Antsier than ever to get to the boat, we’ve managed to survive more of a winter in Maine than we ever thought possible. When the mid-January days of our usual departure timing came and went, I started twitching, I’ll admit. However, knowing that Chickadee days were coming, albeit delayed, I felt enough of a dangling carrot to work through the icy, snowy, sleeting, gray days of a winter in the tundra.
My learning curve has been mostly about adopting the dorky saying of “There’s no bad weather, only bad gear”, and I’ve been enjoying the challenge of figuring out how to be outside for as many hours as I can, the REAL key to keeping it together up here. The side goals are to get the dog exercised, raise my heart rate and explore Acadia by any means possible; the ACTUAL goal is to not slip, fall, and crack my aging body apart. So far so good!
We are boat-bound next week, after a brief stop in Portland for the Bird’s state swim meet. The intense dedication she’s given to the sport this year has been so exciting to witness. She’s part of an amazing group of supportive kids, and her hard work continues to pay off for her; she’s really hooked. And who knew we’d ever enjoy watching swim meets for hours (and hours..) on end? Certainly not I, but there you have it, we’re hooked too.
Meanwhile, Violet has been making art often, and taking a class with a local artist who is teaching her techniques that she then comes home to practice, much to our joy and wall benefit. Next step: a gallery in the house?
Our trip itself is much condensed and changed from previous years, and while thinking about it shifting originally brought me great sadness, I’m now quite excited for our dedication to making it happen at all, no matter what it looks like. We’ve imported the boat to the Bahamas (a new flag for Chickadee!), which means that we’re not bound to the three year cruising permits, and she’s free to stay happily in her Abaco Yacht Service home, and to greet us for whatever time we can steal away. We’ll find a balance for the high school curriculum with Lily, and we’ll go from there. This year the whole family will have two weeks- enough time to do a few projects, launch and sail the Abacos for a bit, and then Andy will fly home with the girls, and I’ll have another two weeks solo. (Can’t deny being VERY excited about Phase Two- a new SALVio tradition, perhaps? Alternating adults, of course..)
This means this week is go time for all of those projects hanging and unfinished business! Back to it.
