Freedom in Simplicity

She will find us, , , .

2011-10-04T22:54:00.000-07:00

We have been chatting alot about a new boat, Hood38 MK II. She's like a grown up 'SIMPLICITY' , the U shape Settee, the Centerboard. Aft cabin, a bigger Nav. Station, and a sweet Galley. She's 38ft. Simplicity is 26ft. It's time to make the list of all the things that are important. Then put them in order of importance. And then, throw it all away, cuz she will find us, , that's how it goes, right?? That is how " Simplicity " came into our lives. She is why we are working so hard to live our dreams now, not wait till we don't have strength to ' push on thru ' . Our whole lives have been needing to be near, or on, the water. We wish we would have thought about it sooner, < ya know , , hindsight > . But, now we know, so this is where we are at. . . . right here, , on our way, , right now, , , bunkmate

Getting Ready to Get Ready or Getting Ready

2011-09-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to go cruising requires, among other things of course, saving money. This can't happen when your monthly expenses are darn near as much as the monthly income, so this requires lowering monthly expenses which in turn means paying off all debt and moving to cheaper accommodations (this is getting ready to get ready). Well we have started officially getting ready to go after two years of getting ready to get ready, whew! Are you confused too?

It feels very rewarding to have an estimated jump date and be moving rapidly in it's direction. While the adventures are only beginning, the last couple of years have been quite an ordeal. We are enthusiastic, and anxious for the next step, getting ready to go to, ... READY! Wooo Hoooo! capt.

Simplicity FOR SALE $8300

2011-08-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

Dream mode

2011-07-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

It seems like I have gotten out of the 'dream' mode. I am so glad to be thinking of cruising again. We have been concentrating so hard on getting there, that I forgot why we are doing this stuff. WOW !! We have brought Simplicity home, and I'm so glad to be spending more time on her again, it reminds me. . . . bunkmate

Our shove off date

2011-07-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

We have set a real shove off day this time. The captain has been working hard this past week, getting a reachable goal. We will be off on my birthday 2014. Providing something doesn't happen, and we head out earlier. He made me a thermometer to hang on the fridge, and fill in as the boat fund fills. It doesn't seem like much yet, but we don't have alot of money going out to bills, because the Captain has paid almost everything off. It's been awhile since we have discussed the end of the bills, and what we have left. It's a great feeling to have set a date. Thanks Captain Carey, for making all our dreams come true. Bunkmate

Vacation

2011-06-02T19:01:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulous vacation. We started with a great drive up to Anacortes, Cap Sante Marina, on Friday the 13th. It was a little 'drizzly' when we got there. When we finally set sail for the Sucia Islands, on Saturday, it rained, and rained, but, that is why we bought rain gear!!! It was great to use the gear, it fit, it kept us dry, and the Captain looked so cute in his bibs. We stayed in Snoring Cove our first two nights (by ourselves) We went on a trek from Snoring Bay to Fossil Bay, and then to the other side of the Sucia Islands, to Ewing Cove. When we got back to Simplicity, Red Dog was beat. He is an old cocker spaniel, and he gets tired really easy these days, in dog years he is over 100, so, understandably so. He needs help getting up and over things he used to bound over a few years ago. The Sucia Islands are one of the places we wanted to spend more time on this vacation. bunkmate

vacation plans

2011-04-16T15:48:00.000-07:00

We have set our ' two week vacation '!! . We have May 13-29-2011. the last time sailing with Simplicity, in the San Juan Islands. . , , In May, , We are going sailing, , , in the Pugent Sound, , , , Sailing, ,, , , . Two weeks , , sailing, , , , in May , , , , It's gunna rain,, ,, , but, , sailing,, , , I gotta pack, , , , we need to get some dri-z-air, , , sailing,, , , two weeks sailing, , , with my favorite Captain,, , , sailing, , , she's coming back home, to Lost Creek Lake., , , , that's after vacation tho, , , sailing, , , Sucia, , Friday harbor, , wings, , closed on Tuesday, , , sailing, , seals,,, , , hikes, , , new rain gear, , , zipper, , , potty-runs, , , wing-on-wing, , , , rrrrum, , , , whales??? , , , rocks, , , wind, , , , sailing, , , , anchors, , , , coming about, , , , , , , , , , bunkmate

