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Published: August 24th 2010
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Aliens?
Who are these creatures in the tyvek suits? Well, of course it is Ken & Bob as they worked on the bottom of the boat As promised we are now going back to try to fill you in on activities that happened over the last couple of months. We found that one thing is for sure - moving out of a house and downsizing to a boat isn’t as easy as just moving to another house (not to say that is easy either!) We find that this was probably the most stressful thing we have ever done. Making a determination for every single item in your house of what to keep, store or get rid of wasn’t easy. We also found that as we had been setting aside items in to our “boat” pile over quite a few months we never really saw it all together until the end. Found out that even that was too much so had to cut down again on items that we kept. Figure that the photos will tell the story.
We did have some very pleasant things happen during this time as well. Our neighbors on South Street got together and had a really nice dinner for us (thanks Janice & Jack for getting this organized). It was great to take a night off from packing to socialize with
Cleaning out the Shop
It is amazing that this shop was actually empty by the time we left the house - quite a job this space was to get through such great people. They are definitely what made living in Trumansburg so enjoyable. Also our neighbor, Janice, was great in offering to help with sewing up some of our boat cushions that we were in the middle of re-covering. She came over to the house and while we continued to pack around her, she sewed up a storm and got all of the back cushions sewed for us. Again, another big thanks goes out to her!
Also in June there is always graduation. As mentioned in the previous entry, Bob was really honored as the seniors asked him to walk in the procession. When he got to school that day, he was asked by the current principal to also help with the ceremony by shaking every student’s hand as well - he was thrilled to do this. It was a great way to be able to have a chance to congratulate every student that graduated in the last class that he will ever has as principal. Even got a few invitations to some parties that day which we gladly went to. What a great honor to be asked by students to join in your celebration of your HS graduation.
The boat boxes
Hard to believe all of thse things are what we planned to put on the boat - will see what fits As we were putting together our medical kit for ourselves, our vet was also putting together a great medical kit for Sailor. When I came home from the vets after going over the details Bob commented that Sailors medical kit is bigger than ours! Hopefully we won’t have to use any of it, but good to have on board “just in case”.
Bob continued to make improvements to the boat by installing our new batteries (each one weighing 168 lbs), a water filtration system for all water brought on board the boat, a solar monitor, fixed one of the heads (that is toilet for you landlubbers), and battery monitor. While Bob was working on those items, Janice was trying to absorb all of the items that were piled on the shore that came out of our storage shed.
On August 8th we also had a very lovely social event, our “open boat party”. It was great to have such a good turnout of friends to wish us well on our new adventure. The weather cooperated for the most part - we did have a few sprinkles but luckily it didn’t scare people off. It was great to
Moving of storage
Thanks to Penske truck rental got all of the things we wanted to store home - will see what we actually use when we get back have a chance to show off our new home to everyone as well. Another great thing that happened was Alanna heard that I had started a quilt years ago but never quite finished it. As a result she organized many of our neighbors to finish the quilt so we could take it with us. The quilt was given to us at the party - we can’t begin to thank all of the people (Ann, Janice, Mary, Alanna, Martha, Judy, Christine, and Kathy) that worked on this project - it really means a lot to us both.
Surprisingly Sailor (our cat) dealt well with all of the people funneling through the boat. Speaking of Sailor, we have been amazed at how she has been adapting to the boat. She hasn’t been trying to jump ship at all and seems to enjoy the all day attention we can give her while motoring through the Erie Canal.
Our 36th anniversary was Tuesday, August 10th and we had hoped to leave the dock then, but realized early that this was not going to happen. Two very good friends of ours (Kay & Jill) gave us gift certificates to a very nice restaurant
Storage complete
Luckily we had lots of help to get all of our items for storage into the 2nd story of a barn in Trumansburg that was closed on Tuesdays, so we decided to celebrate with a very nice dinner on Monday night instead. The plan was to have dinner and then to really top off the celebration go to our storage shed for the last truck load of things going to the boat. Luckily for us the rain started up during dinner so decided it was not a good idea to pick up our items. We took up our great neighbors, David and Alanna, invitation to stay at their place that evening. It was great to see them again and even gave us another chance at having wi-fi access. Our anniversary day started out perfect with a great breakfast made by Alanna and a nice visit with both Alanna and David. We then went to the storage shed and actually emptied it. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillys as the truck was piled high, but we got it all on the truck - all we needed was granny in a rocking chair on top!
As mentioned earlier we had to still give things away so we spread the wealth up at the Beacon Bay Marina which everyone there seemed to appreciate.
Garbage & Recycling Day
Thank goodness there wasn't a limit of what we could leave out for the garbage and for recycling After getting all of the things on the boat that were going with us and filling up the water tanks, we finally left the dock at 9:25AM on Monday, August 16th. It turned out to be a beautiful day for a start.
Today is now August 20th and we are now near our old hometown. As a result we have had a chance to visit with family. We picked up our grand nephew Andrew at lock 12 and he stayed overnight with us which gave him also a chance to go through a few locks with us - he was great crew and even took the helm for some of the trip to lock 8. Had visits from members of Bob’s family (Sue, Betsy, Keegan, Bob, Patrick, Virginia, Charlie and Lynn) on Thursday which was great. Today will be seeing members of Janice’s family as well as getting a chance to do a few errands as we have been making a list during this last week of things we still need. It was nice that Janice’s Mom went shopping with us on our errands so it gave us some more time to visit. Had a great picnic dinner with family
A new place for Sailor
The first time we put the engine on, Sailor decided it was safer sitting on the floor in the head for some reason with lots of visiting. Hard to believe that we won’t be seeing them soon, but with the thanks of the internet and cell phones we still will be in communication with everyone.
If you haven’t guessed, we have had a great first 5 days of the journey and looking forward to traveling to the Hudson tomorrow. Will stop in Catskill NY to have the mast put up where we will become a sailboat again!
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cyndie thomson
non-member comment
very impressive - miss you
Great Pictures!!! I'm also trying to downsize ... and I'm not even moving!! Too difficult for me,...so congrats on your successful task and you are still wed. Nice partnership. Bill has asked me every day if I have heard anything from you yet so when I opened the mail today, we were excited and shared your travels and pics together. Sailor is the perfect pet! Doesn't bark, jump on people, chase cats [;o)], or beg for your food. Pictures of the canal made us remember of our trip out to Brockport on the canal, ... best highway in the US. Keep those pics coming and blogs so we can track you. [not stalk, but track...] You also taught me new word..."landlubbers"...thought it was "landlovers" - I do math, not language. Good luck and my prayers and thoughts are with you always. love ya both, oh...and Sailor... cyndie [WARNING: If I wait too long for "blog"...I will be forced to email and annoy you daily]