Rosa Linda Román (00:28): Hello and welcome to New Mexi-Castaways. I'm Rosa Linda Román. And I am talking to you from the deck of the Dawn Treader. Now, it's going to be loud and it's not going to be a very clean recording as you are used to, if you've listened to my station for any length of time because I am working a lot right now. I'm preparing the boat to move off my family off the Dawn Treader. And we, basically, have 24 hours right now or a little bit more than that to get everything off the boat, sorted, figured out. And it's a little bit stressful. So, I'm outside on deck as I'm looking through some of the things. Now, let me back up in case you are new to my channel. I am Rosa Linda Román. For the past two years, my family has lived on the sailing catamaran, the Dawn Treader. Rosa Linda Román (01:17): She is a Lagoon 450, which is beautiful. I love her, but she's been sold. And I've talked about some of that in past episodes and how unhappy I am about that. But I'm just trying now to be positive, as positive as I can be, and go with the flow, and just tell myself, and embrace the fact that there will be new adventures ahead. Right now I'm looking through the forward hold to decide what we are keeping and what we are not. There's a lot of things down there. There's extra ropes, there's fishing poles, there's a folding bike, there's lots of hoses and oil, and there's a filet table for fishing, there's a bag full of extra cables, and connectors, and way back in the back there's a tent. What else is in there? Let me stick my head in that cabinet. Rosa Linda Román (02:15): Yeah, that's mostly what is in there, excuse me while I get up again. And so, I just wanted to kind of talk to you while I work. Nathan is on his way, he and Ahava are on their way from Austin, Texas. Ziva, Samuel, and I came here. We flew in to Florida from Austin Wednesday, let's see, it was Tuesday night, Wednesday morning. So, basically, we got in at 2:30 in the morning and we were totally exhausted. We had no idea how to get onto the boat. Once we finally got our luggage, got an Uber, and got here to the boat because it's tied to the dock. It's stern-tied, like from the back of the boat is tied to the boats next to us, and then, all of those boats are tied to the dock. Rosa Linda Román (03:10): Which the problem is, and then reason they do that is, I mean, obviously, they can line them up much better than if they tied it to the side, one side or the other, but the problem with it from a getting on the boat at 2:30 in the morning perspective is that it's away from the dock. It's to keep it from hitting the dock, because, you know, the tides change, they go up and down, and up and down. And so, you have to keep the boat slightly away from the dock at all times so that it never hits the pylons, which is great for storing a boat, but not great when you have three big, no, four big bags of luggage and two extremely tired little kids. Rosa Linda Román (03:51): So, that morning when we got in I was trying to find a way to get onto the boat and Ziva was done. She was like over the whole thing. And so, she started trying to climb onto the boat, like, just from the dock and she was going to climb the ropes that were holding the boat and just shimmy over to the boat, which normally in the daytime I would've let her do that, no problem. But after traveling from… because we went from Austin, we drove three hours to Dallas where we left Nala, our wonderful German shepherd with our former nanny, Miss Melissa, who we adore. And she's keeping Nala while we're here, you know, packing up the Dawn Treader. So, we drove to Dallas, we then took the red-eye flight to Fort Lauderdale, but it was delayed. So, that's why we got in so, so late. So, in those circumstances, I thought it would be a disaster to try to… potential disaster to let her shimmy across on a rope and get over to the boat. That would've been really, really, really bad. Rosa Linda Román (05:05): Because if she had fallen in, and it's so dark, and I was so tired, I might not be able to handle the crisis as well as I could if, you know, had had enough rest and all of that. Granted, if anyone who knows me knows I don't handle those kinds of situations as well as Nathan anyway, and since he wasn't with us, I figured we didn't need to test fate. So, we got onto the boat. We have been working bit by bit here aboard, but it's really hard because I don't know what we actually want to take off the boat and the things that we're actually leaving on the boat. So, that's one of the challenges. The other challenge is just the emotional roller coaster of going through our belongings and trying to decide how much is, you know, worth keeping, and what's just to get rid of, and then, if we are getting rid of it, are we getting rid of it for like to give to someone else who could use it, take it to Goodwill, throw it away, you know, like, there's all those questions. Rosa Linda Román (06:08): And it's funny