Boat Life in Winter ..

Since arriving back on Nirvana this past December, we've been looking forward to Spring! Wouldn't ya know that our first Winter on our sailboat has broken records here in Louisiana. Within a day of our arrival home from California, we were faced with snow! Now, this may not seem like a big deal to you folks that are from up North, but Ken & I were both born here in the South and snow is a rare occasion here. The snow is pretty, but when adjusting to life on a boat with a non-floating dock with the showers (too cold for a cockpit shower) and our cars a couple blocks away .. ya'll can have it!

We've been back just under two months, and during that time we've had yet another little peek of snow and many nights in the teens. We bought a portable heater as soon as we got home, and we borrowed an electric blanket from my mom, so we've been comfortable in the boat.

Several friends & family have offered us a place to stay during those frigid nights, and it's been very much appreciated. However, Nirvana is our home and we feel better being on board with the heater running. We did stay at our daughter's place on Christmas Eve and one other night when we lost electricity .. we really need to get our battery, 12 volt & solar system set up soon!

The past week or so hasn't been so bad, and it definitely improves our mood & morale when we have a sunny day with temps in the 50's or 60's. Hopefully, we won't have any more days when we have to step onto an icy cockpit & climb up to the icy dock. We never thought of that when we imagined living on Nirvana during the winter! If anybody was watching me attempt this feat, I'm sure they were entertained! 

Another thing we never thought of .. condensation! We never had a problem with this before, but we never lived on Nirvana during the winter before either. It hasn't been too bad, but on some nights it's gotten pretty damp. Whenever we have a chance to open up the boat, we grab it ... another reason to love those sunny days .. and sunsets!

We haven't knocked out any boat projects lately, but we've been busy prepping for our first grandchild .. a boy! Ken built a few shelves & items for the baby's nursery and we've attended two baby showers. I hosted a 3rd shower at my mom's with her & my family's help, which turned out really nice. We did a woodsy theme, and I loved the cake topper & decorations that my aunt came up with!

Check out these two diaper cakes!

We had some cute food items too! Here are a couple ..

Below is a photo of my aunt, mom, daughter, step-mom & cousin-in-law (with her two girls). They all helped so much to make the shower possible. Our daughter's been so cute, and she's gonna be a great mom. It's so crazy to see our baby carrying a baby! Our grandson is due mid-February, so we're on baby watch now. 

When not involved in baby stuff, we've also been keeping busy with odd jobs, taking classes for future insurance adjusting work (and our state license), preparing our taxes, and making repairs to our rentals (do they ever stop?!). Folks call us and ask if we're tired of sitting around on the boat .. uh, we're not sitting around too much!

In the next couple of months, we're looking forward to spending time with the baby, helping out our daughter & son-in-law, getting our state adjuster's license, finalizing boat projects for cruising this Spring, (and perhaps a sailing adventure soon)! Once we "leave the dock", we're hoping to manage our rentals from afar (with phone numbers for repairs) and to pick up insurance adjusting work every now & then to supplement our cruising kitty.

Anyway, we're now in February and hoping that the groundhog doesn't see his shadow today. Come on Spring .. and boat projects .. and baby!

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