Our dream is getting closer

2011-04-04T11:02:00.000-07:00

We have moved into a smaller, less expensive place. I truly believe this is almost the last step to our final destination, our cruising life. Our 'apartment/studio', is located in Sams Valley, Oregon. It's on twenty acres, with 2 horses, 2 donkeys, and a young lab, name Roxi. Our Roxi likes to chase her around, so far.We are throwing the idea around about bringing Simplicity back down to Lost Creek. We can't stand having her so far away. We have room to store the trailer, and we going to spend our first vacation in May, up in Anacortes. Then bring her down after that. It's our thought process for now. bunkmate

life changes, , , ,

2011-01-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

We have been looking for alternative lifestyle living lately. We know it's time to do something in the direction of sailing. We both agree we hate having Simplicity so far away. Washington is far enough as it is, but having her all the way on the other side of Washington is killing us. We went over to Brookings, Or. this past weekend and checked out the housing options. As we hung out at the harbor, we realized just how much we missed the water, the smell, and the crashing of the waves. It's just so amazing how you don't even realize how much you really need little reminders of the reasons you are working so hard towards a goal, until you get a little taste again. It sure was a fabulous weekend in Brookings, with my Captain Carey, my husband, my best friend., bunkmate

Waiting

2010-11-08T14:06:00.000-08:00

I'm really having a hard time 'waiting'. It seems everything is on hold, or something, I'm kind of feeling that everything is, waiting. I'm not sure what, exactly, it is we are waiting for, It seems its gunna be a long, hard, haul,, and the longer we wait, the harder it's getting,, to wait, and wait, bunkmate

Practicing with Chef Shine

2010-10-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

We have somehow got back into the work, home, work, home, save money, work, football, work, save, work, thing that always seems to happen to us when we are not spending time with Simplicity. We are still looking for a less expensive place to hang our hats, and trying to save every penny, in order to move on with our lives. Captain Carey has turned into Chef Shine, practicing his cooking with fresh spinach and other vegetables and fruit. He is doing a fabulous job. It's amazing how different fresh and healthy is compared to canned and fast food, especially when chef Shine is involved. He knows all the tricks to get me to eat my veggies. He's the best chef ever.

Questions

2010-10-13T05:13:00.000-07:00

The hardest part is not understanding why people don't 'get it'. I/We know our objective is to sail/cruise the rest of our lives away. I talk to people everyday, that say they wish they had the guts to do something, anything like this. To just walk away from the life that is "secure". The not knowing of what is coming up in the next week, or month. I've tried to explain that that is part of the adventure, the unknown, the exploration, the un-constant, the "different 'stuff' different day". I think one of the funniest questions is, "What are you going to eat?" I mean really? We aren't going to be away from land that long. I guess they really don't plan their questions, it's just off the top of their head. Their questions the next time I see them, is usually better, like, "Where do you plan to go?" & "How long will it take to get there?". I guess they aren't that silly of questions, because I'm not sure these same questions hadn't crossed my mind, in the beginning. Now I seem to have a whole different bunch of questions. When is the right time? Which boat is the right one for our needs? Am I going to miss long, hot showers as much as I think I will? How will I stay in touch without my phone? When will I ever get any grand kids? bunkmate

Love The Ones Your With

2010-10-06T22:50:00.000-07:00

Every since we've been home, we have been getting everything together to have a garage sale, to get rid of all the stuff that we have accumulated over the years. We have the spare bedroom full of all kinds of memories, most of them fun times, some are sentimental, but I think most of it is, why do I still have this? So much of it we haven't even seen or needed. I hope all this stuff sells, because I don't want to throw alot of it away, I would like someone to enjoy them as much as we have. We have been looking around to find a less expensive step-down place to live, that we can have the kids, and not have to worry about them when we are working and such. We looked at a place out in Gold Hill, but we decided we could find better, for less. We have recently found out that our step-mom has pancreatic cancer. So it brings to heart the short time that we all have to play on this little blue ball we call earth. So love the ones your with, and don't forget to tell them how thankful you are to have them in your life, while you can. bunkmate

Time spent

2010-09-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

We slept that night on Simplicity, in Washington Park. As soon as it started to almost start to get dark, the deer started to come out, does, fawns, and even a forkie came out. This guy was driving by and caught a glimpse of the forkie, and he almost ended up in the bushes. I heard the wife yell, and the brake lights turned on. The Captain prepped for unstepping the mast. We decided to unstep in the morning. We didn't have to have the truck back until 11:45am. We have plenty of time. Roxi and I woke up to the Captain banging around up top, as usual. It was almost time to unstep. We got her unstepped without much trouble, The hardest thing really was moving the mast forward, the truck was hindering us from balancing the mast on the front rail. But we did it.

