Swallowing the Anchor

This is a difficult post to write.  

Bill and I will soon become CLODS.
We have a few months left, but that departure time will be here before we know it.

Some readers (sailors!) will know that acronym.  For the non-sailing folks, a CLOD is a Cruiser Living On Dirt.  The other oft-heard expression is that we are 'swallowing the anchor.'  Either expression tells you that we have reached the end of our cruising years and it is time to retire back to land.  I would continue cruising for another year or possibly 2, but Bill is ready to call it quits now.  And we each have always believed that when one partner is ready to stop cruising, then it is time to stop.  How awful it would be to live on a boat with someone who does not wish to be there.  We have seen that situation in some other cruisers and it never works out well for either partner.  Plus, there are so many things that I physically cannot do anymore due to my painful arthritic hip and damaged knees.  Boat life has become increasingly difficult for me physically.  It is time to quit and find an easier lifestyle.

Lori, Bill and Dan with BeBe in background

BeBe already is under sales contract to soon-to-be new owners, Dan and Lori Carlson of Chicago.  Dan and Lori flew to Trinidad last Friday and spent several days with us going over BeBe.  They presented us with a sales contract and we accepted.  

Bill sent an email to about 20 people who had contacted us over the past 18 months looking for a boat like ours.  All these people were looking to purchase an Amel, preferably a Super Maramu 2000 model such as BeBe. Five people responded that they were interested in seeing BeBe and might be serious buyers.  We did not want to show the boat to anyone until late September as there were several things we wanted to do first -- such as clean carpets and empty some of the overly stuffed lockers.  It is amazing how much junk one can accumulate living on a boat for 10+ years.

But Dan was insistent that because of employment commitments mid-July was the only time he and Lori could make the trip to check-out the boat.  We finally said 'okay' but that they would have to stay in a hotel because we did not want company on board while our 2 grandchildren were with us.  And they would have to understand that the boat has not been cleaned and prepped for sales viewing.  Dan said they wanted to see how we lived aboard anyway; they had already looked at several Amels listed for sale over the past few years but those boats had all been emptied.  They wanted to see ours while still filled with all our 'stuff' -- to see how real cruisers live.

While they were here in Trinidad they had the opportunity to join the cruiser group playing Sunday afternoon Mexican Train Dominoes.  And our friends, Simon and Jenny aboard Fenecia, joined us all for dinner one evening aboard BeBe so they had a small opportunity to see what the cruising life is all about -- the people one meets out here.

Bill and I will be flying home to Houston with the grandchildren for the month of August, then we will return to Trinidad and begin trying to figure out what should be shipped back to Texas and how.  We will sail BeBe north to the US Virgin Islands where we will meet Dan and Lori in early January and spend a few weeks familiarizing them with the unique sailing characteristics of this Amel Super Maramu 2000.

And then Bill and I will be retiring to our little bungalow in Galveston.  Bill has a number of activities planned for retirement:  1) he has been appointed Vice Commander of the Galveston Squadron of the Texas Navy; 2) volunteering at the Texas Lone Star Flight Museum doing maintenance on those old WWII airplanes; and 3) volunteering on board  the tall ship Elissa, where he crewed before we began this round-the-world 10+-year sailing adventure.  I have no idea how my time will be occupied once we are CLODs next winter.