Who knows when we will see this stuff again.

Everything that isn't going to the boat must be packed.

Packing...I have done this at least a dozen times, but this time is different.  While Mike is up at the lake working on mechanical projects on the boat I am here at the apartment packing up or belongings.  Over the course of my lifetime I seriously have moved at least a dozen times.  Sorting through things, pitching out what is no longer usable, donating what we don’t use, and packing the rest.  I seriously have it down to a science.  But this time it is different.  This time the majority of our belongings are going into storage and who knows how long it will be before we see them again.  

Sort through clothes, what to
pack what to take.

When moving from one home to another most people will have those boxes that contains items that are just temporarily thrown into them just to get them moved.  Well we can’t do that.  I have gone through everything and separated what is going on the boat and what is getting stored.  And when I say everything, I mean everything, from clothes, kitchen supplies, to paperwork and more.  What one has to remember is if it’s not going on the boat, it must be packed securely and it can’t get wet. So we invested in a stack of the plastic containers with lids.  Everything will go in those except for dishes and things that if they did happen to get wet wouldn’t be ruined. 

I have put out enough clothes to get us through till Monday of next week.  That’s when we move on board.  But things like dress clothes will be stored.  Shorts, t-shirts, bathing suits, tennis shoes, sandals and such are what will come along. 

Flour, sugar, rice, pancake mix, almost looks illegal

I have spent a little time everyday working on packing up different parts of the apartment.   This afternoon I was working on the kitchen.  Literally taking the contents out of their containers.  The containers I have on the boat are a different size so things are temporarily moved to zip lock bags for the move on board.  It’s been a bit of a trip down memory lane while packing our belongings. I am looking at things a little differently and wondering when it will be that I see these things again.  I had thought about leaving myself some notes in the boxes so that when I unpack them I will know what was going through my mind at that moment.  But I decided not to, I figure that is what the blog is for.

Everything must be stored in something.  

While I was packing Mike called with some great news.  Our diesel guy, Ryan, had been there to put the refurbished fuel pump back in and they had taken it for a test run and everything had gone well.  He also, with the help of our friend Bob and one of the dock guys Zack, was able to get the Baby J in the water, take it for a spin around the docks and safely get her installed onto the Lady J.  On top of that he was able to get the new VHF Radio installed.  Whooo Hoo now the bridge tenders can hear me when we hail them.  That man is a working machine!!!  But it was so nice to hear the joy in his voice when he called.  I know that he was concerned that the fuel pump wouldn’t get back in time.  Problem solved!  

Still more work to be done both here in Columbus and up at the lake but we are happy with our progress and definitely on schedule.

Busy holiday weekend...

The Moonshine Festival in New Straitsville, Oh

Wow what a busy weekend!!  We started the weekend off on Saturday by spending the day with our dearest friends, Ed & Julie Kerns.  These are the wonderful folks that are storing all our "stuff" while we are gone.  We drove to southern Ohio and attended the Moonshine Festival.  Ohio is big on all their festivals, but this particular one was pretty small in nature.  We toured the building that the moonshine still was at, ate some so called fair food and just enjoyed walking around in the beautiful sunshine. Capped the day off with ice cream in McConnelsville.  We are going to miss these two so much but are hoping they might meet us along our journey.

Ed, Julie, Jana and Mike touring the "Still".

Ed & Julie enjoying a little of the moonshine.

Enjoying a bite to eat and time with great friends.

Ended the day in McConnelsville at the Blue Bell Diner for some ice cream

Then on Sunday my brother Gary and his wife Christy hosted a Bon Voyage party for us.  It was a wonderful way to see family and friends all together one last time before we leave.  The weather was perfect and the time we had to spend with all these special folks was like no other.  Mike and I were truly amazed at how many folks showed up.  We enjoyed wonderful food, conversation and watching the kids play in the yard.  Days like these are what makes leaving just a little harder.

We are finally able to get a family picture before we left.  Love these kids all so very much.

Jacobs first time on a swing, with some welcomed help from his cousin Miles.

Mike and our daughter Kate.

