Quinquennial Blog Post

I learned a new word today!  quinquennial means five years.  Since I haven't posted for almost five years, I will make this my quinquennial post!  :)

I am excited to report that we are really getting closed to achieving our goal of becoming retired sailing cruisers!  We hatched this plan back in 2006.  For more info, see my post from June 12, 2012:

https://ravenscamp.blogspot.com/2012/06/education-vacation-path-forward.html

At this point, we live aboard a 30' O'Day and rent out our house (Ravens House).  

On the same property (aka Ravens Camp) we are building Ravens Cottage, a small 420 sq ft cottage with loft.  This should be complete in Spring/Summer of this year!  We will be renting this out as well.  

We live very inexpensively aboard but we have incurred a lot of debt getting these houses complete.  Once we have both rental incomes coming in, we plan to work for one more year (or so) to pay down debt and then refinance all remaining debt into one loan with a manageable payment.  We estimate that we will have $1000 to live off per month after all debts are paid and after deposits into Property and Boat maintenance accounts.  That's until Social Security kicks in about 7-10 years from now.  

This will will make for a tight budget for our first years of sailing, but should be workable if we have a sailboat that is off-the-grid and self-sufficient and we spend these years in Mexico, and South/Central America.   I have a small retirement account that we plan on emptying out to buy a slightly larger and much more capable blue water cruising sailboat. 

So, if everything goes according to schedule (ha!)  We should be retired and on our way in 2019 or 2020 at the latest!  Only a couple years away!  

Hopefully I will be giving you a Casting Off the Lines blog in the next couple of years.  

Safe Travels! 

Carroll Inlet

Had an awesome two nights in a little cove just north of Osten Island in Carroll Inlet.  We didn't get any sailing in...just relaxing and exploring.  I dropped my crab pot three different places and only caught one undersized crab.  He was about 6" across and looked old.  He had lost some pieces of his legs long ago and had barnacles on his claws!  Funny old fellow.  It was fun to gently handle and measure him...and determine his sex (you can only harvest males).  Then we let him go.

It was nice and warm the first two days.  We paddled around in our dinghy exploring.  There were lots of little critters in the water that kinda looked like sea slugs.  I named them Joe and lost count of how many Joes I saw...probably a hundred.  He was really cute.  He stuck his foot to the side of the bucket and started cleaning/eating with his huge mouth.

We got in a little target practice with Robert's six shooter and at night heard wolves howling...I was happy to be cozy in my boat when those wolves howled.  I think wolves are the scariest critter in Alaska...much scarier than bears.

Here are some pics from one morning.  The water was so still it provided a wonderful reflection.

  

A Time to Kill

I just made my first kill.  I had never killed anything other than a bug or spider before.  But I am a meat eater and for years have felt uncomfortable that I let others do my killing for me and just buy the tidy packages from the store.  

I killed a salmon...as quickly and humanely as possible.  My heart was in my throat as I sawed the knife through its body.  I thanked the world for its provision and apologized to the fish for its discomfort.  Now I will use the fish as bait in my crab trap.  Next I will kill a crab. 

The most distressing thing about it is that I am not as distressed as I imagined I would be.

We are off to Carroll Inlet tomorrow (here in SE Alaska).   Watch out crabbies!

Update

Every day I think:  I need to sit down and write a blog post.  Everyone will think we gave up our dream, didn't meet our goals.  But then time slides sideways...always laughing at me around the next corner ahead, and I don't get it done.  So, this morning, I thought I would just write a quickie...better than nothing?  Perhaps.  :)

Looking back at my posted plan last May, I see we have kept the spirit if not the letter of it.  We now are living aboard a 30' 1980 O'Day sailboat!!!!  We are still in Ketchikan, still working our 9-5 jobs, but we are learning and saving for the day we can cast off for parts unknown.  We also have finished and rented out our log home, which was always the plan.

Gotta run!   I see time just ahead....

Faun Fables - Eternal

I love this clip.   The song is great by Faun Fables, but it doesn't even start until 2 minutes into this clip.  It turns to English at about 30 seconds in, so hang on. 

This is a show in Israel interviewing Faun Fables who are known as "Freak Folk" musicians from Oakland, California.  It's like oil and water between the interviewer and the band at first.  Then they jam together!   Hilarious, as well as a chance to spread the cool song, Eternal.

"I want what is not easy, love me without adornments..."

