Saturday, October 27, 2012
O' Dark Thirty...........
It's now 1:10 on Sat., morning, and we are all awake. We've been running none stop since the sun came up. We've been into West Marine, (our amazing, wonderful boaters store), for every device, filter, part, motor, etc, that one can possibly carry on a boat, (along with 6 people)! We've packed and jammed every nook and cranny. We will most likely have to unpack every nook and cranny in the next few weeks, and make a list of exactly where everything is. At this point, if we needed something in a hurry it wouldn't be pretty finding it....... We wanted to leave the Marina around 4:30, or 5:00, but at this point, a family has got to get a few hrs, of sleep! We want to tell Gretha & Gary our dear friends, and West Marine Sales Guru, THANK YOU, we couldn't have done this without you!!! We want to give a BIG shout out to our canvas guy Avi, who pushed to get everything finished in time.....whew! We also want to tell all our wonderful Sunroad Marina managment, friends and dock family, thank you for all the memories. We love you and hope you follow our journey and keep us posted on yours. It's a bitter sweet time. We have LOVED every minute of living in San Diego and a bit sad that we are leaving. But we also know there are new horizons to see and sunsets to enjoy. We are excited to savor every one....... So in about 30 min., we hope to get a couple hrs., of shut eye! Then it's Ensenada baby!!!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
From the beginning...............
Hi friends, We are about to leave the U.S. and start our journey into foreign waters. I've had many people ask me how we ended up on the boat. Most people assume Darrell and I were just fulfilling our dreams. NOT!!! Believe me I had never once thought about living on a boat............ So I thought it only fitting to share our story from the beginning before moving forward to the 2nd half of this journey. For those of you who have heard the story, bare with me. Here we go............
Over four years ago Darrell was transferred to San Diego, as a Supervisor at the SOCAL TRACON center. He's an air traffic controller. We knew we would be moving somewhere out of Utah, so he could finish up his career. We had our home up for sale and he had moved to San Diego. I had joined him in San Diego several times to search for a home to purchase. We spent countless hours looking at homes that were extremely overpriced. The market was still high and to find a home that was in a good neighborhood and something we could afford was almost impossible. After several trips, we were becoming frazzled. I was planning a wedding while he was learning new air space and a new job. One weekend we spent 3 solid days looking at homes with our Realtor, and found a home in Escondido. It was bank owned, (needed lots of TLC), been sitting for over a year empty. It was VERY small, but we felt could be turned into a shiny penny..... The bank price was $425K, (which we thought was HORRIBLE). We made the offer, and left feeling really good, other than the fact that I would have to start looking for a job the minute we moved. That next Monday, while at dinner feeling like we could celebrate, I got a call from our Realtor. She said that the house had been in a bidding war over the weekend and we had been out bid by $200K!!! REALLY............. We felt like we'd been beat up. I flew back to Utah and we decided we had to do some serious knee bending to ask Heavenly Father, just what we should do. Darrell drove home the next Friday to pick up his Hobie Kat. He was feeling the pressure of work, finances, and not being able to help me maintain our big home and property. We also had been arguing a lot and were both feeling the pressure of the situation. We had just finished up a family dinner & our daughter was having a concert in our back yard that evening, Darrell was laying down in the sitting room by the fireplace, and the look on his face was so sad. I was doing dishes and felt such a huge burden that I started to silently pray. I asked God what he would have us do? What were we not seeing or doing? I thanked him for all my blessings, and asked him if he would please show me what I could do to help the situation. The minute I uttered that prayer, I loudly and clearly heard my name, "Wendy, look at things from his perspective" I was a little shocked, but turned and looked at Darrell. The sadness and weight of our situation was placed full force in my heart. I felt so overwhelmed that I had to lean my head down on the sink. I once again started to pray, asking, if that was how Darrell felt, how could I possibly help the situation, since I wasn't working, and felt I could do nothing to help. The second I asked that question I heard my name again, "Wendy, what are you WILLING to do?" I froze....... I looked out the window for several seconds, and pondered that question. Just what was I willing to do? Several thoughts raced through my mind, and none of them were very good solutions. So I said with everything in my heart, "I'm WILLING to ABSOLUTELY anything! Immediately I heard, "Buy Darci's boat!" I felt like I had been slapped by God. Darci is my husbands little sister, who had spend several years with her husband and four children in the Sea of Cortez, on their 54ft. sailboat. Had the Lord said to me, buy a boat, I would not have understood. But to tell me to buy Darci's boat, it gave me the full picture of living aboard a boat. I was in shock. Nothing on this planet could have been farther from where I thought we were supposed to be. I turned to Darrell and asked him if Darci's boat was for sail. He gave me an odd look and said, "how could you know that?" They had just put it on the market. He jumped to his feet and came up to me, grabbing me by both arms, and with the happiest look on his face, said, "you think you could do that?" Me, feeling like I could throw up, said, "Yes!" Not really feeling that was in my realm of possibilities. The door bell rang and kids were pouring in, so we weren't able to talk more about it. But I watched the night progress, and the way Darrell just seemed to walk around with this new light air about him. I on the other hand, went into the bedroom, had a good cry and threw up. I WAS GOING TO LIVE ON A BOAT!!!
