What do you do as newlyweds with a year left of college? Take a class together! Our first couple's sail was in our "Intro to Outdoor Rec" class, fall 2009. Our professor asked Mark to take the helm for docking! After Mark's seemless manuevering, we knew he was a natural. Of course, our student budget, years of medical school, and adorable babies prevented further pursuit of that attraction for quite a while.
Still, Mark found plenty of interests to fit his budget and time restraints. He pursued hobbies like the "manias" of our beloved Mr. Toad; he would throw himself into learning and doing something new for days or months at a time, until another interest would entirely divert his attentions. We'd accepted that there was no one amusement that could hold him for long...when sailing came back to take hold and hasn't released him since!
In April 2022, life unfolded in a way that made it possible for Mark to take a real plunge into the sailing world. Inspired by his ambitions, I had to tag along. Our first course (Basic Keelboat Sailing) was through San Juan Sailing off the coast of Washington.
We had so much fun (and lacked so much in experience), that we immediately started looking for more options to get out on the water. We found our answer in a 23-foot Hunter from 1985, for sale right here on our local lake. We snatched it up (selling his motorcycle made it almost a clean trade!), and took our little family out on it weekly during the summer months.
Recognizing that the two of us needed to take the next two courses in order to qualify for chartering a boat in other locations, we signed up for both. ASA 103 was in early September 2022 with Passion Yachts on the Columbia River, and later that same month we took ASA 104 with Seattle Yachts Sailing Academy.
That's when the BVI (British Virgin Islands) came in. It was time to put our skills to the test! The two of us chartered a 38" Jeanneau in April 2023.
We hit up seven islands (Tortola-> Norman-> Virgin Gorda-> Beef Island-> Anegada-> Jost Van Dyke-> Little Jost Van Dyke), went on many adventures, and found that the self-sufficient sealife is for us. After, of course, I got seasick and tossed my cookies on the second day, falling asleep for the next hour or two (sleeping, it appears, is a common defense mechanism for an overstressed body).
Trials aside, we discovered that sailing delights us both in our individual ways. It is on the boat that the manias of Mark's younger years meet their match; there are limitless perplexities to consider, learn, manipulate. There's always more to explore (like the additional courses he's taken of Celestial Navagation, Marine Weather, and Marine Diesel Maintenance, to name a few), as answers in this realm only seem to generate new and exciting questions.
I thrive establishing self-sufficient systems and creating the domestic atmostphere that makes a daunting adventure feel doable. During the monotonous hours on passage between islands, I revel in the new levels of quiet for stretching my heart and mind (kindle & journal pages are a must-pack for me). And for anyone, can anything top time at the helm in fair winds?
We're both growing an increased reverence for complex life experiences, stretching ourselves beyond what we know, trying something new, seeing something new, being something new. We've found that with a few tweeks (like sailing off-season and packing most of our groceries), it can be a fairly affordable way to more deeply experience our world. And goodness, does our world have much to tell us!
So in September 2023, the whole family got to experience a weeklong San Juan adventure on a 43' Jeaneau DS. There were a few things to get used to (sailboat bathrooms--heads--always smell funky), but it was a phenomenal maiden voyage for our family. The tidepools were a particular favorite!
In November 2024, we took our group to explore the Bahamas and try out a 37' Catamaran Bali 4.2. A catamaran is a sailboat with two hulls, almost like two boats connected across the middle, with 4 rooms (berths), 4 heads (bathrooms), and lots of group lounging. We left from Nassau (pronounced almost like “NASA” but with more of a “saw” at the end 😉) to sail the Exuma islands with four kids and Mark's parents, so the bigger boat served us well! ...Even if it meant missing out on the more traditional feel of a monohull sailboat.
April 2025 found us in Belize on another catamaran--Excess 11--with friends in tow! It was a pleasure to introduce them to the fun quirks of the sailing life (Jellyfish! Sharks! Rigging! Anchoring! Sunset! Bioluminescence!). With so many able hands to share the load, we had a blast and are already daydreaming about our next co-adventures.
Mark and I are learning on a new level how to roll with the punches and hone our team efforts. After each journey we tell the other, "Next time..." and make plans to improve (and lengthen) the experience. But always, we are in awe that any of this is possible...and eager to see what comes next!
This post is shared as part of my life's endeavors I wish to document.