Piana - Moon And Cello

Lovely music off Piana's album Ephemeral.  I just love all the different music I discover on Pandora!

Education, Vacation, & the Path Forward!

 My husband and I just returned two weeks ago from an amazing trip....more of a "life event" than just a vacation.


EDUCATION:

The first week we spent taking a sailing course at the Blue Water Sailing School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  We lived aboard a 43' sailboat for 6 nights along with two other students and a captain/instructor. 

www.bwss.com

This was school, not a charter where you lay about the boat all day.  9am - 5pm each day we were in "class" although it was learning as you are doing.  We were jibing and triangulating and docking and anchoring and tying knots and doing man overboard exercises and chart plotting.  There were three 100 question exams.  It was a stressful, fun, and fantastic week.

VACATION:


After our week with the Blue Water Sailing School, we flew to

www.smallhope.com

for a week of hammocking and snorkeling.  This is a funky, casual, social, super fun place is you like things laid back and quiet.  There are 21 units right on the beach and no nightclubs, shopping, high-rises, etc.  Here is our bungalow on the beach.

we went for the swimming and white sands which we got in abundance. 

However, we found more there than we were expecting: Friends!   We met some wonderful, down-to-earth, introspective, joyous people there.  What a great bonus! 


THE PATH FORWARD:


As many of you know, my husband and I have had a dream of living aboard a sailboat and sailing from place to place full time.  This is referred to as the "cruising" life.  However, neither of us had ever sailed!  So going to this school was our test to see if we really wanted to do it and if we really could physically and mentally achieve it. 

And the answer is......

YES!!!!!

So, next we have to figure out how to get from where we are now:

 A couple working full time with

a mortgage and little savings

To where we want to be:

A couple living aboard a sailboat

 and exploring the world.

Yesterday I worked out a timeline for getting from point A to point B.  It goes in four steps:

1) Refinance house so that we have smaller payments. (Complete by Dec 2012)

2) Save money and build a small cottage on our property.  Move into small house and rent out large house. (Complete by Sep 2013)

3) Save money and purchase our sailboat!!!  Moor it locally, move aboard, and rent out both houses.(Complete by Sep 2014)

4) Save money and tie up loose ends, then start our journey! (Set sail by Apr 2015)

The trick is saving the $$$ of course.  We did very well on our first budget (see my first or second blog post).  We learned to live with less.  The new budget will be even leaner.  I am working on it now and then will meet with my husband for the negotiations. 

I have lots of ideas for extreme saving that many people may see as nuts...but I just can't work my entire life to buy all the junk the media says I need.  Instead, if we forgo all the little stuff that sucks money out of our pockets, we can really save a lot and go see the world!

Some savings ideas are:

• Eliminate all beverage purchases.  We will be healthier just drinking water anyway. 
• Have only one vehicle and use the bus lines
• Get rid of cable tv and contemplate how much internet usage we really need
• Get rid of my cell phone...we got by without it up to a few years ago.
• Do not carry any credit that is charging interest....pay everything off in full monthly
• Buy clothes at thrift shops...make due with minimal clothing
• Sell all of the knick knacks and stuff we have accumulated through a lifetime
• Eat low cost, but health foods like making up soups and beans from scratch.
• Do not purchase any pre-processed products.
• Keep heat low and lights off as much as possible.
• Conserve water...turn water off while soaping up in the shower.
• Never purchase anything that is not on your shopping list...no impulse purchases.
• Keep a strict budget and follow it. 

There are lots of others.  I know you might think that the savings realized through these efforts is small, but together they add up. 

As I told a co-worker the other day, my personal brand of insanity isn't for everyone, but it definitely fits me!

 

Dog Days Are Over

 

I just can't seem to get enough of this song....and video.  Someone commented the video was like the Mad Hatter's wife had been let loose.  Let her free, I say!

This song is always so encouraging...reminds me that there is always a new day and we can always change things. 

The Trials and Tribulations...or: Why life is like a game.

Okay, I have a thought that has been coming together in my head and I am going to attempt to share it.  Hopefully I make some sense.   :)

At this point in my life, I don't think I believe in a sentient god who watches over and designs our lives.  However, the question of "Why would God let bad things happen" is one that is often put forth.  Even if there is no god/s, why do bad things happen?  Just by random chance?  

I would like to put forth the theory that we need problems, troubles, antogonists...we draw them to us.

