SHAKEDOWN

Ah, Isabella. A beautiful thing.

We finally got ourselves together to take her on a shakedown cruise. Our last outing on her was last year, and we didn't want to end up on a sea trial with a prospective buyer without a test run.

Turns out everything was working perfectly -- except me. Jeez. I was stumbling, fumbling, bumbling. I even released the wrong halyard trying to douse the sails. It didn't help that the hanks and clips were sluggish from disuse. My showing didn't exactly instill me with confidence for our next venture. Maybe I'm just sluggish from disuse.

It was fun and peaceful to be out on the water, but sailing in the sound is like trying to swim in a bathtub. We want out, out, out into the blue! People wonder why we don't sail around here more, but it's just not what interests us. Sailing is a lifestyle, about destinations and living aboard. It's about independence, about being off the grid, about self-sufficiency and adventure. It's about not having power or refrigeration or AC. It's about suffering. Okay, not that, but you get the idea.

At the end of our sail, we were motoring down a canal when we spotted our last boat, Bella Luna. She was cowering against a bare bulkhead, sails off, paint peeling, looking dejected, destitute. We motored on in teary-eyed silence.

We pray a better fate for Isabella.

UPDATE:
--If our activity is any indication, the economy just might be shifting a bit. Now getting several inquiries a day on the business and more emails about the boat!
--Still shifting things around and out in preparation for moving. Use it, lose it or pack it.