Where do you live?’ I kind of hate this question. I am never quite sure how to respond these days. How long do I have to stay in one place in order to qualify as being a resident? A week? A Month? Two months? Is it where I get my mail sent, is that where I live? Or is it a more esoteric question that can be answered by bastardizing Kierkegaard- ‘ Home is a reality to be experienced’. I’m pretty certain people would look at me even more strangely than they already do upon seeing me in my bedraggled sea witch couture. Where do I live? Well, that’s a complicated answer…
I’m currently back aboard Ceol Mor in a really good boat yard in Deltaville, Virginia. Mark and I just returned after spending 4 months in Scotland with family over the winter.
We had been trying to decide our launch date and sailing plans for the fall sailing season when the decision was made for us. Mark’s father sadly passed away. We wanted to be with family, especially to support Mark’s sister Gillian who has taken care of their dad superbly through many years of ill health. She would now be in charge of sorting through a lifetime of collections, family heirlooms, legal documents etc. That is never an easy task so we really wanted to be as supportive as we possibly could so Winter in Scotland it was.
We prepared Ceol Mor for winter storage. We did our best to mitigate any mold and mildew issues. I used vacuum bags for all soft furnishing and clothing, emptied the galley, added Kanberra gel throughout the boat performed, a vinegar wipe down of the entire boat and packed everything away. Mark winterized the water system and engine and we bade Ceol Mor goodbye as we flew home to Scotland.
See how I said “home to Scotland’? It just came naturally. I feel a comfort and compatibility every time I am in Scotland and I feel it still. Scotland is a fit for me and my preferred location for a land base. Scotland is where I so we wish to be. Fife in particular ( more on that later) Mark is a citizen and grew up here. His family has been here for generations. Buy a land base in Scotland, sort the Visa issues and get on with it. Simple, right?
During our time in Scotland we attempted to purchase a house. Twice. The first property our offer was contingent upon a good survey. The survey revealed that the upper floor was collapsing into the lower floor. Huh. Long story short, the seller refused to accommodate on repair costs. Lovely home, but the required investment make it a non-viable option.
We found another home. Lovely little flat in great condition, really incredible and dynamic seller that we admire greatly and would love to get to know. We agreed on sales price and closing date a few days before Christmas. We then turned it over to the solicitor we engaged to represent us (this is how real estate transactions are done in Scotland) and waited for the required legal missives to go back and forth between our solicitor and the seller’s solicitor.
Long story made short, our solicitor takes 2 weeks off for Christmas. She also doesn’t work Wednesdays, won’t schedule an appointment with us to go over the questions that an international sale would create for a small town Scotland solicitor with little experience in international finance and wont return phone calls. Our drop date of February 13 quickly approached and past and the deal fell apart. The good news is the seller is now under contract with a new buyer and hopefully he will be able to move forward with his move. The bad news is, we still don’t have a land home and I still can not easily answer the question “ where do you live?”
4 months in earnest pursuit of property with nothing to show for it. Keep on keeping on. Back to the States, Virginia, the delta and Ceol Mor it is.
So we are busy as bees back in Virginia as we try to get her ready for more. I’ll update on some of the repairs and upgrades we’ve completed but for now, enjoy some of the beauty of Scotland. It is this beauty that makes me continue to scour the real estate listings in between boat projects. Where do I live? I live here, its just the definition of here changes by the day.
