“In the Vortex” It Is

The boat is registered!  In Canada, that is.  We were not able to get “the Vortex” so we’re calling her “In the Vortex”.  It’s official.

She has also been moved into her semi-permanent home at Point Loma Marina, slip # 304.  Thanks to Tom for moving her for us.  As it turns out, we don’t have to move her to Mexico after all.  Well, not until May 22 anyway.  Our broker was able to get in touch with the authorities and by providing proof of deletion from the US registry, we can get away without paying the US Personal Property taxes. 

We’re leaving Toronto on Jan 10^th, but there’s lots to do in the meantime.  We’ve wired money down to Tom and he’ll start the ball rolling on getting all the survey findings addressed.  He’ll also get the rigging replaced for the mainsail and foresail.  We don’t like the wire lines.  Too hard on the hands, and they don’t move smoothly.  It will require a new winch.  The winch is $1200, but Tom was able to get us a discount so we’re only paying $800.  If all goes well, she’ll be ready when we get there.

We’ve also found a tenant for the upstairs of the house.  And a home for Archie, one of the cats.  Still need to find a home for Piggy.

We’ve already made plans for our first return.  We’ll be coming back to Toronto near the end of April and will return to San Diego on May 9, just prior to our big departure.

Its hard to know what to take with us and what to leave.  We’re not going to take our winter coats, boots and gloves, etc.  But it can get cool in San Diego this time of year, so we’ll need some warmer clothes.  However, once we leave in May, we won’t be needing them, so we’ll probably bring the warmer stuff home in April.  And there is no Loblaws in the US!  So, we’ll have to stock up on all those President’s Choice products we love so much.  We’ve just purchased a roof rack on Ebay.  We can only take what fits in or on the car.  At this point, we really have no idea how much free space in on board.  There is a possibility that we won’t be able to fit everything we’re taking.  That means we have to be careful when deciding what goes and what stays.

We’ll be selling the car when we return in April.  I’d love to keep it and take it with us, but it just won’t fit on the boat.  No way, no how.  What a shame, I love that car.  Oh well.

There won’t be many updates now until we get to San Diego.  If there is news, we’ll write it up here, but if it gets quiet, we’re probably on our way. 

Its all coming together.

Getting Ready

Well, making a drastic change to our living arrangements means lots of things to take care of. 

We’ve decided not to sell our house.  We’re going to rent it, furnished.  That way, we can keep (and store) our furniture in the house and charge a bit more for rent.  So we have to find a tenant.

Even though we’re renting the house furnished, we still have to pack up and store our personal effects that we will not be taking with us.  Our winter clothes, for example.  We have limited storage on the boat, so we’re only taking the bare minimum with us. 

We have to cancel our phone plans, change addresses on all our mail, arrange for out of country medical coverage, etc., etc.

And, it’s breaking my heart, but I have to find new homes for both of my cats.  The tenants in the basement have agreed to take Archie.  Now I just have to find a home for Pig Pen.  I’d really like to keep them together, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

We’ve been to the government to start the process of registering the boat.  This is where we finalize the name of the boat.  The official did a quick search for us and says we cannot use the name “The Vortex”.  Apparently, it belongs to a very old boat.  He said he could petition to get it deleted, but it has lots of problem surrounding it, so it best to just leave it.  Our second choice is “In the Vortex”.  We’ll have to wait and see if we can have that name.

Lots to do to get her registered.  We need all kinds of photos and measurements.  So we’ve had to get our broker to go get the pictures we’re missing and to get some additional measurements.  Funny how US and Canada have different requirements.

And another little glitch; as it turns out, in order to totally avoid both Canadian HST and US Personal Property Tax, we cannot have her listed on the roster of any US marina when the yearly inventory is checked.  So we are now working on having her taken to Mexico until Jan 5 or so.  Luckily, marina charges are much cheaper in Mexico.  However, it will take someone 7 – 8 hours to get her there.  We’re looking at paying a captain to take her there and back for about $300.  Not too bad.

Before we do that, however, we want to address the important stuff from the survey.  The mechanic has already indicated that he can do all the mechanical work – around $900.  We want to replace the rigging for the mainsail and foresail.  We’re still getting estimates, but figure that will cost around $2000.  But after that, she’ll be ready to go.

Right now, our plan is to leave Toronto on or around Jan 10, 2011.  We’re going to drive down and take our time, so we’ll get to San Diego around the 16^th or so.  We’ll stay in San Diego until around the end of May.  By then we will have had lots of additional training and we’ll have our sea legs.  We’ll return to Toronto in April to get the last of the belongings we need (in case we forgot something the first time),see our doctors and dentists, etc., sell the car and fly back.  By May 22, we’ll be on our way.

Every day we learn something new.  Its fun and exciting, though scary at times too.