves to stick to it. The last week was non-stop work around here. Ali handled all the shopping and kid wrangling, while I worked on finishing up the watermaker, installing boat name plates, and getting a depth finder to work.

Ouest made shell necklaces for the fairies we were leaving behind.

Somehow Ali has found room for everything. Our bed would look like this during the day, and by night it would all have magically disappeared. Coinciding our departure to fall at the same time as Christmas and a bunch of birthdays didn’t make things any easier.

My engine compartment didn’t look nearly as neat and tidy as I would have liked either. It was a mess until around midnight on the day of our departure.

And…we’re off!

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49 Comments on “Preppers”

    1. Reply

      Thanks, Missy! Hope you had a fabulous holiday season. Miss you guys (and all the T-R-O-U-B-L-E). Ice fishing soon?! Happy 2018!

    1. Reply

      Thanks, Franci! She is becoming top of our list of favorite homes we’ve had. Have a great 2018 and hope to see you and the family at some point.

  10. Reply

    Merry Christmas!
    Hard to imagine Christmas with palm trees and being in shorts, we just got snow this morning in New England!
    Great job on the installation of the transom boards. Thanks for letting me be a part of your adventure!
    Safe travels and learning as you explore. The boating community is a wonderful world.
    Steve & Phyllis

    1. Reply

      Steve, seriously, thank you! They look SOOOOO good. Thank you for getting in touch, they are awesome. Have a great 2018 and I’m sure we will be in touch again.

  18. Reply

    goodonyas, ….keeping things tidy in small spaces is a Herculean effort….your mate is magic!
    always look forward to the visual and accompanying commentary.
    blessings to you and yours,
    scott

  19. Reply

    Enjoy the voyage. We’ve put bottom paint on our RIB for a decade. Never more than a pressure wash once a year.

    1. Reply

      I would think it would rub off on us and the boat where we store it up on deck when not in use. I think Pat will just have to clean it more often than he would like and as we have no plans to spend months in a marina again for awhile – it shouldn’t get as bad. Hopefully.

  20. Reply

    Here I am, a 63 year old woman asking about fairies…good grief. But boat life is like a fantasy for me anyway, so why not? I would love to know why the fairies got left behind…why couldn’t they stay on the boat?

    1. Reply

      The “fairies” had told Ouest that once she is out at sea that the mermaids visit as it is too far for the fairies to fly. Now you can rest easy knowing that the fairies will come back to visit again. 🙂

      1. Reply

        Thanks, Ali. I was seriously concerned for some unknown reason. But that makes perfect sense. I am satisfied now, and will look forward to their return. 😉

  21. Reply

    It was such a pleasant surprise meeting you guys in St. Augustine. It was definitely the highlight of our Florida trip. Thanks so much for sharing your adventures online, they always bring a smile and inspiration.

    1. Reply

      It was a pleasure for us as well. Those random, “we never say hi to strangers but just had to” moments. We are so glad you did. And we got your gifts – yum! Happy 2018 Glenn and Mylinda!

  22. Reply

    Hi All
    Just wanted to know how long have you had the hermit crab now.
    What do you feed him / her on and where do you keep him / her.
    Safe travels and keep up the blogs
    Cheers from sunny Queensland
    Regards
    Bruce

    1. Reply

      Hi Bruce, Crabby has been with us over a year now! Crazy as they get motion sickness and need very specific temperature/humidity and we drove all over Mexico and the U.S. with him and now he is on a boat. They can eat what ever we eat and he has a small cage but we take him out for exercise often. Do not get one, seriously they don’t make good pets. Not cuddly. Happy 2018, Bruce! https://www.bumfuzzle.com/ocean-city/

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