A leaf in the wind

Posted on Author serena

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Our lives and our plans currently hinge around this one piece of metal. It is the coupling that broke during the great cutlass bearing replacement act.

A year ago, I could not imagine myself figuring out where I will live in two days while our boat is stuck 10 feet up in the air. A year ago, I could not imagine myself saying, “Well, I’m not sure exactly where we’re going or where we are living.” A Capricorn at heart, I couldn’t understand how people moved through life like a leaf in the wind. I wanted to be given a map.

Now I’m drawing the map.

Since we are ground to a halt for now, I wanted to ask the readers of our little site what questions they had for us. Little ones, big ones, burning ones…Send us an email. I’ll try to answer them as best we can.

I hope you find amazing things around the corner.

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3 Replies to “A leaf in the wind”

  1. Hi Serena (and Tig and kids). I’ve been enjoying reading your blog for the last couple of weeks. I stumbled on it after reading the article about you guys in ‘Good Old Boat,’ my favorite magazine. I was going to wait to send a comment until I’d finished reading your entire blog to date. But since you asked for questions from you readers, here’s mine. Your family mirrors ours except our son Miles is 4 and our daughter Evie is 19 months. We too dream of owning a boat and sailing for a while, so your adventures have been a huge support to an otherwise crazy (to everyone else but us) dream unfulfilled. We sail a Lido 14 one design dinghy in Marina del Rey, CA for sailing practice, but have yet to commit to a larger vessel. We’re in the research and saving phase, much like you guys were. Ok, ok! Enough about us. Here are my questions – one big, one small. Big: How would you rate your experience so far – a few pros and cons? Small(ish): Where/how did Tig and his co-conspirator get their drawings for building your beautiful dinghy? Tig, you did a marvelous job and I’d like to give it a go too, at least while we’re waiting for our bigger ship to come in. All my best and fair winds to your beautiful family!

    1. Easy answer first. Dinghy design is by Danny Greene, called the Chameleon. Plans are available online at http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/04/s/designs/greene/cham/index.cfm. If not for my friend, I estimate it would have taken me about 150 hours to build. I’m actually still not finished with it. If you’re really interested I could talk more about this with you later.

      Cruising life has been a huge roller coaster ride of great emotional high’s and low’s. The young kids definitely add to the challenge. We have often shared sandy beaches with just wildlife. But have also been in crowded anchorages where anchors drag (and mooring balls). We don’t love cruising (at least not yet, maybe when we get to the Bahamas), but we don’t regret our decision either. Cruising frugally on a limited budget allows our family to be together, which is what is really important to us. I think if we had waited until our youngest was about 4 years old (2 more years), cruising would be much easier. But I doubt S could have endured her job that much longer.

      Best of luck with your journey

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