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

We couldn’t just pass through Buenos Aries. So even though we are running on empty and Michelle is getting sick we managed a couple of things. Enough so that when I likely eventually return I’ll have my bearings.

We spent most of a day just catching up on sleep, food and reconnecting to our lives. Followed by some yummy drinks and tapas at our hotels sky bar which had a good view of the Obelisco. It’s been a strange juxtaposition with the wilds of Antarctica.

For our last fun day of this 23 day trip we took a leisurely walk along the famous Avenida de Mayo. Named after the May revolution that led to Argentina’s independence. It connects the Plaza de Mayo, where the Casa Rosada (pink house) that Eva Peron gave her famous speech from is with the Congressional Plaza. That plus a brief visit to the Catedral metropolitana de Buenos Aries because Michelle was about to spontaneously combust for some reason. It reminded me of some old world churches of Europe.

We concluded with a nice late lunch/dinner and will be heading to bed early as it’s going to be a real long travel day tomorrow. It’s been a fantastic trip full of a lot of wonders of nature and memories made.

All together there are around 2200 photos. It took a while to process them all. Which was done for clarity, cropping and content. I tried my best to preserve the true look of the blue ice, so most of that is how it actually looked. There are only a handful of photos in the blog, the majority are in this album. https://photos.app.goo.gl/1WNDkvoQs27s2bxL7

Also, if anyone would like to buy a high-res photo, some are for sale at my store: https://photos.divergentuniverse.com/

The Expedition:

On the one hand it was a cruise. Hotel-like accommodations, a restaurant, bar and daily excursions. On the other hand it very much wasn’t. Traveling with us, along with ships crew and hotel staff was the expedition crew. The people responsible for taking us ashore, out in Zodiacs, educating us via daily lectures and keeping us safe while in an unforgiving environment. All of them are experts in something relevant to the expedition. Not to mention the ship, which was quite basic compared to a cruise ship.

The expedition crew, led by a great guy named Adam were fully integrated with us guests. We ate meals with them, hung out with them and got to know them as people. Michelle, being more social than I, also played games, joked around with them and made some lasting friendships with them as well as other crew. At one point, for example, she conspired to get a new name tag made for the hotel manager with the new title of “cat herder”.

This integration along with the exploratory nature of going somewhere with ever changing landscape and weather dictating where you can go, really made it feel more like an expedition into the unknown rather than a cruise.

In addition to various crew we got to know many of our fellow explorers as well. Including some who may be on the M.V. Narrative with me.

Day 1:

We boarded our home for the next 13 days, the Honduis in the afternoon and did the standard safety drills. One additional item was a cold water survival suit, which was new to me. Leaving the southernmost city Ushuaia we traveled down the Beagle Channel towards the open southern ocean and the dreaded Drake Passage. Our first dinner was nice and we sat with one of the Expedition crew. We enjoyed the very late sunset and one of the last short nights of darkness before taking anti-nausea drugs (the only time for me), heading to bed and hoping for the best.

Day 2:

We entered the open ocean around 12:45am and started the several hundred mile crossing from South America to Antarctica known as the Drake Passage. The waters became quite rough and we got our first example as to why Antarctica wasn’t visited by humans until the 19th century. We both made it through the night ok, however as the rough seas continued it was hard not to be ill. Michelle got hit very hard and was effectively bed ridden. I did ok but the “breakfast return bags” that were everywhere almost got used.

Just about everyone looked green, but we all also had preparations to make. We had to learn the rules of Antarctica. For example sterilization procedures to prevent the spread of things like bird flu. How to get in and out of Zodiacs in rough waters. How to use some of the gear we’d need to get around, etc. The first of our educational lectures, on Whales was also done. The majority of the day however was spent napping and just getting by.

Day 3:

We continued heading south with a little bit of calmer weather. Still though there were a lot of sick people. We did briefings on arctic kayaking and camping. Later in the day we crossed into the Arctic Conversion Zone which meant an increase in wildlife. Sea bids for the most part, including an Albatross. Also a bit of perspective on existence as this was now the furthest away from civilization most of us has ever been.

