It all started with a fateful birthday gift. Karin gave me a book by a Swedish author, a father of a young family of four, a sailor, who together with his wife decided to sell the house and quit their jobs, buy a beautiful Hallberg, and go sailing for a year. “Can you do that?” I was inspired and the gears started turning.
Three years later it was our turn. Lots of planning, some arm twisting at work, blank stares from our family, taking the kids out of school, renting out the house, and – oh yeah – buying a used sailboat half a world away in Croatia. It took resolve and some courage but it turned into the most wonderful family adventure. Fully documented here:
www.sailblogs.com/member/towanda2015
It was an eye-opening experience of how much more is out there than our suburban life routine back in California. We kept “Towanda” for two more years and maxed out vacation time and budget before we had to sell here, tears in our eyes – well, me at least.
Well, like I said: ever since, we’ve been talking, dreaming, and scheming. “Once the kids are out of the house”, we always said and talked how they would come visit during semester breaks. Countless hours went into reading books, planning routes, getting inspired by SV Delos and other sailing vloggers. And watching the global boat market for the perfect boat.
Classic blue water cruiser or maybe a catamaran? How old and what could we afford? Where to buy? How much would the refit cost? Andy in his element, planning and keeping meticulous logs of boats and prices, seeing some boats changing hands multiple times.
Waiting for our opportunity.
Don’t get me wrong: there are substantial questions on our minds. Does this lifestyle fit us for more than half a year? Can we handle offshore passage sailing? Do we even want to?
The honest answer is, we don’t know. We dream of it. Of cruising tropical island chains and swimming with dolphins and diving coral reefs as long as they still exist. Of being self sufficient and exploring some of the least visited regions of the world where normal tourists just don’t get to.
That’s our dream. And maybe our plan. If we can muster the courage to try.