Good Karma on the road again

We traveled the Great Loop for 14 months returning home after Labor Day 2013. Adjustment was more difficult than we imagined. We rolled around the house like marbles in a shoe box. The house seemed way too big. We kept losing each other, wandering around the house calling to find the other person.

Rusty the dog was thrilled to be home. He knew exactly where we were going when he got in the truck at the marina. When we got home he burst out of the truck and ran around like a puppy! He was happy to be home! He lay in his favorite spots at the top of the driveway and outside the front door watching people walk by and barking at passing friends.

Our son Dan and his girlfriend Julia housesit for us while we were gone. They stayed when we returned home so we have roommates. It is a very nice, comfortable co-habitation.

Let me share some big events in our lives since we returned home.

Winter

The terrible, cold, snowy winter makes us wish we were traveling again. Mental note to self: no more Ohio winters if we can help it.

My Business – The Interview Doctor

Business was fabulous upon returning. I have done over 25 speaking engagements focusing on recruiting, job search from the candidate and company perspective, and interviewing. Revenue so far year to date exceeds 2013 already. Business is very good.

It is clear to us that speaking engagements help spread the word about the business. I can definitely work on the boat but have to come back to NE Ohio for speaking engagements regularly. Not a problem.

I published two of the three books I wrote on the trip as part of The Job Seeker Manifesto. Book 1 is The Job Search Marketing Plan and Book 2 is Resumes 3.0. Book 3, Tell me about yourself, will be published in September. I have become something of an expert on self-publishing. Go ahead. Ask me anything!

Decisions made over the winter

We made some big decisions over the winter.    

• The house is too big. We have too much stuff.
• We love the cruising lifestyle.

With these factors we decided to sell the house, buy a boat with diesel engines and live on the water for a few years!

This is very exciting!

With these decisions in mind, we had a realtor come look at our house in November. He suggested remodeling the master bathroom and finishing the basement if we could come in under a certain expense level. It sounded like a good challenge. So we did.

Our contractor, Greg, remodeled the bathroom (new floor and new tile in shower) in December. In late January Greg started on the basement. Kermit purchased the materials and acted as laborer / go-fer. Actually he made Greg lunch and stayed out of Greg’s way (per Greg’s request). The project came in a tiny bit above our projected budget but under the level the realtor suggested.

It looks awesome!!! We had a party to celebrate Rusty’s life and the new basement on April 4, 2014. We don’t use the basement any more than we did before but at least it is done.

We originally wanted to sell the house in spring 2014 but too much was going on. We couldn’t get ourselves organized for it. Plus we started to get second thoughts about our plan when faced with the reality. So we plan to hold on to the house for one more year, travel this winter and consider selling the house in spring 2015.

We put all the rental property (2 duplexes and 3 houses) on the market in the spring. Kermit has been a crazy man getting the places ready and putting them on the market. None have sold yet but we will see. Something will happen.

Kermit’s full time (self-appointed) job this winter, aside from the remodeling, was finding a new boat and selling old Good Karma. We did both in May 2014!!

Over the winter he got old Good Karma cleaned out and cleaned up. We had Ishmael, a wonderful upholsterer, reupholster the salon couch and chair in a pretty taupe vinyl – soft like butta. It made a huge difference. Rusty really tore up the original upholstery on the Loop.

Kermit spent most winter evenings considering boat options for our new boat. We wanted diesel engines because they are so much more economical. This will be important when we live on the boat. Old Good Karma had a perfect layout. We could have lived for years on that boat (especially with the new upholstery) except for the gas engines. Gas fuel is usually $.25 to .75 cents more expensive a gallon everywhere except the Great Lakes and fuel usage is about 30% to 50% worse than on a diesel boat. We need to have the better economy that diesel fuel brings. So that factor took old Good Karma out of the running. She had to be sold.

Good Karma sold on Memorial Weekend 2014 to a nice couple from Milwaukee. They immediately left to travel home. We sold the boat with the understanding that we kept the name. So Kermit removed the name. Now we talk about old GK and new GK.

While Ted Patrick, the boat broker, was working on selling old GK, Kermit had him looking at new boats. We settled on a Cruiser 4450 from the 2000 to 2003 vintage. We skipped an entire line of boat, the 4150, because it was just about the same as the 4450 only the earlier model. We wanted the updated features if we intend to live on the boat for the next 5 to 6 years.

In early February we put in a bid on a 4450 Cruisers aft cabin in Virginia Beach and went there for an inspection. We were so excited. Ted the broker flew in too. Kermit arranged surveyors for the engines and the boat itself. We walked on the boat. Kermit was immediately quiet. I knew this was a problem. Nothing worked right. The engines didn’t start. The generator didn’t start. The swim platform lift didn’t work. There was salt water stains on the engines (?). There was a paddle board in the V-birth. It was a mess.

I was at the helm talking to the owners. Kermit called me down to the engine room and asked how attached I was to this boat. I said I was with him. He turned to the surveyor and broker. They both nodded and Kermit said we were done. So we went to the helm and broke the bad news to the owner that we were not proceeding with the purchase. They were mad and ran off the boat. We went home.

On the drive home Kermit checked out a new posting of a 4450 Cruisers located in Saugatuck MI. Over the next week or so Kermit followed up on the boat from Saugatuck. It was perfect. It was in our price range. So we went to look, confirming that the boat was perfect. We made an offer. It was accepted. We own a 2001 Cruisers Express Aft Cabin!!!

New Good Karma has staterooms in the v-birth and aft cabin. The aft cabin has an attached bathroom and shower and there is another bath in the salon next to the v-birth. There is a third cabin with bunk bed under the dining area. There is plenty of storage.

New GK has twin 480 hp Volvo diesel engines (Olga and Helga!) in a spotless engine compartment. It has a swim platform with a crane for hauling the dinghy onboard. There is plenty of seating on the helm area without the steps we had on old GK. Rusty would have liked this boat.

We are thrilled with this boat. We provisioned it this week and last week. Everything is in place. The dinghy comes next week. We take off on 6/23 with Paul and Maeo Bates for a 6 week cruise up the eastern side of Lake Michigan to the North Channel of Lake Huron for two weeks in mid-July. We will be back to Sandusky OH in August.

Our plan is to move east through the Erie Canal to the east coast. We are still negotiating with each other about where to put new Good Karma for the winter. I think Ft. Pierce is winning. We hope to spend a few months in the Bahamas, perhaps at Treasure Key in the winter. We’ve already heard from Marianne and Allen Bernard about Treasure Key. We are talking with Michael and Judy on One September about picking them up at the end of October / early November on the Chesapeake. Marissa wants a week in DC so that is on the agenda. Tony and Shirley from New Zealand will join us next year. We are connecting with Sareanna and Jim's Joy. We hope to see Limelight in the North Channel. Maybe another Loop in the future? Perhaps with All Ports folks? We are open to all possibilities!

This will be our new life. It is exciting. We feel blessed to have this opportunity. New Good Karma is more than we dreamed we could ever have. We look forward to seeing old friends.

Look for more blogs now that we are back in the boating way!!