Our cruising chapter having come to an end when we arrived in Norfolk, we turned our attention to moving off the water and back onto terra firma. Transitioning was a multi-step process: getting everything off the boat, getting See Level prepped and turned over to the broker, living back on land. From there we were open to whatever came our way – and come it did.
These last three months have been a whirlwind of activity – but in a slow-motion kind of way, as we alternated periods of intense activity with waiting and laid back living.
Arriving at mile marker 0 on the ICW on April 17 — Waterside Marina in downtown Norfolk – marked the end of our full-time cruising life. Our days of transiting and being transient were coming to a close and our mental framework turned to transitioning back to some degree of geographic stability. It was surprisingly unemotional. Maybe because it was such a familiar city and marina for us, so it seemed routine. Maybe we just hadn’t processed that this was ‘the end of an era’ for us. Maybe because we still had our friends aboard and were having fun. Maybe we just didn’t want to think about it.
De-boating
March 18-31, 2025
Packing up. After a couple days enjoying Norfolk with Patty & Gary, it was an immediate change in our mindset. We dropped them off at the airport, and over the creative-thinking power of IHOP pancakes came up with a battle plan for getting everything off the boat and into a storage unit in Norfolk, the boat to the broker, and us onto land. We stopped at the nearby Home Depot to pick up large plastic bins in which to organize everything. Half a dozen ought to do it, we thought. Oh, the naiveté!
We pulled stuff out of drawers, lockers, and cabinets. Once bins were full, they were stacked pushed down the docks in the available carts, transferred to the truck, driven the couple miles to the storage unit, loaded onto a flatbed cart and into the elevator, then racked and stacked in our unit. Then repeat.
Of course, we thought this would be an easy move. How much ‘stuff’ can you have on a boat with only a couple hundred square feet of living space? Turns out, it’s like clowns in a Volkswagen. As veterans of a dozen or so military moves, we soon realized this was no different than any move – there’s always way more ‘stuff’ than you think. We were going to need more bins.
We started out being very organized, sorting into labeled boxes or bins, cleaned and neatly folded for efficient use of space. But after the first day, I looked around and there’s still stuff strewn all over the place, and it seemed we hadn’t made a dent in emptying deep dark hiding places. The second day I started out angry at all this ‘stuff’ for existing. I attacked it with vengeance and disdain – no Marie Kondo holding-it-to-see-if-it-brings-you-joy nonsense. Things get tossed randomly into any box with room, labels become more of a suggestion of what could possibly be inside but no guarantees. More and more ‘stuff’ was deemed unworthy, and the local Children’s Hospital Thrift Store became an intermediate stop on trips to the storage unit. Just…get…’stuff’…outta here! We lugged and loaded and unloaded and lugged, garnering a whole new respect for pack mules.
The third day finally started feeling like we were making progress and were down to what we needed to live on the boat for another 10 days. Time to move the boat the short distance to our frequent haunt of Atlantic Yacht Basin, where we would be leaving it with the broker eventually. It was essentially our last cruise along that very familiar stretch of the Elizabeth River, and the Great Bridge Lock would be our 247th – and final – lock on See Level.
Getting the boat ready to sell. Once at AYB, we spent our time spiffing up the boat with deep cleaning, polishing, some routine maintenance projects, and final packing up. I’ve always said every place I’ve lived is the cleanest the day I move in and the day I move out. The boat was no exception, and See Level sparkled by the end of our week plus of work.
We’ve spent a fair amount of time along the face dock at AYB over the years, and this was a comfortable final act for us. We watched the parade along the ICW as the spring northern migration picked up – heard the familiar horns and bells as the drawbridge opened and closed hourly, recognized the familiar faces of the workers at the boatyard, admired the sunsets over the bridge. The only thing missing was Roxy.
