It’s not always plain sailing

The thought of sailing round the world with a young family still terrifies me.  Nearly 12 months and 4000 miles into our expedition, I still feel this way.

We are getting to know how Dragonfly reacts in different conditions and learning from our mistakes along the way. No matter how many books one can read, there is nothing like hands-on experience.  

Life on board can be stressful at times, a more constructive stress from that of and life, but of a more intense kind.  I spent many years working as a senior executive  responsible for hundreds of employees and managing a very large annual budget. Handling that stress didn’t prepare me for being at sea with a boat full of kids, incessant 45 knots of wind in pitch black conditions, huge seas, an anchor dislodged off the bow, ripped sails and no bimini left over your head while you fear the wind is going to increase.  I had some very dark thoughts that night last August. (see Amandine’s post “Swooping across the Thyrrhenian sea and a storm”)

Going back to the first half of the year, getting the boat ready for offshore sailing was a massive learning curve.  There was no hand over as the previous owner lived in Florida and was unable to travel due to the pandemic. Bringing a well equipped pre-loved 56 foot boat back to life after 18 months in a yard, how hard can it be?  Yet I worked on it 6 days a week for 6 solid months.  What was I doing?  How could a boat take so much time and effort, – and money?  I think of a bluewater boat as a mini mobile city:  you have to be able to generate power, make potable water from saltwater and you have dozens of pumps everywhere backed up by complex electrical systems, mechanical systems, hydraulics, navigation and communication instruments, and so much more. 

Something will inevitably break once in a while, sometimes, many things at once. You have to know how to repair, replace, maintain and make sure you have all the spare parts when you are out at sea. Six months were spent researching and learning with the fortuitous assistance and coaching by a great guy (thank you Ricci). We don’t have any passive income and the budget blew out a first time mainly due to the unforeseen rigging refit, and now again recently as we discovered the mast required a major fix.. Financial stress is something most of us have experienced at times. It can take the wind out of your sails, but it is also an opportunity to rethink how we can make this journey last and how we can replenish our financial reserves using our various skills as we go.

The kids can drive us nuts!  We have good days and not so good ones.  Predominantly managed by Amandine, homeschooling can become very challenging at times when one child decides they don’t want to focus on the topic or start picking fights with everyone else.  But as soon as they are released into freedom before lunch, they are back to their awesome selves and enjoy each other’s company!

Our recent trip into the Atlantic to the Canary Islands was a 600 miles passage from Gibraltar and 4 days without seeing land.  This was a first taste of what crossing the Atlantic to the Caribbean will be like. It is the most liberating experience..  Distractions disappear along with the sight of land, and there is a great vibe on the boat. 

There will be other storms, breakages and other issues but the crew on this vessel have fantastic attitude and we make a great team.  

The land between Africa and Europe narrows down to 7 miles.  I was anxious when we left Gibraltar about the currents, wind against tide being a recipe for very rough sea state and currents can flow 6-7 knots against you (our average boat speed!). The shipping lanes in this area are some of the worlds busiest so you need to be very alert. Last but not least, orca attacks on sailing yachts have happened frequently in this area over the past year. Many boats have been rammed and ended up with serious rudder damage and had to be towed back into land. This is a strange phenomenon, which largely remains unexplained but we have heard very distressing stories from the sailors point of view. The orcas themselves may well be distressed.

Oh, the Sat phone has not been working during the crossing so we haven’t been able to get updated forecasts.  I managed to radio passing ships at times and they were more than happy to provide an update.

The lows may be low but the highs are exhilarating. We know this chapter isn’t forever either which makes it very special.  Family is everything.  We have never felt so free while life in our home countries have never felt so limiting.

There will be places we can’t visit due to the pandemic, and it doesn’t matter. We just take one day at a time and make the most of it when dolphins gracefully swim under our bow and birds swoon in our wake.

A big thank you to Amandine for her beautifully written blog posts, the cooking, home schooling, and everything else.  She is my rock, my first mate and my best mate!