Zephyrus: A home on the water.

So in one weekend, the same day actually, we went from being students our entire lives, to crossing a stage, and immediately afterwards (literally) stepped foot onto our new home on the water. Talk about a transformation.

So now, we are living full time on the boat. We plan to live aboard all summer (meaning anywhere from 4-6 months..well I say 6, Corey is a bit more realistic) and going from Lake Superior to Lake Huron to Lake Michigan...then who knows where (I say keep going south to the Caribbean, Corey is a bit more realistic)! It's a 27 foot sailboat, complete with enough sleeping room for 6, a galley, a bathroom, AND dining area (people think we're crazy, we tell them we're living luxuriously out here!) And YES, we have food and water, contrary to popular belief. ;) After the boating season comes to an end, we plan on heading to the Virgin Islands for a bit so I can pay my student loans off and we can save a bit of cash, then we will buy a one-way ticket somewhere in the world (we're thinking Madagascar) and begin our travels, vega-bond style.

Anyways, the first week of May was our first week finally living aboard. We are out on a mooring, which is basically a permanent anchor, tucked away in the Lower Harbor in Marquette right next to the coast guard. We went out for our first sail mid-week, and due to the fact that the wind speed was 0, we let the sails down and just floated around in the warm afternoon sun. Bliss is a pretty good way to describe it.

Corey climbed the mast before we could go out, because one of our halyards was stuck up there from the winter. It was pretty satisfying seeing him swing around at the top of the mast. (Don't tell our parents, but we plan on jumping off the spreaders later this summer [you can see the cross bar in the pic below] We also experienced our first rough night, with high winds and rocky waves. We both woke in the middle of the night somewhat stressing over new noises we heard and being jolted around with the changes in the wind. So it's not always smooth sailing, but we're ready. We plan on getting to know every inch of our boat and being fluent in “boat language “by the end of the summer.


Ohh, and the name. Zephyrus is the Greek origins of the name zephyr, which means a wind from the west. Typically in sailing, west winds are warm and enjoyable breezes. I envision it as a down-wind, laid-back, sort of sail. We will take our time and go with the wind...always.

So enjoy, we'll update as much as possible. If sailing around the Great Lakes isn't your kind of thing, please feel free to live vicariously through us, we don't mind!   

Comments

Anonymous said…
Nice to know one of you is realistic..... Hmm... about that 4th paragraph, be sure the more realistic one checks the strength and safety ok? But you didn't hear it from me, right?
Love you both! Mom
Bert said…
Hey guys!
Amazing what your both doing! Cor when you right your book, I want one of the first copies!
Sincerly, Bert