A family under sails explores the world while still working.

(TRAVPR.COM) USA - July 9th, 2015 - One year of family sailing - Retrospective

Exactly one year ago - on the 8th of July 2014 - we left the Port Napoléon in France to start our journey on the ocean. This is worth a story. Here a retrospective of the last 12 months.

The time before we cast off was quite busy. We quit our jobs, emptied the flat we were living in and returned it to the landlord. We rented a one-way car and drove down from Switzerland to Port Napoléon where our Maya was waiting for us.

We still had to prepare a lot of things before leaving the harbor. We had almost no time to prepare mentally for our adventure. Maybe that was better. Especially in the beginning, we were worried for the kids. Do they feel well, how do they react to the small space, how do we react to it and the non-stop time together. If we had more time, we probably would have worried more.

When thinking back to the day we left, I must say we were real greenhorns. The first leg was not even 40 nautical miles from Port Napoléon to Port Miou (Cassis). It was the first day of an unusual nine-day Mistral. Asma and Samy were really sick. Adam was scared and I was uncertain if it was the right decision to trade our steady home to this shaking piece of plastic.

One week later, Samy’s sea sickness vanished, Adam loved surfing the waves and Asma felt better too. Every day we learned new things and every day we got more used to the life on Maya. The way to Tunisia via Corsica and Sardinia was the time when we adapted to the life on the boat. After Tunisia, we left for our first longer leg on sea. A six-day journey to Menorca. It led us through doldrums and medium strong winds. But we learned about the life on sea. Once in Gibraltar, we were ready for the open Atlantic ocean.

In Gibraltar was the first time we felt the presence of a sort of yachting community. We were no more alone among charter sailors, but together with people like us that lived on a boat for more than two weeks. It actually started already earlier (in Cartagena - Spain), but the feeling was not so intense as in Gibraltar. In Morocco, we met friends that we still regularly meet, even on the other side of the ocean. I call it “the Morocco connection”. It was not long ago, we were in a store in Bonaire when our Belgian friend Gi tapped us on the shoulder to say hello. We first met in Safi - Morocco, then again in Martinique, Dominica, and finally Bonaire. We don’t know when we will meet again, but we know that we will meet again.

Crossing an ocean was really something. We quickly forget, but being out there in a constant state of alert is tiring, but also intense in terms of feeling alive. The time with the kids without Internet, without leaving the boat, without seeing anyone was great. Here it was the confirmation that we can be together 24/7 without problems. Well, the time when we all were together simultaneously was not so much as we had our 3-hour watch-sleep rhythm.

The Caribbean are easy sailing. Sometimes we even forgot to check the weather. In some local languages there is no such term as “weather”. The wind blows constantly from the same direction. Nevertheless, our life in the Caribbean became less relaxed than before. I started again to work for Shortcut, the company I co-founded in 2012. It is a lot of fun, but it changes our daily life and brings new (foremost organizational) challenges.

Today, sailing is natural to us. Maya is our home and therefore we are home wherever we are. This is sometimes a funny feeling as the local people do not see us as their neighbors, but rather as tourists. Maybe different tourists, but tourists. Still, we love our life and we love sailing. Of course we miss our family and friends, but other than that we don’t miss much more. We are often asked what we miss. Here our list. For the kids it would be great to have some more constant kid-friends. For Asma to have more time for herself and for the two of us. For me it would be great to have more constant Internet connection. But all in all, we are happy. Therefore, we will continue.

Currently, we are on land visiting my aunt and cousin in Vermont. They never saw the kids and vice-versa. Maya is on land too, but in Curaçao where my mother was born and my family spent a long time. Maya is getting new antifouling and new rigging to prepare her for the Pacific. In three weeks from now, we will be back on the water, throw off the bowlines, catch the trade winds and continue exploring the world.

###