Big Changes
26 July 2013 | Annapolis
Eric

We've been working toward a change from a terrestrial to aquatic lifestyle for about three years. The idea really came from watching our sons go to sea on tall ships; it looked like fun and Linda and I were looking for something we could do together for our next phase.
I treated it as a project, and applied standard project management techniques. We talked about objectives, figured out a work breakdown structure, and then generated a timeline. There were three major parallel threads: find a boat, deal with land based possessions and obligations, and get the skills. Along the way we had checkpoints, or "gut checks", to make sure this was what we wanted to do.
We decided early in the process to get the skills and pass the early checkpoints, and then buy a boat. We joined the Island Sailing Club http://www.islandsailingclub.com/index in Portland, which allowed us to go up the learning curve on sailing by taking classes and renting a variety of boats. To check whether we could live on a boat, and get some experience cruising, we chartered boats in the San Juans and the Apostle Islands and cruised for a week in each place with our son Benny, his girlfriend Genevieve and our friend Mark.
In parallel I’d done some research on the type of boat to meet our (expected) needs, so the boats we chartered (an Island Packet 37 and then a Pacific Seacraft 37) were potential target types. Early in the process Valiants had also shown up as likely candidates. Eventually, we focused on Pacific Seacraft 40 and 44s, and Valiant 40 and 42s. I started a database of prices and features and we went on a couple of boat hunting trips. I eventually tracked price trajectory of 150 boats and we saw in person about 10 boats.
In the past year several large land based obligations have been resolved. Our kids all became (more or less) financially independent, HP offered a generous early retirement which combined with the economic recovery in the stock market to make retirement feasible. My Dad moved into an assisted living facility near my brother and sister.
As we came into the final year of the three-year plan, things started to accelerate, and we came to some of the big checkpoints.
I still hadn’t been out in the actual ocean, which seemed like an important checkpoint, so I followed my sons onto the tall ships. I went to sea on the Hawaiian Chieftain, http://historicalseaport.org/about-us/our-vessels/hawaiian-chieftain/ http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/may/25/tall-ships-sail-into-battle-vancouver/
starting in Eureka and eventually ending up in Bellingham WA. Teddy, Benny and Genevieve were also aboard for portions of my cruise. It was a great experience and I learned a lot in the eight weeks I spent aboard. There were great lessons about seamanship, living with others, sailing, how I respond to wind and waves, maintenance. I also became friends with plenty of great sailors (potential crew for future passages) in the tall ship community.
We also accomplished some of the big checkpoints on the “leaving land” thread. I actually retired. Linda set her retirement date and is participating in the replacement process. We put the house up for sale, accepted an offer, had a couple of rounds of negotiations, got to an agreement and are getting very close to the closing date. We’ve scheduled the departure parties and potlatches. Our land possessions are going into storage or being given away at an accelerating rate.
Finally, we bought a boat! Rover (ex Willow) is a Valiant 42, Pullman berth, built in 2000. She was cruising in the Caribbean for the past few years, showed up on the market, dropped off the radar and recently reappeared in Annapolis. We jumped on the opportunity and after a survey and sea trial we bought her this week. She’ll be going by truck to the Puget Sound, and we hope to be living aboard by September 1st.