Ever heard of Zillow.com?

I found this site a few years ago and identified myself as the owner of our home listing. This allowed me to update/correct information regarding our house and to place a "Make Me Move" price. I set a rather hefty price and proceeded to update information as we made renovations over the next couple of years. We were about one year out from listing our home for sale, hoping to be living on our boat in the Caribbean by fall of 2011.

I received an email from Zillow in late April from a couple who asked for a showing of our house as soon as possible. They were anxious to find a house in our neighborhood and close prior to the end of the Home Owners Tax Credit.

After discussing it, my husband and I decided what the heck - it couldn't hurt to let them look. I responded with the caveat that it wasn't really on the market yet and we were still getting it ready, yadda yadda. Undeterred, they asked if they could come the next day.

OMG... We sold our house!

The stars aligned, good karma found us, and we soon found ourselves with a firm offer for our house -- right when there was nothing but doom and gloom on the real estate forefront. That was the incredibly good news!

The bad news... we had six weeks to empty a large house full of stuff accumulated throughout our almost 25 years of marriage. Between us, we have four grown children with homes of their own who were more than happy to take some of the furniture off our hands.

After deciding what needed to be sold, I got busy with the digital camera and posted pictures on my Facebook page. Friends and co-workers started coming out of the woodwork and soon we began waving goodbye to our cherished possessions. It was bittersweet seeing things go, but knowing it was getting us one step closer to living our dream of life on a sailboat.

OMG... We're really moving!

Next was Craigslist and soon we were inviting total strangers into our home and more stuff was being hauled away. We met some really nice people and sold stuff we forgot we had. Soon it began to feel very liberating.

Closets were emptied and a series of yard sales ensued. Everyone loved hearing our story and some people came back the following week and told their friends. After three successful sales, the remaining items were donated to Goodwill.

As we heard our laughter echo through the almost completely empty house, we felt free and elated.

Then the kids arrived...

They came with trailers and in pick-ups and started loading up the bedroom and dining room furniture. In a few hours we found ourselves in a house completely devoid of furniture and an Explorer packed to the gills with clothes and the other basic necessities.

We had a few days to stash everything on the boat and get the house cleaned and ready for sale. At the end of the week we were exhausted, but elated, as we exchanged our house keys for a cashiers check and moved into the next phase of our lives.

Living on Our Sailboat

It was an adjustment for me to spend most of my time inside a boat. This summer was brutally hot, so there were few days I even wanted to venture outside. For most of the time I was still working, so that helped pass the time. I was lucky enough to be able to work remotely most of the time (I am a web developer).

Happily, I am retired as of September 1. Now I have no excuses not to get the boat organized and everything stowed away.

Clothes

My wardrobe now consists of shorts, t-shirts, tank tops and bathing suits. Yes, I kept a couple of pairs of jeans and a jacket or two, but we plan on being in warm locations and have no plans to lug a lot of clothes we'll never wear.

Last year we chartered a boat for a week in the British Virgin islands and brought back more clean clothes than dirty. We spent most of our time in a bathing suit or a couple of favorite t-shirts.

We bought Space Bags at Costco and used them to shrinkwrap about half the clothes we brought. This allows us to store them away flat and use a lot less room.

Because my husband is still working for another month, we rented a very small storage unit at our marina and put in a clothes rack we had used in our garage. He uses it as his "work closet" and we have some shrinkwrapped clothes, dive gear and books stashed there as well.

As I get things more organized and compact onboard we'll start moving things out of storage. We do not have any plans for long-term storage. (That tends to freak out some people, but it doesn't bother us a bit.)

Cooking

Rule #1 Don't catch the boat on fire.

We have a 2-burner propane stove. I learned how to turn on the gas, ignite the left burner and make tacos without starting a fire. Yesterday, I decided to use the right burner and couldn't get it to light. My husband was just finishing up in the shower when I told him I was having trouble.

"Honey!" he screeched,"that's the oven you're trying to light." That wouldn't have been a big deal, except that we use the oven to store our plastic kitchenware. Luckily, things just got a little warm and nothing melted!

Lesson learned... make sure to turn the correct knob.