November 16
Hi All,
Yes, the YB’s did it….we found our FRP…Final Resting Place:))) As many of you know, we have pondered where we might retire after our cruising days, often considering many of the ports, islands and countries we visited. Well….guess what….grandkids and family won out:)))) We moved exactly 30 miles from Pleasanton to Brentwood CA to an over 55 community called Trilogy at the Vineyards!!
https://www.sheahomes.com/new-homes/california/bay-area/brentwood/trilogy-at-the-vineyards/
As we came back to the PNW in 2019/2020 and spent more time in Pleasanton, we found quite frankly, we desperately missed the cruising social life we had enjoyed so much over the past 15 years. Somehow over those 15 years, many of our Pleasanton friends and neighbors had retired and moved away. We needed to start over again meeting new people and making friends. But, since we still wanted to cruise and travel, that made it somewhat difficult to do.
We left Mystic last July 7, after a 2 week recovery from my 3rd hernia operation. We drove…..870 miles, did it in 13+ hours, rented a car from Enterprise, $506 for the 2-days with a whopping $400 drop off fee…ugh!!!
What started out to be fixing up Ganner CT (the house in Pleasanton, aka GC) and looking to find a better alternative to GC, turned into finding what we liked in Trilogy with an active social life. When they said they had a wine club we were sold:))) So for the last 4 months (July 8 – 11/20 and counting) we fixed up GC….new interior/exterior paint, new carpets, replaster pool with new tile & coping, Kathy went through the 31 years accumulation of stuff which then necessitated John doing 8 Goodwill runs and 7 dump runs, repaired 2 pages of deferred maintenance for the past 15 years et al. And, looked at 100+ homes online and physically saw ~30+ and finally settled on Viognier (our new street and the French grape:))) We did do it backwards, bought Viognier before selling GC, so needed some creative financing (we thankfully had enough funds in our Roth IRA and borrowed the bridge from that).
We had everything organized and planned and then 4 days before we took possession in Viognier and 7 days from closing on GC, the Sellers informed us they had Covid. It turns out our Sellers are one of many who feel social distancing is not for them and ended up not only getting the virus but infecting others…..arghhhhhh. For us, Bekins the moving company, required us to professionally have the house cleaned and sanitized and then wait 72 hours before delivering our stuff. We sanitized the house on a Wednesday, bought a new mattress and camped out in the new house until our goods were delivered the following Wednesday. (We could not stay at GC as we closed that Friday and did not want to disrupt our buyer’s plans). The Sellers left the house a mess….most likely due to the fact they were sick and couldn’t get anyone to come in and clean or….. We spent several days and weeks cleaning and repairing things like broken drawer brackets (Kathy pulls out a kitchen drawer, the front comes off in her hand, and we find the drawer taped together with electrical tape…WTH???) and replacing very dirty hot tub water….yuck….Or John replacing air filters that had not been changed in who knows how long and one was not even the right size leaving a 2″ air gap….I masked and gloved up for that job:)))) Yes, I whine a bit but after working hard to make our 49+ year old house in Pleasanton as nice as possible, we didn’t expect to have to take on cleaning and repairs in a 12-year old house.
But, we do love our new house, it is very well built, has a lot of upgrades from the original owners and our Sellers, lots of new gadgets to play with et al….the setting and views of the vineyards are priceless and the back patio is made for small social gatherings!!! If you are in the northern California area, we really would like for you to plan a visit to our new abode and help us break her in appropriately!!!!
Since we had not been back to Mystic in 4+ months (that’s the longest we have left her since the 2005-2006 years) and had not properly shut her down when we left in July, we got Viognier to a place we could safely leave her, and made a dash up here to Port Angeles to check on her. We did make an overnight stop at Mark & Roseanne’s place in Gig Harbor to help break up the trip and to catchup!! Mystic was in really good shape….oh what a relief and a huge stress reliever. The Kabola heater was working, all electrical and appliances working et al. And, Guyer Boatworks delivered our new dinghy the afternoon we arrived, just before a major storm hit the area….I helped Steve unload the dinghy from the trailer in 2-4′ swells…interesting:)))) The dinghy looks great (12′ AB AL Sport, aluminum bottom, 18″ Hypalon tubes, a Weaver helm seat and steering console, 25HP Tohatsu, and 3 downrigger brackets (we had contracted for 2 but Steve thought one was too difficult to use so put a 3rd bracket up front which will probably be easier for the prawn puller:)))) Getting this dinghy was certainly Covid challenged….the 2nd longest delivery for Steve….10 months since we ordered…ugh, sad to have that record!!!
We had hoped to run/exercise Mystic and systems for a few days up to the San Juan islands but Mr. Weather said no can do….blowing 25-30kts as I write this blog and rain off/on…plus 35-45*F with wind chill…yep, we are still trawler weenies:))) Hopefully, we can come back in January…we shall see if Mr Weather will be more cooperative next time!!
It is now been over a year since we brought Mystic back to the Seattle area and immediately on 10/1 hauled her at Platypus for a complete paint job and other maintenance. It indeed has been a long 13+ months with a few months more to go before we have Viognier to our liking, of what seems like nonstop boat and house projects, but we can see the finish line and will hopefully soon be enjoying more travel and cruising et al!!!
Boat Stuff: So far, only one dead GEN battery found….hmmmmm, somehow it is not being charged….ugh….JOMT added to the list which I didn’t finish last July….and the bilge is still oozing yucky smelling water from the keel…but only about a few cups in the 4+ months so it’s probably trapped water from the ER bilge holes and not leaking elsewhere!!!
The Plan: We’ll stay on Mystic a few more days in order to properly shut her down for a long winter’s nap, return to Viognier to continue to unpack, buy some furniture and get the various repairs and systems running and enjoy the Holidays hopefully with family assuming Covid cooperates. We do have a family ski trip planned in Feb and another one with friends in March, then we will come back to Mystic late March, get her ready for a cruise up to Alaska….we do have a slip in Sitka starting in April!!!! Our African safari scheduled in August 2020 was postponed until August 2021….we shall see if that happens as planned….come on vaccine!!!
Hope all is well!! And please do plan a visit to the new house if/when you can…assuming Covid restrictions allow!!
John
Mystic Moon
Port Angles
PS: We shamelessly stole the phrase FRP from our good friends Robbie and Bev on sv Mersoleil, who are in the process of settling into their FRP on the island of Madeira!!!!
PSS: Pictures on the website: http://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/the-moves
PSS: If you want our new address please email me!!
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