All In Looping

Many of the Loopers we meet are “All In”, which means that they have purchased a boat and sold everything that won't fit on it. It becomes their floating home, a house with limited space. The “All In” crowd is not that different from those of us who still have roots securely anchored in a land home. The main difference is in the baggage, and the fact that if you have a land house, you have to take care of it. There is something to say about letting go of material things. It's like lifting a ton of weight, relieving the pressure of responsibility to possessions! When we began our plans to cruise aboard our 35 ft Alberg, s/v Mystic, we considered downsizing, selling our home and belongings and putting any remaining items in storage. It wasn’t very appealing to us. We tried to clean out and got rid of some things that had been sitting in our attic for far too many years. It was an overwhelming experience. The more we dug through our stuff, the more stuff we had to figure out what to do with.

Our Minnesota Land Home
Photo by Suki Thomsen, City of Stillwater

We are not materialistic people. We have some nice things in our house but most of what we own is pre-owned, refinished or gifted to us. As I look around our home I see that everything has a story, a sentiment that goes with it. Selling the items we’ve collected over the years seemed like selling our lifelong memories. There is the claw foot table in the corner of our living room. I found it on the side of the road years ago at a house nearby. It was obvious that someone had moved out and left the table for the garbage man. It had several coats of paint but I could tell that it was old and could be brought back to it’s glory with a bit of work. I was biking with my young son, David, so we couldn't just take the table with us. We made our way home, jumped in the car and drove back. I had moved the table up out of the garbage pile and close to the front door of the home so it didn't appear to be discarded. When we pulled up in front of the house, a man was putting my table in the back of his truck. I asked if he was the garbage man. He wasn’t so I informed him that he was taking my table. He laughed and said that he beat me to it. I was pretty upset, but I walked away, mumbling under my breath about just what I thought of this guy. As I reached to put my seat belt on I noticed him at my door. He offered to flip a coin for the table, “Just to be fair”, he said. I thought it was more fair than him just taking the table, so I agreed. I won the toss and the man took the table from his truck and put it in the trunk of my car. It took me two years to refurbish this piece. It has been in my living room ever since.

Roadside Table find

Detailed legs and claw foot
that caught my attention.

The decor which fills our home includes sailing related art work, an antique rolltop desk from my Grandmother's farm, a coke machine change maker Dave has dragged around since college, beautiful pottery made by our daughter Brielle, and the upright piano from our friends the Reubendale's. Dave completed a remodel project for them in exchange for this beautiful antique.

Grandma's roll top desk

Coke Coin Changer

Our Piano

Brielle's Pottery 

We finished our basement, adding a fireplace with limestone found on our property. The hearth has a lighthouse above the mantel, designed and hand cut by Dave. There isn’t really a single spot in our house that we haven’t had our hands on. We’ve remodeled every inch, lovingly urging it from a house into a home. As we replaced walls we planted time capsules for future inhabitants to find. Inside, we added coins, pokemon cards, legos and family photos. 

We inherited a lot of things from Dave's parents. My in-laws had great taste, enjoying the beauty of antiques and good jewelry, and it was important to them to pass on their treasures. We have their dining set, two hutches, china, silver and lots of old photographs. Dave’s Grandmother Meg also left us items. I remember receiving a box from Meg right after our first born, Brielle, arrived in December of 1987. I reached inside and felt what I thought was a teddy bear. What I pulled from the box was a lovely mink coat in perfect condition. It fit me like a glove; a generous personal gift from another generation. The 80’s was a time when PETA was strongly advocating against wearing fur or leather products. I wrapped the mink in an old robe and tucked it into the closet. Over the years, I thought about selling it. Each time it came up, I found myself thinking of Meg and how she wanted me to have that coat. I just couldn’t do it. Grandmother Meg also gave me her Spode China. We use it at Thanksgiving and Christmas which always makes me think of her.

Beautiful hutch from Dave's parents

Grandmother's Spode China

I can't say that we won't go "All in" some day. It could happen, but first, our kids are going to have to claim some of the heirloom items that we have been taking care of for the last 30 years. It will be easy to get rid of our every day possessions once the personal stuff is passed on. Like our beautiful home, we are just taking care of these items for a while.