Think about a video game.  Let's take the old Donkey Kong.  What if there was no big ape throwing barrels at you?  What if all you had to do was mosey up the ramp and save the princess?  How interesting would that game be?  Would people have spent hours playing it?  Of course not!  It would have been boring to win so easily.  We want challenge and as soon as we master that challenge, we want a harder or new challenge to master.  This is the basis of all video games.

Think about sports.  What if you played baseball by hitting the ball and then going around the bases, but no one ever tried to stop you and there were no outs.  Everyone just took their turn hitting the ball and running the bases.  Again, I just don't think the game would hold people's interest.  We crave a project, a problem, an antagonist...something to best, something to overcome.

Now, let's apply these thoughts to our lives.  I think just as we crave challenge in our play, we crave it in our lives.  When life becomes too easy, we seek more.  I think life/god/we bring problems and trouble into our lives to help us continue to learn and grow.  If there is a God, he is sending lessons.  If it is just life, then we are finding lessons.  

Finally, I think our need to learn and grow sometimes gets misdirected....we don't realize how to feed the need and so turn to drugs/sex/gossip/drama/violence/fast-living which whips itself up into a cycle that can be hard to get off.  If instead we would just try to honestly look at ourselves and find what our uniqueness is and not be afraid to be it...to explore who we are fully.  If we work on honing our positive traits and try to understand our problem areas, we would go a long way toward inner peace. 

The soul longs to learn and play.

 

New Ways

Do you ever stop to think that we spend most of our lives with some kind of audio input?  We are either watching tv or a video...or we have the radio on, are listening to an ipod or talking on the cellphone.  I am experimenting with silence in the car....turning off the radio and either singing or just being quiet.  

Yesterday was my second day of this on my commute to work.  It was an amazing difference.  The world outside my car became brighter...more in focus.   I noticed several interesting things that I would't usually notice.   I saw a man walk around a corner to find his truck covered with several ravens and he waved them off.  I noticed pedestrians on their way to work and thought about them....where they were going and what they might be thinking.   I think it makes me a better driver at the least. 

But, my mind also came up with important internal conversations that I think I usually drown out with electronic stimulus.  I thought about the fine line between supporting/encouraging your loved ones and controlling/expecting something from them. 

Now I just have to find a way to off the tv.   There is very little that I enjoy on tv, yet I watch it daily in the evenings...I think just to create a mindless time of rest after the workday.  There must be a better way to relax.   You will say I should read, which would be great but I need to get buy in from my husband.   Actually, he sometimes opts to read in the evenings and I am the one who doesn't.  I think my long years of tv have made it harder for me to keep my attention on a book.  Maybe I need to learn to crochet....a nice soothing restful task perhaps.

I'm getting free

♫ I'm getting free of all demanding
To have things my own way.
I don't have to control you,
it's not worth the price I pay.
I'm learning how to love,
I don't have to force my way.
I'm learning how to love my life,
more and more each day. ♫

My favorite Easter funnie!

Peeps!

It's time for total silliness!  Time for Peeps!  I have collected some funny peeps pictures over the years.  Here are my favorites.   My hats off to the creative minds that came up with these.



                                          The Peepsons

                                                       Marching for World Peeps

                                                            Peeps and Peppers             

                                                                  Jiffy Peeps

                                                  No Country for Old Peeps

                                                              Your Peeps on Drugs

                                                           Peep Show

                                                          Peeping Tom

                                                           Peepzilla

 

In The Here and Now

I am thinking this morning of the skill and blessing of acting on current information.  I was taught from childhood to live in and celebrate the here and now....sometimes I am successful at this...others times not so much.   

I am seeing now that there are many aspects to this skill.  One is seeing the world as it is now...acting on what is, not what was when considering times, places, and things.  

Another is responding to others based on what is happening between you right now, with no baggage from the past or hopes for the future.  When you untie these binds of past and future, the present can brighten and show you more of the person than you saw when you let these things cloud your vision.

Yet another aspect, and the one I am contemplating this morning, is seeing yourself in the here and now.  Accepting your current self fully.  I think there is wisdom in spending some time reflecting on the past so as to spur growth...and there are great benefits to planning for our future selves...paths of learning and accomplishments we aspire to.  

But, we cannot live there...in the past and future.  If I act according to my wants, desires, skills, interests of the past, I am blocking knowing myself in the present!  (Wow, I am just figuring this out while writing it...or relearning what I already knew?).  Who am I now?  What are my interests right now?   I need to allow myself to grow, change, evolve...to turn and turn till I come round right.

