Oct 2, 2017 | Flotsam
I wasn’t planning on sending you all an update until a bit closer to leaving Montreal but when our moving POD was delivered today I decided it was worth telling you all about the experience.
POD Delivery
It was not too dissimilar to launching a boat. The guy presented himself around 08:00 after a couple of calls letting us know of his approximate arrival time. By the way, so far in this process at least, we are super happy with the company and what they offer, very reasonable pricing and a small military discount is always welcomed. These days when customer service seems to be less than what we are willing to put up with we’ve been really impressed with their communication. I say so far because we still have a way to go.
The Process
So here’s the show. Podzilla the robot that our POD sits on, raises up the container so that the driver can extract the POD from his truck then lowers the POD slowly to the ground. Podzilla then returns to the truck. Very much like our annual boat launch and with as much care.
The Demonstration
The great communication continued with a demo of how the locking system works….
The Unveiling
…and some instructions on loading etc.
Supervisor Pig
As always, the Pig played supervisor from afar. I guess we’re all a little nervous about the events of the days to come.
The First Run
In the beginning, when we started bringing all our carefully packed boxes down to load, I thought, there is no way our stuff is going to fit. I mean NO WAY! But after a few hours of hauling and lifting and arranging, Francois had it all neatly stacked, taking up no more than a third of the container. If nothing else, all those military moves taught this guy to pack like a professional. We still have so much more to do and I’m still taking bets to see if our worldly goods can fit into an 8’ x 8’ x 16’ POD. Feel free to chime in with your bets.
Last Beer
The land galley is getting mighty low on supplies but we managed to squeeze in one lowly beer to share, congratulating ourselves for a job well done today.
Post Script: french translation is automated and not always perfect. Sorry
Jun 12, 2017 | Flotsam
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
R.E.D.
We’re all ready to hitch R.E.D. to our tow beast, wrapped and strapped for Armageddon because baby has never before been on a road trip this far and that’s how Captain rolls.
Goodbye Marcel
The club guys have been careful to place her in a location to make it easier to hook up and go. Easier to hook up and go. Easier to hook up and go. Easier…to go…
Goodbye Guy
This is SO not going to be easy. Really going to miss this place. And saying that makes me realize just what we will be missing.
Good friends and family for sure but as I’ve said before, you keep in touch with the ones you wish to keep in touch with and I’m sure the times we visit in the future will be treasured even more because of the distance between us..
There are also the things we won’t be taking with us. Things we’ve sold and donated. But they’re just things. Yes, certain posessions are attached to a lifetime of memories but they are in the end just physical objects…. just sutff.
This exercise has made me realize it’s not those things that I’ve had trouble letting go of. What’s a good deal more painful is the nest we created together that I’m finding so very difficult to leave behind. Memories of the time we first visited and Francois had to put his hands firmly on my shoulders to keep me from excitedly jumping around, saying to me quietly: ‘poker face, Kathy. We’re negotiating’. All the little love notes we left inside the walls of our renovations. My footprints accidently left in the flooring glue. The epic wine and cheese parties after which we would be asked how one could get on the guest list. The dinner parties that continued into the wee hours…the conversations and laughter that went with more bread and a little bit more cheese and just one more sip of porto. The six months without a kitchen, functioning only with a coffee maker, a rice cooker and a borrowed boat cooler while Francois was on a mission in some far away desert for the third time. And the more mundane yet treasured memories of morning coffees in bed…till noon…those occasional (read, frequent) bottles of champagne…in bed…celebrating whatever. There was never, for us, ever a reason not to celebrate. So many memories.
We are leaving our nest in good hands though to someone who fell in love with it just as we did thirteen years ago. She will create her own memories here surrounded with family and lots of love I am certain.
We have no idea what’s ahead of us, only that we are heading east. We no longer have a land home but we have a boat. We’ve mentally created three doors to choose from but what lies behind those doors remains a mystery.
Our journey of a thousand miles has begun with this single step…steps taken before and steps yet to come.
…..I’ll close now to allow my eyes to dry, to let our wheels cover a bit of ground and leave you with a smile from my very literal man who remarked about the quote at the beginning of this post: ‘but Kathy it will be much more than a thousand miles.’….
…!sigh!….
Ideed it will my love. Indeed it will!
Jun 3, 2017 | Flotsam
“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”
~William Arthur Ward
Do you ever reach a point in a life event when you have to take a really hard look at the situation and say ‘this just ain’t gonna happen’?
That’s us, this 3rd day of June, 2017. R.E.D. is ready in advance as usual. All polished, rigged, provisioned and ready to go. First of all the club boats. Mast up (yes, we know we can’t launch with the mast up, to all those who stopped by to let us know). Mast down. Wrapped and strapped in preparation for traversing the first lock, the first of almost 200 locks in our Summer Adventure 2017. Locking passes acquired, mooring passes purchased. Even Ballon de Rouge, our trusty little dinghy, has his own locking pass. Charts for cruising areas have been purchased. We are SO ready!
And as well, our condo has sold. One week after listing we signed that coveted non-conditional offer. We are officially homeless…not boatless…homeless. Free and clear of showings and constant staging. Ready to sell what furniture we don’t want, pack up our belongings and go.
We’re ready…
Ready to Set Sail
But Mother Nature hasn’t cooperated this year.
Flooding
Flooding in our part of the country has been disastrous for so many and at the very least disappointing for eager sailors who watch daily for weather reports and water levels and wait eagerly for their respective clubs to announce launch dates. Lucky us. Our club is ready. Dock #64 is ready. Today is our launch day.
Our Dock
But we won’t be launching..
Our proposed trip is just not possible this year. Water levels are preventing many of the multitude of locks along the way from opening in a timely fashion. Water levels will prevent even little us from passing under some of the bridges. The window for our three-month journey has closed
With all that said we are adjusting our sails so to speak, heading east instead of west. You read that correctly. The crew of three, Captain Francois, Galley Kat and Major Pig with R.E.D. in tow are embarquing on a whole new type of adventure across three provinces, several hundred miles of highway toward the great Atlantic Ocean.
R.E.D. is heading to her new permanent home. Compass reading 90 degrees.
Due East
