On how we came to know Daedalus

 So those of you who know us can easily remember our Seattle home. We bought it from the family and lived there happily for eight years. 

Then the pandemic hit in March 2020. We taught remotely for the rest of that school year. It was... okay. 

But our initial hopes of returning to a normal school year for the 2020/2021 year were crushed by the massive onslaught of the virus, aided and abetted by all the non-vaxxers out there who happily helped spread and extend the severity of it. We were looking at a full year of teaching remotely. 

We also saw the explosion in the Seattle housing prices. We saw riots in Seattle, we also saw loads of potholes in Seattle. 

I had become burned out teaching and very much wanted to retire. In July 2020 I became eligible to retire but was only 55. If I retired now we'd be in some pretty serious financial straits. 

In mid-August 2020, we were sitting on our deck having a cocktail and Shan said, "Well here's a crazy idea... Let's sell the house, move in with my mom over in Port Ludlow to help her out, and buy a sailboat. We can travel to warm places in the cold months [on an airplane, not on the boat], and we can go cruising in the warm months, and we can help out mom in the remaining months. Oh, and you can retire at the end of this upcoming year."

I think she though I'd laugh that one off. Living with the mother-in-law? Not owning our own home? But the idea of retiring early and sailing and traveling was too great of a temptation. I said yes! 

Within a week the house was being prepped, we were moving. We started looking at used sailboats in my few minutes of down time. We were considering boats in the 38-45 foot range. Probably 20-30 years old. Fixer uppers.

By the time the house was placed on the market a month later, it ended up selling in five days for well over our asking price. We both started looking at newer and bigger boats!

Skip ahead another month and after looking at several boats, considering our options and making list after list of boats, we ended up heading to Marine Servicenter on Lake Union in Seattle to look at a Beneteau that sounded okay. It was crappy. But they also had this dark blue, 2005 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49 that was screaming for us to take a look at. I went aboard. Sold. We love it! 

We brought her home to Kingston Marina on Halloween day, 2020. 

 

We changed her name, added a fully-enclosed cockpit, and did many other things that first year, but this is how she looked (and how she was named) when we first brought her to Kingston.

 

That school year was one like no other. We did a few weekend trips on the boat and started to get to know her. I started looking into the various systems and seeing what was needing attention. The boat was in remarkable shape and there was very little to fix. We still did a lot of projects though as the boat was fifteen years old and things start to wear out. It's a boat... they all have endless project lists. Even brand new boats have project lists.

I retired in June 2021. Phew! 32 years in the classroom... I'm pooped. 

The summer of 2021, we did two shakedown cruises, both to the San Juan Islands in northwestern Washington State. Canada was closed to tourism so we couldn't go there. But we had a fantastic time in the San Juans and couldn't wait to use her more. 

In February of 2022, Shan also retired. It's just too hard teaching in today's climate. 

That is the very short version of the story so far and is where this blog picks up. It's now March 2022. We are very much looking forward to more sailing and cruising this summer. Hopefully with some close friends. We also hope to get up to beautiful Canada! Shan can't go the entire time due to wanting to also work with her horse Justin, but Steve and Daedalus are ready to go.

Oh, and we just found out that Kingston Marina where we are moored doesn't have room for us this summer and we have to leave until October 1st. We're on the waitlist for a permanent slip and are there on their winter moorage plan, but have to vacate during the summer. They managed to find us a slip last summer which was great, but it doesn't look likely this summer. 

Could the cosmos be telling me something I've dreamed about most of my life... Am I being pushed to take off for up to five months of cruising in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest? Am I brave enough to finally just take off? 

Stay tuned. We'll find out together. 

Steve