Wednesday, September 17, 2008

But really, where are we?

OK, OK, enough pretty pictures… But really, where are we? Well, all the pictures are just trying to catch us up. Chris and I were in Berkeley until May this year when we headed to Moab for a private river trip on the Dolores River with Chris’ dad. From there, Chris went to McCall, Idaho to his Canyons family and Shawn to Jensen, Utah for a summer as an Outward Bound Instructor. We spent three months solid on lots of rivers and cut the river season short to get back to the Bay and start this sailing adventure. We’ve been back a month and are just now getting close to sailing…

It started with us planning a post river season Selway River trip. Hey, you should be proud of us, we decided against it mostly because we’d cut our season short to get on with the sailing dream- not to take more private river trips (though, maybe that’s not such a bad idea for future seasons…) Anyway, we headed back to Berkeley in mid-August and found our lease was up on the storage unit. So, since our return we’ve implemented the "storage unit liquidation" that has been on our “to do” list for years. Wow, it was traumatic but at the same time, it was a great lesson in nonattachment. And a month later, we’ve got it down to a pile of media mail and approximately one Pepe car load. That is except a 33-foot sailboat filled to the gunnels!

Now we can focus on the boat. Only a few more projects (how many times will we say that?) and trips to the east coast, LA, Phoenix and Corvallis for weddings, last minute visits and gear stowage- then we are sailing. Seriously, we’ve been a bit hesitant to set a date, but October 15th is it, we’re sailing. We won’t know what that means exactly until then, but what we have realized is that we’ve actually been “doing” this sailing adventure for a long time now. This preparation period is part of it, it’s just taking a bit (okay a lot) longer than we initially expected. A month from now, the three of us (don’t forget Grizzly) will be here in the Berkeley Marina with no storage unit, no car, no further responsibilities, and a fully-loaded-cruise-ready sailboat. What could possibly go wrong?

We hope that this blog will serve as a general update for all of you that care about where in the world we are and what adventures we’ve been having. You can partake too- by checking the blog, e-mailing, writing letters, hamming with us or even showing up in whatever exotic port Tao is near. We’d love to share the adventures.

11 comments:

  1. Hey guys, great to see this, now we can track the adventure!

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  2. Reading your post gave me chills. I'm so excited for you. I can't believe the "storage unit liquidation" story. I admire you guys so much.

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  3. Good work you guys! Nice to see some old familiar faces out there doing it. Next time you hit CO for some time on the water, look us up, and don't pass up an early trip down the North Platte, one of the best trips we made this year, maybe ever.

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  4. Follow your dreams. Cherish each other and the upcoming adventure aboard TAO. Give the Griz a little snuggle from me. Mum

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  5. Hi you two--
    thanks for remembering to send me your blog, I will bookmark it and keep an eye on your progress!

    whitney

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  6. Follow-up question: will you two be in Berkeley the weekend of 10/3-10/5? I will be there for a show & visiting friends.

    Please call!

    -_RB

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  7. Not to be overbearing creepy blog-stalker here, but I figured you would want to see this:

    * * * * * *

    From: Robert B*****
    Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 10:56 AM
    To: 'Ari'; 'Beau'
    Subject: Beers

    Guys:

    Beau's wife is now Ari's dentist. This is a sign from God that we must reunite. The time foretold in the prophecy is at last upon us.

    First round is on me. Only question left is: when and where? (I recommend Philly West in Westwood this Friday night, but am totally flexible).

    And Beau: if you're comfortable with this, please send the bat signal out to Cliff. I would rope in Chris too, but he is at sea. Yes, you heard me right: at sea. Like, off-the-grid, Francisco-Vasquez-de-Coronado at sea.

    Oh well. You know what Confucius say: "He who receives no cellular signal also receives no ale."

    What say you all?

    -_RB"

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  8. Hey guys. Love the blog. Great idea. I'll definitely check in on your trip from time to time. I would not be surprised, in fact, if you saw us show up at one of your destination ports to say hello. We would love that!

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  9. What fun it will be to follow along. Thanks for including your Georgia family.

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  10. Hey Shawn and Chris! Not sure about our winter break plans yet, maybe see you down south somewhere? Thank you guys so much for coming to the wedding! We love you so much and it meant a lot to look out and see your beautiful faces! If you need to jet up to Portland before sailing day for any odds and ends (this is after all a port town-surely there are things here for sailors....) you have a bed with us (and actually it would totally be with us snuggled into our queen because we don't have any floor space until we do a liquidation ourselves-don't tell Hata!).
    Love you!
    M & H

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