26th October 2009 - We have moved aboard!

Post by **Jeff** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 4:42 pm

I know we'd made the decision to do this already, but actually going through the motions of locking up our house and leaving, knowing it was going to be for at least a couple of years until we saw all our "stuff" again, was quite hard. I kept getting butterflies - not the deep 'stress' moths in the pit of my gut I've known in the past on occasion - but the light floaty ones I used to get the night before my pre-teen birthdays. Not sure why, there's certainly a lot I could stress about, but it was a definite feeling of excitement rather than apprehension. Unsure if the same could be said for Rose.

We have been ruthless and freecycled or chucked as much as possible, but that left quite a lot of "stuff". Photos, clothes, snowboards, climbing gear, crockery; it's all now in the attic gathering dust, with our tenant below (We've been very fortunate in finding a tenant so quickly - got a deposit within a week of advertising!).

Here is our stuff right now:

We were even more ruthless with what we packed into the car to bring to the boat. Especially hard for Rose I think. But despite our best efforts, we still managed to overfill the car and had to resort to the roof rack for some of the stuff (including the giant lobster pot my sister bought me!):

Some stuff was relegated to live in the "car cupboard", but three trolley loads (two trips), packed high, was destined for Isabella:

We were both quite worried it would all fit as we already had a lot of kit aboard - but with some seriously emptying and refilling of lockers, we've actually managed to get it all stowed away quite neatly (amazing how much stowage space there is on a Tempest) apart from the lobster pot. Not sure where it's best to put it really. Guess I can tie it on the stern somehow, but with the liferaft one end and the magma barbecue the other, it's a bit tight back there already. It will just have to sit in the cockpit with the hosepipe until I can come up with something.

After all the packing, locking, driving, trolleying, unpacking and re-packing - it was time for some "bubbles" in the pewter goblets we got from my mum as an engagement gift, time to look at each other and make sounds like "eeeeeeek" and time to sleep.

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That was all on Saturday 24th Oct. Now Lunar and I are alone on the boat for a week as Rose has gone north to take some "stuff" to be stored at her parents in anticipation of the wedding, to check out some wedding venues, to drink more bubbles with her bridesmaids and to try on some dresses.

The weather is horrid (non-stop drizzle) so L and I are cooped up in the cabin making intermittent use of the Eberspacher. I've got a few jobs to do on Isabella (one is to install a new hatch vent in the v berth main hatch as it leaks) but I need the rain to stop so I'm getting on with the bureaucracy list. How great it is to be able to cancel the council tax, TV licence, BT direct debit, gas & elec direct debit, house contents insurance, broadband and water (did I miss any?). It may be raining outside but it's sunny in my tight Yorkshire heart at the moment

Post by **Jeff** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 4:49 pm

PS.

Clocks have now gone back so it's 16:45 and it's decidedly dingy. What a stupid arrangement!!!! Not only is it now going to be dark by the time I finish work each day, but it's also pain to write software to deal with extra hours suddenly appearing out of nowhere and messing with your calculations.

Think I'm going to go to use non violent resistance by going to bed early and getting up early so the clock change doesn't affect me - that'll show 'em, I'm such a rebel.