Wednesday, March 22, 2006

It's getting real

This week I had two offers on the house. At the first round both offers were for exactly the same price, so my broker sent them back and asked both to rebid. At the second round, one family offered $15,000 over their first bid. So, this afternoon my broker will be bringing me the contract to look over.
The price I'm getting for the house is very close to double what I paid for it. Not bad for six years.
If this deal goes through, I will have enough cash in the bank to cruise for years. If I choose to continue living on the boat, I shouldn't ever have to go back to work. This is the dream, and it just may actually be coming true.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

More upgrades

I have finally received the new solar panels. What a struggle to get them. It seems there is a nationwide shortage of panels. I got the only two the supplier had in stock. Amazing. At least I did get them, and now they have to be installed. The panels are the semiflexible type that can be mounted directly on the deck. They can even be walked on. (Most panels have a glass face that would shatter if walked on.) The trick will be to locate them where the dingy will not shade them. The two panels together produce about 3.5 amps of power to help keep the batteries topped up.
Speaking of dingies, I just finished work on the new dingy. It's a 6' pram from Clarke Craft. It is actually about half the weight of a rubber inflatable, and much easier to maneuver. It will have 3 eyebolts installed to connect to a lifting harness. The harness will connect to one of the main halyards so the dingy can be lifted onto the deck. I still have to build the chocks that will hold it in place. That will have to wait until the weather breaks a little and I can get to the boat to work on it.