And, we’re off!

There are bags of stuff EVERYWHERE, the fridge isn’t working, but I’ll be damned if that was stopping us from throwing off the lines today. The inaugural/celebratory Gelfand wine is flowing and we are officially on our trip around the world! 

Imagine if you were going on a long trip and packed a small bag every day for three weeks… then just dropped said bag in one small room of your house to “deal with later.” Yeahhh, that’s what the boat looks like right now! We are in trouble if the forecast proves to be true, as we’ll have an even larger mess if we get some solid wind.

The fridge? Well, Nate had it fixed a few months ago, but the recent haul-out for boat work apparently set us back on that. We believe we have a coolant leak, but haven’t isolated the location, so we keep trying to charge the system. Luckily, the freezer works and should keep the refrigerator under 50 for the next few days… that, or, we make a hodge-podge of meals out of anything that won’t last if the fridge biffs it! Thank goodness we aren’t picky eaters… I mean, pickles, milk, beer, lettuce, eggs, and ranch can’t be horrible together, right?

We’ve had a whirlwind of a few weeks with massive to-do lists ranging from selling our vehicles and emptying the house to having the boat hauled for new bottom paint and hull wax job. Not to say our lists are completed by any means, but all our crap (way more than we intended to bring) is at least on the boat and we have a 3-4 day of transit from Solomons, MD to Charleston, SC… in theory… which as they say in our community, we are “writing plans in jello on a hot day.”

Currently, the Chesapeake Bay is beautiful and we are expecting a gorgeous sunset, unfortunately, the wind is on our nose. We zippered on all the “windows” to enclose our cockpit (much more difficult in the cold than expected) and for now, the sun is warming us until we wuss out and turn on the generator so we can run the heat. Mock all you want, but we are tropical weather people and don’t care what you “65 degrees is too hot” people may think (if you think I wrote that about you, you’re likely correct). We’d much prefer to endure the “you’re not real sailors” comments in the comfort of a 70 degree cabin!

We enjoyed a few weeks of heartfelt goodbyes from our family and friends in several places. I only cried a few times… okay, maybe more. Huge thank you shout-out to the future Mr. and Mrs. Carter for their kindness and generosity in lending me their spare vehicle to get to work this last week!

Why’d we wait until it was almost snowing in southern Maryland to leave, you ask? At this point, hindsight is blurry, but I believe it had something to do with my career in NOAA Corps… and making sure we got to see family before we shoved off. Those are just about the only logic I recall. We are super excited to get to Charleston to explore the city together – I’ve only been once, Nate has spent a lot of time there. We are looking forward to family visiting and meeting up with friends and former colleagues. We plan to head to Miami after Charleston in time for a tropical Christmas!

Cheers and holiday happiness,

Sarah & Nate