Day 4:

The sun never completely set and wouldn’t again until we headed north. While we had sleep masks and black out curtains it still had an effect. Looking back at my Fitbit sleep data I slept remarkably little and poorly the next week. It didn’t help that we didn’t know we had, and didn’t use, the full black out method of our room. But we also needed to see outside due to being ill. The sea-sickness was passing, however, I was having the start of a cold. I missed some afternoon activities as needed to get over that fast.

Despite the hardships, it was a very exciting morning. We woke to see our first icebergs! Then our first landing on the South Shetland islands. We landed right among a lot of Elephant seals and Penguins. Gentoo Penguins which would become very familiar in the days to come. None of these animals had any fear of us and the Elephant seals do whatever they want, we had to change paths a couple of times because of it. I didn’t take many photos because I was in awe of it all.

Day 5:

Today we stepped on the continent proper. An entire continent humans didn’t set foot upon until sometime around 1820. It was magical in a number of ways. Michelle went mountaineering and I have some good photos of her way up high on the ice. I snowshoed through iceflows and quite a bit of snow. Heard the gunshot sound of a glacier calving. Followed by Zodiacing around. The highlight being when we sat still with the motor off right next to a resting Humpback Whale. 30 minutes of quiet, floating in the ice, snow coming down, nothing but the breathing of the whale was an amazing and magical time. Our guide got some good underwater video with a GoPro camera too.

Meals with Expedition crew all day and quite a few more whale sightings from the ship. A couple of Minke Whales while chilling in the lounge and Humpbacks while eating dinner. I lost count how many and there were a lot more to be seen in the coming days.

Day 6:

Today was something I’d been looking forward to since this all started. Kayaking. It was amazing beyond words. Among very steep black mountains, tall glacial walls, the occasional iceberg and sea ice everywhere. At some points more ice than water and we had to kind of ice-break our way through. Penguins were everywhere, mostly on land in this area. We got our first real smell of a colony too. GEEZ they stink!

In the afternoon we Zodiaced around an iceberg graveyard. An area where storms or tides had trapped a lot of them. A lot of swimming penguins and a snowshoe hike up a mountain to a penguin colony. Some of them joining us for the walk as they are curious birds.

Just before heading back to the ship was the polar plunge. A number of people, including Michelle, stripped down and went for a quick swim. Ice in the water and a small iceberg to grab on to for the especially “brave”. I did not do it, having a cold after all…(sure, that’s the reason… )

Day 7:

We saw the first sign of civilization since leaving Ushuaia. A small seasonal research station. Had an interesting zodiac tour with the Expedition leader. Seeing seals and plenty of penguins. It was very calm and the water was reflective. I got a number of amazing photos of ice and landscapes. We got in a little bit of trouble with the ship by being gone to long though.

I’ve gotten rather tired of all the dressing and undressing. It takes a good 10-15 min preparation to go on these twice a day outings. Worth it, but so…many…layers… Sterilization procedures aren’t hard, but doing so every time we leave the ship had gotten old too.

The big event of day 7 was camping. We left the ship in the evening and traveled to a point that was mostly flat. We dug our own graves…I mean holes in the snow and ice. I can’t say I slept well or much but I was only a little cold. Mostly when air managed to leak in the bags or I leaned on the wall accidentally. Thankfully it was a windless time. Not night, there was no night. Although the lighting during the long long dusk was magical. Other than an occasional bird sound it was totally quiet. 800 miles away from the nearest town kind of quiet.

Day 8:

I woke up and poked my head out of the hole to see Michelle pointing and indicating I should be quiet. Right there on the edge of camp was a Weddel seal. It had come ashore and wormed its way right between people to settle down 20′ from Michelle and I. It was unfortunately wounded. Apparently not too bad given their thick skin, but there was still a trail of blood. Through the photos we took it was later determined by a marine biologist that it was likely attacked by an Orca. Meaning Orca’s were nearby while we camped.

We did more touring around by Zodiac today with more seals and penguins. Mostly Gentoo, but also some Chinstraps. A lot of surreal ice today as we get to the southern most point of our journey. My circadian clock is completely out of whack and while everything is amazing and magical beyond the words I have it’s made for some confusing times. I can’t tell morning from afternoon anymore.

