I've been a bit delinquent in posting updates to this blog, mostly because life has been getting in the way of everything. Work, illness, a summer of stress from lack of funding... *sigh*
Time is currently our opponent. Our energy is put towards our daily agenda: getting to work, getting Kiddo to school, making sure we're all healthy, happy, and functioning. Being in a position where we are just barely getting by and unable to save any money towards a boat purchase...
Let's just say it's stressful and leave it at that.
The stress has been galvanizing, however. Our jobs have been pleased with our effort and I've received two raises since my last post, my Love has finished the first draft of her first novel and we're working on editing and getting it ready for submission. Her yearly pay raise is coming around, so our monthly incomes are slowly growing... and it's easing our financial burden a bit.
I think the financial consideration is probably the toughest thing for people in our situation to overcome. A boat requires a large sum of money up front, and that requires saving up. In our situation, which has been spending virtually everything that has been coming in, it has been impossible. Now that our incomes are increasing, we're working on paying off our loans and reducing our monthly expenses. Once that happens, we will finally have enough monthly incomes that will allow us to put away enough to get ourselves ready for the next step in our boat search.
We still haven't found out what our dog's reaction to being on a boat (or even on the dock, for starters) will be, we haven't spent a length of time (at least a weekend, including sleeping) on a boat, and we haven't taken a look at boats in person, excepting the trip we made to the auction. This has been primarily due to a lack of free time, but we also don't want to get a seller's hopes up only to be "just looking". Ideally, our best bet to look at boats would be to attend a boat show. Boat shows typically happen in the beginning of the year in our particular area, however I found out about one SUPER CLOSE to where we live (and where we'd prefer to berth) that's taking place this weekend that we'll most likely be attending. It'll be our first foray into the world of boat shows, and while we have no intentions of purchasing, it's still an excellent source of information and ideas as to what is out there (and what will be coming). Looking at the seminars and seeing conversations about diesel vs. electric engines, I have to say I'm quite intrigued! There's also a 45-minute sailing lesson that I think Kiddo would get a lot out of, but is prohibitively expensive at the present time.
Nevertheless, we are all set to go to the boat show and learn a bit more about our future floating home. We're realistic and understand that we're not equipped yet to purchase a boat, especially a brand new one, but we want to increase our knowledge of what's out there, what new inventions and innovations are being brought onto the ocean. It should be a fun adventure for us all, and we should return with a new look on things and a renewal of our desire to get out there and visit all the places we want to visit.
I just hope that time is more than just plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines. I guess it really is up to us, and this boat show should keep our inspiration alive.
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