With my little metaverse group I’ve researched the possibility of creating a tiny home village. Again looking at the intentional community and affordable housing ideas I explored in Arizona. This has it’s pros and cons, but in the end it’s just to soon. I’ve only known the people I’d do this with less than a year and 2 of them are still starting out in life. Plus as a group, we are not entirely sure we want to do it in the US, which brings a lot of complications. Over all the explorations and research say I can do it. So I’ve designated some of my retirement money for this possibility and we as as a group will explore this in a slower way. Perhaps it will be where I settle down in a few years.

Currently, the desire for adventure, travel and a challenge is still there. You might even say the sea is still calling. So I have been exploring “boat life”, specifically buying and living on board.

It’s a rather crazy idea that I’m far from ready for. So as it was with the M.V. Narrative I’m setting it as a goal with the understanding that it’s about the journey. Worse case it’s keeping my brain healthy as I age by learning a lot. Well, maybe worse case is death, but I won’t be doing anything rash.

I have some sailing experience from when I was younger and I’ve boated here and there over the years, mostly in the South West. I’m comfortable on those lakes and rivers in most any kind of craft. But I have very little ocean or “blue water” experience. So the first step, even before setting foot on a boat, is starting from scratch. As if I know nothing.

To that end I’ve started educating myself. I’ve read through U.S. Coast Guards Navigation Rules and Regulations (a nightmare of a read). Watching a lot of you tube videos on other peoples experiences. I’ve been practice sailing in a well rated simulator 1-2 hours a day (25 hours so far). I’ve got a little knot kit to refresh myself on the basics. I’ve taken a course recommended by the USCG on boat safety and law. As well as taken the Florida boat operators license test. Passed with 98% because two questions where confusing. Oddly, it’s not a license required if you are born before 1988 so I didn’t need to take it. But again, it’s prudent to make sure I have all the knowledge.

Next steps are getting out on the water in a few different boats, going to the Ft. Lauderdale international boat show with my friend Karine in October, taking some on the water classes and gaining as much experience as I can before committing to anything. I’ll likely crew on a few as well.

What kind of boat? A primary concern for me is fuel. The traditional yacht or even small cruiser are serious polluters. Better than they use to be, but still. Lets not even think about how bad supper yachts often are. Which leads me to sail boats. Both mono-haul and catamarans are possibilities. The down side to a sail boat is that it’s a fair amount more work and much harder to operate alone.

There is however a developing market for electric, solar powered boats and hybrids. Which have a lot of appeal as well as sail boats. I particularly like the ability to stock up on food and not need to come back to supply for a very long time. You can even make water at sea these days. Even internet is a lot more available than I thought.

The end goal will be to skilled enough to do it alone. I want that kind of challenge. However, initially I’m likely to need extra eyes and hands. Cheep vacation in exchange for crewing anyone? No experience necessary.

We’ll see how this plays out, but I belive it’s always worth the effort to follow a dream and find where it meets reality. Besides, the fortune cookies tell me to go for it!

I was expecting delays, when has a project of that magnitude ever been on time? However, it’s now almost surely 2028 before residents can move in.

Additionally, I finally received my personal contract (catch all term for a lot of paperwork), which would also require my first real payment. So far, I’ve only paid a refundable holding feel and a non-refundable membership fee(gave me 25% of guests and other things), neither all that much.

This kicked off a planned deep review of everything. Every little test I did for myself, everything I learned, all the finances, how life would be on board and 100’s of small things it took me about a month to get through. I have a rather massive pro/con list.

In the end, I have decided not to invest in the M.V. Narrative project. While it would have(and has been) a crazy way to live and grand adventure, not to mention and income source, it is no longer for me. I have other things to do.

In the end I’m loosing a small amount of money, a free trip to Belize, income in the future, gained a big discount on Antarctica, gained a lot of dreams and an important push forward in life.

However, I am not disappointed.

The purpose of goals to me is not only the goal, but the journey to the goal. Which is sometimes far more important. Setting a goal, particularly the big grand ones, helps me focus, make changes and gives my deep sense of stubbornness something to do But, I’m not necessarily all that emotionally invested in the goal. They are often to big or to far away. Living on a ship and traveling the world in a 5 star way? No, that’s just a dream.

What this goal has done for me is vast. Starting with the ability to dream again after trauma and the mental health issues that came with it and ending with a well organized and streamlined life that lets me do generally do whatever I feel like.

