Last week was a long week and my body reminded me this weekend that it was time to slow down. After getting the sleep my body needed, I’m still in a contemplative mood, thinking it funny that the boat and family are providing more great website and posting content that I’ve ever had before. I’ve been trying hard to stay on my M/W/F/S posting schedule, aware that I missed Friday, but back on track. The Baja Ha-Ha left on the 29th and we’ve got LOTS of photos to share with those stories, I’ve been tearing down the generator inside my sailboat piece by piece (since you can’t get generators or engines out of some kinds of boats), I’ve been working with an industry expert from Blue Sky Energy to install two new MPPT Solar Controllers and six new solar panels (hopefully done tomorrow) that will also allow me to install wind energy as needed and we’re about two weeks away from having a highly skilled craftsman come in to help us install the shelving that hotwife has always wanted and the kids need to keep them coexisting in the front berth/cave. + I think that Poe Dameron (or his 1/2 inch plastic likeness) may have helped to break the front head (meaning the kids might get an Airhead for Christmas).
Part of my contemplation has been about getting off the dock. For those of us still on land or living on a sailboat (like us) but not yet cruising; goals and milestones toward getting off the dock might be important. For me, it’s ticking the checkmarks I think the family needs in order to actually achieve the goal of getting off the dock and starting. Our start (I think) will be Baja Ha-Ha 2019. In order to get to where we are today, we had to cross off some impressive milestones already:
-Sold our first sailboat in October of 2017 and bought our second sailboat in February of 2018.
-Put our house on the market in February 2018 and moved out of it/sold it in April 2018.
-I retired in July 2018. The entire family moved onto the boat in July of 2018.
-The Baja Ha-Ha left on 29 October of 2018. This started our 1-year countdown clock and put a little kick in our ass, because we know that time’s flying to get things done and more milestones checked- and we watched our first boat sail away on the Baja Ha-Ha, while we continue to sit on the dock doing repairs and waiting till next year!
For our countdown to October of 2019, here’s a few more goals and milestones I think we need to achieve:
-Tulum V needs to be hauled out and cleaned in winter of 2019- probably February?
-We need to sign up for the Baja Ha-Ha in April and solidify our crew list.
-Hotwife will retire in summer of 2019.
-We’ll put the kids back in school in August of 2019 till we leave in October, then start our homeschooling program once we leave.
-Cut the docklines- Baja Ha-Ha in October 2019.
I hope this can start to inspire you to come do the Baja Ha-Ha in 2019! Would be a blast to have you out there on your own boat along with us!
Written and Edited by Son of a Sailor.
Links below involve some of my other ramblings about our goals and milestones.
http://livefree2travelslow.com/2017/10/13/what-were-doing-now-to-prep-for-cruising-then/
http://livefree2travelslow.com/2017/05/30/milestones-in-the-right-direction/
http://livefree2travelslow.com/2016/02/28/bluewater-cruising-as-a-goal-vision-incentive/