because Nathan called on his way to the airport this morning and he was, you know, obviously, trying to be helpful, but you have to remember my emotions are high because I don't really want to sell the boat anyway. So, he was offering some suggestions of how I could pack up the boat and what I could be doing. And he was checking on my progress and all that. And I finally said, oh, I gave the phone to Samuel because he wanted to say hi to him and Ahava. And I heard him because Samuel always talks on a speaker phone to them. And I heard him say, "Okay, be really nice to mommy because she's totally stressed." And I said, "You know, I'm not stressed. I wasn't stressed until you called." Rosa Linda Román (06:57): And so, I thought about that. That is a true statement, but of course, it wasn't very nice to say. So, I thought about, why did I say that? Oh, you know, I mean, besides just because I'm mad at him because he sold my boat. Like, what is it that, you know, why do I feel that way? And I realized it's because the way Nathan moves and the way I move is, we're so different in so many ways. And in many, many areas of our lives, it's fantastic and it works really well. But sometimes, like, when we're trying to move out of our house, or boat, or we're trying to figure out, you know, some big decisions, my way, and his way can come into direct opposition. For example, for him, it was an easy decision to sell the boat really because it was a business proposition. So, once they made an offer that was in the range he had in mind, it was like, "Oh, okay." You know, he accepted the offer and that was the end of the conversation. I, on the other hand, was like, "What do you mean you accepted the offer?" He goes, "Well, you knew it was on the market." And he's right, but that doesn't mean that I was ready to just embrace that. So, I need to take a pause because I see Samuel in need of my assistance and I will be right back. Rosa Linda Román (08:19): Okay, I'm back. And I'm here with my two awesome kids. Samuel, what are you doing right now? Samuel (08:26): Upside down on my head. Rosa Linda Román (08:27): He's upside down on his head. And if you can hear, what is this that I hear? You come over here to talk to me please. Samuel (08:35): Yes. Rosa Linda Román (08:35): Come here, right here is the microphone. So, what are you doing right now? Samuel (08:40): I'm doing class. Rosa Linda Román (08:41): Oh, all right. What is your class? Samuel (08:45): Spanish. Rosa Linda Román (08:46): Espanyol [Spanish]. So, he's doing Spanish class for FLVS. It's actually his last Spanish class of the year. On the screen right now it says countdown to summer and it had said 01 days is the last day. So, he's got to get all his work submitted by tomorrow afternoon. And I'm also here with Ziva. Hi Zi. Ziva (09:07): Hi. Rosa Linda Román (09:08): What are you working on? Ziva (09:10): Well, I'm overall sorting and packing up my stuff, but right this instant the small thing I'm doing is I'm scrubbing a chain to one of my favorite necklaces. Rosa Linda Román (09:21): Ah, and that's because things get tarnished when you live on a boat with that sea salt air, right? Ziva (09:27): Yeah. Rosa Linda Román (09:27): So, I have a jewelry cleaner, but I'm not convinced- Ziva (09:31): That it works anymore. Rosa Linda Román (09:31): … that it's actually helping. But anyway, so- Ziva (09:34): And worth a try. Rosa Linda Román (09:35): What's your general feeling right now as you're sorting through your stuff and… Ziva (09:39): Annoyed, discouraged, angry, and sad. Rosa Linda Román (09:44): Ah, so you're feeling what I'm feeling. What about hopeful? Are you hopeful that the next adventure will be wonderful? Ziva (09:53): No, I'm not hopeful. I already know that it is because I'm with my family, but I'm also excited, yeah. As in to- Rosa Linda Román (10:00): That's a nice thing to say, Ziva (10:01): … go into a new chapter. But… Rosa Linda Román (10:02): People ask you us all the time, you know, "Where are you going next?" What are you going to do? Ziva (10:08): People are funny. No one knows. Rosa Linda Román (10:11): No one knows. Well, and when people say, well, where where's your home? What do you say? Ziva (10:17): New Mexico. Rosa Linda Román (10:18): You say New Mexico. But you used to say when you were little… Ziva (10:21): Home is where my family is. Rosa Linda Román (10:23): Yeah, she used to say home is where my family is and that's really still true, but she is pushing to move back to New Mexico. That's your vote, right? Ziva (10:31): I still say that yeah. I still say that, but like if they're asking me where my house is, I'll say New Mexico, because I lived there for nine years and that's my house. Rosa Linda Román (10:40): And that's where you'd like to be. Ziva (10:42): Yeah. Rosa Linda Román (10:42): Yeah. Okay, how about you Samuel? Since I'm asking [crosstalk] you guys questions, aren't you supposed… Oh, you have us an assignment. So, I can't