Homeless

Yesterday was my birthday!  It was pretty uneventful to begin with.  I worked all day (literally).  The only thing to break up the monotony was going out to Culver's with a friend for lunch.  If you've never been to Culver's I highly recommend it.  A better brand of beef truly does make a butter-burger better.  I worked from 8:30 in the morning until 9:30 at night.  We close at 8:00, but I had some last minute customers that bought a car.  Oh well, money is good right?  After I updated my Facebook account and replied to most of the birthday wishes I started to head home.  On the way I suddenly grew hungry.  The problem with Sheboygan is that there's nowhere to go at 11:00 at night for food except Perkins.  I didn't want to go to the restaurant alone and feel lame so I decided to just turn in for the night.  As I was almost to the marina I got a text from my friend Jessica, she was with another friend.....at Perkins.  So in the end I did get some more birthday fun, and I got to eat inordinate amounts of food.  That's a good day in my book.
As I got home to Aequitas I noticed that there was no longer any water dripping into the bilge; small victories.  Thursday I will be moving the rest of my belongings out of my apartment so I can fully move onto the boat.  I wonder if I'll get in trouble for being technically homeless.  Does living on a boat count as homelessness?  What if I have my Mom's house as my mailing address.  Soon the only bills I will have are my cell phone and the insurance for the car I sold to my sister and brother in-law.  Hopefully this means that I will be able to save quickly for my trip to California this summer, and to Europe next summer.
Just as a backup plan I began searching for flight prices to head to all the places I want to visit next summer.  Oddly enough if I did it as a multi-stop flight and spent about a week in each country it would only be just over $1,000 for the whole trip.  That's stopping in Ireland, England, Spain, and Florida.  For that price I may as well do that this year.  Obviously that doesn't cover food and lodging.  The main thing I want to experience though is cruising on my own boat and pulling into a strange port and seeing everything from that perspective.  Then I can explore every cove and inlet along the way, stop at any beach that intrigues me, and carry my living place with me like a snail's shell. 

Chores yet to do.

I was able to get over to the boat before all the dew had been dried up by the sun.  I used an old towel to wipe the moisture away so I could begin work.  A little bit more sanding, and another two coats of paint finished off the transom.  It is now gleaming in "china white", and ready to have a name painted on it.  I have decided on the name, but I'll explain that later.
I still need power tools to get the rest of the flooring up in the cabin.  I can't wait to get down there and level it all out so I can rebuild the floor.  I am looking forward to having another 2" of headroom, and a solid surface to walk on.  I am also hoping that the musty smell will go away after I get everything vacuumed up and repainted in the engine compartment.  While I was waiting for coats of paint to dry I curled up in the foreward berth for a few minutes.  It was surprisingly comfortable.  I let my mind wander a bit; I love thinking of when she'll actually be in the water heading off to distant horizons.  I can just imagine diving off of the bow pulpit to help set a heavy anchor in the sand near a tropical reef.  I'd love to bring a surfboard along wherever I go because you never know when you'll find that perfect wave. 
The Sheboygan Sea Scout skipper, Tom, just happened to be driving by.  I showed him my new boat for the first time.  He was kind enough to give me a few names of people who might be able to help me inspect the diesel engine and make sure it's ready to go.  I've always wanted to have an inboard so I can charge up my batteries with the alternator, and so I don't have to strap an ugly outboard onto my freshly painted transom.  There are pros and cons of every set up on a boat, but I think I've found the perfect compromise with everything my boat has. 
I'm hoping to be able to borrow some tools from my grandma (cause we all know she's never gonna use a circular saw) to speed up the work.  The chores I have yet to do are as follows (in no particular order):  install dorade vents, buff out the plexiglass windows so their transparent again, oil all the woodwork and rub rails, remove the rest of the cabin sole, drain and dry the foam insulation, level the cabin floor support, rebuild the cabin sole, re-seat all the stanchions, repair and re-seat the veneer on my deck hatch box, caulk seams on some of the woodwork, clean and paint the engine compartment, repack the rudder bearings, inspect and install the engine (and all parts), clean the head [toilet], inspect the septic tank, mount bow stanchions and hand rail, mount the mast step, paint the bottom with anti-fouling paint, and then buff and wax the whole hull.  It should be fun.  I really am looking forward to it.  A lot of it is just cosmetic, some of it is just preventative maintenance, and some (like the cabin sole) needs to be done. 
Of course I also have to paint the name on her transom. I'll let y'all know my decision in a later post.  I hope to get some before and after pictures up pretty soon as well.  Thanks for reading!