The entire weekend we talked about the idea, and both felt it would work. We decided that Darci's boat was to big and older than we wanted. Being it had no electric winches and since we would be newbies, we wanted a newer boat. Monday morning he left Utah, driving his Hobie back to California. We had decided that I would look on the Internet and he would get a boat broker. He gave me guide lines on the type and size and price of boat he wanted. He called me many times on the drive back to California. Each time he would say, "you really think you could do this?" Each time with such excitement in his voice. And each time I would answer, "Yes!" When I told the Lord I would do ABSOLUTELY anything, I didn't say, anything but that! That night I got a call from my Realtor in Utah, the first words out of his mouth were, "are you sitting down?" I seriously felt like I would faint. My house had sold over the weekend. We were offered exactly what we had asked. The family were offering cash and wanted us out of the home in a week. A WEEK!!! I had a wedding coming up the next weekend. How could that possibly be done? So we were able to push it back one week, excepting the offer. That entire week I just walked around in a daze and would burst into tears, looking at all the beautiful things I owned. The beautiful home I was letting go. To go live on a BOAT! I would lay awake at night and literally shake.......
During the week, I had found a boat on line that I fell in love with. It was in our price range and in Long Beach. I hadn't had a chance to talk to Darrell because of his work schedule and his flight home for the wedding. So with papers in hand I picked him up at the airport. I felt that since I was the one that had heard the answer, I should get the chance to pick out the boat. He got off the plane and the first words out of his mouth were, "I put money down on a boat." I was sooooooooo hurt. I didn't even get to show him my photos of the boat I wanted. I started to cry, and told him I thought it wasn't fair that he'd done this. That he didn't even give me a chance to show him the boat I wanted. I shoved the papers into his hand. A big smile slowly came across his face. He had actually put money down on MY boat!!! We had both picked out the exact same boat. Everything fell into place like a set of domino's. The wedding was beautiful, the move was so fast your head would spin, and I was on my sailboat living in Mexico in a matter of just a couple of weeks.
During this time, I kept praying that the Lord would give me strength and help me do this. It was so much bigger that I was. So after saying goodbye to family and friends and the fear of moving aboard a boat, (I'd never stood on a sailboat), in Mexico, (I spoke no Spanish) we drove to Mexico. Our youngest son Jake moved aboard with me and Darrell dropped us both off at the boat, gave us some brief instructions, and had to drive back to the US. That night I hit my knees and asked Heavenly Father to help me. That I just didn't think I could do this. The next afternoon, I came walking down the dock from the pool at the Marina and was met by one of my boat neighbors. She wanted to introduce me to my neighbors who had just pulled in. It was a group of men who came down from Dana Point, California, to fish around the clock for a weekend. The last day they would come in and supply the fish while boaters on the dock supplied all the food for a wonderful dock party. The man got off the boat and came toward me. He shook my hand and told me his name. I had this shock go through me, (like I felt I knew him) and asked him where he was from. He told me a little town in Idaho. I felt like someone had wrapped me in a huge warm blanket. I laughed and told him I was from that same town. I had graduated with his brother. Not only were we from the same small Idaho town, but my dearest friend, is his first cousin and we had just been in that town saying goodbye to my Dad and Stepmother. We stopped at his parents home and his mother had given me a bunch of patterns to crochet and knit. I laughed and asked him when the last time was he'd been home. He said he hadn't been home in a year. I told him his parents looked great. He started to laugh and went into his boat and brought out the little town news paper with my Dad's face on it, because my dad had just become the County Commissioner........... That night after the party, I went into my room, got on my knees and thanked my Heavenly Father for watching over me. For showing me he was there.......for showing me, that what was to come was so much bigger that I had eyes to see. The fun, frightening, growing times were about to start.......and I was being watched over!
