Day 138, Year 11: Belated Birthday Confession
Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, High upper-50’s, Low upper-30’s F
Location: At Home in Evergreen Preserve, Lowell, MA
I celebrated my 69th birthday on Saturday, but something much more momentous than my birthday happened on that day. I just have not had the strength to talk about. Windbird, that beautiful sailboat that we have called home for almost thirteen years, went on the market on Saturday. This is something that we have talked about, but in my mind it always seemed to be something that would happen in the future . . . not now. As the person who never thought she could live on a sailboat, much less sail around the world, it seems particularly ironic that I am the one who has resisted any thought of ending our life aboard Windbird. But the time has come and I am working hard to get with the program. Mark and I had a wonderful life before Windbird came along. But when Mark and I added a third partner to our relationship, our beloved Windbird, she took us to new levels. It is really hard to explain how a person can be so attached to an inanimate object, but Windbird is strong, she is forgiving, she has traveled over 45,000 miles around the world with us, protecting us all the way, and she has never, ever disappointed. If she doesn’t sell right away, I will still find a crew to sail her back to Cape Cod for the summer. But once the summer is over, Mark and I will find a place to live on land. I have loved the cruising life and am not looking forward to life on land, but I’m sure I will somehow relearn the joys of land living. I’m relying on you, those die hard family members and friends who have stuck with us throughout the Voyage of Windbird, to support us through this next transition.
A friend from Lightkeepers in Little River is our sales agent. John Schwab with Triton Yacht Sales is our broker. When we left Windbird in Little River on February 25th, I had no idea that we would be putting Windbird up for sale before I returned to sail her north in May. I left her looking very lived in. When I looked at the photos that John has taken of the interior of the boat for the listing, I actually laughed out loud. The bag of clothes pins is still sitting on the nav station and a winter’s worth of toilet paper is still in the hanging bag in the v-berth. I did not leave the boat in any shape to be shown to prospective buyers. But John has worked to make her look as good as possible in that situation. Thank you, John! And if anyone does come to look at Windbird, they can rest assured that nothing has been hidden. I’m copying the link to the listing below in case you are interested in taking a peak. Now I just need to figure out how to adjust to life on land. If you have any good suggestions, please send them my way.
 |
| 160308 Day 138 Cape Cod, USA–Windbird for Sale |
