01 March 2015 | Surrey, BC
18 November 2014 | Surrey, B.C.
27 October 2014 | Surrey, BC
24 August 2014 | House in Surrey, BC
The real countdown
01 March 2015 | Surrey, BC
Sherrie Schmidt
The final countdown is on. The girls and I are booked to fly out of Vancouver on April 4 at 8:50 PM. Shaun flew back to Turkey on January 22 and arrived in Istanbul on the 23rd and on the 24th arrived in Marmaris. He went to walk through the surveys and make sure the boat was safe for us to live aboard.
After 3 years of planning and selling off/giving away our home, business, and belongings we are the proud owners of a 47' Catana Catamaran. Our boat name is still in the works as we have to submit 3 names.
While Shaun is making our new floating home seaworthy and safe the girls and I are here wrapping up the rental apartment and Canadian life.
Many people have wondered how we got to this point. On the day of departure our belongings left behind will consist of 10-12 rubbermaid bins, 2 snowboards, and a large cardboard box. We decided that we would keep items that we could not replace (pictures, artwork, travel memorabilia) and anything that could be replaced (bedding, furniture, kitchen items etc.) we would give away or sell. At first this was pretty hard and emotional but after a bit of adjustment the ruthless purging really begins. It is very liberating and wonderful to know that we are able to live with very little and still love life. My sister in law once told me that life is all about choices. This has always stuck with me. These choices are not always easy but with that being said they are our choices.
Don’t get me wrong there are days that the emotion kicks in along with anxiety but in the end our goal as a family is to simplify. The girls have been doing well with the adjustment of downsizing. I know there will be emotions approaching and during our final days in Canada. I truly believe that we will be better people in the long run.
I do have anxieties about our trip. One of them is the education portion of our adventure. My strengths and patience have not been in this area. I am lucky to have a husband that has strong education skills.
My biggest anxiety is leaving my folks for a lengthy period. They both are being treated for cancer. My father has colon cancer that was diagnosed 2 1/2 years ago that now resides in his lungs and is therefore inoperable. He is classified as palliative which means that it is incurable. My mom was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in November of 2014 and just started her chemo February 18.
Some days I can actually feel myself boxing up my emotions and putting them to the side in order to focus on the task at hand. I am uncertain that there will be a time I actually deal with it but in order for me to move forward this is my coping mechanism. I am quite sure any counsellor would have a field day with that last sentence LOL.
Life is short and we must live it to our fullest.
2 Weeks and Counting...
18 November 2014 | Surrey, B.C.
Shaun Schmidt
Well...my first blog post ever! I am in my final 2 weeks with Golder Associates after 19 years of working for the global engineering consultant. A great deal has changed since I started there. The Burnaby office back then had approx. 150 staff, and now it has nearly 600. I started contributing in a small group of 5 (2 on computers) and finished managing a group of 24 really talented people. Many of the staff that I hired personally have grown such that after all this time, that I have started to enjoy seeing everyone's achievements rather than the success of individual projects. Jarek whom has now taken over my role, will keep the group in good hands.
I recently returned from Annapolis Maryland and Washington DC. Really nice town where sailing is a right of passage. On a Friday afternoon as I walked through town (getting used to the eastern time zone), I saw people and kids walking around in their sailing clothes and rigging their boats for Friday afternoon sailing in the Chesapeak. I noticed a lot of sailors leaving and arriving at the dock under sail - impressive. I saw the odd Midshipman from the US Naval Academy walking by in uniform and I swear none of them were under 6ft. Annapolis is also a running town. Lots of people out running about throughout the town and surrounding neighbourhoods. Saw a T-shirt that captured it perfectly: "Annapolis is a running town with a sailing problem." I came to the conclusion quickly that I could live there.
I was in Annapolis to attend basic and advanced marine diesel engine troubleshooting courses at the Annapolis school of seamanship. The courses were excellent, and I feel much more confident about maintaining and repairing our future propulsion systems. On the catamarans we are considering there will be 2 or 3 diesel engines, so a strong understanding of the fundamentals is required. I now also know I need to buy a few more tools :)....
The transition phase
27 October 2014 | Surrey, BC
Sherrie Schmidt / rainy
The house sold and the new owners took possession October 10, 2014. Between late August and the possession date we needed to find a small apartment to transition our family into before moving into small quarters on the water. This task fell to myself as Shaun is working and I am not. The girls and I found a brand new building with a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom 806 sq. ft. apartment about 10 minutes away from our old neighborhood.
It was emotional to say goodbye to our old house and beautiful neighborhoud but in the same breath it was exciting. It has been an interesting transition to apartment living......there is so much anonymity. I have had trouble wrapping my head around it because in the hood it is a community. Grocery shopping is another aspect that has taken getting used to. Luckily I have experience provisioning a boat because it is very similar. Planning is a must. I travel with a folding wheeler in my vehicle along with a plastic tub for the days of many groceries....... This helps with minimizing the trips from the garage to apartments.
We are getting our items in order for leaving the country: Health care, homeschooling, first aid, inoculations, investments, diesel mechanics, marine first aid etc......
December will be an exciting time as we will be boat shopping in Paris. We are looking forward to this trip. We will also be heading to Saskatoon, Sask. to visit with Shaun's mom and dad for Christmas.
"Patiently waiting"
24 August 2014 | House in Surrey, BC
Sherrie Schmidt / sunny
Here we sit on our back deck of our home in beautiful Ocean Park, BC (Canada) waiting to hear if the home inspection of the potential buyer went well.
Right, let me back up a litte...... Our home has been for sale on and off for the last year..... We are a family of 4 with 2 daughters (age 10 3/4 and 5). We have been planning our dream of offshore sailing for approximately 2 years and are now in the final stretch with only the house left to sell. I had a business to sell which happened quicker than we had expected. I have been at home with our girls for a year now and can happily say I have finally gotten to know my kids.
I am hoping that the sale goes through so I don't have to keep the dam house in showroom ready state and that the kids can actually play. We find out on Monday August 25, 2014 what the "deficiencies" are. I for one am anticipating a long list which is a pain in the behind. It is only speculation though. I guess you could call that cynical.
With fingers, toes and whatever else I can cross I sign off for the evening.