Well, you meet the most wonderful people. And like a weird pyramid scheme, those people lead you to more wonderful people, and they lead you to more, and so on. Most of our choices to go places are based on heresay from others, living the lifestyle. Some may tell us that we need more experience before launching out while others advise us places that are easy to go to...they all have given good advice that we usually heed. Of course, boat problems or simply its limitations dictate our destinations also. Some of the best advice comes from those we have been closest to. To all, we can only say "Thank you"!
Being a sailor taps into so many different parts of person's ability and level of tolerance. Once you realize that your safety and sanity are linked to attempting something you've never thought possible, you realize the job wasn't so hard after all. I have to admit that it has come somewhat easy for me. I can't even tell the number of times I relied on my mechanical knowledge developed from years working on helicopters in the Army, those spent in the logging industry with my dad and brothers, and even those building houses. Some of you know of my somewhat infamous temper, so Karen has learned to deflate my tirades when working on the boat and taught me to be less tempermental. It's quite a testament to our love that we haven't really had difficulties with each other despite being together 24/7 for 8 months. I may be the nuts and bolts guy, but she has continued to be the financial whiz of our enterprise, keeping our budget intact, not to mention her cooking. Every boat needs a chef...ours has a great one. Speaking of ability, she has become very adept at steering the boat, which she does exclusively whenever we are anchoring, docking or rafting. Very technical tasks! What's unusual is that 90% of the people we've seen steering boats during anchoring...are the men. And guess who does the lifting and retrieving of the anchor and all of the other dirty tasks? Yep...it's the women. It doesn't make sense to me...I would rather do the directing and watching over things instead of the one task of steering. But, I don't know, maybe it's just me. As you can see, it would be difficult to do all of this single-handed; sailing and living aboard a boat is really a team effort.
And what about the actual act of sailing? It's almost entirely carefree, and so peaceful and quiet (whenever the motor isn't running). It seems like you're on a Sunday drive if the wind and waves are light. It's like an amusment park ride when it isn't. Waking up in a new anchorage and enjoying the sunrise with the only noise being the surf, birds chirping and the fish splashing is something wonderful. The rocking of the boat puts you to sleep like a little baby, although sometimes the rocking wakes you up whenever it gets more than gentle. Sunsets and the tropical breezes through the hatches are so refreshing. Of course, the mosquitos aren't so refreshing, so you put up the screens or put on the bug spray.
No matter which way we look at it...we are soooo happy about our decision to live this lifestyle. We think of ourselves as gypsy sailors...we could even be called outta control gypsy sailors...we certainly have found our best life yet!
Scott and I loved talking to your lovely bride on Sunday. She shared more of your wonderful life on the boat and some not so pleasant times. It is great to hear that you are not at each other's throats with the close quarters. We look forward to seeing you soon! xoxoxox, Mary
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