Dinner was a surprise. We were told to dress warmly. Turns out we had a BBQ party on the back deck. It was yet another surreal time to be having a summer feeling party while icebergs floated next to us. I enjoyed the mulled wine and Michelle had a part in turning it in to a dance party that lasted until midnight. Unlike most cruises there has not been much drinking…until tonight. Quite a few people had one too many….or maybe just enough.

Day 9:

More than a few people were missing from breakfast and I think there was a little bit of drama as relationships may have formed…even if just briefly. We started traveling north today and visited the UK Antarctica Historic Trust (UKAHT) base camp. They are attempting to preserve some of the old research stations in the area. 2 of it’s members came aboard to give a lecture. As well as get hot showers given they live in very primitive conditions. The base had a LOT of penguins and I think they were also just getting a break from the smell. Lot of sea ice here and our first fur seals. Plus more Weddel seals.

Afternoon was just around the corner of the point. A long snowshoe walk then some good whale action in a zodiac after. Beautiful weather and we even got a bit warm when walking.

Day 10:

We got news at last nights daily debriefing that a storm was expected as we crossed back across the Drake Passage. The crew has been saying we were going to pay for all the good weather we’ve had since coming south. Possibly hurricane force winds means we will be moving up tomorrows outings to very early morning and then steaming north.

Less sea ice today but still plenty of big icebergs today. The early morning hike was more seal views and a hard snowshoe climb. The first time I fell down though, after stepping on my shoes.

I had a nearly alone moment at the top of the hill with a fantastic view. Real quiet other than penguins and the rumble of an avalanche across the bay was a nice send off to the last major outdoor time on the continent.

Did some pre-packing and securing things around our cabin in expectation of the next few days being rough. Also a nice lecture on the 1890’s Belgium expedition.

Day 11 & 12:

Per the captain the ship literally battened down the hatches. We secured everything we could as everything was going to be a projectile. The worst of the waves and wind picked up around 4:30am. It was really really rough. Far worse waves and ship tossing and turning than when we came south. Sleep was near impossible with our beds trying to toss us out. We really needed to be strapped in. Michelle, surprisingly was ok most of the time until near the end. Whereas I was not. I didn’t get sea sick and never took drugs, but my equilibrium was so off I could not really function. It’s still not right in fact. I spent almost all of the time in bed as that felt better. I didn’t really eat for these 2 days other than a bit of bread. The good part of the day was actual darkness returned for a few hours.

Near the end of day 12 things started to get calmer. Not smooth, but not so bad walking was impossible. I was able to make it to last toast and dinner.

Late in the day…LAND HO! and it had new meaning for me after these rough two days. I was really quite happy at the prospect of flat land and even had dreams of the ground not moving. We got all packed and ready to disembark in the morning.

Day 13:

We successfully disembarked and made our way to the airport. Traveling back north to Buenos Aries for warmth, civilization and starting to reconnect with the world. A lot of stuff is just kind of confusing, beyond it being a foreign city. It was real nice to have a stable bed, different kinds of food and actual nighttime. We’re here for 3 nights and probably not doing all that much other than walking around looking at things.

I had a conversation with someone a few weeks ago about US food, on average, not being all that good. While there are plenty of exceptions, I tend to agree and eating in Patagonia has only solidified that view.

Every meal and every drink I’ve had this past week has been great. The airline food was good. All the meals at our hotel have been very good, even the free breakfast is great. The food on tours has been fantastic, especially the lamb stew on Tuesdays hike. I’ve had a lot of seafood as well, all quite nice. I’ve had a couple of well crafted cocktails and a number of local beers all pretty good.

Tuesday:

Tuesday was our first really active day. We went on a guided tour through the Tierra del Fuego national park. The first part of the day was a 4-5km canoe (actually a 7 person raft). For some reason I got put in charge to pilot our craft. I guess because I said yes to having experience? After I drove us in circles a couple of times we went down the river until meeting the Beagle channel and along the shore a little ways. It was chilly and a little rainy, but nothing very harsh. We saw numerous birds and the “steamer ducks” were my favorite because they look like little ships scooting along the water. The geography was stunning. Huge snow capped mountains in every direction. Mostly hidden by clouds but they would peek through occasionally.

A stop for lunch with some very yummy lamb stew (which yes, I ate) and Patagonian wine in a dome by the water.

