Is it the end or just the beginning?
After 7 states, 10 months,
20-something ports and anchorages, and 100’s of Nautical miles on our sailboat Libra, we are saying goodbye to her this week.
That’s right, we are closing the book on this lifetime dream. It’s bittersweet for sure, but it's also very exciting. Just like finishing a novel you can’t put down, but knowing your favorite author has another book he just released and, according to Amazon Prime, it will be on your doorstep tomorrow, it’s ok! This part of our story ends when we turn the keys over to a new owner on Friday morning.
Our time on Libra was like a great story, and I’m glad we got to live it out. It included everything any good novel has: mystery, excitement, challenges, heroes, villains (aka crab pots), and a great ending.
We saw parts of our beautiful country that can only be seen by boat. Visiting lovely towns on our bucket list and other towns that left us with a new appreciation for where we came from.
We saw glorious sunrises and watched many sunsets with awe. We learned that it’s not always about following where the wind blows sometimes; it’s about waiting for the wind to stop blowing.
We met amazing, inspiring, brave people and many interesting characters on our travels. We were gifted with new forever friends with whom we will stay connected beyond this journey.
We learned A LOT about ourselves and each other. Tom and I saw sides of each other that we had never seen before despite 38 years of marriage. (some sides we hope never to see again!) We argued, we laughed, we faced challenges, and we are closer than we’ve ever been before. (when you are living on a 42 ft sailboat, you are bound to have all of these things happen- lol). We gained new skills from navigating to nighttime passages.
We checked off a bucket list trip and are totally ok with saying the liveaboard lifestyle isn’t for us. Sailing YES! We are not done sailing, but we are done living on a boat full-time. I am especially looking forward to living back on land right now. As I am typing this, the wind is howling with gusts over 45 mph outside and bouncing the boat around like, as my friend Ellen said, a carnival ride. God is making it super easy to sell Libra!
So what’s next for us? We are ready to check off another bucket list item and move to the shores of Deleware. Yes, it’s colder, but still warmer and sunnier than NY and much closer to our boys, grandkids and dear friends. We’ve loved our vacation time in Dewey, Rehoboth, and Bethany Beach, DE, and we will try renting a place for a while to see if it’s where we want to stay.
We feel it’s the right move because everything has fallen into place. We sold the boat just five days after listing it, and the closing is on the exact date the furnished apartment we are moving into becomes available. Serendipity and a God wink for sure.
When she found out we were selling Libra, a friend recently said, “I’m sorry it didn't work out for you,” I quickly responded, “But it did”!
You see, we dared to live out our dream, and that’s what matters most! It’s just time to close that book and start the next one.
