Well it’s the first night on the boat- ever (at least for the kids and I). The myriad of things that have transpired that have prevented or at least delayed us thus far from making our departure are, at least for now, behind us. There have been delays too numerous to list and lists too lengthy to complete then, suddenly, 1 year, two months and 1 week after finding and rescuing our boat we are officially cruising. Well – not yet – we haven’t left the mooring, that’s for tomorrow but it’s coming. And soon.

It’s really somewhat unbelievable even after all this time, perhaps especially after all this time to realize it’s not just a story and it’s more than just some interesting sound bite I hear myself telling another store clerk, or bank teller or perhaps disinterested neighbor. This is it, we are leaving. The kids are both coming; they’re on board now. Boyd’s gone on sabbatical, even though the litany of endless “must do” items is still pages long we are making the break into the cruising lifestyle.

Is it the right choice? Will the kids hate us for it? Will our finances forever bear the ungainly Mar of a retirement fund spent in its tender youth? Will my husband and I become the solid cohesive unit of our dreams or will there be a boat for sale before we hit the Gulf Stream?

I suppose these and many additional questioning minds hope to find out will play out in the following days and pages, but for tonight, sitting here by the warm fire, listening to the ocean lap at the hull it seems a good start. We’ll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.

After over a year of blood, sweat and tears, we finally started the journey south with our first stop Isles of Shoals.  We got underway around 10:30am and headed out of the Falmouth anchorage and through the Hussey’s.  The forecast was for 2-3 ft seas, but we were quickly met with 4-6 ft seas with an occasional 7ft swell.  This of course didn’t make for an ideal combination, but everyone aboard weathered it as well as could be expected.  We picked up a mooring at Isles of Shoals at around 7:30pm and stayed awake for about 10 minutes after that before collapsing into bed.

We’re In!! On Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at approximately 1pm, S/V Passages splashed. This was preceded with a frenzy of activity finishing up work on board.  We have updated the photo album with a new section to mark the transition from Refit to Afloat status.  We still have a bit of work to go commissioning all of her systems, but seeing her float is a major milestone.