Experience

One of the things that our kids miss while cruising are typical stateside milestones like the First Day of School. Where I grew up the first day of school was the day after Labor Day, which happens on the first Monday of September. Five year olds begin kindergarten, and while Olive doesn’t turn five for another couple of weeks, she would be a kindergartener now. We were lucky enough to send our kids to the General Primary School in Matamaka Village for their first day last week! ...

We just sailed through our one hundred and first day. In this time we have begun to set the routines, behaviors, and mentalities that will be the foundations of our cruising lifestyle. After 101 days I can say with confidence that, while I haven’t experienced everything (who has) I am most definitely a cruiser, and I know that this life choice was the right one. As with any milestone (and this one is arguably more arbitrary than most), I thought I would take a moment to publicly reflect on what life looks like at 101. So here, in no particular order, are some thoughts: ...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how the kids’ childhoods will differ from their contemporaries as a result of this wild adventure we’re about to embark upon. Ruby understands that there are many things we will be giving up to go sailing around the world but I don’t think she’s got the context to understand it fully yet. The following are some of the experiences that Ruby and Olive might never share with their peers. ...

We ran into Carl early on Sunday morning and confirmed that they would be heading off on their great adventure later that day. We were planning to go sailing too, and agreed to see them off. I had seen Chris and Lisa working on their Ranger 26 earlier in the morning, and we decided to invite them to come along. The day started wonderfully. There was just a puff of air but the sky was blue, the clouds were high and the conversation was easy and light. Around the end of the Berkeley Pier both boats decided to motor until the wind returned. We got just past Treasure Island when we decided we had enough to sail on. By Alcatraz we had about 20º of heel and Convivia was lively and quick. ...

One of my favorite pre-vacation practices is to intentionally lower my expectations. I contend that I am due a single 15-60 minute “moment of bliss” somewhere in a 2+ week vacation, and if I can get that I consider the experience a success. These moments of bliss generally take the form of reading a great book in the sun on a day with light breeze. On this last vacation I got two moments of bliss. The first (which happened twice) was when the kids were playing happily in the cabin. Vick and I were sitting in the cockpit drinking coffee, and Convivia was sailing herself under nearly perfect conditions. The second was when I took the kids to Shorebird Park to play while Vick went to the store. Both kids were having trouble with relationships. I saw at least a dozen problems at the moment before they flared up. Somehow I managed to use just the right intervention every time and their conflicts effortlessly catalyzed into new friendships and joyful spirit. I was in a zone, writing a symphony of play with them and I couldn’t have been happier or felt more accomplished. ...

Victoria, Ruby, Olive, Jacob, Kate, Michael, and I left the dock at Emery Cove around noon on Friday for a 2 night stay at Alaya Cove, Angel Island. We’ve made this trip twice before but never with company. I decided to fill up the third tank (for an alleged total of 110 galons) just in case. We did our shopping the night before and got everything ship shape early on Friday morning for our guest’s 9am arrival. As expected it took a few hours to get Kate and her family moved in, and we took the opportunity to shower and pack a few more last minute maintenance tasks in. ...

Can critically evaluating your relationship lead to a happier healthier self while simultaneously improving the relationship?