She’s Officially Ours…
1/10/21 - Linda Ann cruising into her new home in Cocoa Beach
Well it’s official. We are the proud owners of this beautiful vessel currently named the Linda Ann. She’s a 1981 Ocean Alexander MK1 Pilothouse. We couldn’t be more excited… and if I’m being honest… a little terrified.
Let me introduce myself… my name is Christy. I’ve been described as a ‘free spirit’ and crazy. Which turns out to be a good combo when you consider I have 4 children and just bought a boat to live on for the next several months. I own a small Marketing & PR company which I run from home and I am currently homeschooling our 4 children…. Mark, Tophie, Kate & Lulu. (Yes. I drink wine.)
I’m married to a guy named Mike who has dreamed of living on this boat since he was 12 and trawling the coast of Maine with his Aunt & Uncle and his cousin. When he talks about those summers spent living ‘on the hook’ diving for lobsters and fishing all day he gets a boyish twinkle in his eye. We bought our house on a canal 10 years ago in the hopes that one day our view would include a boat like this. Oh and although he technically works for NASA… he is not.. (I repeat NOT) a ‘rocket scientist’… I mean he puts together rockets to launch them… but that’s not technically a ‘rocket scientist’. Is it?
Fast forward 10 years and here we are.
I won’t sugar coat 2020. It was an insane year. Our lives (like so many others) were completely uprooted and our outlook on what is important in life dramatically changed.
Prior to 2020 as a family of 6... work, school, sports, scheduling, volunteering, events , etc. had us running from one side of our days to the other. Which, we can now see, left us exhausted, short tempered, stressed and finding only snippets of joy in our days.
Our family was on the brink of collapse.
Then 2020 happened. The stress and anxiety initially shifted to the pandemic, social justice, and keeping our family safe.
And then... something magical happened. We came to realize and understand the COST all those external pressures and stresses had on our family. We became easier with each other, our bikes got dusted off and used every day, we hugged & snuggled & loved each other better.
We came to understand 'living' differently.
While I wouldn’t want to live through 2020 again…(that’s a HARD no.) I am grateful for the way it changed us. I am grateful for this uninterrupted time with my family and our small “Quaran-Team” of friends. And while we are aware of the turmoil brewing around us, and have had and continue to have many tough conversations with our family and friends…. we have seen the light and choose to find joy in this time of chaos.
We bought a boat and we will be trawling around the eastern seaboard for the foreseeable future.
We’ll be documenting our journey on via blog & YouTube. It’ll mostly be to document ‘proof of life’ for our family... (our moms haven’t slept in weeks thinking about their grandchildren living on a boat) and to share our crazy life. We hope it makes you giggle a little.
The Masters Family are adventure people and the time for adventure is now... so we are headed out to sea... because Zombies Can't Swim. (right? I mean that’s what I saw on the internet.)
Can’t wait to see where this takes us.
xo
~Christy & Crew