Voyaging With Kids: Interview with Delos and Totem

This is a great informational series on cruising with kids. If you or your family have questions about this topic, check this out! There are 8 videos in the series:

Check our their blogs:
http://www.sailingtotem.com/
http://svdelos.com/

Brokers and Sea Stars

Yesterday morning's sailing adventure to go beyond the point for some open ocean sailing started off with a surprise guest on board.

Zach is shown gently returning the sea star to the water (even though it was no longer alive). We figured a sea gull had dropped its lunch mid flight sometime between Wednesday's race and yesterday morning.

**Ok, Jared just mentioned it is not called folding the sail, but flaking the sail. Correction made honey.**

While preparing to get under way, we received a call from our broker. He may have some leads for a few boats to check out next week! With that exciting news, we headed out into the bay.

Cadence fell asleep while watching for dolphins. Stef carried her down below to continue her nap.







The wind picked up quite a bit towards the mouth of the bay and we began to have a bouncy ride. We decided that with two kiddos napping, we would just stick to sailing the bay for the day. It was a calm sail the next couple of hours.

Eventually, we headed in to our slip to hang out for a couple of hours and just enjoy the sunshine. We had an appointment later that afternoon with the local dive shop and wanted to pick up some fresh fish from the harbor for dinner.

Matt is bringing us into the harbor with the conch shell.


 This is what our kids do while hanging out on the boat!

After tidying up, we headed out to the Monterey Fish Company and then to our local dive shop to set up our certification courses. Jared, Matt, and I will start with open water (up to 35 feet), where as Zach has to start in the pool (only 10 and up can start in open water, so he will work on other skills in the pool). Cadence will have to wait another year until she is old enough, so she and Zach will get certified for open water while we are out cruising.

 

They always have fresh seafood for sale!

The rest of this weekend entails yard work and school supply shopping (we still have about a month left before it starts, but I always get our stuff early. It is one less thing I have to think about while setting up my classroom). We are planning on making a trip to check out a few boats next week, if all goes well. 

Making Progress

We made progress on the de-cluttering this week. Since storage was emptied, we had a few tubs of stuff on our back deck. Okay, make that around 10 tubs and various boxes and containers. Since we need to tear out the back deck in order to start on the addition, it meant I needed to get in gear and sort through it all.
I started this early yesterday morning and after a few hours later, I had loaded the trailer for the donation center and landfill. The rest of it is either going to our storage unit (keepsakes and things we will use when we return from our adventure) or friends who wanted certain items. I have a friend who is starting her teaching career in primary grade levels, so the rest of my kindergarten classroom stuff went to her.

The building was open today, so we dropped off the load there instead of driving all the way out to the landfill area (like last time).

The kids were not keen on making another landfill trip. Zach actually donned one of our painting masks. Geez... these kids. Anyway, it was a successful and quick trip. After a quick trip to the donation center on our way home, we were back home in time to BBQ dinner and have a family movie night.

Now, we are through that mess, we can move on to the addition project and get this house ready for sale next year (I would love to try and rent it out, but that all depends on how finances are when we leave). Either way, we need to get a move on with this! Our only hold up is the city--waiting on their "historical home" review (which by the way, our home is not considered historical) so that we can finally get our building permit.


I can't believe it is already the month of July. Where is the summer going? I stopped by my classroom earlier this week, just to put the furniture back from where the custodial crew moved it for cleaning. Matt helped me, so it went quickly. While I am trying not to think about classroom projects too much at this point and enjoy the summer, I know that I need to at least make my "to-do" list and get copies made for the month of August (before everyone else returns and is in the copy room).  The first day of school will be here before long (in about 5 more weeks).

Hope everyone is doing well and wishing you all a wonderful Independence Day celebration!
~Stef

Boat Filter

Crossed another item off the list! What a relief! While Jared was home recovering and the kids at the movies, I tackled the task of clearing out the rest of the storage unit and closing out our account. It wasn't that large of a space, however, it was pretty full.

The past few days found me sorting through a lot of stuff. I asked myself again, how did we acquire so much? Anyway, all of the things we are keeping are stored in our shipping container at my parent's property, while the remainder has been donated or sold. 