Which brings me to the next chapter. Given that this goal was always big and had plenty of possible places it would fail. I developed some backup plans. So now I’m putting energy in to the reality of those and what other kinds of adventures I can get up to. I do know that during this pet-less phase of my life I’ll probably do some long trips, just not sure where or how yet…..

This blog is to detail a trip out west, much of which has been on the books for months. I decided to drive because I now have the freedom to be away more, the need to be in California, Arizona and Texas over and I felt it might help with some deep thoughts I needed to have and grief adaptation.

The drive was uneventful until east Texas, when my otherwise well maintained car had an electronic fit. Alerts about everything electronic all went off. Some, like cruise control, I could live without, but engine and stabilization functions not so much. It went into “limp mode” and I was able to get an appointment at the nearest dealer an hour away in Houston. They were able to take a guess at what was wrong, but unfortunately there were no replacement parts available and couldn’t be for 2 days. The BMW service team though is always great and they found some out of state and had them shipped overnight. They understood that I was stuck in Houston otherwise and might miss a major event.

There happened to be a hotel very near by, so I checked in and waited. Trying to come up with alternative plans to make it to BOB’s birthday event in California. Like flying to Orange county, then back to Houston Sunday and continuing the drive to Arizona. The good news is that being stuck in Houston is a lot better than some random place in the deserts west.

Thankfully and due to good service people I was only delayed 26 hours. So I was able to catch up to my schedule by doing one very very long day.

Arriving in California 1/2 of the party all arrived at the hotel at the same time, which was convenient for check in. Saturday was BOB’s 50th celebration and she hosted a Spa day. Expenses graciously taken care of by Tyler. Given that I made her go to Hawaii for my 50th birthday, I figured it was only right I suffer through this.

I had a good massage, which was very needed after all the driving, but it’s also been nearly 2 years since I had one, so it was certainly good for my body. Also, it was a CBD oil massage. Which I only noticed a little, but I do think it helped with the soreness. Later I had a “back facial” which was nice and interesting, it made me a little woozy for some reason. The day went by very fast sitting in our cabana and having drinks while waiting for everyone to be called for their various services.

Dinner was at a seafood restaurant and Tyler had gotten an amazing 40 year port. Very very tasty. Nothing particularly wild, but it was a very relaxing weekend with friends and I’m quite happy BOB has made it to 50 so I can start calling her old women.

Moving on to Arizona I rented a little condo. I was more worn out than I expected to be and had a number of tasks to get done, so I didn’t get around socially as much as intended. Visited my friend Michelle and her cool dogs, Dr. visit and company meeting was most of it.

I finished up the Arizona part of this trip with a stop in Tucson to see my bio-family and begin the drive to Texas for the Eclipse.

For the Eclipse Tyler rented a house in south Texas. A beautiful spot by the river Frido for the 7 of us with lots of room. Tyler, BOB, Tyler’s two daughters Tobin and Rae and his friends Suzie, Russ and myself all had an easy going time with games, chat and sky watching. Even a walk or two by the river.

The bad news is that it was overcast for the Eclipse. So I did not get the best photos. However, even with the cloud cover it was amazing to see and a very strange experience. I’ve been through a number of partial eclipses, but a total one where it got REALLY dark was something else. Animal life was confused and the light was…off.

The next night in Texas turned in to quite the light show and I got a little bit of photography practice in.

The rest of the trip was an uneventful 2 1/2 day drive home. My birthday was the day after and it was nice to have it be a mostly calm day unpacking and doing little things.

While not as exciting or adventure as some trips it was over all a nice trip. Next up…… Belize. Partly due to this blog, photos and the interview I was invited to Belize. More in the next post

Today, I’m taking the train from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale and back for these gatherings. It’s a 4+ hour drive one way and traffic down there sucks. So I decided to test out the new high speed train by Brightline. It’s really only one of 2 trains in the US you could call high speed. Acela in the north east is the other. Which is way behind the rest of the world.

I’m writing while at a brisk 125mph and the experience so far has been great. Other than having to navigate the Orlando airport parking because the lot was full it’s been perfect. Nice new and clean train terminal and a complete breeze getting through security and ticking. Just scan and go.

I had lunch and while basic at least food existing. Over all a nice experience and only a tad more expensive than driving. Less if you consider the wear on my soul driving in south Florida.

The over all theme of the year has been finding serenity. Continuing a process of healing and growth from traumatic events and the end of relationships that they lead to. Finding my way back to the calm and centered person I prefer to be. It’s not something I talk about much here, but it’s an every day process that will probably always be part of my routine. I am significantly better for it.

