The (mis)adventures of Willis...

Willis' world got turned upside down again today. 

Maybe I better back up 48 hours or so.  The last two days have been very full, very long days. As you have gathered, it is as much a logistical nightmare to move aboard a boat for three months as it is to prepare for leaving her for eight months.  Having never been through a hurricane before, there was much planning and precautions taken in preparing to leave her in her new canal home. So during the last two days, Willis has been a bit out of sorts.  Correction.  He has been a bit out of sorts for the mere six hours or so he has been awake.  The remaining eighteen hours a day of catnapping has pretty much been status quo.  Suffice it to say, that while Donnie and I have torn apart Marquesa once again, to unpack and repack her for the impending move, Willy T's whiskers and curiosity have been in overdrive.  He knows something BIG is looming on the horizon, as sure as if he were seeing an approaching storm from the relative 'safety' of his boat home.

We were up and at it again at 7am, hoping for an 8am departure.  There were so many last minute things left to tackle on our to-do list before we were all to-done.  Final cleaning and sweeping, final wipedown of wash basins, making up our temporary beds from last night, draining the water tanks, treating the head and holding tank, closing the raw water intakes on the engine, covering the winches and storing the winch handles, stowing the cockpit cushions, moving the clown bikes in their bags down below, making an adjustment to the shore power line, adjusting the air conditioning up to 90 degrees, turning off all unnecessary circuits, and I am sure I am forgetting some things.  As I said, it's been a long day, and all of this was completed in two hours this morning, after a fitful night's sleep.

A look at Marquesa in her new home.

A final looking over before we bid her goodbye.  It's hard to think of
what we may have forgotten, when we have never left her in the water
for eight months through which she will weather hurricane season-
which is something else we have never prepared for, either.

And in the words of my late father, by 9:00am, "'We're off!', cried the monkeys as they backed into a ban saw!"  I'm not sure what that means exactly, whether it hints at nutless monkeys running around, or it simply means "Balls to the walls" which is more our style about most things! 

At any rate, Willis was looking a little wild eyed this morning, as he was
literally thrown into his first ever extended car ride. 
(Notice the death grip he attempts to have on the cooler to which he is perched upon!)

True to Willis form, he had to explore every nook and cranny, trying to get a feel for his new surroundings in the Jeep.  It took him the better part of the day to just settle down for the ride.  As the day turned into night, except for two howls early on in the day, he turned out to be a pretty good car rider.  I realized then, that I need to take a lesson from him.  Rather than getting upset and working up a fuss when things don't go (my) way, (like in heavy wind or waves) it's best to just roll with whatever is put before you...it's easier on everyone involved.  Who would have thought I could learn a valuable life lesson from a Willis?

He finally found a perch to rest upon, the highest point where he could lay.
He cracks me up, as it looks as if the fishing pole is in his paws.
Could he be saying, "I really am going to miss life on the water?!"

Somewhere north of Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, we passed a bike ride/poker run
that stretched for miles and miles.  There must have been over a 1000
motorcycles; bikes of all kinds- choppers, harleys, gold-wings, crotch rockets,
three wheelers, and all.  It was quite a sight to see- nothing but bikes!

Every entrance ramp in the southbound lane was blocked.  No other
traffic was in the lanes other than bikes.  I wonder what the occasion was?

Somewhere along the way, we passed a Willis road!!!

Very long car rides lead to very silly faces...

