Almost Out

It’s been a while since we’ve been out sailing but we are at last in the final countdown! After months in a marina and weeks on the hard  my mom traveled with a delivery captain to bring the boat to Ft. Lauderdale where we had our final boat projects done. My dad was busy with work – that’s the reason for the hired crew. For the first time in months we are living on the boat!
After upgrades, fixes, and several maintenance items the boat is better than ever. After almost a of year of being broken the fan in my room has been restored to its former glory. I now have a well-ventilated room that I can stand to be in for more than a few hours while awake! Which is perfect because now I can finally paint.
My parents gave me enough materials to complete my collection. It was among my favorite gifts from this year. Some of my favorite things I received was a gift card for books on my kindle, a Fitbit (that has informed me how out of shape I am), and some earrings I’d been eyeing for some time.
I was also very proud of the gifts I gave my family. All my dad wanted was some bracelets, so I made him one and gave him a little scented bottle meant to be calming. My mom gets headaches, so I gave her a face mask that can be chilled or heated to soothe. It was a very good Christmas.
 
Christmas wasn’t the only holiday to pass while we were on the boat. We were invited to a kid boat for New Years where we played games, ate, and talked. I got to know the kids aboard, though I spent a good portion of the night playing with their dog.
Their dog jump started a conversation I’ve been longing to have: Can we have a dog? I don’t know if I’m going to win this argument though. They add so much work to an already work-filled lifestyle. My mom is adamantly against it because she “knows” that she’ll be the one taking care of the dog. Until I do better on other chores, I can’t expect to see a dog in my future.
I’m not great at keeping up with my chores now. After months of living in hotels it’s an adjustment to wake up early and clean the kitchen. Or the deck. Or my room.
But I have gotten to do some pretty cool projects for our dinghy. I’d previously named the small boat Ladybug when we got it but after having custom covers made for the boat, the name we applied to the side was covered. My dad and I discussed ways to show the name again. We discussed painting the name on the chaps, painting the chaps similarly, and then finally we found the answer.
After a few hours of work, I had cleaned, sanded, and painted our motor cover to look like a ladybug. I was so proud of it. My grandma was there at the time and she helped me move it from place to place. I just loved it. I had meticulously carved tape to match the design I wanted.
I got into a little trouble with the marina security when I sprayed red paint onto our motor, but they just wanted to make sure I didn’t get red paint on any cars or boats. My grandma wasn’t very happy about that. She and I went to the parking lot and used soap and water to try and remove and red paint that got on the concrete. Security just waved us off and I was able to put the cover onto the motor.
We have yet to use the dinghy in action since I painted it, but we are planning to leave this marina in a few days with one extra crew member. Captain Mark is back on the boat and ready to help. He’s already helped us with provisioning and docking. We are ready to finally make our way back to the Bahamas and beyond!

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