Got it wrapped up, and Captain Carey got her all tucked in her corner, back to the car, gassed up, and back to the U-haul, only about 5 minutes late, and that didn't really count because the kids and I were there at 11:40. I loaded the truck stuff in the car, while the Captain took care of the paperwork. Then we went back to Simplicity to get her all wrapped up for the winter. Captain Carey got her tarped up, in the rain, and we headed home. We got home at about 5:30pm. And we are now working on getting things together for a yard sale. It seems like every time we go up and spend any time with Simplicity, We are reminded of our goal. Cruising.!!! bunkmate

Plan "B"

2010-09-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

There was no way we could pull her out of this ramp. It was way too shallow. It's a good thing he had researched renting a truck, and checked into some storage lots. He called U-haul to check out their prices on renting a truck, it was $25.00 for the 10 foot truck, and budget was pretty close to the same, but, U-haul was closer so we hopped in the car, and drove over. So we chatted with the guy and come to find out, the 'lot' is actually some property that he has out by the airport, for only $40.00 a month. So off we go. We took the truck and trailer out to Washington Park. It was around 3:30 when we sailed away from Cap Sante Boat Harbor. And of course we were headed out, as the tide was headed in, so we ended up motoring all the way through Guemes Channel. On the way out we found a sea lion on the green buoy #5, by the ferry terminal, sleeping away, and did not want to be bothered by us humans. The Washington Park boat dock is a pretty busy little dock. So we couldn't dawdle. We didn't hurry or anything, and we got her in her cradle the first try. We both were happy about that. We make a pretty good team. bunkmate

My Tow Car

2010-09-28T22:45:00.000-07:00

Our weekend tucking Simplicity away for the winter went just like any other time when you make all theses plans, prepare like crazy, and one little thing happens, and everything is thrown in different directions, and you have to start completely over. o.k it wasn't that bad, but, here we go. Our plan for the weekend was to sail Simplicity down to Oak Harbor, put her on the hard, under tarps, and left stepped, for the winter. Simple? Ha! Never.: Last week the tow package for my car showed up, so husband spent the next couple of evenings installing it. He's kinda handy like that. We got everything together & done, so after work on Thursday we headed out, around 6:30ish. towing Simplicity's trailer. My Avenger towed the trailer without any trouble, even up the mountains. We arrived in Anacortes at 3:30am. We threw everything on board and had a couple of brews to unwind, and slept for a couple for a couple of hours. The Captain woke up @ 7:30ish to take the trailer to Oak Harbor, ride the transit back to Cap Sante, so we could sail Simplicity down to Oak Harbor, pull her out, on her trailer, and be able to leave her stepped, in case we are able to come up and maybe go sailing. And then it happened, BOOM. All the planning, gone. It wasn't so bad though. It was time to whip out the 'ol 'plan B'. The Captain has a pocket full of 'em. bunkmate

WOW

2010-09-22T22:13:00.000-07:00

Today I checked my e-mail, and,,,,, found an article that I had submitted to the Orca Network Whale Watch, on their web sight. I'm pretty proud of it. It's been a long time since anything of mine has been published, let alone on such a popular web sight. bunkmate

Oak Harbor

2010-09-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

So apparently I've known all along, haha, and it was my idea, to put Simplicity on the hard at the Oak Harbor Marina. Because if we bring her home, the Captain will undoubtedly spend more of the 'boat fund' on her. Plus we can keep her stepped, so we can possibly go up for a long weekend, and go far a sail or two. I guess I didn't realize that, that was the plan we were sticking with. So off we go to Oak Harbor, drop off the car and trailer, then go by ferry, and/or the great transit system to Anacortes, and sail back down to Oak Harbor. My car will pull the trailer, but she won't be able to pull Simplicity out of the water, so we will cross that bridge when we get there. bunkmate

Our plan??

2010-09-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

Well the weekend to decide what to do with Simplicity is here. We got the tow package for my car, to pull her trailer back up to Anacortes. My car can't pull her back soo,, If we have a plan, I'm not aware of it. I'm still in the dark. I'm excited to see her again, and I'm afraid the Captain is ready to put her up for sale soon, and get on to the next step, 'cruising'. I'm ready to, too, but, I'm having issues not needing all the 'stuff'. I'm pretty sure that after all is done, I will only miss them sometimes. bunkmate

Decisions, decisions

2010-09-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

We are still debating on what to do with Simplicity.. Should we bring her back to Medford, Oregon,, or leave her in Anacortes, Washington, on the hard. Either way we are going to put her up for sale soon. We ordered a 'tow package' for my car, and will be going up, and pulling her out of the water. We are throwing a bunch of scenarios around, because we are going to downsize again soon, and we probably wont have anywhere to keep her. Hopefully we will be closer to knowing by the time we leave.