It is a nice feeling to have that task completed, yet I know we have one final clear out of the house before we set sail. One thing at a time...

We have a different view when it comes to shopping now. Those cute home decor and crafting aisles don't call my name any longer. We use what I call the "boat filter" when shopping. Can we use this when we move aboard? Will it fit? Will it be useful while cruising? It really helps. 

I am looking at our pantry with a new view as well. If we do end up going next summer, we can take food aboard if we find a boat in the U.S. Most likely though, it will be in Europe, so we need to begin using up all the canned items to ensure we don't have boxes of food we can't use. Of course, anything left over we cannot take, would go to our local food pantry. 

We are slowly working through the to-do's and I know we'll get there...eventually! #goals

Boat Show Blues

In my last post, Jared had a fever during Matt's triathlon. Well, that fever developed into a hospital visit and diagnosis with pneumonia! It's obvious that we are not going to make our trip down to the San Diego Boat Show. Huge bummer, because we both were excited for the trip. Jared even said last night that we should still go. Yeah right, buddy. I called the airline (Alaska Air) and had our tickets postponed for later use (instead of eating the cost of the airfare, they will credit your account the full value of the tickets for later use). The hotel wasn't as cooperative. We still might have to end up eating that $300, but I am hoping to hear back from the manager soon that we won't. 
6-28-16 UPDATE: the hotel refunded the entire amount! We are thrilled! :)

Yesterday, I took the kids to go spend a few days with their grandparents. After all, they were so very much looking forward to going, and this would give Jared a nice and quiet house to recover in. 
My parents happen to live very near my in-laws', so I deposited a second load of stuff to go into storage. I got the shelving all put up and organized the boxes. There isn't much left to bring over, as the storage unit is just about cleared out. That will be my task today and tomorrow, getting the rest out of storage.

We had our yard sale last Saturday and it went well. After it was over, we took the remainder to the donation center. Anything that was not taken by the donation center went to the landfill. That was a mini adventure it itself. You see, Jared has always made that trip. Since he was sick, I just decided to suck it up and do it myself this past Tuesday. The kids have gone with Jared before, so they were excited to be my helpers in this endeavor. 

We arrive at the landfill and Matthew is telling me what to expect and how we will have to drive into this big building and back up the trailer before offloading it. Wait, what? Backing up with a trailer is NOT one of my better skills. I mean, I haven't really had much opportunity to practice, but I already know the couple of times I tried sucked big time. (Flash back to when I dropped off stuff at our storage container at my parent's house. The darn trailer kept jackknifing! It was so frustrating. I know I have to turn the wheel opposite and everything, but with a walnut orchard right behind me, it isn't so easy. I ended up figuring it out, but let's just say it was not my best moment. Note to self: make time to practice this skill!)

Anyway, back to the landfill. Turns out the big building is closed for the day due to maintenance, so we have to drive out to the landfill. The spot they indicated was about a mile and a half out. No biggie, as long as I am going straight, we are all good. Now, if you've ever been out to a landfill, you know the bouquet of aromas that await you, even with the windows up. The waste-water treatment plant is just next to the landfill. I know this much, because I took my 5th grade class out there for a field trip when we had to learn about water filtration for a unit in science (NGSS Unit 3, 5th grade). The kids had to design and construct a device that would filter dirty water and produce clear water at the end. Cool experience, but I digress.

We made it out to the spot and I am greeted by one of the employees who tells me that it is easy to get flat tires out here, so be careful. Great. 

I pull up to the big semi-circle of trucks dumping their loads of trash. "I'll just pull up over here to the side and off-load." I thought to myself. "Then, I can just swing around and take off without needing to back up the darn trailer". Good idea, but it was not to be. Another employee comes over and asks me to move into a specific spot to off-load the trailer. This entails me pulling out and then backing in to the middle of the activity. I went ahead and let him know that I was not the best at maneuvering a trailer while in reverse. He just smiled and said it wouldn't be a problem. 

