Our Life

The Adventures of Mike and Kelly At Sea

Friday, April 20, 2012

Our Last Week of Singledom

Well folks, we are in the final week of singledom! Scary how quickly time has passed since our engagement. As if a wedding hasn't been enough to think about, we threw in buying a new sailboat just to keep us on our toes! We really are gluttons for punishment. I feel like I haven't seen Mike for the entire month, which really is making me realize that I am so happy to have him in my life. I am delighted that this is my last week of singledom! I have the best partner in the world to share an exciting life with.

It has been an exhausting couple weeks for us trying to get everything figured out. Our patience has certainly been tried and we have had a few bumps in the road as always. It wouldn't be life if we didn't have those obstacles, and we are thankful for them because they help us appreciate all the positive things that we have going on right now. It is the perfect yin and yang balance.

Mike shipped off to Oahu back at the beginning of the month to start making an assessment of things we needed for our new boat. He practically lived at the West Marine store over there, sifting through all the "stuff", dreaming of all the luxuries, and walking out with the essentials. He did an incredible job getting things together as best he could given the rushed time frame and all the obstacles that he encountered along the way.

The biggest problem that he encountered was finding blisters on the bottom of the boat once it was hauled out for dry dock. We had been told there weren't any blisters, but with older fiberglass boats, there is always a possibility. Mike worked around the clock repairing the blisters as best as he could accepting the fact that this is going to be something we are going to have to deal with again in the future. With the help of his friend Jesse, they breezed through the dry dock checking the important things like through hulls, fixing the bottom, and giving her a nice new bottom paint job. While there are still a million things to do on the boat, these were the priority given the short amount of time the boat was hauled out. Oh! I almost forgot, Mike also installed our refrigeration through hull and unit which means there will be iced coffee on board for me in the very near future!

I flew over to Oahu last Sunday to help Mike wrap up dry dock and get the boat back in the water to sail her back to Maui. Unfortunately, things did not go according to the plan as we had hoped. The winds picked up and there were reports of 45-50 mph winds in the channel we were going to be crossing. We decided not to put the stress on the boat and ourselves, and spent the remainder of the few days getting the rest of the essential equipment. Although bummed about not getting to sail back with Mike, I was happy to get off Maui for a bit and have a change of scenery. It was a welcoming couple day break from work, leaving me even more anxious for my two weeks of vacation coming up next week! I flew back to Maui feeling exhausted, yet relieved that things were working out so well.

Just this morning Mike finally made it back to Maui with the lovely Maluhia (formerly The Good Guys). It took him 22 hours of fighting strong winds (30-35) and dealing with the problems that he found with the boat along the way. Fortunately, nothing too serious happened, but they did encounter a few hiccups that made it a bit interesting. Being an older boat, Mike was expecting this, and  he dealt with everything as it came and still made it back safely. His ability to adapt and roll with the punches makes him ideal for this kind of stuff. Something breaks, no problem! Mike figures out a quick way to jury rig it or work without it. I really love this about him! I was so happy to hear from him this morning!




Now we are trying to get everything ready without causing too much stress for ourselves. We have encountered problems with the Harbor here, which is no surprise to us at this stage (Hawaii really is tough for boaters). It isn't anything that we can't figure out, but it requires us to be a bit more creative and to shift our priorities around a bit. Being a type A personality, it is hard for me to not have everything perfect in a matter of time. I just have to keep remembering that everything will fall into place as it it meant to. For now our biggest lesson is patience and maintaining a positive attitude...and that is pretty darn easy as we sit in the cockpit of our new home enjoying our coffee as we gaze at the crystal blue water around us and delight in the the cool breeze and the hot sun above us. Man it feels good to be back out on the water!

Friday, April 6, 2012

Everything Happens for a Reason

"Everything happens for a reason," is a saying I grew up hearing frequently and came to love and make my mantra. Mike and I have incorporated it into our lives, however, through the bumpy patches, it is not always easy to fully commit to the belief that everything will work out how it is meant to.

Back in August, Mike and I flew over to Oahu to look at a 40' boat that we were interested in buying together to have as our home. We got really excited by the boat and everything seemed to be working in our favor, but at the last minute, the owner changed her mind and ended the deal. We were bummed, but we moved on figuring that it just wasn't meant to be.

Just this past week, we heard that the boat was still up for sale and the owner was getting desperate to get rid of the boat. Our friends planted the bug in our ears about the situation, once again igniting the excitement that we had previously felt for the possibility of buying the boat. We hummed and hawed over it and researched the current situation regarding a guy that she was committed to selling the boat to. We discovered that a certain buyer had been evaluating the sale for 2 months and kept falling short when it came down to actually paying for the boat. They were giving him a final deadline and if he didn't show up, we could place an offer and see where it would go from there.

It was a long week of waiting and uncertainty. I had to keep Mike busy with projects so he didn't go insane not knowing! We kept putting positive energy out into the universe, knowing that it would work out if it was meant to. Finally, the day of the deadline approached and we made a plan to head down to our friends' boat a little early to see if the buyer would show up. He never did! We moved in on our opportunity, made an offer, and got the boat! I was so proud of Mike. He was patient through it all and did a great job negotiating. We just can't believe that it really happened! Timing is so much of everything, and the timing was certainly right for us. It once again goes to show that everything happens for a reason.

So now, as if we don't have enough going on with our wedding approaching, we have a boat to fix up and make our new home. It is all very exciting and we are ecstatic that we now have a new home to settle into as newlyweds at the end of the month. Mike was shipped out to Oahu two days ago to get the boat, dry dock her, and eventually bring her back to Maui. From there, we will fix her up for the summer and still carry on with our plans to sail to Central and South America in the very near future. Life is always exciting and we are loving every twist and turn that is thrown our way!