So cose yet so far away

2010-09-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Everyday, it seems like the big picture is 'so close yet so far away'. It seems kinda like summer vacation is 14 months away. You have to figure out what you want to do on vacation, yet you have to do all the work, for vacation, for 14 months. Then you get to have little tastes, every once in a while, a long weekend here, a whole week there, tons of practice, learning, researching, working, downsizing, reading other peoples adventures, learning, selling stuff, researching, working, checking out different kinds of boats, pricing, getting rid of stuff, working, checking out boats for sale, researching, learning, wow, it seems like it will never come. We have all kinds of ideas of the things we want to do, places we want to go, things we want to experience, adventures we want to have, the alone time with my husband, the ideas, the adventures, the unknown,,,

Destiny

2010-09-13T08:39:00.000-07:00

It seems like a lifetime ago that we were drawn to the water, when we first got together we 'knew' the water was calling us. We moved down to California, Lodi California, to be by the water. First I got a job at Tower Park Marina. Then we fell into a houseboat, 30' pontoon boat. And we spent 3 years running around the Delta on our houseboat. Meeting a bunch of people, having alot of fun, and fishing practically everyday. We caught a bunch of stripper. Took alot of friends fishing. And knew then that we were destined to live on the water. Things happened and we moved to Medford, Oregon. And it seems that we spent the rest of those years trying to figure out where or what would make us happy. We tried the 'buy a house' thing. Then we started a mosaic tile business 'Shining Impressions' ,,, then one day we decided to go back to the water...

We put the archery stuff away, we put the snow board stuff away, we got rid of the house, we sold 'Shining Impressions' we put the golfing stuff away, we put all of the remote control car stuff away, or should I say,, we sold almost everything, because we are so ready to get back to the water, and sailing is going to be our life, not just a hobby. We are celebrating our 14th anniversary, September 14th, and it seems like he just asked me to marry him last week. It has taken us awhile to remember where we started, and where we wanted to go at that time, but we finally got back to the beginning, right back to where we started. And the circle of life starts over again, only this time we aren't looking for direction, we have a journey to look forward to, together....forever.... bunkmate

August 21st., 2010 Saturday, Our last full day of sailing

2010-09-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

We (Roxi & I) woke up to red-dog whining, when the Captain rowed away for a bit of 'Carey time'. It was a great morning. It was foggy. We decided to leave early so we would be getting back to port when the fog burned off. It turned out to be a grand ride in the fog. We both stayed in the cockpit listening and watching for other boats. We heard a couple of boats, and never seen them. We seen only 2 of the 5-7 that we heard, but most of the time it was our own bubble. You could hear the ferry's horns when we got closer to Guemes Channel. Sometimes you could hear a boat and not see it, and sometimes you could see it and not hear it. It was challenging, yet comforting to know that we make a great team. And that is one of my favorite things about our relationship. The fog had almost completely burned off by the time we hit Guemes Channel (after a 2 hour chug up Rosario Straight). The sun finally came out when we got back to port. We started the pack and clean thing duties. We couldn't resist going out one more time before leaving.
So we went out for dinner and drinks. We made it home with out any adventure. Now comes the part when we decide whether to bring Simplicity home or leave her in Cap Sante Boat Harbor. We also have decided to down-size again. The Captain has decided to down-size our phones also, to no Internet, ouch, I'm thinkin' I might throw a fit at that time, and I really don't know how that's going to turn out,,,,,,This could possibly be the best vacation ever, towards our sailing lifestyle, and our future, our cruising, sailing, future... stay tuned if we haven't caught your attention,, enough,,, hehehe,,,,, bunkmate

