“Baptism by Fire”
I think whoever said, “It takes a village to raise a child” meant to say, “It takes a village to help you move onto a boat!” We have been overwhelmed by the amount of support we’ve gotten this past week, but one hell of a week it has been!
We thought we were prepared for anything, but after fighting with the dinghy motor for 2 days and still not convinced it was working properly, we were all a little on edge. Sparing all the boring details of our first week of being full-time boat people, here are some highs and lows:
Highs
8 hour drive to Miami was pretty painless, we didn’t hit any traffic until we got to Ft Lauderdale
My mom packed us a killer cooler filled with boiled peanuts, beef stew, sandwiches, snacks, and all the fixings for shrimp and grits *Shout out to Wanda
Picked up Arthur from the airport after not seeing him for a month! Oh happy day!
Lows
Airbnb rental wasn’t great our first 2 nights (usually we LOVE Airbnb! But I guess you win some and lose some….). The apartment was dirty, in a sketchy neighborhood, and a rodent helped himself to my chocolate bar stash!
Lost the car in the parking garage for half an hour at the Miami airport. Next time, I will be sure to pay attention to the number/color codes on the walls!
Couldn’t get the dinghy’s motor to start for 2 days, which meant we couldn’t move onto the sailboat, which meant we had no where to stay our 3rd night in town.
Highs
I learned a little about outboard motors and how to take apart and put back together the carburetor
Dalton knows A LOT more about boats than I thought. He has been a HUGE asset and we are so glad he agreed to come along for the ride. Of course we’ve been repaying him with food and beer.
A former owner of the Egret (our sailboat), Doug, offered to let us stay with he and his wife, Peggy. This was HUGE for us. They went above and beyond, making us feel comfortable and sharing all of their knowledge about the boat. THANK YOU!!!
Finally got onto the Egret and the weather was beautiful!
Lows:
Main toilet stopped working. Of course,I discovered this when it shot recycled toilet water in my face. I’m only slightly dramatic, so you can imagine my reaction to that…
Refrigerator wouldn’t work
TONS of mildew
Dalton lost his wallet somewhere in Miami…if you find it, let us know!
Major Highs:
Stratty and Christopher (Arthur’s cousins we bought the Egret from) took us on an overnight trip for New Year’s Eve to teach us more about the boat. Being 60+ years old and 42 feet long, it’s almost as if she has a mind of her own. Also got some pretty spectacular views of the city and fireworks. ALSO, Christopher and Stratty know how to do Happy Hour. Check out that meat and cheese board!!
Daily visits by dolphins at our mooring, and a few manatee sightings!
Empanadas and sangria from Fufi
Refrigerator is working after changing out the propane regulator!!!
We take off for Chile in less than a week and will have to focus on packing for that trip in the next few days. This first week has been a complete whirlwind. We have gone from excited, to stressed, to overwhelmed, to saying, “F**k it!”, to pure bliss sometimes all in one day. I guess that’s boat life for now. Next post we’ll highlight a few hikes Christopher took us on and of course CHILE!!!! Follow us on Instagram to catch a few pictures before the next blog post comes out:
