It seems innocent, the decision over drinks to simply go for it. Sell the house that you spent years building. Sell the boat that has been a true love for 8 years. Give away all of the stuff that fills the spaces defined by a foundation and a bottom-painted hull. Move into an apartment with a small portion of your stuff and your returning-from-college daughter plus a black dog who loves her backyard to distraction. Buy the Nordhavn trawler you’ve dreamed about for over 6 years. Prepare to cross oceans and explore the world from the water (someday in the future). Tool around the West Coast in the meantime. Crazy!
Yet this is the path we are headed down. Giving away stuff and seeing the happiness it brings others is actually fun. And at the end of the day, it is all just stuff. Leaving the dream house is going to be super hard. But breaking our backs getting it ready to sell is a reminder of the work that the dream house requires. We’d rather be on the water than weeding (or in our case, not weeding and then dreading what to do about it), painting, primping, sweeping, pressure washing, mowing and cleaning. It is just not our thing anymore. The dream changed 8 years ago on the first day we took our newly acquired 4788 Bayliner Island Dog out of her slip at Elliott Bay Marina in Seattle. We went from home-remodeling junkies to boat nuts. Like serious boat nuts. Obsessive perhaps is a better word.
So this coming weekend we will take our next step in the process to move from pressure washers, tile saws and nail guns to boat shoes, fenders and diesel maintenance classes. We’re off to Mazatlán to spend the weekend with a Nordhavn 55. And that is exciting!
Anyone looking for a great family boat or a super cool modern house? Availability here in West Seattle…
I’ve been following your posts on the Nordhavn Dreamers FB site and just popped over to read your blog from the start. This post really relates with us. We bought a 44 foot motor cruiser 2 years ago and now the house/gardening is really on the back burner as we are out boating most weekends. We are now planning to go to a live aboard boat. I’m also now thinking this life is an addiction of some type;)
Thank you Kelly! It is a serious addiction for sure. The only cure is time on the water!! We were terrible at yard work. Why do yard work when you can be boating? Enjoy your current boat and the search for a liveaboard. We have not missed a thing ( well may the king size bed) about land living. Have fun!