Today is a big day. Big, scary, exciting, sad, happy, questionable, fluid, solid. Today (September 30, 2021) marks the official start of a new phase in our lives. Today we moved out of our home and onto our boat, a 2008 Seawind 1160. In December, weather and Covid permitting, we set sail again to explore new territory and revisit old favorite places. And while things are going just as we'd planned, I have to admit, it's weird.

It's weird to think that we've sold the house in which we lived for 19 years and moved onto a floating tiny home. Weird that we're leaving the neighborhood we've come to love, saying goodbye to old neighbors and some great new ones, and lots of dear friends. Weird to think we'll no longer sit in our comfy Harry Potter Chairs by the fireplace, rehashing the day and making plans for the next, or sit on our deck at sunset and watch the great blue herons fish. No more washer and dryer conveniently located steps away in the garage. And no more big fridge - our tiny boat fridge will not accommodate my giant pot of soup, from which we nosh for a week. I need to reestablish my galley-savvy and think small. No more easy grocery storage in the pantry and the overflow shelves in the garage - it's back to removing all cardboard packaging and re-labeling food stores with one of the most important tools in life, on land or sea - the Sharpie pen, then stow the food in strange and hard-to-reach places. And mostly it's weird to think that at 63, I'm actually choosing a difficult life over the cushy sweetness that was our home.

But like so many people these days who are opting for small-space lives, whether it be a tiny home, a motor home, or a boat - we're trading convenience, routine and comfort for new adventures, and that's exactly what we're looking forward to. Unlike the last time we went cruising in 2009, when we escaped for only 2 years and ended up in Australia, we have unlimited time before us to explore as much or as little of the world as we want, and can return when we want. Not having ties is a heady feeling, and one we're grateful to experience.

A bit about the boat: s/v Fly Aweigh II was built in Australia. She's 38 feet long plus an extra 3 on the stern hulls, a modification made by the first owner, which gives us great swim steps on either side and adds a bit of length (= speed) to the waterline. So, really, she's 41' long, over 21' wide, with a small-condo feel. She has 3 sleeping cabins, but is a bit lacking in storage, so one of them will be conscripted for that job. She's very energy independent, with 945 watts of solar supplying the lithium battery bank with 800 amp hours of juice. This means we can have an electric dive compressor to fill our scuba tanks wherever we want, and we rarely need to plug in to shore power. She has a small water maker, and we'll see in the next few months if that needs to be upgraded. She's equipped with a reverse-cycle air conditioner/heater, which we've tested and find adequate to take the edge off of cold or hot weather, but we might add a diesel heater if we take her to higher latitudes.

We're splurging on new sails from our sailmaker friend Jamie Gifford on s/v Totem, and a new dinghy and motor since the dinghy is the car - we'll be very dependent on that little boat and want good comfort and reliability. (We went with an AB flat-bottom aluminum dinghy and a 15hp Tohatsu outboard.)

What else: well, I guess we'll figure it out as we go - we have lots of projects to complete before we launch. But with these Covid variants, who knows what the future holds, even 2 months from now. Maybe we'll delay our departure, or maybe we'll never even leave! If that were the case, we'd enjoy our Channel Islands and local sailing, fly our airplane, and hang with family, so it's all good, although the blog might be a little boring.

We're grateful to the buyers of our house for letting us stay 2 extra months to give us time to get through the memorial service we had in early August for my mom, who left Planet Earth at the end of May, and to also get some work done on the boat that would be difficult if we were living aboard.

And so, I officially mark this as the beginning of The Further Adventures of Allan & Alison Gabel on s/v Fly Aweigh II. And while it's trendy (and potentially lucrative!) to have a YouTube channel these days, we're camera-shy and also a bit lazy, so we'll stick to this blurb and a nice photo gallery, and hope to have a decent readership with whom to share. I do have a YouTube channel to post the occasional wildlife or adventure video, but it will be sparse offerings.

The last time we did this, in 2009 on Fly Aweigh the 1st, I set up the blog (a new-ish concept 12 years ago) just so I could write to my adventurous, yes-girl mom, who loved sailing and always hoped to do some real cruising, who relished any new experience, especially if it involved water, digging in the dirt, or buying hand-loomed fabrics at small foreign markets. She's the reason I learned to sail, she taught me to love the water and all of its' creatures, and she's the reason I'm even here - on this boat, and in this world. So I dedicate this blog to her, the immortal Margy Gates.

And so it begins. To you, Mama.