interrupt you. Can you please do that? And we'll have to continue that conversation another time. I'm going to step outside now because I got to keep working. Zi, you're doing a great job, Samuel, you're doing a great job and I am trying to do a great job. Although, I'm feeling quite ineffective right now. It's about to rain. So, I need to bring in all the stuff that should not get wet. I've already pulled the dive gear out of the forward hold, the snorkel gear. We've got two paddle boards. They're the collapsible inflatable paddle boards. And so, we've got those two bags full of paddle boards and lots of stuff. So, let me pause. The downside of this process besides the emotional roller rollercoaster is that there are areas of the boat that do have mold like that forward hold and it's making me sneeze and my nose run. So, I'm going to pause and go take care of that and I'll be right back. Rosa Linda Román (11:54): Okay, I'm back. As you heard, I had to get Samuel situated with school, and then, Ziva is packing, and I wanted to check with her, and then, the whole issue with the mold making me sneeze. Okay, so I'm back outside working on some of the cabinets that I know that I can easily figure out. So, I just opened one of them. This is in the area like the helm, not helm, this is the sitting area in the back of the boat, the aft area of the boat. And I have some of the food stores here. So, that's the stuff that I know we can take with us. We're not going to leave food on the boat. So, I can pack that up easily because the dilemma I have is I don't want to pack up a bunch of stuff, and then, find out that we are leaving it on the boat. Rosa Linda Román (12:46): And we wanted to be nice to the people who are buying the boat and say, okay, since we are full-time traveling now, we don't necessarily need a lot of the stuff that is on the boat. So, an example is most of the things that are here we bought, specifically, for the boat. You know, the dishes, the silverware, the pots, and pans. Hang on, let me fix my headset. I'm trying to do this so it doesn't rub so much when I'm talking and working. So, with that in mind, I wanted to contact them and ask them, like, you know, "Hey, do you want to keep the dishes? What about the linens? What about the, you know, towels, and sheets, and all that kind of stuff." But the broker is frustrating me. Nathan said that they said it's highly irregular for the owner to try to contact a private seller, I mean, a private buyer before the closing. Rosa Linda Román (13:49): And so, we've never talked to the person who's buying it, which to me that's obnoxious. It's my home. And I guess you guys who have all bought and sold houses, you probably have experienced this in that arena. But for me, I haven't done that. So, to me, it just feels yucky because I know many things about this boat and I can share my wisdom, not in an annoying way, but you know, for one thing, I think if they wanted, oh, wow, someone's doing lawn work next to us. By the way, we're at the Isle of Venice area. And it's kind of like a showroom for boats. It's where they sell. They put all these boats that are for sale in a row and people come, and buyers come and look at the boats. Rosa Linda Román (14:37): But anyway, it's just frustrating because I want to, Nathan is on his way, and he said, "You know, how's it going?" And I'm like, "You know, I've kept the kids alive, and I've gotten them through their school, and I've filled the water tanks because we ran out of water yesterday. And I tried to troubleshoot the fact that the toilet won't flush, and I tried…" You know, like on, and on, and on, right? There's all these things that I've done but they require time away from the actual packing, and you know, he's on his way. And again, going back to how fast we move and how slow I move or how fast he moves, the fact of the matter is I'm not as far along as he certainly would like me to be. Rosa Linda Román (15:20): But part of it is because I don't know what we're taking with us. I'm going through this stuff and going, okay, so like, just in this cabinet that I'm looking at, there are things that have to do with the boat, which to me would be, automatically, we would just leave, but then they may not want those things. I mean, some of the stuff is obvious, but like the unused propane little canisters for the grill, it seems like we should leave that, right? Well, it turns out the dingy, and the grill and those kinds of things were not included in the sale and were not listed. And so, you know, does the buyer just, you know, want to buy that stuff so that we don't have to take it off the boat, or are they more interested in starting from scratch and doing things their way, which, you know, there's a real possibility that that is the case. I mean, I remember when we were provisioning and prepping the Dawn Treader ourselves, you know, when we first moved aboard, that's part of the fun is going to Ikea or wherever, and