July 7 – Sigh. We should know this by now but everything having to do with a boat takes longer than planned. We have been back in Thunder Bay since Monday and slowly we are getting the boat set up and together.  Despite all of our efforts though, the mast is not yet up, the propane is not hooked up and we are still working at unloading the u-haul as we do our best to find a home for everything we brought. The nights we just fall into bed exhausted. It’s been awhile since I have blogged so I will back up a bit.

After launch, we returned to Winnipeg on Monday, June 26 and that began a full week of continued pack up, running around tying up loose ends and most importantly spending quality time with our loved ones. Some wrote us amazing notes and gave us trinkets of love and encouragement that we have brought with us to find their special spots on the boat. By the following Monday morning, we had the u-haul loaded and were on the highway shortly before seven o’clock. With all the activity of the week prior, I was amazed at how when we got on to the perimeter, I immediately felt a quiet sense of calm. We were finally on our way to Starship to make it our home!

The drive wasn’t too bad as Jason and I switched off driving frequently. We did have one very frightening moment I am sorry to say. All is fine but we had a very close call.  I was driving and we were still a few hours out of Thunder Bay. We had two lanes at that point on the highway and oncoming traffic had one lane. I was in the right side lane and a semi who was following me for awhile decided to pass me in the left lane. It all happened so fast as immediately we saw that an oncoming semi must’ve thought he had two lanes and both semis were lined up for a head on collision! I quickly slowed down to allow the one on our side to jump in front of me as – no exaggeration – the oncoming one passed within literal meters of it with us following closely behind. We don’t dare imagine how we would’ve been impacted had they hit as we were all doing about 90 km an hour at that time. I have said this before and I will say it again – I feel so much safer traveling on the water than on highways!

We arrived happily into Thunder Bay around 4 PM factoring in the time change. Our first stop was a monster huge Superstore shop to get all the essentials to load up our food cupboard and fridge. With the food all stowed away we made chicken tacos up at the club and after pulling out of the truck just our bedding, a few clothes and toiletries, we happily snuggled into our beds for our first sleep as a liveaboard family!  We delightfully allowed ourselves to sleep in until ten the next morning!

The next few days have been challenging to be honest. There is just so much to do to get the boat settled and set up and we brought SO MUCH STUFF! We kind of had to in order to make sure we had all we needed to keep us safe and comfortable for the next three years but, for sure, many things are being tossed or given away. Things that have already gotten the boot off the boat: two throw pillows (although I convinced Jason that we needed to keep four so I am still happy!), extra mixing bowls, unneeded tote bags, big sized Tupperware, an alarm clock, etc.

Today is Friday and we now have hot, running water in the bathroom sink which is lovely! Jason found some unfortunate leaks in the system so the kitchen sink is not yet usable. The propane is another big job to hook up so the stove and oven are not yet usable either.  Fortunately, we have the luxury of a wonderful yacht club so we have been cooking all our meals and showering up there this week. We have also made many friends who have been so welcoming had have shared much useful information and tips for us for when we push off the dock next week to start sailing Lake Superior!  We can’t wait!  Some of them also have admitted to chuckling as they watch us unload a full u-haul into Starship! We have to stop unloading the truck today (just down to tools and boat parts) as the focus now is on getting the mast ready as it goes up tomorrow. We need to finish running new cabling and getting the radar hooked up.  After the mast goes up tomorrow, we will finish the u-haul so that we can return it to swap it out for a cheaper car rental for the next few days. By Sunday we can then finally focus on putting on the sails, boom, roller furling, arch, etc!  That will be exciting!

Alex (our oldest son) is flying in to Thunder Bay arriving around ten o’clock on Tuesday night! We are so excited to see him and have him onboard for the first part of our journey! The morning after he gets here will be a big shopping day for fresh food and few other essentials to prep us for our trip crossing the lake! All three of my guys need haircuts to so we will get that done as well! I still have my braids going and I am absolutely loving the convenience of having them!

Dylan has been fantastic! He very quickly settled into boat life. He’s got his berth as set up as possible given how small it is. We are going to be picking up a few more items to help him with storage but he’s so far delighted with the multi coloured LED light strips he’s put all throughout his area! Last night he was on a call with six of his friends from Winnipeg so he enjoyed that. During the days, he has been helping us out and enjoying the kayak seat for the paddleboard. He’s been going for some nice paddles out around the canal here checking things out. Despite lots of effort he has yet to catch us fish for dinner but he has fun trying!

So that pretty much bring things up to date. Jason had to get a part of the mast machined so he and Dylan headed into town this morning. That gave me some time alone on the boat to write this and continue organizing our life.

There have been times in the past few days where it has felt that we won’t be able to get things done in time to set sail Thursday as planned. It’s just so tiring and the pack up/unpacking has just been going on for weeks. This morning at breakfast though we wrote out all we need to do between now and Thursday morning and that helped! We can do it! Jason just has to keep reminding me that this is a marathon and not a sprint. 

I will end with a funny story. So this morning Jason and I got up at 7:30 to go for a run together. The marina here is locked at the gate so we use a key to get in and out. Jason handed me the key as he quickly tossed our breakfast bag up to the club for after. At that time I noticed that a bear in the night had lifted the heavy lid and pulled garbage out of the big dumpster. I tossed it back into the dumpster as Jason walked up to me. Where is the key? We remember him giving it to me. Oh my goodness! Did I have a brain fart and accidentally tossed it into the dumpster with the garbage? So there’s my guy, doing an early morning dumpster dive in search of it. Watching him I put my hands on my hips and… AHA! I discovered I had tucked the key into the waist band of my running shorts! Oh I felt terrible as I apologized and helped Jason crawl out of the dumpster! We did manage to laugh it off and I was thankful he was so willing to be the one to jump in instead of me! He’s a keeper! Ha ha ha!