God’s Belly Laugh!
On a daily basis, we are reminded that the way to make God chuckle is to tell him your plans! We knew that there was a list of things to do in order to get the boat ready for our journey. The result of a thorough pre-purchase inspection by professionals.. A lot of the items I felt confident We could do ourselves. It’s a great way to learn about a new boat and to get familiar with our new home.
Our boat’s previous owners are reportedly in their 80’s. Although we never met her, she has great trouble with mobility and is apparently confined to a wheelchair. The husband/seller is a likable fellow who very graciously offered to take a few hours and orient us to our new boat. However, it is apparent that he is slowing down and more concerned about his wife than his “stuff”. Rightly so. Net result is that our Silverton has mostly sat idle for a few years. Previous owner was, at one time, very active in the yacht club where the boat was berthed. Their rules are that all boats must be taken out of the slip at least every 60 days. During our orientation, he somewhat tearfully revealed that the last time he complied with this rule, he took it to the end of the slip and promptly backed it in again, a distance of about 40 feet! Very sad.
Although our pre-purchase survey reported that the mechanical equipment was in good shape, I didn’t want to take on the deferred maintenance and servicing of the Caterpillar engines and the diesel generator by myself first time around. The engines are massive, frankly a bit intimidating, and we’re going to be gone a long time - I want to be comfortable knowing that they are in good working order. I’m hoping this is how adults think, but I can never be sure!
The “List” has 54 items to be fixed or upgraded. To date, we have resolved 45 of them. But, thus far we have been thwarted in trying to find a qualified mechanic. Boating is big business in south Florida. For example, marine air conditioning companies routinely advertise on local TV. Qualified mechanics are scarce and this is “the busy season”. Two different times we thought we had established a relationship with a good mechanic, both of whom told us that they would get to us in a week to 10 days. Two weeks later they no longer will return our phone calls.
This week we met with a third mechanic, who actually came to the boat and physically went into the engine room! He is supposed to come back next Tuesday and actually do some work. Should that happen, I will offer to have his baby!
As with so many thing in life we probably don’t get to know why our timing doesn’t work for God. In my opinion, our job is to be OK with God’s timetable. “Never” might just be a scheduling possibility! Moses did not get to the Promised Land and, I don’t think, he ever found out why!
AA is good in Southwest Florida. We’ve found a large group that meets every morning @ 8:30 am. It’s a great group with lots of sobriety, but it’s just not the same as where we came from! I shared the other day that I think one of the differences is that we know we aren’t staying and don’t want to get too close. Leaving our friends and family in Whittier was so painful that I’m reluctant to be that vulnerable again any time soon.
One of the highlights of our journey was I turned 30 on March 2nd as we passed through Baton Rouge, LA. Kim found us a noon meeting in a large, low-bottom, publicly-funded, recovery program. It was fun to be among “my people” for the hour and when I shared that it was my 30th birthday, I was treated like a minor deity for the rest of the meeting! Most of the residents were only dreaming of 30 days!
This is probably a long way around to say that all is well with us. Kim has done a remarkable job of turning our little boat into a comfortable and cozy home. I’m surprised that she is doing so well in such a small space with me. I secretly know that I’m difficult to get along with even in big spaces!
