Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We’re
writing to you from sunny St. Maarten in the Caribbean where we are
currently living. We’ve come a long way from Canada and a lot has
changed in our lives over the last year.
February 2004 was a big month. Susan quit her job
and we completed the sale of our company, which resulted in Wayne
quitting his job too. We also sold our house in Victoria and bought a
piece of land on the harbour in Ladysmith, BC which is just south of
Nanaimo and about one hour North of Victoria on Vancouver Island. Over
the next four months we were busy clearing the land, drilling a well and
building our tiny house.
Sadly in July our cat Twiggy moved on to the
great mouse hunt in the sky. We spent a lot of years together and are
very sad to be without her. She had a great life especially for a pound
kitten. She grew up to be a world traveling sailing cat, a proven
swimmer (not by choice), and a good guard cat that could be counted on
to bite almost everyone that we ever conscripted to look after her.
In July we took a road trip to visit family in Calgary
and Prince Albert. Wayne hadn’t been to Saskatchewan for several years
and it was nice to catch up with everyone once again.
We had been looking for our next boat off and on for a
long time. We had learned a lot while cruising on our last boat that
helped us to create a clear picture of what we did and didn’t want in
our next boat. Unfortunately having a very clear idea of what you want
means that it can be rather difficult to find a boat that meets all of
your needs.
