It’s been a whirlwind of a week, mostly spent on “project JACE”. Just a bit of time left to loop the island once, check out a couple of beaches, take a dip in the ocean, visit a parrot sanctuary (Karin’s favorite), and hike up the highest peak of the island with a majestic view of…

Every once in a while you meet very special people. It’s hard to put your fingers on exactly what it is. You just feel it: these folks are next level. Over the past few days we had just that experience with Lynne and Jeff, the current owners of JACE. Karin and I both have a…

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” Shakespeare’s famous line suggests a name is nothing but a convention with no inherent meaning behind it. But is it really that simple? But first things first: the deal is done! Yeah, very exciting and almost as scary too….

The surveyor’s report comes in sooner than expected while we are having breakfast the morning after the sea trial. As predicted, our boat “SV JACE” gets a pretty clean bill of health. The 34-page report covers a great deal of detail with lots of photos of all the elements essential to a boat’s seaworthiness and…

The big day, the reason we came to St Maarten, starts early. 6am and I am glad I can get up. Been awake for a bit. Too excited to sleep. I take a quick dip in the pool, then get ready. We have breakfast in our mini kitchen and are off by 7:30. Jeff will pick us up…

You know what they say about first impressions. Based on that we might just have met our new best friend today.   The current owners had invited us onto the boat for sundowners and to have a first look. “Of course”, we had said.  At 5p we meet the owner Jeff at the dingy dock and…

I am a planner and go-getter. I believe in making things happen. But I also believe in giving life room to unfold in ways you hadn’t planned or even foreseen. “Let life take you” is what I started calling that mindset, coaching the kids, mostly Anika who is as much of a planner and control…

  Ever since we had the opportunity for a 6-months sailing sabbatical back when the kids were pre-teens, it has been on our minds.   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…