Distance

Distance from home,  from friends,  family and work.  Sometimes the distance is good,  sometimes it's bad..

 I will never regret my choice to travel.

 I know some may consider this choice to be non sustainable but neither is working everyday,  day in, day out.  Working OT to puff up that paycheck.  Tonight,  the distance seperated me from hearing of the death of a man I considered a friend.  He died a month ago..   A tough prick that when we first met, wouldn't even talk to me.  I was too new at the plant to be trained by him...  But I wore him down. Shift after shift I worked at him like I do and we became friends.  We joked during long and exhausting graveyards and bitched about plant issues together...  Looking back,  it was just to pass the time..  He worked everyday..  seriously every fucking day..  THAT is not sustainable..  His heart gave out.  His wife and kids will miss him.

Tell you what is sustainable...  Being free. Free to drop hook in paradise after paradise. Free to slip over the gunwale to spear my dinner. Free to meet new people and love them..  Free to say goodbye to them too.  Free to camp under the stars with amazing friends.  Free to open my heart up in the middle of the night knowing it is for not. To rub a friend's back and feel myself fall and then pull myself back.   To worry about my people and spend all my energy on them.  Free to end that too.  Free to wander down a foreign street during carnival with my headphones on in obscurity.  To not give up. To wait, to love, to let my walls down. 

My point is, beyond the obvious, so many can not see the full picture.  Most people see in 2 dimension.  They see what society has made them..  Drones set to work,  pay bills,  live in their little box. 

  The world is not 2 dimensional,  nor is it 3 dimensional. It is so much more than that.

This life gives freely if you are just not afraid to reach for it..   This last year I almost died in South America by a kid with a machete over a backpack. Made me realize my life needed to change..   So I made the change.

I have fed wild monkeys bananas and coaxed their babies to trust humans.   

 I sailed an amazing viking ship with an amazing crew. Slept beside them, sweat with them, sang and danced with them..  Made lifelong friends..  I was terrified when I quit my job to set sail..   Like the saying goes, I threw off the lines.  Stepped off into the world with no solid plan, just an unmanifested dream and a 27ft sailboat.

I will never regret my choice to travel.

Whether it is the rush of surfing down waves under full sail or waking up to the gentle lap of the water on the hull. Or seeing the look of happiness on a friend's face before we get hurled through the air on a Mexican carnival ride.  Or watching my mates look for lobsters under rocks and then buying them for dinner..  None of this would have happened.. My life wouldn't have been made richer by all these experiences if I had stayed cradled in that rut.  I'd have never met so many of my people..  I live a blessed life.  I am richer for it..

I will never regret my choice to travel

Settling in takes time

One of the first things I have learned about solo sailing is the vast amount of time one has to reflect on oneself and the things in your past.  Trading the hustle bustle of regular life is a two edged sword.  Regular life has so many distractions between work,  friends,  family,  chores,  pets.... the list goes on..  If you strip all this away and replace it with a small boat and a solid,  unbroken horizon with a pinch of ocean and sometimes wicked waves thrown in...  You spend a lot of time thinking about your past..  The future is yet unwritten.  All there is,  is waves,  wind and time....  Time...  Time to make peace with yourself as you watch the miles tick off on the GPS. 

I think this is a normal readjustment for anyone who goes from a fairly typical daily routine to stepping away from anywhere. 

What I find as being beautiful is taking the time to really enjoy the small things..  Like,  Orion has come above the horizon..  I don't know why but I have felt such enjoyment in seeing Orion make its appearance.  The stars so bright and a depth in the night sky like I haven't seen in a long time.  Blues typically masked from the night sky by the light pollution of civilization..  Seeing the night sky in its true 3 dimensional state not as a flat tapestry of small specks of white.  The sweet desolation of sound.  Wind and waves dominate the spectrum of sound.  Go outside and listen..  What do you hear?  If you are anywhere near a city, you will hear the sounds that civilization makes..  Imagine a world without this.  And the time..  The time to actually appreciate these small things..

