Welcome, Aboard!

Home at last! A Internet connection is not as easy to find as one would think! We are going to be trying out the PC card for wireless Internet from Verizon. So hopefully it will work out and we can get back on-line!! I miss the Internet!

Here is our new vessel slipped up at our new home in Annapolis!

We got the dogs on and they are adjusting well! Jasmine jumped right on and you would think she has lived on a boat all her life! Sandy took a little TLC but she got on and settled in. Luke... well our boy Luke took a little bit of time. He was shaking so bad he could hardly stand up! But after some patience and time, he jumped on. That's our Luke though. Everything is easy does it with him!

But we got them all on and here they are lounging in the cockpit getting used to the movements of the boat in the water.

After awhile, Jasmine and Luke ventured out to the deck......

Here is a great pic of Sandy looking oh so pretty in the cockpit!

Getting them on the boat was one thing. Getting them down into the cabin was another. They fared well and we got a few good shots of them lounging around in the cabins!

Here is my favorite pic! After an adventurous first day on the boat... the hounds took over our bed and snuggled up together for a good nights sleep!

Ahoy!

The boat is ready and we have moved aboard!

YAY! Homeless no more!

The dogs are doing great! Since we are busy moving in and fixing issues, access to the internet is intermittent. We have great pics to post with the dogs on board! Stay tuned and we hope to have a full posting by the weekend!

Homeless Pets and Hotels

The pups are moving on in a world without Clayton. Jasmine of course took it the hardest. A week later and they are all doing much better. We spent a couple days at Jasmine's house over the weekend. We let the dogs out in the backyard for a potty break and a romp and when they were ready to come in they stood looking pathetic at the back door....

The back door that was cracked OPEN!

Clayton was the real brains of the bunch. He was always opening the doors for them, opening the cabinets, trash cans, baby gates and any other obstacle that was in their way!

We are also kind of homeless right now. The boat is not quite ready for living so we are staying at various places and hotels. Luckily these 3 are VERY adaptable and love all the new experiences.






They are no strangers to hotel life and they just move right in and make themselves at home!



















We took them to a local dog park to blow off some steam. They loved it and enjoyed playing with some other dogs as well.











Sandy trying to camouflage herself to ambush the others.

Just this side of heaven....

.... is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

Tuesday was a sad day for us as we had to put Clayton to sleep. As many of you know, he has been in a steady decline for the last year and the last few weeks came down on him very hard and very fast. Everything came to a head on Monday night and on Tuesday evening we had to make the difficult decision and the long trek to the vet for what we knew was the best thing for him. His momma (which is my momma) was away on a business trip which made it doubly hard for everyone.

We were lucky enough to be able to get a hold of her to get her blessing and to let her know what was going on. She was extremely sad she could not be there. She was only a couple weeks from coming home but she did not want him to suffer any longer.

At 8 years old he was his own dog. He no longer needed to impress the younger pups or to prove anything to anyone. He left his marks wherever he went and did his own thing on his own time. A little slower than the others, but more strong willed than all of them put together. He held his own but loved his momma and the companion of others. Smart as a whip, he learned to open doors, gates, trashcans and anything else that contained food on the other side!

Here is a little video Shannon put together as our tribute to a good old dog.......

Parting shots....

It is with a sad heart that we leave our old landlocked home. It was a dream to find and we have loved living there. 5 bedrooms on 5 acres? yet just 5 mins from all the conveniences of life? who could have asked for more!! We did a lot of upgrades to the old house in the 2 and half years we lived there, including a large fenced in area. It will surely be missed. = [

Due to the market being in such a slump... we are renting the house for a year and plan to sell it next summer (hopefully in a better market!). Keep us in mind if your in the market next year for a new house!

I could not believe the amount of "stuff" we had accumulated over the last few years! Amazing... totally amazing! You would have thought we lived in a 10 bedroom house!

More "stuff" lined up waiting for the movers...

We got rid of A LOT of stuff but it still didn't make a dent! No room for extra stuff on a boat! We still have another round or 2 of downsizing!

The dogs had been showing some anxiety as we started to pack, and the day the movers came, they were all nervous wrecks!

Here is Sandy, trying to hide away from it all....

We set the X-pen up outside so they movers could come and go freely and leave the gate open. With every box that went by the dogs grew more and more nervous. No doubt wondering if they were next....

Jasmine laying claim to her couch... "NO! Not the couch! Anything but the COUCH!!"

Clayton reminding the movers: "HEY! Don't forget those 2 black dogs!"

And poor Sandy... once again trying to hide in the last place left.... She took the move the hardest and slipped into her own little world for awhile. It only lasted a couple of days but she is back to her sweet Sandy self.

We've had some great times in that old house and will forever have some fond memories. Birthdays, holidays, welcome home parties, bon voyage parties and some good old get together's just for the heck of it.

I leave our house with my favorite pic of it.

Home, Sweet Home.....

Home at last, Home at last! Thank God Almighty we found our home at last!

Signed, sealed and delivered! She's ours! After two months of research, time and hunting... we found her.... the one...

Thar' she blows!

So we bought the 42 Whitby as mentioned on the previous post. She's a good solid boat with a roomy interior. More interior pics to come once we start moving in! It will be about a month or so before we start living on board. We need the time to move stuff in and get the dogs acquainted and comfortable before moving on full time.

We took her out right before we bought her for a little sea trial to check the sails and systems. All went well and it was an awesome time!

Here is a pic of Kevin at the helm. He's a natural!

We took our two nephews, Alec and Brandon, with us. They loved it and can't wait till we are ready to go out again!






Here is Brandon doing his best Captain Morgan impression. (didn't learn that from us!)

Alec, enjoying the view and the breeze....










And what did we name our new home you ask? We picked something near and dear to our hearts..... a symbol of us....












It comes from a Hawaiian Song call Drop, Baby Drop. One of the lines from the song goes" I love you like a mango." It's our song and its special to us as Hawaii is where Kevin proposed to me. We heard this song on the radio a couple days later and just loved it!

Luke and Sandy will be visiting their new home on the weekends so they can get used to it slowly. Kevin is busy devising some special ramps to help them get up down the ladders to the cabin. We are also looking at other things to alter and add to the boat to make their lives that much easier! We won't know exactly what we need until they are on the boat and exploring!
Can't wait for those first shots!

The Hunt Continues....

We are getting dizzy looking at boats!! The more we look the more we find! We have decided to narrow our search to boats only in Maryland and Virgina. There are lots of great boats in Florida but the extra shipping costs can be killer. We are finding lots of great boats in the Maryland area and we don't have to worry about shipping fees! Here is our current top runner. Could this be our new "home"?

It's a 42 ft Whitby Ketch. A good, strong, blue water boat. Made for anything from Chesapeake Bay cruising to trans-Atlantic crossings. Roomy enough for 2 humans, 2 dogs and a few guests!

The Galley (aka, the kitchen)

The companion way (front door), thruway, and navigation station

The head (aka, the bathroom)

Master Cabin

As I am sure you have noticed by now... there doesn't seem to be too much room on a 42 ft sailboat! Its actually about the size of a small to average size apartment....its just longer more than it is wider! There is plenty of headroom for Kevin at 6'1" to stand up throughout which is an important thing as we are looking at boats.

We will obviously be downsizing A LOT!!! Anyone need a new couch? Yes, it will be a spartan lifestyle but we are looking forward to it! Less stuff, less junk....more freedom.....

It's all part of our plan to simplify our life.