The Double Edged Sword

A Brief Circumnavigation

It has been almost 3 months since we started our circumnavigation by plane, where we covered 56 843 km and 11 flights, I feel like we should have shares in an airline by now, but apparently that is not how it works.

We kicked off the first week in Santiago Chile, where we discovered fabulous wine, incredible food and a hike up San Cristobal that was as breathtaking as it was exhausting, as the saying goes “great things never come from comfort zones”

From there we hopped over the Pacific Ocean to Australia to see Eric’s family and, as always, he got to meet dozens more of the Fernandez clan, that he did not know even existed. We got a full taste of Melbourne, Sydney and Tasmania. Everybody generally comments on the fact that we always travel to Australia in winter, well the reality is that while we are in the Caribbean this will be the only time we can go, as it is hurricane season and not safe for sailing. Much quality time was spent with family, and we will certainly be back, possibly next year.

We then jetted over the Indian Ocean to South Africa to celebrate both our birthdays, now that was quite the whirlwind, parties, laughter and long overdue catch ups with friends and family, having just turned 50 the party was large and continued for days.

Intle Boutique Hotel has finally risen from the ashes, after a year of renovations since the fires, she is restored magnificently to more beautiful than before.

Right before it was time to depart, we realized a severe lack in exercise and decided to dive in headfirst with our 2 previous crew members Lester and Angela and do the hike up Lady Slipper, after a never-ending party I can tell you we were totally exhausted, but we made it. “ The best views come after the hardest climbs”

After all the joy of food, family, friends and far too many glasses of wine, we were more than ready to return to the quiet serenity of ocean life and to complete the last leg of our circumnavigating across the Atlantic Ocean back to where we started in Guatemala.

Back to Sailing Stuff

Lately I have been seeing many adverts on my social media about sailing, that shimmering fantasy were retired couples sip cocktails at sunset, hair perfectly windswept, dolphins leaping in synchronized joy……….right! WRONG, well, partly wrong. There are cocktails and dolphins, but there is also rust, humidity, mould, bugs and broken gadgets and the occasional crise, all this put together is called hard work.

The Domestic ChallengesSince both our bodies are still cooperative, this certainly is a good choice of lifestyle. Getting to see some of the most wonderful parts of our planet and meeting the most incredible people. But if you’re picturing glamour and leisure, you’ve clearly been following someone on Instagram with a suspiciously clean deck and an unlimited gin budget.This amazing adventure though comes with its challenges.  Although a very rewarding lifestyle in many ways, it is not for the faint hearted.  I would like to share some of the harder stuff to bear in mind, should you ever decide to take the leap into a life on the pond or maybe you are just curious.Boats be they brand new, older, cheaper or more expensive they all have one common trait they eat money, and they are greedy too. You will very quickly learn to tighten the reins, unless of course you’re sailing a superyacht, in which case none of my stories are for you….” Oh, Congratulations on that super yacht.”Mother Nature Does Not Care

Questioning your retirement plans due to life choices suddenly becomes a daily living thought. Every morning begins with a mystery, what will be broken or about to break and if neither of the latter, which is unlikely, well then something requires maintenance and usually it becomes urgent rather rapidly.

Please remember this floating piece of fiberglass or wood is not just a boat it is your home, your car, your place of entertainment and beauty as well as your safe zone, oh and let’s not forget …. your money pit, so upkeep and maintenance are important as there is nothing but water below you.

In our case our boat is barely 3 years old but let me tell you, mother nature takes its toll, she does not care about your budget, out here the salt and humidity are relentless. Everything rusts, everything corrodes, everything ages faster than a banana left in the sun.

The Rust

Rust oh the rust “sailors glitter” It is everywhere, on what looks like pristine stainless steel, tiny orange freckles appear overnight like a bad rash, you can polish, wipe, repeat and still it spreads. Every sailor and every chandlery, (boat store) claim to have the miracle product that will banish rust forever, but truth be told they are all the same, so we have concluded that there is only one thing to be done and that is regular elbow grease, polish, shine repeat…….. as that glitter is committed.  As you polish the realization of the amount of stainless steel becomes a dark and disturbing thought as the task simply never ends. At some point you will certainly find yourself muttering under your breath “why did we buy this f#€%k boat.” Oh right for adventure …….

The Tropics

Sailing in the tropics is paradise, it is truly beautiful, crystal-clear warm water, fantastic weather, sunsets that are just ridiculously beautiful, all these things make you feel smugly free. However, paradise has humidity and humidity’s best friends are mould, damp and decay.

This is precisely when you will meet your new best friend, vinegar, back on land I only used vinegar for poached eggs, out here, I wipe everything with a vinegar and water solution, inside and outside cupboards, floors, counters everything all in the name of preventing mould, its cheap, its global and it works like a charm.

Oh, and speaking of poached eggs, they don’t work very well on a boat especially since our stove is not on a gimble…so don’t even waste your time, the rocking and rolling of the boat makes the yokes escape the whites, so just keep using that vinegar for cleaning.

The Emotional Currents

Besides boat issues, there are other tricky parts to this lifestyle, the kind that tug at the heart more than at the anchor chain. Being far away from the people you love is one of them. For me, this is the hardest part. Maybe it’s a woman thing, or maybe a “Mom thing”

The irony, of course, is that our kids are grown, no grandchildren yet, and we are still young and healthy, and a little too restless to take up bird watching and bingo. The alternative of course would be to return to a mundane 9-5 grind which frankly feels even worse, as once you have tasted the freedom of the ocean, this type of routine is no longer possible.

Every year as Hurricane season rolls around, both Eric and I get oddly excited about heading to family and friends for a few months it’s a wonderful time to reconnect with family and land friends. A strange thing happens the moment we leave Intle Breeze behind for this migration, life at sea feels like a dream we once had and so far away. This all fades as fast as my tan when we leave the boat.

Yet after a few weeks on land something stirs in both of us. We start to crave our floating home again. I am never sure if it is because we are living out of suitcases or if I genuinely miss being barefoot, braless, and battling my sea-salted curls while chasing new horizons.

This last trip was particularly tough for me to say goodbye to my loved ones, I questioned many times why we live such a gypsy lifestyle, while I don’t have all the answers, I do know this much the adventure of sailing sits deep in our hearts now. The places we see, the people we meet and the sheer wonder of this world, reminds me that we only get one voyage in this life. We may as well make it a spectacular one.

Sailing truly is a double-edged sword, it cuts both ways. Oh, but how it glitters when it catches the sun 

LIVING THE DREAM OF A DOUBLE EDGED SWORD.💙🐬