Bless his heart, Donnie did the majority of the driving.  I drove all of about two hours so he could take a much deserved nap.  Given it was an over 14 hour day in all, it went surprisingly fast.  I brought a book with me, "Saving Grace" that I had purchased on Amazon a few weeks ago.  It was recommended to us by Jim and Jenny Burgess from Muncie Sailing Club.  They had heard the author, John Otterbacher, speak at the Strictly Sail Show in Chicago this winter, and urged us to pick up a copy.  The book, all 260 pages of it, was read today, aloud, in the car.  My voice is hoarse from talking so much (My vocal chords clearly are not calloused after four "no teaching lecture" months).  The book has so many uncanny similarities to Donnie and I.  It is a second marriage for the author, like us.  He has severe heart disease, like Donnie.  He's had multiple heart surgeries, like Donnie.  He takes a handful of pills twice a day, to keep his sick heart as healthy as possible- also like Donnie.  The wife has fears and anxieties over her husband's health, like me.  Fears that she mostly keeps to herself, as she must remain strong for her husband and children, like me.  He works as a psychologist in private practice, as I did, though not with a PhD.  He talks about the clarity with which he sees his client's problems, and how easy it is to guide them through their life's struggles and pitfalls, and yet he is horrible at helping himself, like me. Both he and his wife feel consumed by their busy lives, like us.  Both choose to become sailors, having never been on a sailboat...looking for a new hobby, a new adventure to take on in their second marriage, like us. Both are intent on staying the course in their dream to live aboard a sailboat, and to sail the high seas to far away places, like us.  And then heart disease strikes, and their world is turned on a dime.  The similarities don't end there...They first learned to sail on Lake Michigan, where we were first introduced to sailing by a couple from Michigan City, IN. We have sailed to many of the same places along the shores of Lake Michigan. Their eventual 'dream boat' a 50 footer cutter rig sailboat, is found and purchased in Marathon, FL.  They spend a winter season in Boot Key harbor, the pictures of which I just shared on this blog yesterday. The similarities- the excitement of a new adventure, the frustrations of learning the ins and outs of your boat, the fears and anxieties over health scares and "what ifs", overcoming the steep learning curve in understanding the wind and waves and the powers of Mother Nature, the questions and concerns from friends and family members when they hear our plans and exclaim, "You want to do WHAT?!"- the similarities are uncanny.  It made for a great passage...this time nearly seven hundred miles on our tires rather than under our keel.  Today, we got to go back and revisit some of the more scary and challenging times of our marriage.  It was good.  It was healing.  Look how far we have come.  Though it made for a very long day, we were able to "live sailing" on the road, as pages were read aloud.  If anything, it hardened our resolve.  To go back home, to work hard- but work smart, to make sincere changes in our health habits, to make as much money as possible, to live on needs rather than wants, so that we can have the privilege of doing it all again next year.  We want to test the boudaries further...the limitations are nothing more than our own selves. Next year, we will enjoy a spell back at Banana Bay with new found friends, and when the time and weather is right, we will be taking Marquesa to the Bahamas :)  That is the plan...

All of this book reading and deep discussion, eventually lulled a Willis to sleep.
He's cool with whatever we plan; he's just that COOL of a cat :)

By 9:30pm, 14 1/2 hours after our alarm rang on Marquesa in Marathon, FL,
we are just north of Marietta, GA. Willis and Dad are doing what they do best :)

True to Willis form, he spent the first hour or so wild eyed and exploring
his new surroundings.  After all, he has never been in a motel before!  He
was giddy with excitement, exploring every nook and cranny...under
the bed, on top of the desk, behind the chair, in the bathtub, etc.
He then promptly took a dump in his litterbox, gave himself a bath,
AND PASSED OUT!!!  He didn't get his usual 18 hours of cat naps today. 

As we carried our bags and a Willis into our motel room, I was hit by an onslaught of lilacs in bloom, all over the motel property.  For those of you that know, lilacs are my most favorite flower.  After smelling the ocean's salty smells for months, my olfactory sense was in overdrive at their sweet smell.  I no sooner got into the room when I grabbed a glass and headed back outside, again.  I picked a bouquet of lilacs that are now sitting at nose level on my side of the bed.  Spring has spring in our absence, and I am excited to get home to my flowers, and garden, and pond, and log cabin, and kids, and grandkids, and Simon, too, of course!

Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring...

We should be home by nightfall tomorrow...