Jacob with his Grandma Nardin.

Lovely ladies, Julie, Eileen, Marian and Pat enjoying some wonderful food.

Even our cruising buddy Sandy was able to join us. (we missed you Jeff)

Our wonderful hosts, Gary & Christy

Our great niece, Clara enjoying some fruit

Zach and the kids playing around in the yard.

Daughter Amanda with Son in Law Kent and of course that little cutie Jacob

Just loved this picture as much as I love these beautiful ladies
(Niece Michelle and Jackie and daughter Kate.)

Son Tom playing ball with our grandson Miles

We ended the long weekend helping our daughter move and then moving some more of our belongings to the Kerns.  It was an amazing long weekend and Mike and I couldn't be happier or more tired.  Monday night was spent together relaxing.  The next two weeks are going to get busier, finishing up last minute details and moving the last of our things on board and the rest into storage.   The count down begins.

Dingy pt 5

Finally getting around to painting the hull.  Quite a bit of prep work required, sanding and filling, to get a smooth surface.  But a good paint job is 90% prep work.  I let the First Mate select the color, and she chose Fire Red, the brightest red in the store.  It is Interlux Brightside single part polyurethane marine enamel, about $40 a quart.  Luckily, I got three coats from one quart.  Normally it would be sprayed on for a perfect finish, but I don't have the equipment or space.  The alternate technique is called "roll & tip".  Small sections are rolled with a 4 inch foam roller.  This leaves lots of small bubbles.  Then a brush is lightly stroked, or "tipped",  across the paint to remove the bubbles and leave a smooth surface.

Rolled.....

Then tipped for a smooth finish.  I'm very satisfied with the final product.

The dingy will be carried on it's side on the swim platform at the back of the boat.  This will block the name and homeport letters on the transom.  I'm putting this required information on the bottom of the dingy with some vinyl letters Jana cut with her Cricut machine.  Two coats of clear polyurethane will hopefully protect the letters when we use the dingy.

I flipped the boat over and have a few small details to complete the boat.  We felt that the name of the dingy should reflect the bigger boat, hence "Baby J" will support "Lady J".  Next Wednesday I will take the boat to be inspected by the Ohio Watercraft people and get it registered.  Then on to the lake for the first launching!  Woo Hoo!

Weeks before a lifestyle change.

A little over 2 weeks till this journey begins.   There are days when it seems like time has flown by so quickly and others days it seems like this journey will never begin.  It is truly amazing at all the things that need to be done before this journey begins. 

We changed our address this week.  Who knew they now charge you to do this. 

Dinghy is just about complete, but now ODNR (Ohio Department of Natural Resources) needs to see the actual little boat before we can register it.  Can’t get in to see them till next week.  

Dealing with a Doctors office, hospital and the insurance company trying to get one single bill resolved.  Really what does it take to get one piece of paper to someone and then have them call you once they have received it.  (So far we are on month 3)  

Family issues, that sometimes make you question if leaving is the right thing, but knowing there isn’t much we can do if we stayed.  

Coordinate final move out of the apartment and moving on board.

Provisioning, provisioning, provisioning.

Waiting for the engine work on the Lady J to be completed.

Our financial advisor leaves the firm so we need to meet with the new guy before we leave.

Family get togethers that are so wonderful, but all you can think about is how much you are going to miss these times.   I know, I know, there will be more of those times ahead.  

Still trying to get rid of our couch and the stove top from the boat, come on Craig’s list. 

Getting in those last visits with dear friends. 

Packing, actually that is probably one of the few things that at this moment is under control.  

Then there is a change being made to the beginning of our journey.  As most of you know I (first mate, Jana)  absolutely do not like going across Lake Erie.  In fact the last time we came back across it I swore I wouldn’t go over it again.  (I know a bit harsh, but old Erie was not good to me.)  This past weekend though my amazing and thoughtful brother volunteered to go with Mike to get the Lady J across lake Erie to Buffalo, NY.  I will stay with my sister in law, Christy and family here in Columbus since we will have turned in the keys to our current apartment.  Then once the guys have arrived in Buffalo, Christy and I will drive up to New York to meet them.  I, will then take back my position as first mate and Christy and Gary will return to Columbus.  I think that this is going to be a perfect fit and I know that the guys will have a great time together (as will us ladies).  Besides that gives me a little more time here with family and oh yes those wonderful grandsons of ours.  