After lunch our small group walked 8km along the sore of the Beagle channel. Within a surprisingly lush forest. Plenty of geese, a kind I’ve never seen and a few other birds. A bunch of semi-wild horses as well. Again, surrounded by amazing mountains. At times it was quite cold, but still above freezing. Yet we got kind of warm at times as it wasn’t always easy walking. Over all a great day and a good test of our physical fitness.

For dinner we again went to the resort restaurant. Largely because the night before we had gotten a bottle of wine each because we could split it over 2 nights. Which worked out well. I don’t drink much these days but the Patagonian wine, a Malbec in this case is wonderful. Near sunset, which is around 10:30, the clouds started to clear up, revealing even more of the snow capped mountains around us and across the channel.

Wednesday:

We started the day off with some planned relaxation and sleeping in a little. Followed by exploring Ushuaia. There was some harsh wind at times, but mostly sunny with amazing views. Lots of small shops, restaurants and a few tourist nick-nack places. Even a small protest/parade crossed our path. Lunch and a few drinks in town then a late dinner back at our hotel wine bar. I had 3 different types of local beers, overall and they were pretty good.

Thursday:

Today was a free day in our huge itinerary. So Michelle, via her new friend the concierge, set us up with an afternoon of horse back riding. Here on the island of Tierra del Fuego there are 3 main areas. The national park, the channel and the lakes. We did the park Tuesday and we’ll be heading to Antarctica via the channel, so horse riding in the lakes gave us the best over all view of the area.

We got picked up for an hour drive and had some great exchange of cultural information along the way. Our driver learned a lot about the US and we learned much about the area. Beavers for example. They were introduced in the 50’s as an attempt to bring an economic boost to the area. But with no natural predators and because there aren’t a lot of animals to start with, they have become a menace.

Once we arrived at the small stable we met our horses. Michelle’s Wilson who was kind of a character avoiding puddles at all costs and my Chillile(probably spelled wrong) who was easy to get along with and responded to my direction very well without effort. Emotionally, if not physically, I could have rode for days.

Riding along Lago Escondido through forest and scrub bushes with the imposing snow capped mountains all around us will be one of the highlights of this trip for sure. It was supposed to be a rainy day, but it turned out to be quite the opposite and I was a little warm by the end in my parka. There are a bunch of photos that will probably be added here later.

Friday

A more leisurely morning. A long breakfast and sipping coffee while looking at the channel. Followed by some practical things like getting some laundry done. Michelle wanted to do some shopping so we went to town to explore and shop. There is a concert tonight or tomorrow so it was quite busy in town. Not a very eventful day, but one soaking in the environment and culture.

Saturday

(I’m pre-writing this bit, so the morning is less rushed) Our last day in Ushuaia. We have practical things to do in the morning. Dropping off our luggage at the port, returning our car and stuff like that before boarding our ship. We will probably just explore town a bit more and rest for what may be a possible rough few days crossing the Drake Passage. A notoriously turbulent sea.

Over all the island that is Tierra del Fuego is an amazing place and I’m glad we added these couple of days on to the trip. Next stop, Antarctica!

NOTE: Some photos stolen from Michelle Others may be added later as I’m taking photos with my phone as well as my higher end camera.

Starting with a car to Orlando and the Brightline train(and shuttle) to Miami International Airport Hotel where I met Michelle. The train was again quite nice and a lot nicer than dealing with Miami. The following morning a flight to Buenos Aries and a car ride across the city to stay at a hotel near a regional airport. We were both impressed by Aerolineas Argentina and I ate about 4 days worth of food on the flight. We will be spending a few days in Buenos Aries on the return so we didn’t do anything but sleep.

Then the 3rd day a flight to Ushuaia on a regional flight, the southern most city in the world.

We will stay in Ushuaia for the next 5 days before heading to Antarctica. Exploring the Tierra del Fuego portion of Patagonia. So far it’s just stunning and while chilly, it’s not more than a brisk fall day. We’ve actually got the windows open because the air is nice.

Michelle is off getting a massage now and then we have dinner reservations here as this rather nice resort. Then catching up on sleep before tomorrow’s adventure of hiking and canoeing in the nearby national park.

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.