Deltaville Bound

Date: 22 April, 2007
Location: Blacksburg, VA
Position: Crammed into the van...

... along with most of the stuff we're planning to shoehorn into Rachel. But not all. Nope. Between the dinghy (still not finished, of course) and all it's associated parts, epoxies, paints, sander, vacuum, extension cords, etc., etc., the stuff we've been purchasing for Rachel over the winter, our clothes, tools, sewing machine, food, wine, and all the other assorted crap we're taking, the van's full. Plus, it looks like we'll have to make a return trip next week to pick up the things we couldn't fit this time around.
We learned some new boat math this week: you start out with 10 boat jobs, do 7 and then you only have 8 left.

It's pretty much the same when moving out of your house, too. We've been hoping the hit the road "tomorrow" for the past 4 or 5 days. But the good news is, it looks like we'll actually be heading out tomorrow. The real tomorrow - Monday, 23 April.

Yesterday we took a few hours off in the afternoon - the first break we've had since we quit work! Sheesh! We loaded the dinghy (raw epoxy on the inside, primer on the outside) onto the van and took it to the lake for it's maiden voyage. We popped a bottle of Champagne, made some generous offerings to Neptune and Poseidon, then proceeded to drink the rest as we cruised around the lake.

Dinghy Progress

The bottom is all finished (except for one more sanding and the paint), and we are now adding the gunwales. It's a clamp intensive project as you can see.

Stepping Off the Treadmill

Date: 30 March, 2007
Location: Blacksburg, VA
Position: Lounging in the sun

"Nobody on their deathbed ever said 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office'."

And so it begins. Today was our last day at work. Well, "last day at the office" would probably be more accurate. We still have plenty of work ahead of us just to finish getting our house ready to rent. We have been very lucky so far, in that we already found great tenants and have signed leases in hand. Now we just need to get rid of even more stuff, move a bunch of stuff, and somehow still manage to have some fun.

"He who keeps his nose to the grindstone ends up with a flat face."

If all goes as planned, we'll move onto Rachel in mid-April and spend a couple of weeks prepping her before putting her back in the water - where she belongs! Then we'll finally be able to spend some time sailing in the Chesapeake until it's time to head to St. Maarten for our trip to the Azores.

The dinghy is coming along pretty well and will progress even faster now that we won't be interrupted by that whole pesky "job" thing. We have one more coat of epoxy to apply to the outside before we can sand and paint, and we have the gunnels, some seats, and a few other bits to attach inside. We're hoping to get out on our local lake for a christening and maiden voyage before we head to Deltaville.

That's pretty much it, news-wise for the time being. We've taken the plunge, it's scary and exciting. Some people look at us like we are insane for giving up all the security and our 'safe' life. Others tell us they are jealous. We're kind of hoping "jealous" wins out over "insane"...

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out and proclaiming, 'WOW, WHAT A RIDE!!!'"

We plan to keep that in mind.


Fair winds,
Mark & Julie
s/v Rachel