9/21/18: It’s been one of the most difficult decisions we’ve ever had to make, but we’ve decided to bring our sailing journey to an end and sell Shanti. We’ve been discussing doing this since we arrived in Kingston, NY this past spring. Since the decision was so difficult, we kept moving forward on our way to New Bern, knowing that would be a more permanent location for her and give us time to really think about it. But hurricane Florence changed that, and prevented us from making the final push to New Bern, at least for this season.

For us, the reasons to hang it up are pretty straightforward. The first is the weather and how it’s affected our finances. Most people will agree that the weather is changing. There’s been more severe weather recently, including major rain events and hurricanes. This has caused us to spend more time in marinas than we normally would, which becomes very expensive. Second, so many of the marinas we’ve been to aren’t really near anything, so you either have to pay for a cab or an Uber to sightsee or get groceries, which also adds cost to the trip. Or, you end up sitting at the marina doing not much of anything, waiting out whatever weather system might be passing. We’ve missed a lot of sights along the way because of this. Which leads to the last, and for us, the primary reason for ending this adventure: we really haven’t enjoyed it as much as we thought we would. True, we’ve seen lots of country and been to lots of places we would otherwise not have visited. And yes, we’ve had some good times and will take away many great memories of our journey. We’ve also met people along the way that have enriched our lives greatly. But in the long run, this just hadn’t brought us the enjoyment, happiness, or relaxation we thought it would.

We are now in the middle of getting her ready to sell. We’re working on getting all the cosmetic issues taken care of from two seasons of living aboard and using her daily. There’s some exterior woodwork that has been scratched up and needs a new coat of varnish. We are packing up all the stuff we plan to take with us, leaving only those things that will be sold with the boat. And, of course, just general cleaning and reorganizing of all of the cabinets, the closet, and all the other places we’ve stowed food or gear. And we’ve enlisted the help of a yacht broker to sell her. We’ve already met with him once to go over everything that will be sold with her so he can get the for sale postings ready. Today (Monday) we signed the listing agreement to “officially” get the ball rolling. We committed to 90 days, after which time we will evaluate her future.

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Not only have we had to deal with getting her ready for a potential hurricane, but now we’re also getting her ready to sell. It’s come with a lot of stress, frustration, and lots and lots of tears. It really has been that difficult. But through it all, we still think we’re making the right choice. We honestly don’t know what will come next for us. Right now we have no plans and only a few vague ideas of what to do next. For now, we intend to finish up here, make our journey back to the midwest, and visit our families there and in the southwest. After that, who knows?

We really want to thank the staff here at York River Yacht Haven for being so accommodating and allowing us first to stay for a few days, then for an entire month, and now for an indefinite amount of time. They’ve been really great to work with. But we especially want to thank everyone out there who’s kept up with our travels and read our posts. It’s been an amazing journey, even though we didn’t find what we were looking for (whatever that may be). Having people out there to share it with has been one of the bright points, so thank you.

This will probably be our last posting, as more likely than not we will be resettling somewhere in the midwest to begin our lives again with jobs, a home, and everything that comes with that. So thanks again for reading.

Take care and farewell, or as all sailors say to another, “Fair winds and following seas”.

Pat and Kate