Cockpit Blues ...

View from Nirvana's cockpit ... and our old backyard.

Since selling our house and moving Nirvana to the boatyard, we've been missing our cockpit.   I guess it's human nature to want something even more when you can't have it ... especially when it's cold outside and Spring fever sets in!

Ken and I are anxious for the cold weather to be over so Nirvana can be painted and outta the boatyard.  We're looking forward to Nirvana's new home at the local marina, and we conjure up thoughts of warm weekends sleeping on Nirvana and getting her ready for cruising.  After a day of boat work, we'll settle in Nirvana's cockpit for an evening of burgers on the grill, a drink in hand, music playing from the salon ... and a great waterfront view.

Aaahh ... a glimpse from the past of time in our cockpit!

Living on Nirvana in between workdays will give us a chance to adjust to living on her permanently while slowly packing her down for cruising ... and downsizing one last time.  While we have quite a list of projects, we don't plan on getting them all done before "leaving the dock".  We figure that cruising is "boat work in exotic places" (hopefully not too much), so there's no need to get it all done here in Louisiana.  We plan on spending a few months in Florida and taking our time sailing South, so we're hoping that we may even be able to find a few better deals along the way.

Slowly our days at the job will be replaced with days on the boat, and Nirvana will become our home.  It's kinda surreal sometimes that we've finally made it to this point.  Working less and retiring (somewhat) ... it's hard to wrap our heads around that!  We've been working towards this time for so long, and it's finally getting close.

By the way, I'll be writing another post soon about the survey I recently took on our Facebook page ... it's about the average length of time it takes to make the dream of cruising a reality.  Hint ... we're in the average.

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!