After backing up slowly and trying to keep things as straight as possible, I finally stop to check just how far back I had to go. There were so many vehicles driving in and out behind me that I decided to check in with the guy to see if he really wanted me to back it all the way up. I think he got the idea, so he said I was fine where I was and that the huge dozer to my right would be right along to scoop up the load and push it into the pile. Ok, fine. I off-load the trailer as fast as I can, while making small talk with the nice employee. How they can stand that smell is beyond me. It's worse than your typical dairy farm experience. Guess they just get used to it. 

A few minutes later, we are pulling away from the landfill and heading home. Another item crossed off the list.

Just 'Tri'

This post is about how I learned a great life lesson from my 10 year old. But first, the story...

Yesterday, Matthew participated in his first triathlon.
The Pacific Grove Triathlon, Sprint Distance.
It is a .25 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike ride, and 2 mile run.
He never showed any signs of nervousness, only excitement and the anticipation of adventure. After all, Jared does these things all the time, and I've done a few half-marathons over the past couple of years, so it was only natural that the kids would want to follow in our footsteps.

I, on the other hand, was the nervous one. No, that's an understatement. This mama was worried about her little one out swimming the ocean and racing with all the older participants. And sharks. Matthew, who is 10, was the youngest competitor. My only consolation, was that Jared would be racing with him. At least having his dad out there to watch out for him, made me feel a little better.

The morning of, Jared woke up with a 100 degree temp, so this meant he would not be racing. Matt would be all on his own. However, he did agree that while he didn't feel well, he would go down and help Matt get his transition area set up.

Matt was in the first "wave", which included all the other males aged 19 and under, as well as the relay group. Matt was the youngest and smallest. This did not matter to him. He maintained his calm yet excited demeanor the entire time. I must have shown what I was feeling (I really did try and keep my worried-mama feelings to myself) because he said "Mom, I really want to do this. I can do it!". While waiting for the starting signal, he went into the sea to warm up and get himself in the zone. At 8:40am, the announcer started the countdown and they were off! Among the crowd of people, I could barely make out Matt as he dove in and began the swim portion of the race. Now this is the part I was most stressed about, being out there in the water with hundreds of other people. I've seen in past events, where people swim over others, and one gets kicked, hit, slapped, and water flies everywhere as racers try to swim as fast as they can. My biggest worry was that Matt would get hurt out there, despite Jared reassuring me that there were divers, kayakers, and other life guard personnel out in the water keeping an eye on things. About 8 minutes later, we see Matt coming towards shore and I let out a relieved breath. He made it! As he exited the water, a huge wave of excitement washed over me and we all cheered as he made his way to the transition area for the bike portion. Jared ran off to help Matt, and so Zach, Cadence, and I ran over to the exit area to watch Matt take off on the bike portion of the race.
Zach and Cadence took turns ringing the little bell and we cheered Matt on as he completed both laps on his bike. As he was coming in to the transition area for the run portion, we raced off to the next starting point to see him off on the final leg of the race. As Matt emerged from the transition area, we stood by cheering and Zach ran over to give him a hug. What a sweet moment! The rest of the race went well and we were all so excited for him as he ran past the finish line earning his medal. He had a huge smile on his face the entire time!

He was not tired and said "I feel great! I could do this again"! Ah, to have the energy of a child... He skipped off to get his chocolate milk and other race completion goodies. One racer looked over at him and said to me, "He did the entire thing"? "Yep", I replied, looking on with pride.
We were then alerted to the fact that Matt earned 1st place for his division, so we walked back to the awards area for his announcement, medal, and photo on the block.
So the great life lesson I learned from all of this? To just try.  To follow your dreams and achieve those goals; not let fear get in the way and ignore the "what ifs". It's not easy for me. I am both a worrier and a planner. But now, I am going to try and relax a little and go more with the flow.
After seeing Matthew complete this race, and my other two asking to do it next year with their brother, I am realizing that my kids totally get the bigger picture: just try. Look for the fun and adventure, instead of worrying about what could go wrong. They have the right idea. 

So about cruising? Of course I am excited about this trip. The time with our family, exploring various parts of this world, and all of the adventure that goes with. 

I do still worry a little about the things that could go wrong, however, not as much as before. We will plan and prepare the best we can and  most of all, just enjoy it one day at a time.