Giving up and letting go

I am amazed that the things I have strived so hard for through out my life, the long hours, and the dedication to my employers have gained me nothing. I am 51 and have nothing to show for my years of service. I have no pension, no 401k, no medical insurance, and no prospects for further employment.

What I do have is my loving husband and partner, our boat, our wonderful son in Mississippi, a loving family, good friends, and three useless cats.

Since February of last year, I have worked exactly 2 1/2 months. We have survived this year because of the generosity of our family and friends. Mike's father and my mother have consistently helped us throughout this year. My mother, brothers, sister, nephews and nieces, ex-brother and sister-in-law, and friends in the technical writing community have supported us both financially and emotionally.

I count our family and friends as the miracles that have kept us going. Thank you.

Now the letting go. Our goal over the next month is to be able to live on the hook. Mike has met a person that is a genius with diesel engines. He and Mike worked on the engine for a full day and he did not ask for anything but beer. He identified what needs to be done to get the engine running. As we fix something new on the engine, the next system shows it's new problems. So far, Mike has fixed the o-rings on the injectors, fixed a screw that did not have the correct opening to allow the fuel to come out, and changed the thermostat. The next step is rigging the prop shaft so that it does not fall out of the transmission when the engine is running.

We had three major finds. A friend at a different marina had a dinghy that he sold for $100.00 We had to pick it up, literally, from his mother's azalea garden. It was covered in dirt, spiders, and vines. The only thing it needed was drain plugs. Mike fixed it and it is now parked beside our boat. We needed a gas powered generator and Mike found one. The man he is working with now went to a pawnshop looking for a vacuum cleaner and Mike spotted the generator. He talked them down from $150.00 to $125.00. It is an older model but it works and fits nicely into the cockpit. The third major find was a bimini cover that fits Sovereign perfectly. It was a trade for an old Gateway desktop computer that we no longer have a use for and was so old that the pawnshops would not buy it.

Now all we need is enough wire and about $100 in additional lighting and fans to complete the DC rewire. Mike already has the DC panel ready to go. We've changed out the old light fittings for new LED lights that draw less power. We have a new automatic bilge pump that is keeping up quite nicely with the bit of water still seeping in.

Mike also has is eye on a high gain antennae to help with our WiFi access, we hope to be able pick up enough writing contracts to keep us alive and sailing.

Let us know where you want us to go and if you would like more stories about sailing and living on a boat. Oh - and thanks to Steve, we have a new digital camera and as soon as the memory card comes, I will be able to finally capture pictures of dolphins playing in Charleston Harbor.