200th post recap
This is the 200th post we have made on this blog since beginning it nearly one year ago. Who would have thought there would be so much to write about, given that we have yet to actually venture our cruising? What have we accomplished since the conception of our wine-induced idea to sell all and run (sail) away?
Well to begin, we put pen to paper and actually mapped out a draft plan. I would hazard a guess that this one step alone places us farther ahead than the majority of dreamers out there. Plans have direction. If you are reading this and hope to someday follow a similar path, sit down with a paper, pencil and wine (of course) and lay out how you see it all unfolding.
One of the steps we wrote down was that we should learn to sail before we set out. A good idea, most would agree. We booked a course, took it, passed and solidified in our minds that this sailing gig wasn’t all that bad!
We started to sell all of our stuff. Believe it or not we are still doing this but the bulk of our things were sold months ago.
Our house was sold. This was, of course, a biggy. We had just gotten our house tricked-out the way we wanted it but selling it was necessary to acquire the funds for a boat, so off it went, fortunately to a very cool couple.
We researched boats, created a short list of ones that we wanted, actually found one of them for sale in our area and bought it!
With the help of its previous owners (also a very cool couple), we sailed our new boat to Kingston and moved aboard her. There we have lived for the past 3 months. During that time we have made multiple sailing excursions in local-area waters, anchoring out, reefing sails, and most importantly learning all about our new vessel and home.
So, I guess that’s a lot. We actually laugh now at our original plan (the plan you write down in step one above is allowed to change) which had us just going to Florida, buying a boat there and taking off. Although others have done that, and we have immense respect for them, I now can’t imagine us having followed in their shoes.
Obviously there is lots more to do, and we plan on continuing to update this blog on a regular basis. For the small group of people who are actually following along (for the first couple of months we were writing this we kept our plan was a secret so we were the only ones reading it), thank you. Thanks for reading, thanks for the comments and thanks for the support. We really do appreciate it!
Sunset at Kerr Bay.
Mike and Rebecca, I’ve been following your blog for a while now. In fact, I went back and read all the posts from before I started following! I’ve learned a great deal from you, although I must admit I’d like to see more posts from Rebecca. I think that writing down a plan is a very important step in going from dream to reality. It’s one I hadn’t thought of, and I will now do this thing. Writing down a plan gives it life and substance. Up until it hits paper (or computer!) it’s still a dream. Once it’s written down, it is easier to use it to guide one’s actions. I wonder, if I had had a written plan when I moved to this house if I would have ever done so. It has been a detour, and has moved me further from my goal. I let someone else’s needs drive my actions, which is a mistake. I could have still met my mother’s needs without giving up my own dream. Thanks so much for your informative, inspiring writing, and keep it up! I feel as though I’m along for your adventure.
Thanks Helen! We are very happy to have you along. 🙂
In spite of my frequent attempts to motivate Rebecca to post on the blog she has, up until now at least, been happy to share her thoughts from “behind the scenes.” She does get to proof read and edit every one of these posts before they hit the web. My writing would likely be a bit harder to understand without her help!
Thanks for the recap. Great post!
I’m close to following in your footsteps, pending the sale of my house, which is taking forever to sell despite dropping the price twice. Fingers crossed the new agent I’ve just switched to finds a buyer soon. Wish me luck!
Good luck! We had thought that our house may have taken a long time to sell, given the doom and gloom of the US real estate market. Fortunately for us the Canadian market was much better off and we had an offer the first week it was for sale. The downside of that is that we had to move much sooner than we had expected, but it did force us to move forward.
I am sure your house will sell and you’ll be on your way in no time!