Going in Reverse

Libraries have been, and continue to be, sanctuaries on this voyage!  Blake and I are nestled up to a table at the Beaufort, SC library with our cozy chairs...happy to be still and surrounded by the thoughts of many great thinkers.

We never made it to Charleston.  Sixty miles out and three days at sea was enough for the boys...we turned in early to make anchorage in this beautiful little town.  Fortuitous, like so many things on our sojourn, for this morning we staggered out of a small bank with Captain Elizabeth, who is in the process of purchasing the Vindhler!!!

We are leaving tomorrow A.M. to deliver the boat to her about forty miles up the river from Jacksonville, FL.  Then, we will make our way North via van or plane.  We are savoring these last days and trying to live in the moments of beauty and hardship that have made this incredible journey a memory that will always endure.


PS  Someone told me it's hard to find all of our movies on YouTube...just search familyinabottle on YT or...here's the link. XXOO
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=familyinabottle&aq=f

Homeward Bound

We have finally reached the decision to return North...via sailboat, not plane....so many mixed emotions.  However, this is the right choice.  The Vindhler will be making quite a few ocean passages...and we have been having great fun getting her ready to taste the salt in her sails once more.  New England air is so different from the South... and finally visiting New York City again will be a highlight...our old stomping ground.  Not to mention seeing wooden spars rather than cigarette speeders.

Blake, ever the inventor, made a great super megaphone for class...lots of shenanigans when it arrived on board!  Combined with the favorite game, cover your brother in stuffed animals, a great time if you have earplugs!

The cats, ensconced in new netting around the boat, are doing their very best to have some shore leave before our departure.  Our boys are fidgety too...if only the safety nets could contain them once in awhile!  No chance of that, however..so off I run.

Pen Shells and Purpose

Well, as most of you suspected, I was bound to hit another wall.  A spiky coquina one to be exact.  Coquina (tiny pieces of rock, coral, and shell) being the building material of choice here in St. Augustine for over five hundred years!  A combination of factors swirled about causing a tornado of emotions which spun me headlong into my collision.

It is still up for debate, by any sane individual, if you can stop what is coming for you!

Although the wall I hit may have been figurative, the conversations that have followed have been very real.  Thanks to all of you who have been such willing listeners!

We are discussing an early return to New England, but, hesitate at every turn.  To have come so far and not make the Bahamas passage would be a bitter pill.  Realistically, we would have to sell the boat to help us get re-established.

On the one hand, I am done with living in a bottle...conservative, judgmental retirees and kid-haters rampant at the marina...missing family and friends horribly...physically tired of the constant work (Mom's, think camping for six months in one tent with husband and two children)... John Edward working long doubles...no car...no couch...dormlike showers...an oven that reminds me of my childhood shake-and-bake...typical two year old tantrums and nine year old sassiness that I can't close the door on...

HOWEVER...the magical moments continue even as I become disenchanted.  Like a symbol of hope and beauty, Blake and Dante returned from the beach with their father covered in sand and smiles and holding a pen shell a foot long.  The shell, now a permanent sculpture on the boat, serves as a reminder of this journey's primary purpose...to slow down and cherish each other.

Moonlight Music

We so enjoyed having some new neighbors that broke out of the usual mold...excellent musicians on their journey with joy and good will.  What a change from the bitter sourpuss whose only noises were complaints and criticism!

Their music made all of us in love with life...for the precious fleeting moments we are sharing.

We are enduring the heat surprisingly well...making each other laugh...and dreaming of August nights in Maine.

Peacocks and the Past Afoot

Besides the momentary excitement of the impressive NYFD prototype boat (fresh from the factory), that docked steps away from our vessel, peacocks and the past have been flooding my mind.

I took the boys to The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park.  As we entered, we were greeted by traditional and white peacocks. Strange music filled the air (piped in from hidden speakers cloaked in the spanish moss canopy above).  We were transported in all but body to a mystical land.  Despite the incredible experience of drinking water from the same source they discovered over five hundred years ago, it was the Timucuan Indians who stirred my soul.  The living museum was a reminder that the ground we trod on had once been a peaceful community living in harmony with nature.  They were entirely slaughtered by the "brave Spanish explorers" who landed on their paradise and crushed them as they tried to rape all they could from the earth.  Blake and I had a memorable conversation with a young man whose genealogy dated back thousands of years to that fateful day when the white men landed.  After that, we both felt the peacocks eyes were gazing at us with both beauty and sadness.  I do believe that his generation will vindicate Native Americans by true remembrance of fact rather than rewritten history which glorifies so much wrongdoing.

