As we near the end of our first Winter on Elsa Born Free, I thought it would be time to send an update on our adventures over the last 4 months.
The most common question over this time of the year is “aren’t you cold over winter” the answer is no, Elsa has central heating throughout and a wood burner to boot. However…….. we did have one week in December where our boiler gave up but we had this repaired and sorted fairly quickly (we went through a lot of wood that week and yes OK, for a few days it would have been warmer living in a meat locker !)
We were told that things are very quiet with not much to do on the marina over Winter, well that was not the case with us. In the last four months we have replaced our water pump, repaired our wheelhouse roof, installed a thermal sky light cover to combat condensation, replaced all of Elsa’s batteries and terminal leads (there are a lot!!), Installed a navigation system, installed a hardwood mast with stainless steel tabernacle, had family stay over Christmas and New Year, ordered a cover for the wheelhouse roof and started preparing Elsa for a makeover as soon as the warm weather arrives. Honestly the last 4 months have been a blur, we have taken her out a few times over winter and enjoyed each and every one of these trips as they were far and few between.
We have basically been on Elsa for a year now and it has gone by so quickly! so what have we learned about ourselves and Elsa for that matter over the last 12 months, did we make a mistake ? The quick and dirty is no, we did not make a mistake – quite the opposite, we absolutely love what we are doing (Most of the time) don’t get me wrong there are many challenges but there are also far more positives and these outweigh the negatives by a large margin, we have so much to be thankful for. The community for one is absolutely incredible, we have met some amazing people that we are proud to call friends, we find that we enjoy and take so much more notice of the small things people take for granted, we get to truly experience all four seasons and the beauty that each of these have to offer. I have also learned that when you are working on the boat, the water tends to turn into a giant fluid magnet that has a tendency to consume anything you have in your hands, it must be treasure trove down there, I wont begin to tell you what that water has claimed from me because Sonia might be reading this post !!!
What have we learned about Elsa, well like any good woman, you have to take care of her, she of course has her many quirks and they need to be taken into consideration from time to time đŸ˜‰ apart from that, she is amazing and has been very good to us.
Remember that life is short and often lived in hindsight, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, help those who are in need and always love without measure.
We have a lot planned for the next 7 months and I will post updates as soon as time permits, for now this is Mike Delta Charlie Charlie 4 over and out.
Recent Comments