Please don’t get me wrong we are in no way complaining about any of this.  We simply wanted to be honest and convey to everyone what goes on in those weeks before a HUGE lifestyle change.   Thank the Lord that Mike and I have for the most part been able to keep our wits about us.  We are able to make our way through the stress and sheer craziness and find ourselves still smiling at one another, although sometimes you do have to wonder if that smile isn’t a mere grimace.  We will get through these last couple of weeks and be on our way before we know it.  

My man works miracles!

It' amazing what can happen in 24 hours.  As everyone knows by now we were supposed to launch the Lady J on Thursday morning.  Well she wasn't quite ready to go in the water.  So they pulled her out and Mike got to work on the 2 thru hulls that were leaking.  He literally tore into it as soon as they had her back in her stands.  He pulled things apart, cleaned parts and figured out exactly what was wrong and then how to fix it.  Tracked down replacement parts.  He was able to pick one up and ordered the other.    It was amazing how everything fell into place.  Friday morning we woke early and did some other work while we waited for the part to arrive.  Mike's biggest concern was when we could get back in the water.  The more we were delayed the further back our diesel guy would be set back since he couldn't do his work until the boat was in the water.

Fixing the leaky thru hull.

So mid morning we decided to go get a little breakfast and figure out our plans for the coming day.  When we arrived back at the marina Mike received a call saying that the part he ordered the day before had come in.  So he then went looking for Rick to find out when we could get back on the schedule to launch, once we were fixed.  Rick told Mike that there were no openings next week and it would be at least another week or more before we could get in.  He told Mike that he had an opening that afternoon but that was it.  So my AMAZING man went searching for some supplies and tools and miraculously was able to find the things he needed to make the repair.  He sent me out to pick up the part that came in.  In less than 2 hours he had the problem fixed and the guys were at our boat to pick us up and put us in the water.

Thanks to the guys at the marina for slipping us in to their schedule.

Waiting for the boat to be launched

Okay time for a little bragging.  I was so proud of Mike and his hard work and determination.  And can we talk about his skills.  We would never be able to achieve this dream of ours if it were not for the talent and determination of this man.

So by 2:00 p.m. Friday afternoon the Lady J was in the water and at her dock. Hallelujah!!!!  We then spent the next several hours putting things together and finding a couple of other "issues".   Mike once again was putting his mechanical skills to the test, trouble shooting a couple of leaking parts, but was able to get them resolved at least until he can find yet another part.  Oh the life of a boater.  But for now the Lady J is in her dock at the marina and happy to have a wet belly.  We now wait for our diesel guy to come and do his magic.  We are currently back in Hillard, Mike will continue work on the dinghy and I will continue packing up our belongings.  Hard to believe that in less than a month we will hopefully be on our way.

In the water.

Launch Day "sike"!!!!!

How does that saying go?  “Man plans, God laughs”.  

May 7th- Today is launch day!

3rd in line.

We were all ready to go this morning, even got 3rd place in line.  Yes the morning of your launch you have to go over to the “well”.  When Rick from the Marina arrives he then tells you what place you are in and you figure from there about what time they will be around to pick up your boat.  Mike got to the line at 6:45 a.m. and there were already two others there waiting.  You could compare it to folks getting in line for a rock concert or the latest edition of the iPhone.  CRAZY!  Any way,  things were going just like clock work.  They had us picked up and over to the well by 8:45 a.m. 

Now how this works is they bring your boat to the well on a for a better word, brace on wheels pulled by a tractor.  Then Rick pulls this huge lift over your boat, they snug it up and lift her out of the brace and into the water.  The owners then get on the boat, usually over the bow.  I had three gentlemen helping me this morning.  Whoo Hoo!  Then Rick lowers you into the water and that’s when you check for “leaks”.  Well guess what?  We found some.  The major thru hulls were leaking and Mike was not comfortable with how much.  So Rick pulls us back out and the process goes backwards and we are now back in our old location.  Ugh! 