August, 20th, 2010 Friday, small craft warning

2010-09-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

Well.. again the wind came up. At one time during the night the Captain turned the VHF on... It was a crazy sight when I got up. During the night we had gale force winds come up. It was crazy, And i slept through the whole thing. Just before 11 the Captain woke up to flashlights flashing in the windows, and people yelling. He jumped into his pants and went topside. Every boat in the bay (except us, and the boat next to us) drug their anchor. The two boats that were rafted together, about halfway to the beach from us, was now behind us. To start with we were the farthest out from the beach. The guy that was closest to us had a boat come down on his anchor. The worst part is there wasn't anyone on board, so he had to get untangled, and get the boat off of him by himself. He tied the other boat off his stern and threw it's anchor off of the starboard side and put his dinghy in between them. The boat that was in front of us were almost on our anchor, but the had their motor running and were working on staying off our rode. That's what the yelling was about.The Captain turned on the VHF on to hear if anyone needed any help and caught warning from the Coast Guard, saying a small craft warning on the Straight of Juan De Fuca, gale force winds, which is on the other side of the island. It's a good thing the wind was blowing the way it was or all the boats would have been on the beach, or the rocks, or pinned up against the cliffs. Everyone made it through the 'bumper boat' action, with minor scrapes and no-one was hurt. The rest of the day was calm, the wind, the tides, the atmosphere,, calm. The small boat that was rafted with the other boat, left. The boat that didn't have anyone on board, came, and thanked the guy that saved his boat, and didn't just cut it loose, loaded some provisions and he left also.

We had a beautiful schooner that 'sailed' in, and anchored up closer to the beach. It was a family of 7? The ages of the kids ranged, at my guesstamation. from 16 to 5, and boy was it a great show. Everyone worked in total harmony. They all knew what their job was, and did it with very little guidance. the last night on the hook was too short. Watmough Bay, my new favorite place.... bunkmate

August 19th, 2010, Thursday, cattle pss one more time

2010-09-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning a a panic. No Roxi! after further investigation, the Captain and HalfHitch were gone too. I looked overboard and zipper disappeared also. I looked on the table to find the 2-way radio laying there, and it was on. I picked it up and said "do you have my wienie?".... no answer... "hellooo, do you have my Roxi?" This time a laughing voice said "yes, I have her" He told me later that he didn't even hear me, because of the motor, Roxi was in his lap and he had the radio in his hoodie pocket, and she was doing the 'confused head cocking' thing. They had gone to shore early for potty. and didn't want to wake me. How sweet was that?? We were trying to decide what to do for our last couple days of vacation. We both decided that Sucia Island would be great but...

We thought that Stuart Island was fun but... So we decided that we should head through Cattle Pass one more time and spend the last couple of days in Watmough Bay. We wanted to catch the last of the outgoing tide through Cattle Pass. and the incoming tide to ride around the bottom of Lopez Island and into Rosario Straight. O.K. We had to leave right now to hit Friday Harbor for the doodahs, and ice. It's a long haul to the other end of the islands. We decided to motor up Harney Channel, through the Wasp Passage, to cut through the Wasp Islands,an into the San Juan Channel to Friday Harbor. The place was a zoo. There wasn't enough room for us "28' end to end" to tie up at any of the waiting docks, or guest docks. We circled around and decided to drop anchor and row in. I took the kids up to go potty, while the Captain dumped the potty, we got back to the boat, and after we pulled anchor, and headed out, we realized that neither one of us grabbed ice, aaarrg. Oh well, we can still have a block and 1/2, we'll be fine. As we sailed down the San Juan Channel it was kinda weird, because every boat was coming towards us,, none was going with us. By the time we got past Shark Rock we were the only boat in the whole channel.. Weird... We seen 2 sprays/spouts shoot like 9 feet out of the water,, so we kinda got to see a humpback or grey whale-s. We didn't see the sea lion until we went through Cattle Pass. Him and a bunch of girls were sunning on Whale Rock.

There were at least a dozen of them. We put the sails back up and shot around the bottom of Lopez Island towards Rosario Straight. Watmough Bay is the first bay you come to on the port (left) side. It's so beautiful.. It doesn't have a dock, but the pebble beach is fun to walk on, and the water is warm-ish. We weren't very hungry because I made lunch on the way down @ 20* degree's. It's fun, but.. the knife slides when you let go,, YIKES!! It's fun to watch the seals (Lucy) do the roll and slap that they do it all the time, mostly right before the sun goes down. It took a couple of day's to figure out what what they were doing. On our way here there were 4 gulls sitting in the water, yelling like crazy, messing with a seal that was trying to eat a salmon that she had caught, nice big salmon, but the closer we got, we think the seal was messing with the gulls. The wildlife here is fabulous!! We've seen quite a few Bald Eagles, seals are everywhere. When your sailing, they'll pop their head up and watch you pass, then the dunk back down. Silly little creatures they are. We only seen a couple of porpoises today. Still no Orcas, or bodies, only sprays. bunkmate