We, and by that I mean mostly Barb, spent a sizable piece of yesterday packing stuff from the boat to take to the place in Shelburne. She has always wanted a pied-a-terre on the dirt as a bolt hole and by tomorrow noon we will have one. From my point of view the best part is that we won't be paying anyone to store our belongings while we are enjoying the cruising lifestyle plus we won't be carrying a lot of the stuff aboard that we have been. I have a lot of tools that I haven't used in three years of cruising but which I have been carrying aboard "just in case". Well, now I will be keeping some of them ashore and in a workshop that is already part of the new property. We currently spend most of the summer alongside anyway, trying to get projects done in a very cramped space. In future I will be able to do the same jobs in a much more open area and not have Nelleke in total turmoil, which really annoys the Admiral.

We should have everything packed up tonight including the kayak on top of the car and the dingy on top of Nelleke. We will be back by the morning of the 4th as I have another doctor's appointment and the movers come to load that afternoon. We are taking the kayak down to Shelburne as we will be living on the edge of a beautiful wilderness National Park and by the mouth of the Roseway River, both great camping, fishing and kayaking spots. We will get more use out of the kayak down there than we ever did on Nelleke and with it gone we will be easily able to stow the RHIB on the cabin top for offshore passages.

Although I have had some small fear that this house is the beginnings of the slippery slope back to dirt-bound residence, as I have said there are numerous advantages plus I really can't see any alternative with Barb's impending surgery and subsequent rehabilitation. Crawling up and down the companionway hatch simply isn't something that I would care to subject her to. This is a good time to buy property as there is a slight depression in the housing market and no matter what spin the politicos try to put on it with the European economy in the state it is and the US in its I really don't see much change in the near future. The house in Shelburne will pay for itself and we have eliminated nearly $400 in monthly storage fees so for us this is a good deal at the right time.

Who knows. Once Barb has her knees fixed and she gets back in shape, perhaps the trans Atlantic cruise will be back on the table again.....