Welcome to our sailing halfway house!
Perhaps my favorite place we’ve lived thus far since we sold our house last year. It’s 700 sq feet laid out as one big loft space, and some friends of ours have generously offered it to us for a few months as we recover from our string of Barcelona bad luck.
It’s comical, really. Before we ever left, Suzanne pulled me aside over a glass of wine.
“Okay,” she said. “Scott and I have it all figured out. When you guys get into a big fight and want to sell the boat. Don’t. Call me. You can come stay in our house, and we’ll go to the boat until you cool off and figure out if that’s what you really want to do.”
Spoken like a women who’s been there. How does she know us so well?!
The now middle school teacher, has lived on a boat with her husband and young daughter before, that’s how. She knows firsthand both the thrill and hard work I have ahead of me. She’s paddled laundry for a family of three to shore in a dingy, and endured a stormy week cooped up in a mere 25 foot boat with no where to escape (and sometimes she forgets to hide her amusement that I still feel compelled to embark on this sea shenanigan! Much like I smile and congratulate a pregnant woman, our excitement and fear for the other woman, all rolled up into one emotive congratulations.)
And so, even though we haven’t even dropped an anchor yet, we’ve already been taken in by the sailing community. Scott and Suzanne are a testament to the kind of people you find in harbors worldwide. At sunset, you can often find us hanging out in the VW bus with afternoon cocktails, talking about what our boat will look like. I guess it’s our version of a yacht club for now.
If we have to be on land right now, I can’t imagine a better place to be. We’ll be here through June devising a new timeline, route and plan, which I’ll be sharing soon.
But for now, let me take you on the tour.
Every window serves up a gorgeous view of evergreens and lush meadows.
Belongings for a family of four,
all fit in the amore and built in dresser. Not bad.
The kids sleep on the futon, and we get the bed. Actually there is more of rotation happening between Diego and the kids, but I always get a spot in the bed, because I’m the Mama.
The kitchenette and dining space.
Scott’s old office he has graciously allowed to be taken over.
Sanity in a bottle. Imported smuggled in from Catalunya.
Trees to climb, forests and meadows to explore.
And that’s our sailing halfway house. Lovely, isn’t it?