The sailing life has many adjustments to make.  Slowing your mind down, thinking about the current and not too far forward or back.  Pay attention to the now because there will be no future if the current isn't respected... And the past, well, be happy for it because without it, you wouldn't be here on the ocean doing what you love.  

Mission: Mexico. Days 1-3

The first few days of leg one to Neah bay  have been fairly uneventful.  Lifted anchor under sunny skies from Ladysmith, BC on September 12th at 11:46. Did a final touch up on the hull, scraping the odd mussel who had being determined to attach itself to the coated hull.  Had fantastic wind from behind allowing me to running on wing with the tide through Samsun Narrows. Just outside of chemainus  , I was greeted by a pod of porpoises which over the next few days turns out to be a common occurrence.

Set anchoring at night in Canoe Bay under Starry Skies. Was a great day on the water. Excited for the trip to come, we bedded down by 10 to watch a movie, Duke and me.

We had an easy morning allowing us to sleep in to hit the tides right for our short 20 nautical mile run to Friday Harbor to clear customs. When pulling up onto the busy Customs dock, I noticed Sea Shepherd and the Martin Sheen vessel was clearing as well. While waiting for the officer to arrive I took the opportunity to talk to the crew who are very inviting and friendly regarding opportunities to volunteer aboard this amazing sailing vessel. Turns out they will be in Mexico in La Paz at the same time I am! Food for thought! Clearing customs turned out to be a bit of an ordeal once they found out I was taking this boat single-handed to Mexico. I was referred up to the customs office with vague description on its location. After searching the streets for half an hour and asking half a dozen people where the customs office is , I found its new location right on the corner two blocks up from where I was told it was.

Duke is a bit of a rockstar, he gets attention everywhere he goes. The crew members of Martin Sheen took a real liking to him but he's coming with me! While drinking coffee at the Bean and working on my website I was told by a couple of young ladies that he's a chick magnet! LOL

That night I did a final rig inspection, found two cotter pins missing which could have led to a catastrophic event and repaired the Windex on the top of the mast. The weather has been fantastic nothing but sunny skies and heavy Dew in the morning. I am chomping at the bit to get going though

The morning of the 15th saw us off the hook by 7 a.m. and under way to catch them through the San Juan Channel. Greeted once again just as I entered the Juan de Fuca Buy two different types of porpoise. The black and white Dalls porpoise  and the harbour porpoise. They are everywhere!

Had some engine issues today , the newly-installed Racor filter was sucking air on one of the fittings. This forced me to shut down the engine as the winds are non-existent and Bob around for two and a half hours while I repaired and bled the system. Back up and running and fighting the tide around race rocks to reach Neah Bay. It is currently 14: 47. At the current rate I will be in Neah Bay by 2 a.m.

Onward I go as I take advantage of a little cell signal.  Last I may see for a while.

Check out the exit video HERE!

https://youtu.be/VCkZ9NrPXs8

A Liquid Life is Finally Heading offshore!

 

So finally after 6 years of rebuilding the Golden Hind IV,

 we are leaving the safety of port and sheltered waters of  

      Eastern Vancouver Island!

 

 

It has been a long road since I bought "Goldie" as one of my good friends has dubbed her.  We have been through a lot of changes as she experienced all my love and attention bringing her back to cruising shape.  She has been given a new lease on life and will soon be heading out to explore the wide open blue like the proud little ship she is.




The plan:

• Quit the job.  Check!!
• Finish up all the last minute projects.  In Progress!!
• Provision the ship for an offshore run to San Fransisco, San Diego and Cabo San Lucas.
• Spend the winter months exploring the Baja and Mainland Mexico.!
• Decide in the spring if we head for the South Pacific or South into Central and South America,

So its time to pack the foul weather gear, life equipment and sunscreen.  The Golden Hind IV is about to put some serious miles under the keel!










If you are interested in following her journey, please check out the link to YouTube  here !

Also on FB at A liquid life - aboard - Albin Vega Golden Hind IV

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Thanks for checking out this page and fairwinds!