Taking delivery and the gamut of feelings

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Taking Delivery

Finally the day has come. Tomorrow 18-11-03, we are traveling to Henån to take delivery of our sailboat Viking Goddess. It has been a long time coming. We bought her in the end of June. Had a breif week and some odd days with her before handing her off to the Malö boat yard for upgrades. Some of the upgrades that we had done to her are:

  • Lithium batteries, 2 180Ah
  • New alternator that is designed to charge the new batteries
  • Removal of the toilet and septic tank
  • Installation of an AirHead compost toilet
  • Installation of a stainless steel targa with solar panels
  • Installation of 6 fans
  • New electrical outlets
  • New Ray Marine hybrid plotter
  • New propeller
  • Replacement of seacocks
  • Removal of the EFOY fuel cell
  • New 3K watt inverter/charger combi with pure sine wave

So there was a few things on the todo list. We were there just a last Saturday and here is how the boat looked

We left there just wondering how are they going to finish everything in the 5 days before we were suppose to take delivery. Do not know how they did it, but they seem to have finished everything. I have received some pics showing the progress and she is looking good.

We have taken the 5th through the 9th of Nov. off from work and are to spend the week sailing our boat down to Helsingborg. Even though we have a whole week to sail her the 160 Nautical Miles to her new port, there is still some stress due to being on a schedule. The fact is, we are sailing in the beginning of November, in the waters off the cost of Sweden and the weather is a big "?". We are constantly looking at the weather wondering if the weather will cooperate with us or whether winter will decide to hit us hard. So far it seems like the weather gods might smile upon us.

Feelings

This last month things have been starting to get real, real quick. As the date of taking delivery gets closer and closer, you soon relize just how much you need to do and how much stuff you still need. Things would be a little different if we were just sailing the boat to a new port, but we are also moving onto the boat. We have to be out of our apartment by the end of November. This is adding extra things to our todo list. As that list is not already long enough.

It is crazy just what an emotional roller coaster we are one. One minute we are just so excited to be taking delivery of our boat. Then the next minute we remember we need to buy this or fix/arrange this. Then we get excited about the actual sail but the next minute we are nervous about the weather. How cold will it be, how windy it be, will the wind be in our favor? (Hope sailing is not like biking here in Sweden, because no matter what direction you bike, you always have a headwind). We look at one forecast and it is a big relief because the weather seems to be in our favor. Calm seas, sunny, wind at 10-15 knots on our beam. Then we look at another forecast and it is the complete opposite, 25-30 knots on the nose. I have been looking at 5 different forcasts and have 5 different predictions. You would think the closer we got to a particular day, some of the predictions would at least converge a bit. Most likely the weather will be nothing like any of the predictions.

Sick of Packages

Anna and I have been ordering so many things and we are so sick of getting packages. Every week we are getting a notification that we have another package to pick up. We are really look forward to a month when we do not have to pick something up at our local post office. The packages are just a reminder of how much time and money we have spent getting the boat ready and getting ourselves ready to move on to her. We have spent

  • Time to look up things up on the net
  • Time to research the products
  • Time to decied if this brand is worth the money
  • Time waiting for the delivery
  • Time to learn how use or how the product works

With every order, we just here the cha-ching sound and see our bank acount going in the wrong direction. Plus, we get such a big pile of cardboard boxes in our living room (Yes I know, poor us). Some of the boxes that we have gotten have had so much wasted space in them, I wonder what the people that packed the boxes were thinking.

Moving Feelings

Not only are we moving our sailboat to another port but we will be moving onto it permanently. Our last day in this rental apartment is the 31st of November 2018. All the other times we moved, we were always excited about it and we are excited about this move as well. But with this move, there are so many unknowns that you really do not have with moving from one apartment to another.

  • How cold will it get on the boat?
  • Will we be able to keep the boat heated to a comfotable level?
  • How rough can it get or will it get in the marina during a winter storm?
  • Will the water around the boat and inside the boat freeze?
  • How much condisation will we get?
  • How do we fix the condisation problem if we have one?
  • Again, were on the boat are we going to store all of our stuff?????

Moving from one apartment to another, you do not have to think or worry about those type of things. Needless to say, this first winter will be the toughest. A lot of trial and error to see what works for us and what does not. Once we get through the first winter, all the rest will be easier since we will know what and what not to do.

With this move, we will be moving into a much smaller space. Which means, even though we have gotten rid of a lot of things, we still have to get rid of more things. Trying to find a spot for everything will test or tetris skills to the max. We were able to go from 100m^2 apartment to a 65m^2 without to much problem. Just had to sell all or our furniture, apartment, car, and throw a lot away. So no real problems at all. Now we need to reduce our living space to about 18-20m^2. Again, how are we going to fit everything we need on the boat?

Luckily the winters here in the southern part of Sweden are not that severe. It usually stays around 0°C, +- a couple of degrees. But being in a marina, on the water will get pretty cold. So this winter, there will be a lot of trial and error in finding what works and what does not. Finding out how well our boat keeps us warm and protects us from the bite of winter.

There are a lot of exciting events that are on the horizon and will be here before we know it. There are also a lot of unknowns ahead of us as well, but one thing we do know is that it all starts tomorrow with taking delivery of our sailboat and new home.