Along with that goes the selling of the Nimitz house. Which of course was hard, but like moving, valuable to healing. It helps that all the work I did on it paid well financially, because that will help pay for the next dream.

Also on the financial front, we at Black Rock Hosting concluded the deal that resulted in me selling 2/3’s of the company to Ron and Rachel. It removes me from the day to day, gives them opportunities and fits in better with my beliefs.

The goal was set in May ’22 to be part of the building of the MV Narrative and eventually live aboard. Over the year things have become less and less dream-like as this grand project starts to solidify into reality. We have reached the paperwork stage. Which is both very complicated and where everything becomes legally real. More on this in a future post as some of it’s happening now(over weeks, it’s that complicated), eeek!

The hardest part is sticking to the plan. Which includes the honor of taking care of Cinnamon in her last years and living frugally. Moving certainly helped her and she continues to do well. Although the signs are there. Living in a converted garage and practicing what a ship residence will be like has verified what I knew. I really don’t need much to be content.

I have managed a number of adventures in between the calm times. Moving to Florida and even just the extremely rainy trip was quite the journey. Rather emotional at times but also in a sense freeing. After settling in for a few weeks hurricanes Ian and Nicole visited. I’d only been in hurricane remnants before so both were extreme events for me as well as Florida. Ian had more wind and rain, but Nicole did more local damage. Walking on the beach now, a year later, most houses have or need to have construction. More than a few are just ruins too. Complicated sea walls are going up everywhere, no more are the sloping dunes. Plus many inland homes real close by flooded. Now, I’m prepared to bug out with little notice….

I’ve done a moderate amount of local exploring. Lots of little beach trips and I often just go for a beach walk because it’s 10 min. away. When it was less humid I was going to an estuary park very close by. I’m not much of a bird person, but there are lots of interesting birds I don’t know why Florida has so many zoo’s, but I’ve been to a number of them too. Mostly well run ones.

I’ve not been locally social much at all, interactions here and there, but that’s honestly been perfectly fine and gone well with the journey. My primary social outlet is, oddly, regular VR mini-golf games with my family. However, I’ve also had two visits. My good friend Karine came out for a week and we rented a house on the beach for a very relaxing working vacation. My sister and niece, who is now attending college were also here for school stuff for a few days.

The reason I somewhat randomly picked this part of Florida was so I could finally see a rocket launch. I’ve now lost count, but I’ve probably seen over 50 now. SpaceX goes up every other week, NASA here and there, plenty of military launches and I think they are even testing hyper sonic missiles now. I have yet to get a decent photo but it’s been very cool to see them and occasionally be woken up by the boom of a returning SpaceX booster. Humanity is progressing and while I have issues with Musk, SpaceX and other private companies are doing a good thing.

I’ve also taken two trips out west. First back to Phoenix for a company meeting and annual dr. appointment (I didn’t want to change that particular dr. as I probably have only another year…). Got to see a few friends(including Karine who was coincidentally in town as well), but it was too short a trip to do all that much. I also went to Newport Beach, CA for a meeting with my future neighbors, which coincidentally took place near an event my friends Karine and Tyler and others were part of. I met a LOT of people that weekend as well as toured around the beach and a sculpture garden that had been on my list for years. It’s interesting and cool that life worked out to see Karine 3 times this year even though we are on opposite sides of the country.

In January I decided to go on a trip to Argentina and Antarctica and invited my friend Michelle. Who has always been interested in cold places. It was partly sponsored by my future with the MV Narrative although only a handful of people are going. It’s a “Basecamp” kind of adventure where we’ll be living on a ship, but doing a considerable amount of outdoor activities. Even sleeping outside, without tent, in Antarctica. Kayaking, lots of hiking and of course wildlife. We go in the Spring, November and December, but have done a lot of planning for it since January.

Lastly, one of the few goals I’d had for retirement has been to play games. Having a career looking at screens it’s not been something I could do all that often, yet that’s how it all started for me. So a lot of this year has also been enjoying a lot of games. Currently, Starfield, a long awaited space adventure.

I flew in early Saturday morning and spent the day exploring. It may be the fastest I’ve ever gone from a plane seat to being on the freeway. Partly due not checking a bag. It’s perhaps the first time I’ve flown without a laptop since the invention of them. Which was quite nice. As I had hoped the weather was fantastic. It was really nice to get a break from the hot and humid.

