Location: Vero Beach,
Florida
“I'm going to put the
kettle on.” Whack! “OW!!”
“Pass me that towel
please.” Clunk! “@$^$^&*!!!”
“Let me just grab my
cap.” Bonk! “AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!”
This has been Mark's life,
several times a day, every day, since we moved aboard Rachel last
October and headed south.
It turns out that Rachel
is about an inch too short for Mark and he turns out (not
unexpectedly <g>) to be a slow study. Even after living aboard
for four months, he's still hitting his head. He adjusts and bends
lower, gets used to it, then, as soon as he has his shoes on, or is
wearing a cap, or the boat moves, or he simply isn't paying
attention, he whacks his head again. Doorways, handholds, hard
bimini corners, light switches, overhead teak trim – none have
cause to feel left out. There are only three places in the boat in
which he can stand upright – the main salon by the door, and the
two hulls amidship – but only if he stands in just the right place
and doesn't move. We thought he'd get used to it over time, but,
unfortunately, that's not how it's worked out. So we've reluctantly
decided to put Rachel on the market before Mark sprains his neck or
suffers a concussion. She's been a great boat, and we're really
happy with her – except for this one issue and it just doesn't seem
to be getting any better.
After spending a fun month
in Fort Myers Beach, we decided to head back across Florida again on
the Okeechobee Waterway and put Rachel on the market. We are back in
Vero Beach on a mooring and have advertised Rachel on a free sailboat
listing web site as being for sale by owner. She's been listed for
less than a week and we've already had about 20 contacts, 4 visits,
and one repeat visit. We are cautiously optimistic.
“Well, what's next?”
you might ask. Watch this space, 'cause were waiting to see what
happens, too!
Everyone is asking us if
we'll get another boat. Our answer is “almost assuredly” - we
love sailing and cruising and know we'll miss all our cruising
friends. Last time we sold a boat, we managed to hold out for...hmmm
… less then a year? Really? We have no idea how long this
particular boatless period will last, but we do know we'll eventually
get another one. We're not actively looking, but we'll keep our eyes
open as we travel about and see what comes to us.
In any event, we'll still
keep RVing – we're thinking about heading up to Nova Scotia this
summer – and we'll still do months-long immersive trips to other
countries like we did last winter in Vietnam. So our itch to travel
and see new places and meet new people will continue to be scratched,
and we'll continue to share our experiences with you all via these
Khronicles.
We're also going to take
the upstairs of our house off the rental market and move back in this
spring. It'll be nice to get all our stuff out of the basement and
have an actual house to knock about in. Eleven years ago in April we
moved aboard Rachel full-time, and we haven't had a “home base”
since, except for one winter a few years ago. When visiting
Blacksburg, we've had to stay with friends or family, or live in
Houdini (our little Toyota RV) in our front yard or in friends'
driveways. We love our traveling lifestyle and don't plan to give it
up any time soon – we just want a home to come home to whenever
we're ready to come home.
Whack! “DOH!!”
Mark & Julie
PS – March 6 - After a
record breaking short time on the market (one week to contract, and
less than another week to closing) Rachel has been sold! Her new
owners Kevin and Diane will take her to a boatyard in a few days and
put her to bed for the spring and summer. Then they'll head back
down from the Vancouver, BC, Canada area and start their new
“snowbird” cruising lifestyle. We wish them all the best and
hope they meet as many wonderful friends as we have!