getting the things that you want for your boat. Rosa Linda Román (16:28): So, I'm very frustrated because now I'm supposed to get everything off this boat by, I think it's five o'clock tomorrow, and I don't even know what we are actually leaving and what is coming with us. So, I'm trying just to pack the things that we know for sure we wouldn't leave. Obviously, the food items, and you know, stuff like that. But it's just a frustrating way to do it. There's a lot of little things or little big things that I'm happy to part with. Hang on, I'm going to close this cabinet and move away from that loud thing. Somebody, it's like the blower for doing lawn work. You know, there's things like the hammock. We have something called a [ph] gang gang swing. What's wrong? Samuel (17:19): May I please have some [indiscernible]. Rosa Linda Román (17:21): Yes, you may wait, but are you still doing your class? Samuel (17:24): Yes. Rosa Linda Román (17:24): Okay. That was Samuel. He wanted some pudding and he's in the middle of his assignments, and in his Florida Virtual School, they have the live lessons at the elementary level. They have to actually attend live lessons. And this is the last week of school. So, it's not enough to have like this massive undertaking of moving out of our home. I'm also facilitating the homeschooling online school for Samuel and Ziva in the middle of it all. So, if you'll forgive me for my every, you know, usually I try not to like be mean or say mean things, but sometimes in a moment like this where I'm like trying to do things and at the same time I'm needed by my kids, and I need them to help, and they're, you know, more interested in other things I get frustrated. But anyway, so we are… I'm not sure what we're going to leave, if anything, on the boat or if we're just taking everything. Rosa Linda Román (18:22): And then, the next question is where are we taking this stuff that we are taking off the boat? Like, I just opened the cabinet in my bathroom. I'm down in the starboard head, which is, basically, the forward part of the... if you're facing forward, it's the right-hand side of the boat and the head is a bathroom, and I just opened the cabinets and there's these beautiful white towels that we bought for the boat. And they're folded so prettily because Miss Lauren, our former live aboard nanny showed me… she works on yachts and she showed me how to fold them in a really cool way that makes them look fancy. So, I opened the cabinet and it looks so nice, but there's a mix of things like those towels, and then, there's linen, and then, there's like a wall-e sheet set that went on Samuel's bed. Rosa Linda Román (19:10): Well, I don't know who is buying the boat and they fit really nicely on the boat beds, which boat beds are really hard…. Like, I, at one time posted somewhere, I'm sure on Facebook, that said, "Making beds on a boat is a full contact sport." Because it's just so physical, you have to get up in there, there's no room either side of the bed. And so, you're like having to lift up the mattress and tuck it in, and they're awkward shapes, boat beds are awkward shapes. And so, these are not custom linens by any stretch. They are just linens that over time we've figured out they fit nicely on this boat. And so, the question is how much of that do we leave? You know, if they aren't allowing me to talk to the buyer, then I have no idea if they want some of these things or if they want us to just take everything, everything, everything off the boat. Rosa Linda Román (20:06): I finally broke down and wrote a letter to the potential buyers and it went something like, "Dear Dawn Treader's new owners, I hope you will love this boat as much as we have. And I wanted to check to see, as I'm packing up if there's anything you were hoping that we would leave aboard for you." And then, I also said, you know, "I know on the one hand you may be happy to start from scratch and enjoy the process of buying everything new, which I understand. But if there are some things that you're hoping we will leave, please let me know as soon as possible." And so, I had Nathan forward that to the broker to see if they would forward it to the new owners. They did say they would. We have not heard anything back so far. Rosa Linda Román (20:58): So, I'm still in this place where I'm like, okay, now I've got one day left and I need to get it all packed up. So, Nathan said, "Well, just leave the dishes unpacked, leave the linens, and we'll do that last depending on what they say." So, that is what I am working on. We went through some of the books and that's always hard because there's some really great books here that we really love and have enjoyed reading, but there's also, like, all those books that I have wanted to read with the kids. And it's funny because when you homeschool, you think, "Oh, we're going to have time, and we're going to do science experiment, and we're going to read all these great books." And you rarely