Anomalous. Good word. A great boat name. Especially if you are a liveaboard.
This weekend was spent moving out of our home of 10 years, the home Alison and I dreamed about for years. The one she and I built with our own hands. And our hearts. To say the least, there were times of emotion. And it did not help that we were struggling to find moorage for our soon to have new home as well as trying to pin down the details on our temporary home that we need to stay in between the home sale and the boat purchase. The word “homeless” was jokingly tossed around. Well, half jokingly…
Earlier this year, for research purposes, I made a few calls to marinas on Lake Union to check on open slips. With 3 calls, I had two great slips that were available. This was early, a couple of months before we even knew that Insignia was going to come our way. Check that off the to do list, moorage was going to be easy to find. Fast forward 3-4 months.
Moorage is not available. Liveaboard, um, yeah. Even more difficult. We are on at least 12 waiting lists. So off I go, literally pounding the pavement looking for a slip, carefully deflecting the “are you a liveaboard” question until I can pin down the marina’s “unofficial” policy. I even used our insurance guy as a connection. Chris had great ideas and some additional contacts, but still no luck. We finally catch a break and find a sublet that will work at Shilshole Marina. It is available July 1st, just days before we anticipate having our boat up to Seattle. We have a home.
Back to Anomalous. We met Darren and Lisa on the dock. They are our new neighbors. We had a great conversation with them about their story, the marina, and the community. They have been living aboard for four years (their second time since they have been married) and love it. They do not have a storage shed. What they have, they have on the boat. We need to pitch more things…
We are deviating from the norm. Exciting! Looking forward to the new community and neighborhood. Moving towards our next dream. And a few tears as we let go of the “normal” stuff we worked so hard for. But can’t wait for the christening party in little over a month!
You remind me that my Dad, an old sailor, would say he only needed what fit in his seabag. He never quite made it — too many books! But what a revelatory road of sorts, to divine your way to a lighter, more portable life!