Moving up!

OK. We finally did it. I was so proud of the fact that Chris & I had our “stuff” pared down so it all fit into a 5’x10’ storage unit and then yesterday it all changed. We moved up to a 10’ x 12’ unit. Does this mean we are collecting more junk? Well, not exactly. What we’ve been doing is reducing the amount of stuff we have on the boat. Each year, at the end of cruising season, we go through everything on the boat and anything that we haven’t been using returns to the great northwest to live in the storage unit or to be sold or given away.

This year, two biggies bit the dust. Chris has a very nice 8’ Walker Bay sailing dinghy that came with him from his previous boat. He insists he loves to sail around in it but during the past three cruising seasons he has done no more that row it around from time to time. The rest of the time, the Walker Bay has been tied upside down on the bow. It’s a great place to put things like the folding steps, the spare anchor, etc when we are underway and it is conveniently located to stand on when putting the sail cover on the main. When “Faith” is in need of a good cleaning it goes into the water and is tied to a cleat on the dock. We have rowed around a marina or two but mostly it has been a hood ornament. This year we decided to bring it back to Washington. It will be a nice change to be able to put a couple lounge chairs on the bow for happy hour sunsets or perhaps even hang the hammock up for Sandy to read in.

We’ve also hauled around the brand new spinnaker that I purchased in 2008 when we left Portland. This is a big, colorful sail in a large bag that is regularly moved from the v-berth to under the table depending on what is going on at the time. Much to my disappointment, it has n-e-v-e-r been used. It seems that the wind is always either much too strong, completely non-existent or on the nose (coming from directly in front of us). Each fall we would think, “THIS year we’re going to put that pretty sail up” and in June, at season’s end, we’d be stunned to discover that another 7 months or so had passed and the spinnaker had still not seen the light of day. This spring we decided it was finally time to bite the bullet and bring it back. We will leave it in the storage unit and see if we miss it.

In addition to the boat stuff that has been accumulating, last summer Chris bought a scooter. He’s always been a real scooter nut and had several before he met me so it came as no big surprise when he bought this one. I do not ride two wheeled things (except the occasional bicycle) but he loves them and, I must admit, now that he has this one it sure is nice to have exclusive use of the truck when I want to go do something by myself. Before the scooter arrived, whenever I would take off in the truck I always felt like I had to hurry home because Chris was stranded. In actuality, it was never much of a problem for Chris but I still managed to feel guilty. At any rate, the scooter storage became a bit of a headache last fall. We thought we could leave it in the small unit but there was clearly not enough room. We were down to the day before we were leaving so we weren’t interested in entertaining the idea of getting a new storage space. That meant finding a friend or relative who had room in a garage and didn’t mind walking around it all winter. Fortunately, Chris’ brother stepped up and volunteered to provide a winter “home” and solved the problem. This year, with the larger storage unit, the scooter can stay with the other things that are too hard to part with.

Actually, when compared with other folks, we don’t have much. The belongings we keep on the boat and in the trailer are only what we use for everyday living. Neither home has much in the way of storage so we keep things pared down as much as possible. Most of what we pay to store is leftovers from our other lives. Chris has tools, clothes, paperwork, CD’s and a few mementos. My things include clothes, my stereo system, some special books and a few final keepsakes that I haven’t passed on to the kids. It really isn’t much and every time we go through the boxes we make more trips to Goodwill or the dump.

Last week when we “upgraded” I told the woman at the storage facility that I rather hated having to admit that we had enough “stuff” to warrant a bigger space but she assured me it was still pretty minimal. She said that many people have two or more and one customer has seven! When you look at those numbers I guess that we really are pretty self contained after all.