get through it all. I've found it's really hard. Rosa Linda Román (21:44): So, I've got four piles of books right now. One is for sure give giveaway, another is for sure keep, another is in the middle. Like, some people want to give it away, some people don't. And so, we're not sure about it. And then, some that I still have to sort through. So, that's one area. And I've gone through like the cabinet. I am kind of an office supply or art supply addict. I will just admit that right now. And so, because of that, I started packing up the cabinet of art supplies and I'm just like, wow, I have a lot of art supplies, which is hilarious, in office supplies. So, I at least got that packed up so I'm starting to make some progress, but I'm sure when Nathan gets here in a few hours he's going to be, like, we have a lot of more work to do and I was trying to get everything done as much as I could before he got here, because his way is, "Okay, let's just get rid of everything." Like, to him we don't need it. You know, we'll, we'll maybe get new things later or we'll deal with that when the time comes. But I don't want to have to do that if it's stuff we already have and we already love. The problem is, you know, I struggle not really being able to know and hear my own inner voice. Like, what do I really love and what am I wanting to keep and not part with. And so, my Zi just arrived back in my room. Hey, what's up? Ziva (23:14): While I was sorting the jewelry yesterday. Rosa Linda Román (23:18): I moved some of it over there because it was on my bed. Ziva (23:20): Thank you. Rosa Linda Román (23:20): You're welcome. Anyway, so I'm actually going in a few weeks, which probably would've been better to go before we had to actually sort through this stuff, but I'm going in a few weeks to go to a women's weekend where it's just without the kids, without the husband, and just me doing some self-work, and that's in San Diego in a couple weeks, and that hopefully, will help with some clarity about where we want to go next and what we want to do with the big picture in mind. But for now, I'm packing and Ziva's packing, and we are trying to sort through it, and stay positive. Right Z? Ziva (23:59): Mm-hmm (affirmative). Rosa Linda Román (23:59): Is that a right? That was a yes? Ziva (23:59): Mm-hmm (affirmative). Rosa Linda Román (24:01): Mm-hmm (affirmative) she says when she got jewelry, she's got an Arrowhead in her mouth. Where'd that come from? Ziva (24:08): I'm going to, oh, this one came off the property in Mexico. Rosa Linda Román (24:11): In Mexico or New Mexico? Ziva (24:13): New Mexico. Rosa Linda Román (24:14): Ah, okay. All right. Well, there you go. I'm going to stop talking for a bit. I'll check in, in a little bit more before I wrap this up, but I kind of want to assess what I'm doing, and then, I'll check in again in a little bit. So, I'll talk to you in a little bit. Bye. Rosa Linda Román (24:35): Okay. So, I am going to continue recording for a few minutes. I don't have long and I'm using a different recording headset right now. The other one was the wired headphones earbud or whatever that came with my Samsung Note8, but I don't have time to mess with that, because Nathan and Ahava are on their way and I'm trying to get as much as I can done before they get here. So, I'll just have to record. I have my Bluetooth, it's like a one sided Bluetooth ear. What is it? A Jabra earpiece. So, my apologies if the recording is not as good as the previous part, but I want to keep working and kind of wrap things up for you while I work. So, actually, what I'm working on right now is storing or pulling out all of the alcohol. "What? What? Alcohol on a boat?" Rosa Linda Román (25:38): So, under the floorboards there's like some, it's not really storage, it's kind of the inner belly of the boat, but it proved to be a great place to put like a pallet of beer or a case, I guess, whatever you call it. But basically, it fit really well under the floorboard. So, I've been opening the floor, pulling out what I can and it's amazing how much I'm discovering. I think part of the problem with it being under the floor is we forgot we had it. So, we've got a case of Sands which is Bahamian beer from Freeport. And then, we have a case of Bush Crack. Now, if you have never seen Bush Crack, you need to see. I need to take a picture and post this in our group so you can see what it is. It's got a picture of a wild, like crazed rooster on the front and it's a very high alcohol content beer. Rosa Linda Román (26:35): And it's something we discovered when we were in Eleuthera at Rock Sound. We went to go find some local beer and a guy said, "Oh, you have to try Bush Crack." And it was so hilarious looking that we did try it. It's not my favorite beer by any stretch. If I had to pick a Bahamian beer, I would say my number one is Sand's pink. It's actually a low alcohol content beer. And it's grapefruit. It's like a grapefruit-flavored low alcohol. It's