For Sale!

After 6 years of living aboard, a marriage, a pregnancy, two countries and hundreds of islands, we have finally gotten her all cleaned up and ready to list. This is such a bittersweet day for us. We have both already gotten in the land mode mind set and are enjoying A/C, running water, sleeping through the night without having to check the anchor, and dishwashing and laundry machines in our own home.

But, there are so many great memories on this boat, and so many adventures left undone. Moving to land, getting jobs and starting a family are new adventures in and of themselves, but we are going to miss this nomadic lifestyle. It was the best random decision we have ever made and I wouldn't change one second of it (well, maybe one or two of the less enjoyable moments). We have become better individuals and a more united couple because of our time spent at sea. We have met so many great people from all walks of life and will keep in touch with them even though we are no longer on the water.

And although this is goodbye to "All In", this is not goodbye to sailing. It runs deep in our blood now and I am sure that this is only a hiatus.

"All In" looks better now than she has since we bought her - isn't that the way it always goes?! Thanks to some sweat equity from my parents and of course my diligent husband and myself, we have her in pristine condition. My only hope is that she sells quickly and goes to someone who will love her as much as we did. I hope, like us, her travels are only just beginning and that she has many more miles to see.

Working hard:

The finished product:

Final Destination

We left Osprey Marina early this morning to make our way to Little River, the final resting place for our old girl. We had to make it through the "Rock Pile" and were a bit nervous, so wanted to hit it as close to high tide as we could. The Rock Pile has occurred because the ICW had to be blown out to get through Myrtle Beach. There are large boulders and rock piles along the sides, hidden beneath the water, just waiting to catch the bottom of a vessel. We studied the charts carefully and were diligent about staying to the center of the channel - luckily, we didn't have any issues whatsoever.

Must have been due to our excellent steering:

Or our first rate navigator:

The rocks were no issue, depth was great and the bridges all opened up on cue for us. It was a picture perfect motor through Myrtle Beach. We made it to Light Keepers Marina in Little River at 3pm and pulled in to a slip on a T dock - home at last.

Brad's mom met us shortly thereafter and we loaded up the Explorer with the first load of our belongings. We will be staying at her place (her retirement home here in Myrtle Beach) for a few months while we figure out where we want to live and while we get the boat ready to sell.

Although we had high ambitions to completely unload the boat today, we were both exhausted and decided to call it a night and start early the following day.

We managed to pack everything up the following day and got all of our belongings in just two car trips! I don't know if that's a good thing, or sad that we have so few belongings. Tomorrow starts the dirty work - getting her clean and updated so that she shows well for her final pictures.