Update #3

Awwww...the joys of boat ownership! We are quickly learning that anything that can go wrong...will go wrong! Mind you, we still have it pretty good, but this is a real stretch for me. I keep thinking...God has something big he is trying to teach me, so I'm trying to go with it. The problem is...there is no place TO GO WITH IT! A few times yesterday I tried to go for a walk, 406 steps to the bathroom, or 392 to the laundry facilities here at the marina, just to cool off a bit... cry... whine to myself etc...BUT NOOOO! There are friendly people EVERYWHERE! Making the “trying to maintain a low profile” thing really hard. They’ll invite me over to their boat, or they have a really cute dog that is licking me, or they're telling me what a beautiful boat we have, and I JUST WANT TO PUNCH THEM! But I can't... because they are all so dang nice. AND HELPFUL! Boaters will stop whatever they are doing to help you. So, yes, I stopped and helped a nice gentleman carry his new, leaking dinghy up the dock ramp, so he could return it. He kept saying, "Are you sure you can do this?" I reassured him that I was stronger than I looked, when in reality I was so angry at the time I could have moved a mountain! I believe we are now life long friends. He has even offered to crew for us on the Baha Ha-Ha. (More on that another time.) Soooo, after a completely disastrous day, with workers on the boat since 8:30 AM, Rudy, my new friend, shows up with a glass of wine and his grandchild, a perfect age for Ben, and we all talk for hours. Ben and Austin became instant friends, enjoying dinner together and then trying to catch crabs with these little hooks they would tie on their fishing line, and bits of mussel that they would peel off the dock, and stomp on to get the meat as their bait. Needless to say, the crab won every time. So, that's how it is here. You have visitors off and on all the time. Whether you have just had a marital discussion (Ha!)...or haven't brushed your teeth, or done the dishes, or put on your makeup... it's just the way it is. God is trying to get me to lighten up, huh?!

So, let me back up here, and catch you up on our glorious past week. Last weekend was Pirate Days at Ventura Harbor. Ben was soooo into it! He dressed up each day, and we would watch the tall ship pull in with faux dead prisoners tied up on a line, shooting their canons along the way. It was very exciting. (As one neighbor put it, "Didn't you notice...we live on Main Street in Disneyland!") We rode the dinghy over and enjoyed all of the festivities. I saw more Jack Sparrows (why is he so sexy?), and yes Larry thoroughly enjoyed the winches too! Ben had a week long sailing class at the Ventura Yacht Club. He had the best time and it was so cute to stand on the back of our boat and watch him sail by in his little Laser and wave. His last day he capsized right in front of us, struggling, he flipped the boat back over (screaming the whole time about how cold it was) then says, "Oh snap, now I have to bail!". The instructor motors over, throws him a bucket and tells him to get started. Excellent life lesson there I'm sure. So, with Ben being gone from 9 - 4:30 each day, Larry and I thought we would get so much done, (or at least...ya know!) But, noooo! Larry got this urge to start to try things, such as the washer/dryer machine. BIG MISTAKE! We got so excited because at first it looked so good. We couldn't believe this piece of crap looking thing actually worked...but then... it didn't drain. Hmmmm...so over the next 24 hours it slowly drained in our engine room. Okay, so we have a little water mess, no biggy. Now all the men here LOVE this. They can spend hours with Larry trouble shooting (or shooting something, I don't know)...but as they do this they find other leaks. And they try other things, and then I yell to Larry, "Hey...did you just turn something on?" He runs down, and finds the relief valve on the hot water heater has blown, frying the electronics on it. It was quite impressive, and hot and steamy too! (I thought we had truly landed in Hell!) In the meantime, in pulling up the floor boards over one of our water tanks, our fears came true that we have a leak in one of our holding tanks. That's kind of a big deal. Now Larry, in his good naturedness, just keeps saying, "It ain't cancer." I just keep asking him..."Are ya livin the dream baby?" (I think I'd better stop saying that because he's gonna hit me one of these times!) Needless to say, we now have a new, beautiful hot water heater that works! A whole12 gallons, woo hoo! (Can't wait to see the plumbers bill.) Everyone says, what costs $100.00 on a house, costs $1000.00 on a boat. So, we are pretty bruised and beat up this weekend (they call them "boat bites"), and feel like we still have not accomplished anything towards our goal of leaving the end of October, (we haven't even sailed this dang vessel yet!) but we'll either make it or not. It's the journey right?


Ahoy matey...'til next time!

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1