We finally did it. We rented out our house, loaded up our boat and headed south.  That makes it sound easier than it really was. Truth is it took us at least 30 years and several near disasters to get here.

Albert was a sailor before me. I started sailing when I fell in love with Albert, in 1985. It took me a lot longer to fall in love with sailing than it took to fall in love with Albert. I’m more of a dog trainer, herbalist, back to the lander type. Over our 31 years of marriage We’ve nursed two babies to adulthood, built one home on an island, and renovated three others as we struggled to downsize debts and financially prepare ourselves to grow old. Albert grew more like me, and I’ve grown more like him. We’re merging, kind of. And if that sounds natural and easy then I’m not being honest.

But now we’re grandparents. Albert retired this past June. We found the home we plan to grow old in, on the mainland, and planted gardens that will be there for us when we come back.  I’m not retired because I’m still trying to decide what I will be when I grow up.

But for now, this is what I’m doing: I’m giving my husband a chance to fulfill a dream he’s had since childhood. I’m sure his original dream did not include me and the dogs, just as my dreams did not include him and this boat. But I’m 57 now, and he is 62.  As I write this entry (on my cell phone) we’ve been sailing slowly south for almost two months. We left Maine  September 1, 2016 and this is October 28. We’re about halfway through the intracoastal waterway, on the alligator River. And this blog will partly be about how we got here, but mostly about where we go from here.