6 years have gone by. 2 children later we are finally back in New Zealand. It was quite a mission to leave L.A. and our life that we created there behind but the excitement of finally returning to our beloved OM and continuing our adventures as a family pulled us through. And here we are, just about ready to set sail for Tonga.
One major lesson we've learned is: NEVER !!! leave your boat for 6 years. Wow, what a nightmare we walked into. Ahmed's expression after seeing OM for the very first time after so long was shattered.
The best way to ruin your boat is to leave it alone for a long time. We had expected that there would be a lot of work to do ...but oh my god ...there was basically not one thing on the boat that didn't require attention. The propeller, the engine, the water maker, the toilets, leaking sinks, the auto-pilot, the navigation system, the life-raft, the ditch bag, the rigging, the hydraulics, the goose neck, the barbecue, leaking hatches, warped drawers, exploded water line, shower valves, the ridder shaft, the generator, the windless, patching wholes in the dinghy, mold etc etc etc. On each of the above listed items we could write a whole dissertation. We wont, first because it would be boring for you but mainly we are trying to forget about it and can't bear the pain of going through it again. Just as an example ...the propeller alone caused us to have the boat lifted out of the water 3 !!! times.
We worked literally non-stop for 3 months, every day with the exception of easter Sunday, the only day we didn't work. Fast forward we are now (crossed fingers) 2 days away from finally setting sail, almost a month later than we had planned. The boats in the regatta, we had signed up for, have long arrived in tropical waters. We missed another 2 weather windows after that due to unforeseen new issues. It's really been frustrating. Big time. Planning to leave on a big passage is a big task, both physically and mentally. We are now on our fourth attempt and we are simply exhausted. Bear that in mind when you will soon read about our frolicking on the tropical beaches. Every grain of sand there was hard earned. Well ...let's see if we really get out of here this time.
When we arrived in New Zealand we had booked an apartment for 4 weeks, already anticipating that it would be difficult to live on the boat with both the kids while working on it. We had a cute little place overlooking the Pahia harbor, the ferry to Russel just steps away.
While Ahmed spent most of his days working on the boat, Lena carried every single item from the inside of the boat back to the apartment to wash and clean it. It was quite a task to get the moldy smell out of
E V E R Y T H I N G. I washed more in those 4 weeks, than I did in my entire life. The washing machine was running non stop for 4 weeks.
The boat was still far away from living on it, so we had to find another place, where we ended up staying another month and a half. We only moved onto the boat 3 weeks ago and we still have a ton of things to do.
It's quite challenging to put it mildly, to deal with all of the above and two toddlers. Even though they loved the boat from the very first moment on and are embracing this adventure like real troopers, the balance of catering to their needs while getting the overwhelming amount of work done is basically impossible. Other than attending a playgroup a couple times a week for a few hours and having a few playdates on S/V ZigZag with lovely, sweet new friends we made, the kids had follow our schedule. Tayo would ride on the back of the bike to work with his Papa and Marli became an expert shopping assistant and knows all the markets and the cows along the route.
When we were on the verge of total collapse, two angels appeared. Our crew, Inky and Jesse, made their way up from the South Island two weeks earlier than originally planned. Inky was the one who brought shy Ahmed over to the table where Lena sat, 8 years back in Vava'u in Tonga. The rest is history. With Inky came Jesse, his partner, who turned out to have a passion for children and had been a nanny in the past. Bingo ! Plus she loves cooking. Double Bingo ! They have both helped so much and we wouldn't be almost ready to go, was it not for their efforts.
So here we are, just one little water maker away from sailing off into the sunset. Let's see how it goes.
Since we really want to publish this new website and with it our first blog post of this new chapter of our lives, we will keep it short for now. There is so much more to tell but it will have to wait for now.
Peace, Love and magic sparkling fairy lights from Crew OM
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