I will continue to write about what is coming, while adding little parts of the past four years, hear & there......I would love to hear feedback and hello's from any of you!
Wendy (aka) GabbyWray
Over four years ago Darrell was transferred to San Diego, as a Supervisor at the SOCAL TRACON center. He's an air traffic controller. We knew we would be moving somewhere out of Utah, so he could finish up his career. We had our home up for sale and he had moved to San Diego. I had joined him in San Diego several times to search for a home to purchase. We spent countless hours looking at homes that were extremely overpriced. The market was still high and to find a home that was in a good neighborhood and something we could afford was almost impossible. After several trips, we were becoming frazzled. I was planning a wedding while he was learning new air space and a new job. One weekend we spent 3 solid days looking at homes with our Realtor, and found a home in Escondido. It was bank owned, (needed lots of TLC), been sitting for over a year empty. It was VERY small, but we felt could be turned into a shiny penny..... The bank price was $425K, (which we thought was HORRIBLE). We made the offer, and left feeling really good, other than the fact that I would have to start looking for a job the minute we moved. That next Monday, while at dinner feeling like we could celebrate, I got a call from our Realtor. She said that the house had been in a bidding war over the weekend and we had been out bid by $200K!!! REALLY............. We felt like we'd been beat up. I flew back to Utah and we decided we had to do some serious knee bending to ask Heavenly Father, just what we should do. Darrell drove home the next Friday to pick up his Hobie Kat. He was feeling the pressure of work, finances, and not being able to help me maintain our big home and property. We also had been arguing a lot and were both feeling the pressure of the situation. We had just finished up a family dinner & our daughter was having a concert in our back yard that evening, Darrell was laying down in the sitting room by the fireplace, and the look on his face was so sad. I was doing dishes and felt such a huge burden that I started to silently pray. I asked God what he would have us do? What were we not seeing or doing? I thanked him for all my blessings, and asked him if he would please show me what I could do to help the situation. The minute I uttered that prayer, I loudly and clearly heard my name, "Wendy, look at things from his perspective" I was a little shocked, but turned and looked at Darrell. The sadness and weight of our situation was placed full force in my heart. I felt so overwhelmed that I had to lean my head down on the sink. I once again started to pray, asking, if that was how Darrell felt, how could I possibly help the situation, since I wasn't working, and felt I could do nothing to help. The second I asked that question I heard my name again, "Wendy, what are you WILLING to do?" I froze....... I looked out the window for several seconds, and pondered that question. Just what was I willing to do? Several thoughts raced through my mind, and none of them were very good solutions. So I said with everything in my heart, "I'm WILLING to ABSOLUTELY anything! Immediately I heard, "Buy Darci's boat!" I felt like I had been slapped by God. Darci is my husbands little sister, who had spend several years with her husband and four children in the Sea of Cortez, on their 54ft. sailboat. Had the Lord said to me, buy a boat, I would not have understood. But to tell me to buy Darci's boat, it gave me the full picture of living aboard a boat. I was in shock. Nothing on this planet could have been farther from where I thought we were supposed to be. I turned to Darrell and asked him if Darci's boat was for sail. He gave me an odd look and said, "how could you know that?" They had just put it on the market. He jumped to his feet and came up to me, grabbing me by both arms, and with the happiest look on his face, said, "you think you could do that?" Me, feeling like I could throw up, said, "Yes!" Not really feeling that was in my realm of possibilities. The door bell rang and kids were pouring in, so we weren't able to talk more about it. But I watched the night progress, and the way Darrell just seemed to walk around with this new light air about him. I on the other hand, went into the bedroom, had a good cry and threw up. I WAS GOING TO LIVE ON A BOAT!!!
