What's going on with the boat?

After ten years living on Tarquilla we have moved to land. I'm often asked if we love the house or miss the boat and the real answer is - both. We still have Tarquilla and we are open to all options at the moment as far as her future is concerned. We will carry on working on her, it would be great to be able to sail her again. The Scilly Isles, Portishead marina, Bristol harbour and Falmouth are all places we have talked about as well as many others further afield. But, on the other hand, if a family was looking for a boat, ready to do the preparation she needs and wanted to take her on then we would sell her. She is not ready to sail off into the sunset but has a lot of life left in her. If you or someone you know would be interested then please contact us. She is 3 ply cold moulded, 42 foot long, one off design built in the 1960's. She has 2 double cabins and 2 single berths, a good size saloon, a decent size galley, head and a covered cockpit. She has two engines and a full suit of sails. We have lots more photos and can provide more details or answer questions. In the meantime, this blog has come to a natural pause for now as we take on new adventures.

Decisions, decisions...

We recently received our bill for renewing our contract with the marina. There were lots of options for us to consider. As the deckhands are so happy at their schools and I have a new job, moving out of the area is not something we are planning in the near future. We are also probably in the best marina, for us, out of the choice in the area.

 

One option was to sign a contract for a set number of years, the number was up to us and that would give us the biggest discount on our ‘rent’. We gave it some thought. Then we thought some more.

 

Our eldest has just started secondary school and will be there for at least six more years. At this point the middle deckhand will be in the middle of exams and once he has completed these the littlest will be coming up to the start of the two year courses which lead to whatever exams will be taken by 15/16 year olds by then. That means that really we are looking at ten years being a reasonable amount of time to intend staying put.

 

That is a long time.

 

I think back to what our life was like ten years ago and how much has changed in that time. We think back to all we have done over the last ten years, how much the children have changed. There were only two of them ten years ago - one a toddler, the other a babe in arms. We had no idea then that we would end up where we are now. How on earth can we second guess what our lives will be like in another ten years.

 

Things change. Life changes, people change. Somehow we just all baulked at the thought of restricting ourselves in such a way. Even mortgages don’t do that. If you get a mortgage then decide to move you can transfer the mortgage or pay it off or any number of options (negative equity and other complications aside).

 

We made a decision in the end and paid for another year.

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