One year Boativersary!
April 18th, 2017 marked one year of living aboard for us. It's been a year full of highs and lows, but looking back I can confidently say it's been more good than bad by far. We've learned some valuable lessons this year as well, ones we won't be soon forgetting (like don't forget to tie more than one line to your brand new 10k+ dinghy when going underway in snotty weather...). We've learned to live without some comforts, and then gained them back only to find they weren't all that missed. We've tested our limits and found them to be much different than we expected, mostly in good ways.
We got to go to the Seattle Boat Show and meet some nice and knowledgeable people there, as well as experience some wonderful hospitality when we were gifted some free tickets, parking, hats, and an invitation to return in subsequent years as speakers. We also picked up some much needed gear as well as get information on some new and very exciting products on the boating market. It was a much better experience than other boating events we've been to before we bought Liahona, that's for sure!
We have also made some great friends and met some absolutely amazing people as well. We got to meet a woman who had solo navigated the globe more than once, and was going out again. We met a very giving family who would drop anything to give someone a hand. We've met seasoned sailors who were kind enough to lend an ear and give some great advice. We've met hard working, driven people who were eager to help work on our boat for a fair and honest wage. We met a wonderful LDS man in our ward who had a great story to tell and generously gave his time to fellowship with us when we were brand new to the ward. I hope to stay in touch with these people, but I hope even more they know the wonderful impressions they've made on us already.
We have also seen some amazing things. Everything from angry otters to opportunistic seals, to starfish and dolphins. Crab pots overflowing with crab. Watching flounders swim in their quirky way through marinas, and getting a surprise squirt from an oyster. Cranes that are grumpy about having to move when we go to start up the generator on our roof. An ocean seemingly packed full of transparent jellyfish, flexing in the waves. Beaches overflowing with fresh ripe blackberries, so many you could completely fill up on them and still bring some home for later.
One of the most amazing experiences we have had though happened the night of our one year anniversary of moving aboard. We had just gotten done attending a seminar on night navigation put on by the Coho Ho Ho rally that we're going with down to San Diego in August. It was late and dark, so we switched on our dinghy light and headed out back to Liahona from the public dock. There was absolutely no wind, so the ocean was like glass, but every now and then you could see tiny blue sparkles in the water from bioluminescent life firing off under the surface.
Soon, once we were up to our full speed (which isn't very fast considering we're rocking a 6hp outboard on a 13' RIB that's fairly weighted down - we don't even plane), we noticed something amazing about the small wake we were making. It was glowing blue. The bioluminescent sea creatures were out in force, and being disturbed by our churning of the water, were glowing. As we got further out, the creatures grew bigger and started to look like shooting blue stars as they flowed past us. It was almost like we were traveling over the sky rather than the water.
Once we got to Liahona, we took a moment before we boarded to enjoy the show the sea was seeming to put on for us. We took the boat pole and swirled it through the water. It was transformed from it's dull fiberglass and plastic into a magic wand. It glowed blue with the creatures and left a trail of what looked just like glitter in the water wherever we moved it. The kids were enthralled with the light show under the sea. It was an amazing gift given exactly one year after moving aboard, and I hope to always remember it in detail. I also hope to make many more amazing memories on this boat in the years to come with my family.
We got to go to the Seattle Boat Show and meet some nice and knowledgeable people there, as well as experience some wonderful hospitality when we were gifted some free tickets, parking, hats, and an invitation to return in subsequent years as speakers. We also picked up some much needed gear as well as get information on some new and very exciting products on the boating market. It was a much better experience than other boating events we've been to before we bought Liahona, that's for sure!
We have also made some great friends and met some absolutely amazing people as well. We got to meet a woman who had solo navigated the globe more than once, and was going out again. We met a very giving family who would drop anything to give someone a hand. We've met seasoned sailors who were kind enough to lend an ear and give some great advice. We've met hard working, driven people who were eager to help work on our boat for a fair and honest wage. We met a wonderful LDS man in our ward who had a great story to tell and generously gave his time to fellowship with us when we were brand new to the ward. I hope to stay in touch with these people, but I hope even more they know the wonderful impressions they've made on us already.
We have also seen some amazing things. Everything from angry otters to opportunistic seals, to starfish and dolphins. Crab pots overflowing with crab. Watching flounders swim in their quirky way through marinas, and getting a surprise squirt from an oyster. Cranes that are grumpy about having to move when we go to start up the generator on our roof. An ocean seemingly packed full of transparent jellyfish, flexing in the waves. Beaches overflowing with fresh ripe blackberries, so many you could completely fill up on them and still bring some home for later.
One of the most amazing experiences we have had though happened the night of our one year anniversary of moving aboard. We had just gotten done attending a seminar on night navigation put on by the Coho Ho Ho rally that we're going with down to San Diego in August. It was late and dark, so we switched on our dinghy light and headed out back to Liahona from the public dock. There was absolutely no wind, so the ocean was like glass, but every now and then you could see tiny blue sparkles in the water from bioluminescent life firing off under the surface.
Soon, once we were up to our full speed (which isn't very fast considering we're rocking a 6hp outboard on a 13' RIB that's fairly weighted down - we don't even plane), we noticed something amazing about the small wake we were making. It was glowing blue. The bioluminescent sea creatures were out in force, and being disturbed by our churning of the water, were glowing. As we got further out, the creatures grew bigger and started to look like shooting blue stars as they flowed past us. It was almost like we were traveling over the sky rather than the water.
Once we got to Liahona, we took a moment before we boarded to enjoy the show the sea was seeming to put on for us. We took the boat pole and swirled it through the water. It was transformed from it's dull fiberglass and plastic into a magic wand. It glowed blue with the creatures and left a trail of what looked just like glitter in the water wherever we moved it. The kids were enthralled with the light show under the sea. It was an amazing gift given exactly one year after moving aboard, and I hope to always remember it in detail. I also hope to make many more amazing memories on this boat in the years to come with my family.
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