I have attached one of my favorite songs ever: Simple Gifts.  It is an old Shaker hymn that packs power to quiet my soul and open me.  

'Tis the gift to be simple
'Tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
It will be in the valley of love and delight


When true simplicity is gained
To bow and to bend we will not be ashamed
To turn to turn it will be our delight
'Til by turning and turning we come round right.


No lyrics could be truer.  I often sing them over and over in the car as a kind of mantra.  I think singing is powerful and causes our selves to internalize words and ideas in a much deeper way than just listening.  Here is Judy Collins' version.

When you need a laugh...a little Joe Cocker lyrics.

Whoever put this together did an incredible job.  Funny as heck.  No disrespect to Joe Cocker...he is a heartfelt rousing performer who gives us his all.  But these really sound like the lyrics! 

Hoggify!

Things have been ok for me....except that I'm a zombie now....

In the spirit of upcoming All Hallows Eve, I thought I would repost this hilarious zombie song.  Jonathan Coulton is so creative and funny.  I love the lyrics:  "I'm not a monster, Tom, well...technically I am...I guess I am."

Warning: some cartoon gore!

Three Dog Night

Dedicated to my Australian friend, Liz who always cheers me with her comments.  Three Dog Night took their name from an Aussie saying about how cold the night was and how many dogs you should sleep with.  :)

We probably all are familiar with the few hits of Three Dog Night that continue to play on oldies radio stations: One, Joy to the World, Black and White, Mama Told Me Not to Come, and Shambala.  But it's easy to forget how big a sensation they were in the early 70s.

When I was about 8, my older brothers scratched their Three Dog Night: "Naturally" album and so gave it to me.  I had a little kiddy record player in my room to play my disney and sesame street music.  This was my first non-childrens album and I loved it.  Here are a several Three Dog Night songs you might remember if you are old enough...or might enjoy hearing for the first time if you are that young.   :)

No matter whether or not you take the time for all of these clips, don't miss the last one.  It is joyful.  :)

First, a love song...gentle and simple...Sunlight.

Here is a funny clip from a CBS Variety Show starring Lily Tomlin featuring Three Dog Night Performing Eli's Coming.  Better hide your heart!

Remember records?  Turntables, needles...getting good at setting the needle on just at the start of your favorite song (took talent, I can tell you!).  Here is Three Dog Night's I Can Hear You Calling spinning on the turntable.  Love that scratchy sound at the beginning.  Ahh, memories!

As I was hunting around YouTube looking for more Three Dog Night, I came across this incredible blast from the past:  Three Dog Night performing on Hugh Heffner's Playboy After Dark TV show!  I had no idea there was such a show...very risque for the era.  Hugh himself (very young) is doing the interviewing and there are some groovy dance sequences.  Three Dog Night performs two songs: Nobody and Better Find Someone to Love.  Enjoy!

Three Dog Night making an ecological (or sociological?) statement.  The Family of Man.

This was probably my favorite Three Dog Night song as a child...not because of the accusation...I think I just liked the way it sounded.  Here is Three Dog Night's Liar.

I love this song...it never fails to lift my spirits and remind me of what's important.  I know it is often played on the radio, so I wasn't even going to include it here.  But, I found this video on YouTube and had to share it.  What a wonderful trip this must have been!  What a perfect video to Three Dog Night's Shambala!

Alaska bear cub in grocery store

This is a grocery store just a few blocks from where I work. Saturday afternoon, a little bear came in and climbed around in the produce. Poor little guy....he is way too small for this time of year and won't make it on his own.

Political Satire on Social Security in the US

Well here's a new idea for social security reform!

Been sooo busy

Hello fellow bloggers!  Sorry it has been so long since my last post.  We have had a VERY busy September at the Civic Center where I work.  Many conferences and always short-staffed.  So hard to find staff!

During my hectic weeks I often think of things to blog but have just been too busy.  I hope to get some of these thoughts on posts soon. 

Until then, enjoy Jape.  I just love the sound of it and the video is fun.  There is a drug reference "we took our first pill when the music was Fish", and I think the song is the description of the way the drug (probably Ecstasy) made him feel. 

However, I think that ---drugged or not---the band does create a piece of art (the song) that conveys and draws you in to the way it felt....like floating.  Listening to this song...  "how tiny we are girl, how tiny we are"...I can float without the chemical assistance.  :)