O.K.  Let me climb down from my soapbox and speak now of my most elusive comrade...Monsieur Memory.  A dear friend from twenty years ago reached out to my sister on Facebook trying to contact me.  My first response...that was soooooo long ago.  I felt ancient.  Clearing away the mist of years past, I remembered those days of youth.  So much ahead.  So intent on following passions.  Trying to trace the path of my life.  Complicated ground.  Which led me full circle.  To the now, to the voyage of discovery, to a partial mid-life crisis out of which blooms creativity, clarity, and contentment.  There are few forces stronger than the soul of a mother in her forties!  Which of course leads to a Happy Mother's Day for all the Mom's out there and to the men who are men enough to mother in their own masculine way while loving the Mom's in their lives.  That's confusing but, you get the point.  That's all for now, folks.

Friends and Foes

Can you believe our dock neighbor, scurrying in and out of her vessel like a cockroach for the past ten years, repeatedly complained about our family until, at our wits end, we moved to the other side of the marina!  Which leads me to the question...why do some people feed off of misery and discontent???  One of the resident pirates told me that her family has been in St. Augustine for over one hundred years, as has his family.  He shook his head and proclaimed  that each generation of her ancestors was more mean spirited than the next.  As a result of her inner torment, our cats are now harnessed 24/7 and our kids feel they are constantly under surveillance by the noise police.  After plotting my revenge for days,  I've cast away my hatred and like a balm on my wounds, Lulu and Ryan, our dear friends from Maine arrived for a week!!!

Many memories of boogie boards and beaches...late nights and laughter...

How sweet the taste of true friendship!

The boys and I are flying back to Portland July 14th for a months stay at my parent's lodge on
Moosehead Lake.  Can't wait to smell that New England air!

Hope you are all doing well and embracing spring.

Family

We are doing well in our little corner of the ocean.  The boys both received new sponge bob pajamas in honor of pajama day at Blake's school.  Dante refused to take his off for forty-eight hours and caused many a chuckle to sneak out of frowning tourists as he trotted about town.

There is nothing quite like the love and encouragement of a parent.  It convinces you that any journey can be attempted and finished if only you can see your self through their eyes.  My parent's visit was such a needed gift for all of us and we feel rejuvenated and inspired to continue our adventure.

It was wonderful to meander through the streets and sit in the sun...hardly any tourist sights were seen...beautiful non-agenda afternoons!

Blake went bungee jumping for the first time and Dante on his first tilt-a-car ride...

On a final note, legos have won the prize for the best toy on board!

Days of Discovery

March has been full of mischief.  Promises of warmer weather quickly snatched away, stolen bikes, and our galley seemingly shrinking.  It's not that I am turning morose, as some say my last blog hinted at.  Quite the contrary, I feel more alive and determined to embrace every joy than ever before.  It's just that I tire of tasks that were once so simple, turning to tremendous repeated efforts a la Sisyphus!  Let me give some examples.  At the end of a long day, I could once simply flop in to my snug bed.  Now, I have to disassemble the dining room table, re-make the cushions, and carefully place in two side boards.  A stroller which could once be wheeled inside the garage now needs to be closed, hoisted and jig-sawed tightly in our dock locker.  Cooking dinner on two tiny burners with counter space smaller than our cutting board tires even the most industrious girl out not to mention heating the water (carried from the dock spout) in a small kettle and trying not to repeatedly slosh water on one's toes!  I could go on...

And yet, our days are a continual discovery of each other and our selves.  We laugh at the lack of space and the hardship and somehow sleep has never been sweeter, a stroller never so fabulous, dinners never so delicious!

We are still learning how to slow down.  Finding cafes and fountains where Dante will be content to let us people watch and talk about everything or nothing.  That hasn't happened in years!

Hope you are all doing well.  Please continue to stay in touch.