A decade and a half ago, Paula and I sold a nice little house in Arlington to go sailing on our boat Nora. Before the closing, we threw the "Last Party on Land." Tables for drinks were our packed boxes. There was no seating. It seemed a little crazy to us at the time and apparently more than a little crazy to some others.
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| On the helm - Caribbean passage (1998) |
Though some insisted on calling it a "vacation," it was not that. It was a way of life for what seemed much longer than two years. It was a way of life that was physically harder, less predictable, scarier, rougher, simpler, beautiful, exciting. It broke us out of our rut. It forced us to look at things in new ways. It made us appreciate what we left behind.
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| Making full-boat awning (1998) |
Cruising made us appreciate what we left behind, but returning made us miss what we left "out there;" we vowed to go cruising with our future children.
We had those children. We started businesses, raised our children, worked hard, etc. We have had a great time. But as we all know, time slips right along.
Unlike some friends of ours (whom we envy), we did not have the future mapped and planned year by year through retirement. At some point, we realized with panic that our
oldest would soon turn 13. What?! What year is it?! When did we get here? Where did it go...?
So, now is the time to go sailing. Given that our kids are now 13 and 11 (and given that we don't
expect them to want to hang with us on a boat in their mid-teens), there
is no other time.There are plenty of great cruising blogs out there, and though we plan to write about all aspects of cruising, we especially want to write about it from the perspective of a family of four on a small boat. Hope you'll follow us here and really hope to hear from you!
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