Getting Back to Eternity Updates!!!

 We are still here and still working on everything.  Life is crazy busy at home as well.  

Sorry I haven't been updating things lately.  Trying to get back into focus with it now.  Some of the big updates since last post:

• We have a much bigger battery bank for the cabin - called the house bank.  We upgraded to lithium-iron-phosphate or LifPo batteries and they give us plenty of power for daily living without being constantly connected to the dock or running a generator.  We put in six 230 amp hour batteries for a total of about 1400 amp hours or 17K watt hours.  That means we have three substantial battery banks, one for each electric motor (around 15K watt hours each) and our house bank.  John has made it so we can move power between the three of them whenever needed which makes it easy for us to do nearly anything we want when we want.
• We added a stainless steel arch off the stern of the boat and loaded it up with bi-facial solar to grab that sun-provided energy for us and fill up our battery banks.  We have five 460 watt panels installed and it's glorious!  That's a total of 2.3K watts of solar.  Still thinking about where and how we might expand our solar footprint eventually as well.  Atkins and Hoyle from Canada for the win on supplying both our stainless steel arch and the solar panels.  Bryan Atkins has been fantastic!  If you'r ever at the Annapolis sailboat show, find their booth and say hi!
  
  
  
• We've upgraded our microwave to be a combination microwave / convection oven so now I can bake on board!!  I love it!  It's a GE GSCT10A1W2SS from Best Buy.  The first thing I baked was an ooey-gooey sugar-free butter cake.   So yummy!  It fits into my keto lifestyle and gives me that sweet tooth satisfaction I crave.  I'm loving how I feel and look on this lifestyle and it's amazingly easy to find delicious things to nourish my body with.  
• We connected up with Starlink.  We have the Roam-Unlimited plan and it rocks.  We stream Netfix and do a lot of remote connections for family, work, church, etc.   The only thing I kind of wish we had is the new mini kit, but that's not really a big deal.  We're still pondering the 'permanent' mount for our dish, but where it's sitting up on the bimini top is just fine for now.  With the Roam plan, we can pause the service when we leave the boat and then easily restart it when we get back.
• We moved from the dock to a mooring ball so 1, we're paying a whole lot less to still have marina conveniences (showers, laundry, pool, local address, etc.) and 2, we're learning a lot more about what it's really like to live "on the hook".  With all of the electrical upgrades, it's easy to keep things running as needed.  Of course we are always mindful of what we're doing and using, so it is different than living in a house, but not very much.  For the winter season, they will give us a dock slip, which gives us peace of mind while we're both off the boat and at home.  Since we can run without connecting to power and can monitor our batteries remotely, we feel really great about that.  
  

  

  
  
• We put an E-Propulsion electric motor on our dinghy which makes it super easy to zip from the boat to shore without dealing with the hassle of gas, oil, and exhaust.  It's quiet and does a great job of getting us around whenever we need it.  Sometimes we just take a little afternoon trip up or down the river to see all the beauty around us.

  

  
  

  
  

We're getting back into fiberglass and painting work on the boat.  This time, it's all about the deck which makes it super complicated.  So many things attached to that deck!  We are busy finding spots that need repairs and getting them all taken care of while also spending time enjoying being on the boat in such a beautiful spot.  I'm thinking that next summer we hopefully will get the whole deck repainted - just done in sections.

Back at home in Utah we've been really busy dealing with aging parents (John's) and just getting things done with work, house, dog, and family.   Earlier this year we helped move his parents into a lovely assisted living facility near where John's sister lives and they enjoy it there.  They keep telling us they are going home tomorrow and we just smile and say "'that's nice, we'll help you move when you go home."  They aren't able to go back to independent living but don't exactly realize it, so we just help them be happy where they are and it's working pretty well so far.  Still lots of things to do with taking care of their home, vehicles, etc. and figuring out how to deal with all of that.  This all follows a scary incident where John's mom left home last fall to pick up some dinner and ended up being completely lost for over 16 hours.  We were so blessed that she was found safe 60 miles away!  She was confused and really tired, but that definitely meant it was time to take the keys away.  Then, earlier this year she fell and broke her hip and while she has healed, she still requires a wheel chair to get around, so their home is definitely a no-go for her mobility.  

I'm still working and we're looking at what makes financial sense for us to actually pull that full-time employment plug so we can head on out.  Since we feel like we still need to be only a 'quick' plane ride away from John's parents for now, we aren't comfortable doing too much cruising around yet.  While we're still feeling like we need to stick around, it only makes sense for me to keep bringing in a full wage instead of a pension.  As that changes, we will start putting together plans to go places on the boat.  Stay tuned for all that.

I'm here for another week, working on the repair and paint jobs.  Then I'll get home for a week or so before I come back for the boat show.  That'll be the next report we make - what we find and do at the boat show.

Love you all - stay tuned.