'Wastin Away' in Beaver Creek...

Hello Everybody!Hope you all had a great Easter weekend!

I had a great weekend and am looking forward to the week.  I spent the weekend checking out 'Wastin Away', a large houseyacht I'm thinking of buying and living on.  It is a beautiful boat and is quite large with many amenities of home.  I went down with my cousin, who is great with electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work, to check the boat over thoroughly.  It was a beautiful weekend and we had fun, but didn't get as much done as we had intended.

We got down there at dark and had trouble locating the boat at first.  Though there were several houseboats docked there, I did not see the one named 'Wastin Away' and was wondering if I was at the wrong dock.  I ended up calling my friend, the owner, and she walked me by phone to the right one.  It was nicer than I had anticipated....a large, steel hull vessel with all the comforts of home.   It has a large upper deck where many people can lay out and a place up top to drive the boat as well.  The boat was very nice inside and has a lower stateroom, bathroom, and bunk room downstairs that are very cozy.  The master stateroom even has two closets.  I began thinking about staying there for a home and the possibilities of living on a large boat.

I have owned boats in the past, but they were always speed boats.  This was quite the opposite.   It is a titan that should be driven quite slowly.  It's over 55 feet long and very heavy, so I would want to make sure of where I am navigating before opening up the engine.   Getting it stuck would make for alot of problems because of the size and weight of the vessel.

Our first problem was the plumbing.  We hooked up the water supply and immediately found a leak under the sink in the kitchen.  It had probably cracked due to the cold weather, but would be an easy fix.   The rest of the plumbing checked out well.   No major electrical problems so far, but the mechanical has not been checked yet and hopefully once we run the engines, all electrical will be ok  as well as the mechnical.

We went to the two bars located within a few hundred yards away and made some new friends.  The first one, Beaver Creek, made us laugh because of the name.  It was a private membership only, but I hate having to buy memberships at a bar where you'll spend money and talked my way through.  The owner, Ike, was an older gentleman with gray hair and a gray beard.  He seemed very friendly and let us through with no problem.  We enjoyed the bar and had a great time and talked to Ike a little more about the area and things to do there.  From there, we went to The Flamingo, a bar across the waterway, and ended up buying a membership there...(it was only 5 bucks)  We learned that the two places were similar, but The Flamingo had a few more bikers there and was a little wilder than Beaver Creek...or it seemed so to us.

As I ponder whether or not to make such a drastic change in my life, I think about driving almost an hour to work.  I think about the costs of owning such a large vessel.   I think about my future and living there and whether the woman I find to live my life with would be happy there.  I think about my children and know that regardless, they love their Daddy and would be happy with me anywhere, but am sure they would really love staying onboard.  I think about the friendly people I met this weekend and if any of them will be future good friends....

Only time will tell.   Change is the one thing that is constant.   The hardest part about life is making decisions of change and wondering if you're doing the right thing.   It is truly hard to figure out...but I resort back to the Zen Philosophy for a little comfort and let time be on my side.  I'll check all the systems on the boat thoroughly before making the decision and think about this change in lifestyles while doing so...and as the Zen Master always says...."we shall see..."