After tossing the dice around trying to figure out whether or not we should head north with Moitessier, we finally decided that it was foolish to bring the boat up. We had debated for a while as to where to keep her and work while we built our kitty again. We had considered Charleston, Savannah, New York, and other coastal cities, but the problem was Frank and I wanted to be in a place where we could easily pick up work as well as get paid well enough to be able to save a little money for our next big adventure. The southern cities were viable options because it would never get too too cold on the boat where we had to worry about shrink wrapping and all the glorious cold weather related troubles. The reason we didn't go that route was because for some reason in the south, skilled labor is not lucrative. New York was a possibility because both Frank and I could pick up well paying work, and be with our family and friends, but the problem posed here were all the expenses involved just to keep warm. High dockage fees, shrink wrapping, as well as installing a hydronic heater that would be suitable for living aboard and could be left running for long periods of time unattended, were all factors that kept us from going forward with this plan as well. We'd be going into debt just to not freeze and that made no sense.
So here we were sitting around for a month in St Augustine, twiddling our thumbs and trying figure what our next step was, when it occurred to us that we could work in the US Virgin Islands. Since it is a US owned territory, we are legally able to work. And since the USVIs, particularly St Thomas, are rich with tourism, job opportunities are abundant. That on top of the whole crystal clear blue waters thing, being able to spearfish every day, and being close enough to other islands that were just day sails away that were culturally diverse, really swayed the decision.
During this time also, our dinghy got stolen....yup...different blog post, but what the fuck? After dealing with all that and coming to terms with this decision to go into more debt and moving south instead of north, we immediately flew up to NY so that we could both work for a month and save up as much as we can. During this time, Frank had decided to take the STCW-95 class and get his certification as he is hoping to work as crew on other boats, because from what we hear, this is a common requirement to work on boats. On top of all that, Frank picked up some metal work with his friend, Zach, where he learned to MIG weld. He also managed to squeeze in some time to get an abscessed tooth pulled....YAY! And squeezed in some time with his family. Quite a hectic month.
I managed to find 2 bartending jobs during this month, and worked doubles for days on end and spent some time with my family, as well as by myself. It had been 4 years since we had ever visited NY in the fall, and no matter how exhausted I was, I always made it a point to have dates with NY. Going to museums, walking around the city, and just eating good food by myself was something I hadn't done in a long time. After spending so much time with someone always around me but in isolation, I was now by myself doing my own thing in the opposite of isolation...NYC. Since Frank and my schedules were polar opposites during this time, I hardly got to see him, but oddly it renewed our relationship. I realize how important it was for me to be alone. Alone with my thoughts, alone to do my thing, alone in interacting with people, alone in my decision making. Again, that didactic juxtaposition of not having something for a while in order to realize how important it is to one's life. In this case, it was my alone time. Being by myself again and not being a part of a "unit" made me feel whole again, like I had been missing myself, if that makes any sense? I realized that I am actually pretty good company and that I quite like myself. Hopefully on our next date, I get to second base....
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| Dates with NY..... |
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| Upstate NY... |
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| Fall...I've missed you most of all.... |
