Greetings all and thanks for checking in on our adventure. School has officially begun and the crew of Truansea is putting the final touches on packing up the house and making several piles of supplies for our sailing adventure. How all of those piles of books, bedding and gear are going to fit into our SUV remains to be seen, although I suspect it’s going to be a tight fit!
All the stuff we’re not going to take.
We somehow managed to empty our house into a 12×25 foot storage unit and even filled up the back of our Subaru before parking it in the neighbor’s field. When you go from an 1800 sq ft house to about 180 sq ft of living space on a boat something has to stay behind. In this case it’s about 99% of everything we own.
As we head to Florida we will be backtracking portions of the Oregon Trail and the transcontinental railroad. The opportunity to make history come alive is one we’re not going to miss on this trip and will be a part of our boy’s ongoing year of home or boat schooling.
Knowing that the engine of our SUV and the little diesel engine of our boat will be of great importance in the success of our trip we began teaching the boys early how an engine works by building a working model of a V-8 engine. Revell makes a great visible V-8 that actually performs all of the functions of a working engine when you turn the crank. An accompanying guidebook explains some of the finer points even Dads can learn a thing or two from!
Completed model V-8 engine.
Well the sun is up and there is much to do before we go, please come back to check in with us again.
Mark
Truansea 
Good luck and smooth sailing! Craig and Holly (land-locked)
Thanks for the well wishes. We’ll be cooking some Paleo recipes on the trip. Best wishes on your recovery Holly. You have a great nurse.
Love the pictures! Good thing you went for the larger storage unit. I am going to miss you, but what a great adventure you have in store!
Hi! Good luck to you all! What an inspiration you are. We may have met at some point, but maybe not. I am Tawny Flanders sister and she shared your story and I too want to follow your story! Looking forward to you updates. God Bless you all!
Tori,
Thanks for your message and I believe we met at Thanksgiving last year at Tawny’s house. I hope you enjoy our updates! Christine
That makes 3 out of the 4 that were in the San Juan Sailing class, out cruising….my turn is coming. We have been watching the market for sail boats, and have been following the Nauticat pilothouse 35-50ft. I hear the ocean calling ………
Donna – There is no escaping the call of the sea. I wonder if Mary has ever had 4 for 4 in a class become cruisers? Have fun boat shopping and let us know when you find one. Keep an open mind when you are looking. We bought a boat that was not on our original list and it is a much better fit for our family than what we started looking at.. Christine
Wow, you are ready to go! I can’t believe you don’t have room for your bikes on the boat 🙂
I can’t wait to read your blog posts and learn from you. Logan and Cole, when you come back to Boise, I expect a big conversation! Happy sailing!
Have a safe trip! Your boat is happily bobbing at her dock waiting for you to arrive!
That’s great. We are on our way. Can’t wait to move in… Christine
Wish I was you well, hope you have fun! 🙂
Thanks Deven. I’ll email you pictures sometimes. Cole
Bon Voyage to all of you. Jim and I will look forward to reading about all of your sailing adventures. Fair winds and following seas. Have a wonderful drive south. Mary & Jim Ross
Mary – You were instrumental in making this plan become a reality. You and Jim are in inspiration. Keep us posted on your sailing adventures… Christine
Hey Mark and Christine…It was great to see you all at Fred Meyer. Mark…I had no idea that you were this close to actually embarking on this adventure. You all have really got me thinking and have inspired me to perhaps follow in your footsteps…perhaps a 5 year plan can get me there. I am planning on going to seattle next summer to certify in basic keelboat sailing and maybe purchase my first boat. Any advice you can offer would be great.Anyways…looking forward to following your blog. Good luck, be safe and happy sailing!
Scott – This is how it all started for us too. We’d be happy to lead you down the path! I took my week long bareboat charter class through San Juan Sailing School. They were fantastic and I would highly recommend them. Mary Ross was my instructor and she is first rate. Keep us posted on your plans… Christine
Thanks for the tip on the sailing school! Very helpful cause the ASA had a number of affiliate schools in the Puget Sound area. As for now, I am buying good sailing books to get me started until I take the ASA 101 course next summer. When I buy a boat…I will probably get about a 22 to 23 foot boat because I have read that anything longer will probably not be trailerable. Quick question…What did you get with your O’day 23 that your Catalina 22 did not have other than an extra foot of boat? Fair Winds and Happy Sailing to you all!
Scott: ASA’s New Basic Keel Boat Text “Sailing Made Easy” is first rate, as is their just released Basic Coastal Cruising Text “Coastal Cruising Made Easy” They are both very well written and illustrated learn to sail texts, a huge improvement over the previous text “Sailing Fundamentals”
Happy Reading
Mary Ross
Scott,
Overall, everything was larger. Our O’Day 23 was 5,000 pounds with the trailer. Our Catalina 22 was less (not sure by how much anymore). As a gal, I loved the fact that there was a fixed potty in the v-berth that was always accessible with a door! Life’s little comforts. Also the v-verth was easy to get in and out of and bigger to sleep in. The settees were always available for sleeping and the table folded up verses the 22 with the table you had to pick up, hook in a latch by the settee then rearrange the cushions to utilize sleeping on that side. We also had a ‘fixed’ gimbled kitchen and larger rails to hold kitchen stuff on one side and sailing on the other. The lazarettes were bigger as well. We also had a fixed cooler under the stairs going into the cabin. Very handy and a space saver. We also had an anchor locker on the bow which is well worth it if you are planning on cruising. Can you tell I loved the 23? Mac Gregor’s are much lighter than our O’Day was and there are quite a few of them in SISA. It just depends on how you feel about water ballast and how big of an engine your rig has. Water ballast was just out of our comfort zone.
I took the 101, 103 and 104 all at once. Just depends how comfortable you are with your skills. For me it was worth it to do it all at once. Oh, also look at the books they recommend for the classes through San Juan Sailing.
So much for a short reply!
Christine
Hi – just received your email that you guys were heading out. I wish I would have taken the time to contact you before your left. Dave and I wish you a safe trip and a great adventure. Take care
Linda and Dave
Thanks for the well wishes. We look forward to catching up with you when we return! Hi to all the girls for me… Christine
Have a wonderful time on your adventure. I will following along and hope to see you all again when you return.
I’m looking forward to catching up with you again when we return. I am so glad we were able to see you on your last visit to Idaho! Christine
Well played Mark! I’ll be following you guys closely…and living vicariously through you. Coming from someone that has stuffed all their belongings into a storage shed, its well worth it, whatever your journey is. I look forward to your updates and will keep all the miconites jealous.
So how’s it going so far? Christine, were you also able to read the Paleo Solution? What did you think? We’re thinking of you, and glad to see your Blog! Susan & Kevin
Thanks for reading my post. Mom & Dad find lots of practical math on the boat. Cole