I walked, a lot, around Newport Beach and while extremely crowded it’s quite nice. The picturesque beach side town in a lot of ways. I only went down to the water to say I’d touch both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in the same week I followed that up with a visit to the sculpture park, specifically to see Bunnyhenge. An art project I knew about and had in my head as an “if I ever visit that area…” I didn’t sacrifice anything, but I’m pretty sure those bunnies are up to something evil.

Visiting Karine and Tyler’s place and the Fundraiser were later Sunday and I’m glad because I needed the rest from such an active Saturday. I was a bit concerned that a party with a lot of people I didn’t know the day before really having to be ON and meet a lot of new people at the Storylines update would sap all my social energy. Surprisingly though, it helped get in the mood. The fundraiser/party was fun. I talked to a lot of people and the conversations were generally deep. There were of course some political parts of the Fundraiser that just piss me off to no end. But that’s also why I was happy to contribute to help counter the pro-death “pro-life” ignorance.

Monday was entirely taken up by Storylines related things. While the update was only 4pm-7pm. 40 of us gathered for lunch followed by a singles meeting at the bar (which was kind of everyone, not singles) and a fair amount of post meeting social time. It’s worth noting that most of this was community organized.

Part of the reason to go to this update was to meet some of my future neighbors. I did my best to get around and I think I met 75 or so people over the 8 hours I was with them. There will be a 1000 on the MV Narrative, so it’s just sampling. However, I found everyone to be universally friendly, generally rather sharp and intelligent. Most importantly, people I could be trapped at sea with

I also wanted to meet and observe some of the Storylines people. Online presence isn’t always the whole truth after all. Alister the CEO and visionary in particular. I know I wasn’t the only one doing so either. From his “public” interactions, to his direct ones, to his interaction with a maid I overheard, I found consistency and decency. While there have been mistakes alone the way, I found him genuine, intelligent and going through all this in ways I’d do. (And HELL NO I’d not want his monumental job ). One good example was setting 8 principles for Stroylines and using them as the guide path for the project. Burners will know the power of setting principles down like this. It’s a big reason Burning Man is unique in my view and I think it’s severing Strorylines well.

At the update I learned a few new details not worth putting down here. But mostly it was clarification for me and seeing how Storylines handled all the, sometimes passionate, questions. The big news is that the contracts are now being sent out(over a few weeks).

I also now have a good handle on how the financing of the project works. It’s dry stuff but also kind of interesting and of course really important I understand it. If you are interested it’s like the below. I’m also recording this for myself in case it turns out differently…

As we sign the contract, this kicks off a number of things that will quickly happen. (3-4 months). Signing the contract will be when us residences will pay our first 20%. This money goes into a Trust managed by a 3rd party. It’s kind of like an escrow in that funds don’t get distrusted until certain conditions are met.

As this Trust gets funded bank lenders can then sign off on loans as this provides an intent to buy. I believe these loans get paid off in the next 2 milestones because the ship is delivered without debt.

When the residents 20% and the loans are secure that then allows the State Guarantee to be finalized. This is a government (Croatia) backed Guarantee that if Storylines goes bankrupt, Brodosplit goes bankrupt or a bunch of other bad things happen that the ship is guaranteed to be built. It secures jobs and provides protection all around. It doesn’t guarantee I’d get any money back, but that the 1/2 build boat we’ve paid for will get completed in the event of something falling apart. Conveniently, there is a real world example of how this works out there with one of the new Disney ships.

With the State Guarantee established the shipyard contract then starts. Which meets the terms of the Trust and funds can then be used to pay the shipyard. Which will be buying steel and engines(which get installed first).

To complete the circle, once all these things are in place, some protections in our contract then come into play.

Now that I understand all of this, I also know what my risks are. If the project fails or has unreasonable delays then worse case the ship and hence my residence could be worth 80% of its initial value. Which means my risk is 20% of my residence fee. That’s a lot of money, but there is also a lot potential gain here, even if you’re just looking at the financials not the lifestyle.

The down side is that I won’t be moving on to the ship until late 2026, possibly longer. I’ve gotten my life ready for this already in most ways though. So it’s going to be quite the wait. I’m working on what to do in the mean time. There will be some opportunities to participate in the operational side of the ship management, but I’ll sill need to do something with my life in these next few years.

To conclude, I’m still “IN”. Not drink the Flavor-aid (It wasn’t Kool-aid) “IN”, but with observation and care. At least so far as getting the contract and having it legally reviewed.