Views at AYB
The Principia
The first time we were at AYB was May 2021, when we were just embarking on this cruising adventure. One beautiful boat in particular caught our attention – the Prinicipia, a classic cruise boat of the wealthy built in 1928. It looked like she had been there for a very long time and while showing her age, one could still glimpse her past beauty. We could peek inside the main cabin to see the velvet upholstered furnishings and dark paneling beneath a heavy layer of dust. The dining table was even still set with china, as if suddenly abandoned just as dinner was to be served. Detective Dave and Deputy Google got busy uncovering the history of the Prinicipia: heyday in the 30s, service in WWII, the private boat of singer and Hollywood Squares regular John Davidson in the 1970s and 80s, residence at a Seaport Museum in Philadelphia. Sold to an individual when the museum could no longer afford upkeep, our understanding (i.e. ‘we heard’ and have no confirmation) is that she was brought to AYB for work and then the owner passed away, leaving her in probate limbo for at least a decade. Whenever we were here, we would ‘check on her’ and nothing changed other than the dust a little thicker.
One day in late March, we looked out to see her being towed by the little AYB skiff around the corner from the storage sheds and up to the main AYB dock near the Bridge. Workers came and went for about a week. Then we saw her do a couple runs up and down the river under her own power, looking a little worse for wear but mighty proud as she glided through the glassy water, declaring “I ain’t dead yet!”
On March 30 – our last day living on the boat – the Great Bridge Bridge opened and the Principia passed through and entered the lock on her own power, heading to Rhode Island to be restored and embark on her next adventures with a new owner. For us, the timing was nothing short of poetic.
Moving To Land
April 1 - May 28
Finding a place to live Being in a bit of limbo while waiting for the boat to sell, we had arranged for a short term furnished rental in the historic section of Norfolk for three months. This would be a great way to ‘try out’ Norfolk. On April 1, we carried two truckloads of stuff up 26 steps and through three key-coded doors (trust me, when you’re lugging stuff on a hot day up a flight of stairs you count these things) into a place on a cobblestone street in the Freemason District. The apartment was quirky and awesome in the way converted units in 150-year-old historic Victorian homes always are – light switches in weird places, a fireplace in the retro-fitted kitchen, ornate ‘mystery’ hardware remnants. We spent our whole first exhausted evening collapsed on the large lounge chair AND chaise lounge in the master bedroom; the bedroom had more square footage of living area than the boat and our tired brains couldn’t quite comprehend all the extra space. Stretching out on a full-size sofa and letting the water run in a long hot shower were a couple of the little things we appreciated right off the bat. It was a vacation-like place for us to experience city living while we awaited the ‘what next?’ to hit us in the face, and we enjoyed it knowing we did not have to maintain this beautiful old house.
Then we went into ‘wait’ mode – for a boat buyer, for a long-term living decision, for inspiration on what adventure we wanted next. After the intensity and work of moving off the boat and getting it on the market, it was nice to relax. In the meantime, the trees filled out, tulips bloomed, and the cherry trees blossoms fell in their underlying carpet. We read, explored the neighborhoods, went for coffee or dinner, watched sunsets, joined the nearby YMCA. We could walk everywhere, which is very high on our criteria as we looked to establish a home base – grocery stores, restaurants, waterfront, theatres and museums.
Establishing a land base Our very first act in the mental shift away from boat living? Costco membership. Second major act was to get our own car, having been using son Scott’s truck temporarily. Of course, this was complicated by our ‘alternative lifestyle’ of the past four years when we could not produce a utility bill or bank statement with a Virginia address to get the car titled in Virginia. We were eventually saved by the credit check, which for some mysterious reason showed Dave residing at his brother Chuck’s address in Virginia Beach, while I apparently was still wandering aimlessly.
Figuring out a long term residence We quickly realized Norfolk would be a good home base for future travel and adventures. We love Minnesota and plan on heading north every summer because the Chesapeake Bay in July and August is the fraternal twin of Minnesota winters, but for several reasons Norfolk just felt more like propelling our life forward. The plan was to wait until we sold the boat so as not to have two mortgages, but one day decided to ‘just look’ at some places on the market in the areas we thought we were interested while we were in ‘wait’ mode. I think you can figure out what’s coming.
We wanted low maintenance (i.e. no yard) so we could leave for extended periods, and spent one day with a real estate agent focusing on condos and townhouses. We got a good feel for the different areas and price range, but nothing really knocked our socks off. Then a townhouse popped on the market that checked all the boxes and was too good to pass up. So we put in an offer the next day and were engulfed in a whirlwind once again as we navigated through loan approval. You would think there had never been a retired couple living off a military pension and their 401K buy a house before. But Dave and the loan officer did truly heroic work over the next 48 hours.