On our way to launch, at least we thought so.

Okay now is when you have to look at this in a positive way.  First this happened in our own marina.  Second rather find it now when it can be fixed and the boat isn’t taking on water. Third Mike is totally capable of making this repair.  As he puts it “this isn’t a show stopper”.  It just puts us back a week or so. Mike has already taken the parts out and knows where he can get replacements.  We should have this fixed next week.  Then once the boat is in the water, Ryan our diesel guy will come and pull the fuel injector pump and send it out to be overhauled.  We opted to have this done before we leave so it doesn’t “crap out” on us out there.  So this possibly may put us a week or two out from our original leave date.  Again this is okay since we are at our home marina.  

And they pulled us back out.

Preparations for launch

Where are we going to put everything?

We arrived up at the marina on Tuesday to do some prep work on the Lady J for her supposed launch on Thursday morning (more on this later).  We left Columbus and the temperature was close to 80 degrees.  Got to the lake and it barely hit 50, oh those winds off the lake. 

Ahhh peace has been restored.  Love our new cushions.

So we threw on another layer (or two) of clothes and got to work.  First we brought up all the supplies we brought from home and had to find a home for them.  Scary part was this is only part of what we still have to bring up.  But as the saying goes “a place for everything and everything in its place”.  We finished up the curtain installation from the last time we were here.  We waxed and buffed the hull. Installed the new oven/stove combination.  Cleaned up the fly bridge so we could actually steer the boat.  Oddly enough had some laundry to do. 

All day Wednesday it was so foggy you could hardly see the boats in the marina.  The fog has never been this bad, so much so that it never really burned off until the next morning.  But luckily this didn’t hinder our projects for the day.  We ended Tuesday evening by hanging out in the club watching some television.

First Mate has a first rate oven/stove combo to cook with.  Yahoo!!!!!

The fog on Wednesday was unbelievable.  It never really went completely away.

Mike putting the spring line in place on the dock.

Fly bridge must be cleaned before we can steer.

The Sunset Tuesday evening was beautiful

After a long day of work on Tuesday we kicked our feet up for a little "DWTS".

What's been going on...

Whew the last couple of weeks have flown by.  It's hard to believe that tomorrow we go up to Sandusky to get the Lady J ready for launching on Thursday.  Last week we had the boys, Miles and Jacob, both over together for a couple of days.  Boy did we enjoy our time with these little guys. We laughed and played and went to the park.  These cousins get along so well.  Can hardly wait till they are big enough to come for a visit on the boat.

 This past week also marked the end of my (Jana) stint at keeping baby Jacob during the day while Mom and Dad are at work.  It has been a wonderful 7 months spending time watching this little one grow up.  I must admit that we both miss seeing that face every day.  But his new day care is working out just wonderfully.

Mike continues work on the dinghy and put the finishing touches on the Lady J.   I have worked on packing up our belongings, trying to figure out what goes with us and what gets stored.  We have also made our (hopefully) last doctors appointments.   Made arrangements at the bank so that our daughter can pay any straggling bills that come after we leave. Taken a couple of truckloads to our storage space at the Kerns. Rode our bikes several mornings to get our behinds in shape.  (Since that will be our only mode of transportation other than the Lady J.)  Bought enough drugstore products to last, well quite a while.  Also picked up some carpet to lay in our state room.  The old carpet well was GROSS.

We were able to pick up a piece of carpeting at Home Depot for a pretty decent price.

We used the old carpet as a pattern.  Yep we had to think a minute on how to lay it the right way.

Mike then used a straight edge and a razor knife to make the cuts.

Hopefully it will all fit into place.  Pictures to follow once it is in place.  So tomorrow we leave and pray that launch day goes with out any "Oh Sh__ts".  Keep an eye out for some updates.  That's if the internet is up and running at the marina.  We now have just over a month before the JOURNEY begins.