Ok so we’ve completed the move. It’s official. We are living aboard Matriarch. And I’m not going to lie…the first night as I lay in my (very comfy) bed without AC because we couldn’t figure out which cord was for what…I totally thought to myself “What. The. Eff. Did. We. Do.” I woke up feeling not that different but the piles and piles of stuff we had to deal with kept Greg and I going. We solved some of the immediate problems (will detail those in an upcoming post) and that made the environment for working much more plausible, and then dug in.  

But ha. How naive were we? We spent so much time at the house cutting down, giving stuff away blah blah blah…and holeeee sh*t do we still have too much! It’s crazy. When in the house it seemed like a reasonable amount but once we are here is seems like a stupid, unnecessary and at the moment, very inconvenient amount of stuff. 

So I keep saying “stuff” but let me be specific. 

We have too many clothes. 

Not a huge shocker. In our very temperate Ontario the idea of sweat pants and multiple jackets made sense. Well it’s bloody hot here in Deale, MD…and bloody humid…we’ve been sweating non-stop since we got here and the idea of heavy clothes is abhorrent. Let alone the back-ups to the back-ups I packed for us all. Soooo…mission this week is to load up our car again, but this time to drive around with all summer until we head home for a visit in the fall. Greg will get to practice his Tetris skills again in order to get it all in the back and keep it there. Packing squares are a dream in the cabin cupboards, it’s very helpful to grab the packing square of shorts, or shirts, or underwear…however, we don’t have enough. Maybe, just maybe I can get rid of enough clothes to fit the packing squares we have…otherwise I’ll be back on Amazon. I can tell you this…we don’t need 5 sweaters each, two will suffice. 

We have too many kitchen items. 

I love to cook, and I’ve done so on a boat with very very few things (like a couple of pots and a spoon) but moving from my house kitchen to the boat galley was obviously too tempting. I have way more forks, spoons and knives then I need (I blame mom for training me to have place settings for 20 people) and I think I have 3 corkscrews (maybe 4…overkill no?), several bottle openers if you count the one on my backpack and on our Engel cooler, and many many cooking utensils…basically a spoon for any occasion. Not necessary. Also, not sure what to do with my very good Henkel knives…they are so amazing and efficient but they are in a knife block and it takes up too much counter space…so I guess they need to go? I thought about a magnetic strip but those knives are so sharp and I’m not sure how I feel about them being out there while we are bouncing around on the ocean. Also on the chopping block are my 3 glass Pyrex dishes because a) it’s too hot to bake and b) I have other options for baking and 3) if they break it would be a complete disaster. The 4 nested mixing bowls with lids I stole from my sister are awesome though…we’ve already made warm salmon and potato salad and a black bean and corn salad in them - thanks Erin ;P

We have too many bags. 

Yup that’s right…too many bags. Everyone has a duffle bag and a backpack, that was the plan (in addition to a few for groceries). But we also have several other ones that made their way as we grabbed random items from the house. There are at least 5 or 6 that can make the exit. I think this is an easy fix but honestly it’s hard to see the forest for the trees and there still is a chance I will keep more than I ultimately need. Also now I am simultaneously stressed about what is going to fit in the boat AND what is going to fit in the car hahahahahha (that’s a crazy lady laugh right there…like the crazy cat lady from the Simpsons). 

If I am able to edit down this massive pile of “stuff” I’m sure we will have more room for the massive pile of other “stuff” we need to find a home for like the Sailrite, the sextant, various manuals, spares and…you know…FOOD. 

Please send your positive vibes for the edit-fest!

***Next day update**

Whew! After several productive hours this morning with the AC cranked, we have repacked some of the places in the boat and to my surprise there are still lockers that are empty…now we still have a ways to go but it’s actually looking possible.

Sidebar: If you wanted to ever mess with Greg ask him “did you ever consider the HR53?” and you’ll see him sprout some new grey hairs and break out in a sweat….hahaha…I do it daily.

No seriously, today I am reminded of why we fell in love with this boat to begin with! There are millions of smart storage places on this boat that aren’t easy to see when you pile everything on top but we are beginning to rediscover today. Nevertheless I am taking out several large laundry bags worth of clothes and dishes and bags. Once the boat is re-packed it will be time to re-pack the car.

I need a beer…fortunately it’s after 12pm, unfortunately I don’t have room for any….yet.

Much love. 

P.S. Some of you may have noticed that I didn’t show any pictures of the cockpit or decks…rest assured they are a gong show too. We had to pile sails (b/c they aren’t up yet), snorkel gear and various other outdoor items under our Kammok fly to save them from the torrential rain and subsequent deck flooding (more on that in upcoming post). Aft deck locker is another project on the list…and an early morning job at that given the heat.