Then it was back to waiting for our late May closing. The good news is during that time, we got an offer on the boat! The timing couldn’t have been better.
Dropping a Land Anchor
May 28 - Jun 30
May was a period of enjoying all Norfolk had to offer in the spring punctuated by intense bursts (measured in hours) of email exchanges of documents for the house closing, mostly explaining why we had neither a home mortgage nor rent for the past four years. Dave patiently and quickly responded to all requests, earning him the title of ‘favorite customer’ from the loan officer for his responsiveness.
And we planned a summer adventure.
One of our favorite parts of this waiting period was the opportunity to dogsit for a Looper friend passing through Norfolk. The World’s Easiest Dog, at first we weren’t sure she knew she was a dog because she didn’t bark and liked to lay on the top of the sofa around your neck like a cat. But then we turned her on to all the squirrels and bunnies in the neighborhood (you don’t see many when you live on a boat) and her canine brain showed itself. In fact, last I heard I think we pretty much ruined her and she is now critter-obsessed.
It was wonderful to get dog time. But we also realized as much as we love having a dog around, our lifestyle and plans don’t support owning one of our own right now. So we’re just going to have to keep borrowing dogs for now.
Our return to home ownership was celebrated on May 28 – and with it a return to frenzied activity. Right after we closed on the house, we started lugging everything we had moved into our rental unit down the 22 steps and through the three doors to the car, then into the new townhouse. It’s 2100 sq feet and three bedrooms spread over three floors – which seemed huge to us.
The very next day we checked out of our short-term rental and flew to Minnesota for a speed run to pack up as much as we could from storage there into a UHaul. We had downsized quite a bit when we moved from the Stillwater house four years ago, but when we opened the door to the storage garage all I could think was ‘is all this stuff really ours?’ Our good friend Joe came over and helped us load the furniture into the truck, and he was a master at puzzling everything in Tetris-style. If it weren’t for him, it would have taken two days to get it all loaded. We headed out early on Jun 1 toward VA, making the trip in two long days of driving through some beautiful early-summer farmland and scenery. The urge to stop and explore like we did when cruising was strong, but we were on a mission. And for the record, the ‘comfort ride’ UHaul advertises its trucks are equipped with seriously requires a definition of ‘comfort.’
Upon arrival back in Norfolk, Dave and I lugged boxes and bins and small items inside, leaving anything that required two people for some younger hired hands the next morning because we’re just getting too old for that.
Then the unpacking began. Even through the chaos and mess and dust, there was an element of discovery – or rediscovery — of things temporarily forgotten and now reminding us of a previous life. Many were like reconnecting with an old friend, picking up where you left off. Others I found I felt more of a fondness for what they had been, as if we had outgrown them and their time was past. And there were also the ‘why in the world do we still have this?’ items.
The bones and layout of this place as well as the location is perfect for us. It’s small and will be low maintenance. It has a big roof deck over the garage that will give us the outdoor living we can’t do without – we’re already calling it our ‘cockpit’ because it reminds us of how much we loved the cockpit of See Level, taking meals and watching sunsets and just hanging out. There is no garden or landscaping, so we can travel at will without concern about maintenance. But there is a lovely public garden across the street managed by Master Gardeners where I can volunteer, which means I can play in someone else’s dirt to my heart’s content and leave anytime without worries. It is in the very active and established residential community of Ghent Square, less than two blocks to the grocery store and several areas of restaurants and retail and the arts a few blocks further around it. We’ve already met our neighbors on both sides, even discovering that one of them made a deployment with Dave when he was XO on the L. Mendel Rivers.
June was project month. There were utilities and services to arrange. Once in the house, the ‘warts’ that had been hidden by furnishings and décor suddenly became more glaring. We decided the floors needed refinishing, the whole interior painting, and we will need new carpeting soon. So we had to arrange for all that work as such big DIY projects are just not in our wheelhouse anymore. These were in addition to some crawl space work and chimney repair we knew about from our original inspection. Okay, so it might be a bit more of a fixer-upper than we originally planned – but we are up for the challenge of finding professionals.