very refreshing for a nice hot tropical day. So, that's my number one favorite. And then, Kalik is my second favorite. I like Sands after that, and I guess Bush Crack would be last. But it's funny. It makes people laugh when we give them a Bahamian Bush Crack. So, yeah, there's that. And there's some other various beverages that I'm pulling out from floorboards and whatnot. Meanwhile, Ziva and Samuel, what are you guys doing? Samuel (27:39): [indiscernible] Disney [indiscernible]. Rosa Linda Román (27:43): Because you've been working, working, working. You've been doing a good job. Oh yeah. You have been. Well anyway, so they're doing PlayStation because they're so happy to have it at their disposal again. That's been on the boat and they haven't been able to play and it was actually in New Mexico before that. So, they only had it on the boat probably for a month. And I'm pretty strict about how much tech they get to use. So, they have to earn it and they just did all of their last work and class work for their Florida Virtual School for the year. Actually, the only one that has to do anything with their class at this point is me. Nathan and I have to fill out some paperwork. So, you know, it's actually easier for me to work and get stuff done while they are entertaining themselves. Rosa Linda Román (28:34): I have a rule that they have to play something that engages their sibling, like, they can't just veg out on a screen and play by themselves. So, if they're doing like Minecraft, for example, on their iPad, they have to be in a world where they're building something with their sibling or their friends, whoever's there. Because I like my pet pet peeve is when you're in the same room as people and you are not engaging with them. So, I've learned over the years, in addition to restricting tech and making them earn that screen time, we make sure that whatever they're playing is engaging anyone else that wants to be involved. And there are times where they can have solo time, but when it's a social time, then they don't just get to veg out. They have to involve whoever's with them. Rosa Linda Román (29:23): Okay. So, I'm going to go now move my suitcase in my bedroom so that I can pull up the floorboard here because all that, the Bush Crack and the Sands that was under the guest room floor. So, now I got to pick up the floor in my room and try to see what's under here. I'm pretty sure this is the room where all the wine bottles are stored. So, I'll let you listen as I pick up the floor. That's a suitcase, but now you're on the floor and I'm basically picking up these panels that they're pretty easy to lift and underneath. Yeah, sure enough. There's two crates of wine. They're basically these containers that I bought from, what's that place? Oh, The Container Store. And so, they're great because they're portable and I'm debating, see, now this wraps up kind of what I started telling you that I don't know what's coming off the boat and what's not. Oh, it's called STORVino, S-T-O-R-V-I-N-O Rosa Linda Román (30:29): And it basically holds six bottles of wine, and it's very solid, and you can stack them on top of each other so they can be like a little wine rack, but in our case, they fit perfectly under this one section of the floor. And it's a perfect way when you're underway. It takes the brunt of the, you know, pounding when you're hitting waves and stuff, the wine bottles stay intact. So, STORViNO has been good. But yeah, I don't know. Are we leaving those storage units down under the floor? Because I picked them out because they fit perfectly underneath this little section, which otherwise is just wasted space, but again, no word from the buyer or the broker, the buyer through the broker, or whatever. So, I guess we'll just pack it up and take it with us. Rosa Linda Román (31:22): All right. Well, that's about it. I know it's been long enough and you've been hearing probably pretty awful audio quality. So, I'm going to let you go and get back to work. Nathan and Ahava should be here shortly. And yeah, next time I talk to you will probably be after we move off the Dawn Treader and I'm sure I'll have a lot to talk about here in my, what I like to call Rosa Linda's Ramblings. If you do like these episodes, please send me a note, let me know, feel free to share the episodes if you like them. And yeah, you can also see some of the visuals if you go to Facebook, New Mexicast on Facebook. I share some live reports and some videos there, but I also have a group. If you click on Join Us or something like that, there's like a button right at the top of my Facebook page that says Join Group, I think is what it says. And that connects to a private Facebook group and a private Google Photo album where I share more of the video and pictures of this whole journey. All right, I think I hear them arriving on board. So, I'm going to let you go, and thank you so much for listening to New Mexi-Castaways. I'm Rosa Linda Román.