Generally the last two months life has been easy going, simple and lacking drama. Which has been quite nice. I’ve struggled a bit with motivation to do anything active due to getting used to a Florida summer. Humid of course, but it’s also rained a lot more than thought it did. There is a thunderstorm practically every day. I have an Arizona mentality of “I’ll wait to go for that walk until it’s sunny tomorrow” that I’m having to break.

Michelle and I have sporadically continued to plan and organize for our trip to Patagonia and Antarctica and that’s more or less ready to go.

My sister Tabitha and her daughter Bella visited for a couple of days. Short, but nice. Bella is going to UCF, so was here to do orientation. We went to a zoo. One different from the one I went to in April and so I got a couple of nice photos. Tab and I took a nice walk and had lunch as well.

…and that’s about all I’ve done and it’s been nice.

Ship update wise. There have been delays. This has upset a few people, but to me it’s completely expected. It’s a very complicated endeavor, one that’s hardly ever been done before, by a company never having done this, being affected by a war and legalities. Storylines, the company, also has to evolve from a idea and marketing company to a ship building company and then into a ship management company. It’s a lot.

Some “tip of the iceberg” things…..or should I not use that term?

First, the initial ownership model was the ship would be owned by a fund. A fund the residents all invested into. The fund would then pay Storylines for building and managing the ship. This kept the ownership in the hands of the residences and seemed like a good method to me.

Unfortunately it ran into regulatory problems. I don’t know the exact details, but I know it became required to only allow “accredited investors” or “sophisticated investors”. These are SEC rules for what kind of investments you are allowed to participate in based upon your income or wealth. While this was not a problem for the majority of the residents, it did cut off a number of people. There were also some other regulatory issues I’m not privy too.

Storylines could have handled those residences ownership by leases other some other method. However, I believe the whole idea was nixed because that didn’t fit in with the community idea. It would have setup a different class of owners.

Second, the consequences of the war in Ukraine have prolonged the recovery of the shipyard. While it did not directly affect us. They lost funding of two major projects because those projects happened to be funded by loans from Russian banks. They have narrowly avoided bankruptcy and had a number of other related problems. They are recovering and getting back on track, but it’s slowed things down.

The good news is that the all important Contract that defines our ownership, delivery dates and all that has been edited for a new way and formalized. It has been shared with a focus group of owners as well as the lawyer group that a number(50 as of now) of owners, including me, have hired to review it. While I’ve not seen the Contract, I have seen some of the lawyers responses and that’s been informative. It’s quite the thing and I’m glad I decided to join the group. I’m sure I’d never think of a lot of the possibilities that should be such a complicated contract. All meaning that I’ll probably see this Contract before long. It’s going to be released in small groups so Storylines can manage it, but soon….

The other good news is that once this Contract is signed and the first real payment of it is completed. Ship construction will start. It in fact must or the shipyard contract is in breach. Because of the potential problems at the initial shipyard, Storylines now has backup shipyards in play. So significant pre-building delays are less likely. Over all though, all of this has only led to about 6 months delay, which I don’t think is bad for a project like this.

Lastly, Storylines has a monthly update meeting. Normally virtually. However, for July it’s in person as well. It’s in Newport Beach, CA and I’m headed there this weekend. I see this is a good opportunity to meet both Storylines people in person as well as a lot of future neighbors before signing a contract and starting payments. So far I’ve paid nothing but a holding fee, so I’m not fully committed. Which, has been good, that’s given me more than a year to really think about the life I may live in a few years….

The next blog will be about my trip to California and how this meeting goes…..

In formation is Divergent Universe Escapes, LLC. Initially it’s nothing more than an asset holder, however in the long run it will be what rents out the residence when I’m not on board. Once I get to the point when I’m not living on board full time I may also add a land based property. Based upon the current cost of long term cruises and their popularity, renting it out for 6 months would cover all of my yearly expenses including the time not living there. So renting it for a 3 months along with my other income sources may balance the books nicely. Plus I’ll (eventually) be able to deduct expenses and I may even be able to avoid income tax on the rental income.

What happens when depends on how much I like living the constantly moving lifestyle. The plan so far though is to live on board for 2ish years and then 9 months at sea, 3 on land. I’ve set this LLC up now though, because I’m going to be making the first payment on the residence soon.

Secondly, part of the business plan for Divergent Universe Escapes, LLC is to develope marketing materials and promote the lifestyle of living 3-6 months in my luxurious residence.

