Southward?
So, have we launched or not? The last week has been a frantic whirlwind as we’ve pushed through many troughs and swells of challenges and mini-triumphs, and yes, the occasional breaking wave of hopelessness and exhaustion the likes of which
we may not experience again unless we are faced with gale-force winds in the Atlantic. As Tim so fittingly expressed a few days ago, there’s a tyranny to dreams, but I’m not going to go there in this Ariose Note.
We’re getting lots of enquiries and assumptions about whether we’ve made it or need to postpone our adventure, so for now, we’ll answer that pressing question.
…drumroll please….
Ariose has been launched!! We towed her to Kingston, arriving late the night before her appointment to be craned into Lake Ontario. That happened yesterday, and last night was our first of many sleeps onboard. There’s so much that we’ve gone through over the last few weeks that we’d love to share, and at some point, we intend to at least blog about the highlights. Getting them down in writing will serve as an important debriefing for Tim & me, and we expect it might make for entertaining reading for others. Until then, we’ll include some photos to satisfy those curious about how it’s gone and to give a preview of the stories to come. You’ll have to interpret them on your own. My Computer chose a very untimely time to break down, and getting to sleep is more important for me right now and taking the time to type out captions on my phone. I think most of the photos speak for themselves anyways.
Last warm day of the season allowed Shirley to freshen up her bottom… Ariose’s bottom, that is.
Bon voyage dinner out with Shirley’s Mom & Dad.
Time to head south.
Snazzy stove!
Thank goodness for the heater to take the edge off the autumn chill.
Brian helping us unload our gear onto Ariose.
Guess it’s time to update our home page byline. We’re no longer “a novice cruising couple sharing our north-of-49 musings while PREPARING to set sail on Ariose, our classic Alberg 30”, we are UNDERWAY!
Just a bit of stowing to do, then we’re off!
Kevin Kroeker
October 27, 2016 at 21:41YES!
Calm seas.
admin
October 28, 2016 at 18:49…and warm seas we hope. It will take us a while to thaw out after this first leg of the adventure.
Sharren Reil
November 4, 2016 at 09:42I am thrilled you are launched! I will follow your journey with love and interest.
Sharren
admin
November 5, 2016 at 14:22More adventure than we bargained for on this first let of our cruising… will get a post off in a few days once we have a bit of time/energy to share more about that. Wonderful having you with us, Sharren!
KC
October 27, 2016 at 21:43W00t!! This is so exciting! I’m looking forward to hearing about your travels. Can’t wait to see pictures as you go along seeing new sights (and sites).
admin
October 28, 2016 at 18:51Nice to have you along with us, Kevin. We look forward to sharing the sights & sites with you.
Gail Moore
October 27, 2016 at 23:23Best of luck and weather during your travels!
admin
October 28, 2016 at 18:53Thanks Gail! At this point, we’ll gratefully accept all the luck folks send our way, and as for the weather, we will just be happy if it’s consistently above zero. Nice to have you along!
Serguei & Lara
October 27, 2016 at 23:30Congratulation! Fair seas and a following wind! We are still working on our Alberg, preparing her for the future passage down south… Hope too see more posts about your passage.
admin
October 28, 2016 at 19:00Hi Serguei! Sounds like we’ve all been busy since we met at the boat show.Have fun preparing your Alberg – our adventure actually started when we began work on ours. Albergs offer so many possibilities. Would like to hear what personal touches you make to yours.
Perhaps we’ll meet up again someday in the Caribbean!
Nancy Adams
October 28, 2016 at 00:56How exciting! Congrats to you both for such a great job of navigating your way through to this point. Looking forward to hearing about all your new adventures on the water! Thinking of you as the snow falls.
admin
October 28, 2016 at 19:04Thanks Nancy! Not sure if we’ve done a great job of navigating so far – There’s been a fair amount of blundering along the way, but that makes for valuable learning ( and a few more gray hairs).
If there’s anything you could do to help postpone any more snow for just a little bit longer, we’d appreciate it!
Kathy Young Hollick
October 28, 2016 at 06:10Yay, you must both be so exhausted. Bon voyage!
admin
October 28, 2016 at 19:07Yes – feeling kind of numb at the moment, and not sure if it’s from the exhaustion or the cold. Perhaps both! lots of time ahead for r&r once we hit warm climates.
Linds JS
October 28, 2016 at 07:18I was so happy to read that the adventure continues and that you’re on your way!
¡Buen viaje!
admin
October 28, 2016 at 19:13Gracias! Couldn’t have done it without your Dad, Linds. I’ll be writing some future Ariose Note about how grateful I am for my brothers. He showed up with Dave (Yes, Dave!) and they both were super helpful in the chaos as we loaded up. Your dad then accompanied us on the drive to Kingston, regaling us with entertaining stories the entire way, then safely returned the truck and trailer after we launched Ariose. Family!
Cynthia
October 28, 2016 at 15:03So excited for you two and your epic journey!!!
admin
October 28, 2016 at 19:18Thanks, Cynthia. Can hardly believe that we have managed to get away and I am glad we did. We have a hunch that it will be worth the effort. It means a lot to me (Tim) to have you with us.
Glen & Christine Morrison
October 28, 2016 at 20:44So happy you two were able to get away!!! How exciting for you both!! Thanks for keeping us informed!
Lots of love
Glen & Christine
admin
October 29, 2016 at 20:12Yes, we are very happy to have set sail. Thanks for coming along! We’ll keep you posted as we move from place to place to share the adventure as it unfolds for us.
Sue Hall.
October 29, 2016 at 07:59Congratulations – all of your hard work and planning has come to fruition! Thank you for sharing this experience as I very much look forward to your updates on this journey of a life time. Happy travels! E
Erin Little
October 29, 2016 at 10:47Yay!
admin
October 29, 2016 at 20:00🙂 !!
Deb Pultz
October 30, 2016 at 17:22Congrats Shirl and Tim, I knew you’d pull it off!!! Safe travels, it’s time to realize your dream!! All the best, keep us posted! 🙂
admin
October 30, 2016 at 20:35Thanks, Deb! Still have a day or two’s work to do while we’re docked in Kingston, but are pretty close to being able to cross Lake Ontario – our first leg on water. We haven’t had timeto find any pirate costumes, so just as well that we’re not ready to depart tomorrow! Happy Hallowe’en! 😉
Fred Ciraco
November 7, 2016 at 18:24Congratulations guys, happy to hear you are finally on the move and experiencing the journey. Let us know when the sail goes up and she’s under wind power. Safe travels.
admin
November 9, 2016 at 21:19Nice to have you along, Fred… I’m not sure I ever told you how important your support was in feeling this dream. I’m just writing the next post to update folks You’ll see that we’re already having quite an adventure … it will definitely be a little bit yet before she’s under sail!