Moving Aboard "Partners"

Welcome Friends - to our corner of the Sea!

Currently we are aboard our 42' Kadey Krogen Trawler - "Partners" and she is at dock at the Longboat Key Club Marina, in Longboat Key, Florida. This is the Gulf Coast of Florida and a beautiful place to be. Richard, my husband and I have lived here - on land - for 20 years.

 Now it is time for retirement and realizing our dream of living aboard our own boat and sailing off  to new places - new experiences - for as long as our bodies can hold up! In preparation for that experience, we are living aboard for a year, prior to casting off, so that we can bond with our boat and ready it - and ourselves for our voyage.

This blog is my viewpoint of these experiences. Let me warn you now - I am truly a novice. That's the scary part! I have taken one Coast Guard course, read two books and gone to many, many boat shows. But I realize that I have no clue about what I am about to undertake....Richard and I have had this dream for many years, but since moving aboard in November, I've realized it takes much more than a dream and desire to voyage - it takes knowledge and skill and common sense and a clear head in emergencies. It takes self discipline and awareness and lots of reading and self-education, and a good sense of humor to handle the rough times in an elegant manner! And that's just what I've learned in the past 2 months!

When we were dreaming of sailing through the Caribbean in retirement, I didn't envision crawling on my hands and knees to get out or put away pots and pans - which I stow under my stove, neither did I think it would take me an hour and a mini-breakdown to make my queen sized bed - which is bordered on three sides by walls - so I have to climb on it to make it! I didn't think that I would need to check my water levels every time I use the water or run a wash, and I certainly didn't think I could blow a pump by letting the water run dry....Oh yes.....I am learning many things, and hopefully - if you read this blog - you will too - and maybe you too...will find your dream in boating.