So there are two other elements to this.

a) This blog. While primary a chronicle of my journey I’ve had this idea all along. It will evolve into a travel blog once I float place to place. I figure 2 years of showing how I’m living (or hope to be) will help me rent out my place. I’ll probably have to advertise it. So you know, Subscribe and share

b) See that “Buy my photos!” link at the top? I’ve setup a photography store where you can buy the image or have it printed on canvas. https://photos.divergentuniverse.com/ (They are also auto copied to a stock photo site)

It’s pretentious of me to think any photos I’ve taken are worth much. It’s just a hobby. However, in the long run the simple act of taking photos of new places every week may either help market this or at least pay for the storage costs of the photos. It was quite easy to do, so no real loss if it fails. Why not?

In the end, who knows what works. Tossing things at the wall to see what sticks sometimes works, sometimes not, but that’s the journey.

I’ve been a bit hesitant to post updates that seem routine and unexciting. However, two different people encouraged me to post more as they and perhaps others have enjoyed following. So I’m going to try and be a little more frequent.

First, up. Photography. I’ve continued to learn and I’ve been enjoying the process. The first goal is to have a better skill set for the November Patagonia and Antarctica trip. The long term goal is for world travel via the MV Narrative and perhaps use that travel to sell stock or artistic photos. I have no expectations of making a living or anything much with that, but perhaps I can at least offset the cost of storing so many raw format photos, which is already problematic. I may even put up a store soon.

The third update is that I went to the Brevard Zoo for my birthday. I’d read somewhere that it was on a list of best zoos and yeah, it’s a nice one. It was an interesting day and for some reason a lot of people interacted with me out of the blue. Perhaps it was the camera?

Fourth, I had my first visitor here in Florida. My good friend Karine (a.k.a BOB) came for a week and we rented a house on the beach. It was a beautiful week with a calm ocean. We relaxed, had many good conversations, maybe drank a bit much and had a nerdy day at the Kennedy Space Center.

Lastly, progress towards my life on the MV Narrative in a few years continues. It has now been a year since I started this journey and it becomes more real all the time. The big news is that the long awaited contract is expected soon. Which is equivalent to committing to buying a house. Once signing that I’ll be truly committed, so I’ve had a lot of introspection and planning going on. There are ways out, but once signed I can’t get out of it without at least some financial losses.

I’ve partnered with a group of future neighbors to have the contract legally reviewed and some due diligence done. How weird is it that I have lawyers in Malta now?!?

The ship engineering and final design is completed and the financial struggles at the shipyard are resolving. Unrelated to us, but the war in the Ukraine mucked up some of their other projects, but I belive we are still on schedule to “cut steel” in Q2. I don’t know if I’m allowed to share them, so I’m not. But I even have the detailed deck plans stuck to my wall now.

This month I’m returning to Arizona for a long weekend. Initially for a work meeting and a doctors appointment that has to be in person at least once a year. But it’s filled up fast with meeting friends and family. Plus, Antarctica planning with my friend Michelle who is going with me in November.

It’s a mixed bag emotionally because I do miss a lot of things and people. But it’s also the 2nd anniversary of a violent event that pushed me over the edge emotionally and eventually ended my relationship. Moving, however has really helped me heal and embrace moving forward.

I’ve now been in Florida for 6 months and it’s over all been nice. Not politically or culturally and I’m not a fan of hurricanes, but nice for me. My days tend to be calm and peaceful looking after Cinnamon, playing games (a retirement goal) and staying healthy.

The sacrifices for the bigger goal aren’t even that bad. I’d kind of like a place with functional heating and a dishwasher, but those are minor annoyances. My biggest complaint is the nearest beaches were devastated by the hurricanes and have only recently been deemed safe. Safe being relative given that New Smyrna Beach is known as the “Shark Bite Capital of the World”.

For the big move to the MV Narrative I’ve got things setup as well as possible at this point. Investments and a financial plan are in place. I’ve stepped down as CEO of Black Rock Hosting and turned over operations and partial ownership to those who do the work.

The work to build the MV Narrative is progressing nicely too. The GA(collection of architecture and engineering specifics) is complete and real world testing of models should happen soon. Which is important as part of the sustainability model. The better it moves in the water the less fuel used…and the less my share of the operating costs. It’s looking like I’ll have to fully commit this summer. (So far I’d not be out much money if it doesn’t or can’t work out)