The entire weekend we talked about the idea, and both felt it would work. We decided that Darci's boat was to big and older than we wanted. Being it had no electric winches and since we would be newbies, we wanted a newer boat. Monday morning he left Utah, driving his Hobie back to California. We had decided that I would look on the Internet and he would get a boat broker. He gave me guide lines on the type and size and price of boat he wanted. He called me many times on the drive back to California. Each time he would say, "you really think you could do this?" Each time with such excitement in his voice. And each time I would answer, "Yes!" When I told the Lord I would do ABSOLUTELY anything, I didn't say, anything but that! That night I got a call from my Realtor in Utah, the first words out of his mouth were, "are you sitting down?" I seriously felt like I would faint. My house had sold over the weekend. We were offered exactly what we had asked. The family were offering cash and wanted us out of the home in a week. A WEEK!!! I had a wedding coming up the next weekend. How could that possibly be done? So we were able to push it back one week, excepting the offer. That entire week I just walked around in a daze and would burst into tears, looking at all the beautiful things I owned. The beautiful home I was letting go. To go live on a BOAT! I would lay awake at night and literally shake.......
During the week, I had found a boat on line that I fell in love with. It was in our price range and in Long Beach. I hadn't had a chance to talk to Darrell because of his work schedule and his flight home for the wedding. So with papers in hand I picked him up at the airport. I felt that since I was the one that had heard the answer, I should get the chance to pick out the boat. He got off the plane and the first words out of his mouth were, "I put money down on a boat." I was sooooooooo hurt. I didn't even get to show him my photos of the boat I wanted. I started to cry, and told him I thought it wasn't fair that he'd done this. That he didn't even give me a chance to show him the boat I wanted. I shoved the papers into his hand. A big smile slowly came across his face. He had actually put money down on MY boat!!! We had both picked out the exact same boat. Everything fell into place like a set of domino's. The wedding was beautiful, the move was so fast your head would spin, and I was on my sailboat living in Mexico in a matter of just a couple of weeks.
During this time, I kept praying that the Lord would give me strength and help me do this. It was so much bigger that I was. So after saying goodbye to family and friends and the fear of moving aboard a boat, (I'd never stood on a sailboat), in Mexico, (I spoke no Spanish) we drove to Mexico. Our youngest son Jake moved aboard with me and Darrell dropped us both off at the boat, gave us some brief instructions, and had to drive back to the US. That night I hit my knees and asked Heavenly Father to help me. That I just didn't think I could do this. The next afternoon, I came walking down the dock from the pool at the Marina and was met by one of my boat neighbors. She wanted to introduce me to my neighbors who had just pulled in. It was a group of men who came down from Dana Point, California, to fish around the clock for a weekend. The last day they would come in and supply the fish while boaters on the dock supplied all the food for a wonderful dock party. The man got off the boat and came toward me. He shook my hand and told me his name. I had this shock go through me, (like I felt I knew him) and asked him where he was from. He told me a little town in Idaho. I felt like someone had wrapped me in a huge warm blanket. I laughed and told him I was from that same town. I had graduated with his brother. Not only were we from the same small Idaho town, but my dearest friend, is his first cousin and we had just been in that town saying goodbye to my Dad and Stepmother. We stopped at his parents home and his mother had given me a bunch of patterns to crochet and knit. I laughed and asked him when the last time was he'd been home. He said he hadn't been home in a year. I told him his parents looked great. He started to laugh and went into his boat and brought out the little town news paper with my Dad's face on it, because my dad had just become the County Commissioner........... That night after the party, I went into my room, got on my knees and thanked my Heavenly Father for watching over me. For showing me he was there.......for showing me, that what was to come was so much bigger that I had eyes to see. The fun, frightening, growing times were about to start.......and I was being watched over!
I will continue to write about what is coming, while adding little parts of the past four years, hear & there......I would love to hear feedback and hello's from any of you!
Wendy (aka) GabbyWray
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