We’ve transferred all the energy of maintaining the boat into personalizing the house and making it our home. We have lots of ideas and plans, both short term and long.
Speaking of plans, coming up in July is an adventure by car, RV, train, ferry, plane and UHaul to Minnesota and the Pac Nor’west – a combination of family, friends, fun, and work as we complete our relocation from MN to VA.
And speaking of the boat, the offer I mentioned earlier has been finalized and closing will be July 31. And the new owners of See Level will be another Karen and Dave. We bought her from Dave and Charmaine. They are Australian, and I’m pretty sure Charmaine is Aussie-speak for Karen. (The Dave thing is maybe a little creepy.) Everything has come together, as it always seems to do when you just take a deep breath and let things play out.
On to our next chapter with new adventures!
Final Thoughts
Word of the Blog: lug (lugged, lugging).
Ironic Realization: We moved onto the boat on April 2, 2021 and off on April 1, 2025. That was totally unintentional on our part, but still a nice touch. We had always said the boat thing would be a three-to-five year adventure, and it came in at exactly four years.
We are frequently asked if the last few months and selling the boat has been bittersweet. But there’s actually no bitterness at all. We have loved every minute — even the challenging times — and have learned and grown and changed all for the better. We feel like we’ve accomplished what we set out to do with this adventure, and look forward to something new.
We have to admit that one factor is that cruising and life aboard is not the same without Roxy. As we came up the ICW this spring, so many of our stops held good memories of how Roxy helped us explore a place and meet people. As we did final wrap ups on the boat to get it ready for the new owners, we realized what a big part Roxy was of our cruising routines and daily life. We think of her every single day. It’s not that thoughts of her associated with See Level make us sad, but the realization that it’s time to make new memories in a new place. And maybe with other people’s dogs.
Pops’ Stats Corner*
See Level Final Stats -- 2021-2025
- Total Distance Cruised: 18,417 mi (16,015 nm)
- Sorties (trips): 428
- Locks : 247
- Avg nm/underway day: 37
- Marinas: 318
- Mooring Ball: 12
- Anchorages: 45
- Free docks/Walls: 56
- Gallons Diesel: 8114
- Gallons Water: 13,579
*Pops is the family’s affectionate name for Dave’s dad. He had a mind for sports statistics, earning him the nickname Numbers from the coaches of several Stillwater teams with whom he worked. This regular section of the blog is in his honor, because it’s the kind of thing he would love.
Love reading your blogs. Your next life has begun. Maybe we will see you “down the road”.
OYSTERLAND
We are heading south in the winter — not sure exactly where, and not sure exactly how yet. Looking at RVs now for some extended stays, and your area is high on the list to pass through.
What an exhausting and exciting time! Wishing you the very best next chapter ❤️ We are still in Norfolk. Let us know if you’d like to meet up. We leave in September.
Will def need to get together before you leave.
That was an amazing 4 year cruising adventure, and we enjoyed sharing the wonders and challenges through your blog! The photos have always been my favorite with happy faces, charming places and historical traces.
Looking forward to sharing the next adventure in your life!
Losing Roxy was rough, but know that caring for OPD (Other People’s Dogs) is good balm.
One question, how many snakes did you encounter in marinas over the 4yrs?
The one in the pic was fortunately the only snake we came across. But gotta say, for an old boatyard we didn’t see a single mouse or other critter…
Congrats on a dream completed and a new adventure! Transitions are always hectic – but glad everything worked out well without major challenge for you! Loved reading this blog and keeping up with your travels — thanks for sharing the journey and a great “scrapbook” for your future reference. Take care!
Thanks Kim! BTW — already signed up to do the Virginia MG program.
Another great blog, Karen. Like Pops, I’m a stat nerd. So….if you add in dinghy mileage does the daily average go UP (dinghy usage on regular travel days) or DOWN (dinghy usage on non-travel days)? Inquiring minds want to know. Hope you guys can find your way through Ocean City when back on the East Coast.
Count on us coming your way
We have really enjoyed reading about your 4 year journey on a boat. Can’t imagine all of life that you have experienced over the years. We would never venture into your waters for an extended period but we have certainly enjoyed your adventures. Enjoy your new life on land in Norfolk.