Heading North on Volare

It has been a very eventful couple of weeks!

On Saturday, 6/18, we flew to Miami and rented a car to drive to Stuart. I can honestly say I have no desire to live in Florida. None. Zero. Less than zero. Other than Jenson Beach and the Nettles Island Marina which are quaint and have a laid-back vibe, Florida is like one large, humid, bug-infested, strip mall filled with obnoxious drivers.

Around 8:30 pm (Florida time), during our drive to Stuart, we got a call from our real estate agent that we FINALLY had an offer on the house! The next morning (Sunday), we got the details about the offer. It was less than our already reduced asking price. We were heading off shore very early Monday morning and would not have cell service for 3 - 4 days. A decision had to be made before we lost cell service. The next several hours were spent helping prepare Volare for the trip north and talking through the consequences of accepting an offer for less than we had anticipated. We also needed to figure out our financial situation considering the stock market plunge and our shrinking cushion for the unanticipated expenses of our hoped for life aboard a catamaran. We were a bit stressed. Do we reject and hope for a better offer with the market starting to cool and our timeline shrinking? Ugh!

On Monday morning, before we were out of cell service range, we signed the offer acceptance letter. We decided we could figure out the money situation. Worse case, we could work longer (NO!!!!).

On our way out of the marina we saw dolphins! And I got to drive the boat in the ICW!

After fueling up, we headed out to sea and within a few hours we were beyond sight of land and about 60 miles off shore. I don't have the words to describe how incredible it was to be out in the ocean. It was peaceful and beautiful. Flying fish, dolphins, and seabirds kept us company. The play of sunlight on the waves creates glints of silver and changing hues of blue. We were completely alone on the water until our solitude was interrupted by a passing cargo ship.

In the late afternoon, the sky clouded over, the wind rose, the swells grew, the boat pitched chaotically in all directions and I was throwing up over the side of the boat! That ended day 1. I took a double dose of Dramamine and fell asleep across the bed positioned to get the maximum benefit of air circulation from open hatches and the fan. Poor Dave had to figure out how to sleep in the little space I left for him. I missed what I wanted most to see: the sunset, the stars and the sunrise. I wasn't sure if I could make it another 2 - 3 days.