We are good people. We are not hoarders. I like to think of us as a fairly normal, conscientious American family of four, plus a granny. We have scaled back on Christmas every year for at least five years. We generally take a pass on the commercialization of birthdays, anniversaries and other gift-giving holidays. Yet, despite this, the amount of stuff we have accumulated is an embarrassment of riches. We have already had two successful garage sales this year, and yet, as we work through the house combing out items that have no place in our upcoming journey, the garage has stayed almost continually full. One final sale – everything must go! Although we are keeping our home, which is shared with grandma, we need to remove our personal things to leave the house ready to rent if necessary.
In the end it took at least a week longer than anticipated to get everything out of the house, and either stored in the garage or ready to move aboard. Finally, while still working frantically on boat projects, we managed to load everything aboard Batu on October 6. There was absolutely no organization whatsoever. Every nook and cranny of the boat was used. It wasn’t pretty, but we were aboard, our muscles still aching from the effort and our heads spinning from the process of continual decision-making. After a quick fuel-polish and oil change, we tossed off the dock lines the next morning, our family of four off on a grand adventure!
In retrospect, we stepped away that day from the stability and certainty that comes with life ashore, traded-in for the fluid ebb and flow that comes of a life lived on the tides, currents and breezes.