On the hook

Having finally completed the packing of all our belongings onto the boat which involved finding every conceivable space on the boat and tightly packing everything away, we finished a few repairs - there is always something to fix on a boat – we went food shopping in preparation for a few days on the anchor.

We headed off to Sucia island, the most northerly of the San Juan Islands on the border with Canada. Sucia Island is actually a group of islands in a horseshoe shape with 4 main anchorages, Echo bay being the largest. The islands have a number of small coves with beaches and trails to explore.

We have started Katya’s homeschooling with a 3^rd grade refresher course covering maths, English and started some additional units that we can tie into our day to day experiences:- weather and the night sky. We travelled to a secluded bay on the northern side of the island and set up a day camp and started the lessons. I am not sure who is learning more, Katya or Jude and I. We also visited another bay that had various deposits of fossils. We are awaiting our 4^th grade syllabus and homeschooling package from Calvert which will provide us a greater structure for all of us. We believe, from reading other parents experiences of homeschooling, that the key to success is to incorporate learning with real life experiences and being flexible, planning lessons around what we are doing but ensuring that we cover all aspects of a syllabus. If we get it right Katya could end up with a well rounded one-on-one education and a great experience. Let’s hope all our patience holds out!

As usual Jude has been keeping us well fed and we have been learning to live with what we have on board. We did run out of bread on the 3^rd day and I decided to have a go at baking a loaf of bread. Having left the dough to rise overnight I awoke early to put the loaf in the oven. 40 mins later the smell of baking bread was enveloping the anchorage and we pulled it out of the oven. It might have been the fact that we were very hungry but the bread came out perfect and it tasted great. The loaf only lasted 1 day.

On our way

On our way

Well we finally finished the packing and signed the contract to sell the house. We are now on the road and heading back to Anacortes and life on a boat. It's strange but we have not had time to think about this next chapter in our lives and how it is going to change us. We might all love it and everything will be harmonious or we might hate it and seek a normal life on dry land, only time will tell as this chapter unveils itself.

All our chattels have been packed into storage with the exception of our belongings we are taking on the boat which have been  rammed in every crevice of the car. We could not get a single extra pair of socks in the car if we tried.

We will be spending the next 3 weeks mooring and at anchor as we wait for our winter (cheap) slip assignment in Friday Harbour which will be our base until May next year and we head off, direction yet unknown.

We said all our farewells back in Denver. Our friends have been so kind and we shall miss them all. They kindly fed and watered us, provided us with beds and took the stuff we could not pack into storage or take with us.   We shall miss seeing all the children of our friends growing up and changing into adolescents and adults (and the trials and tribulations their parents will go through) Many thanks to you all. We will miss you. We hope we can repay you sometime soon.