Greetings from Palm Coast Marina! We arrived here in two cars loaded down with more stuff for our already over packed catamaran. Our vision was to come to warm Florida, take a few days to store things on the boat and be on our way. Reality is much different.

First, it is cold here. It is in the low 40’s at night. In addition to the two heaters we have running at night we have layers of blankets. Second, we have boxes and bags everywhere, inside the boat and outside in the cockpit waiting to be stowed. We have good storage under our bed, and under our daughter Tessa’s bed, but to get to it you have to pull the mattress up, which means moving more things around. So far it is a constant Chinese puzzle. You have to rearrange six things to put one thing away.

We are a source of amusement to the folks at the marina. I’m sure there is a betting pool going on with the odds of us getting everything in the boat. We still have our cars to unload. One car holds the 4 solar panels which we will install on top of the boat. We will eventually sell our cars here in Palm Coast but right now they are acting as an extra storage unit.

We have too much stuff.

My desire to travel the world is largely based on wanting to experience nature in her raw state, people and culture that are closer to the earth and whose attitudes and lifestyle are less corrupted by the media and negative energy that permeates so much of life nowadays. I look forward to the refreshing simplicity of other places and a pace with which time might actually feel a little slower. I look forward to experiencing life with my children instead of living the chaos we call “getting ready for school”. I want to experience “working for your life” instead of “working for a living” as I perform boat repairs in exotic locations to keep our world safe and afloat.