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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Sailing Away - Virtually

Matt and I plan to sail away one day - escape the drudgery of being "dirt-dwellers" as Cap'n Fatty calls us land-lubbers. We'll cast off the lines and head back to my home, the Caribbean. For me, spontaneously packing up and taking off for an adventure with a half-thought through plan is perfectly reasonable. That's how I ended up in the Caribbean to begin with. Matt's not quite so...flexible. He's the planner in this family. He has to research his moves, everything from buying a tablet (the Asus Transformer Prime topped his list) to buying a car, or moving to Europe. I like to be surprised by what I find, he likes to know what to expect. Somehow, we've learned to balance each other out. I know when I'm over his comfort level on the "winging it" approach to life, and he knows when he's reached my tolerance threshhold for planning. So, we've found a compromise on sailing away. We'll wait until he can retire with his full benefits (only about 8 more years). That will give him plenty of time to research destinations and boats, for both of us to get more sailing experience, and to gradually lose all our "stuff" that so securely ties us to shore.

To keep my wanderlust in check, I live a vicarious sailing life by following some of my favorite sailing bloggers and reading about their sailing adventures. For any of you looking to sail away from the rat race, here are some very fun blogs and books to dive into.

One of my favorite sailing adventures, Motion of the Ocean, by Janna Cawrse Esary, is an hilarious account of her two year long honeymoon sailing across the Pacific. On her blog, she shares her "path to publication" and provides some great advice to aspiring writers.
http://www.byjanna.com/

Cap'n Fatty Goodlander writes about his and wife Carolyn's sailing adventures circumnavigating the globe. His tales range from rip-roaring comic adventures (Chasing the Horizon), to moonlit romance (sprinkled liberally throughout all his writing - Fatty is nothing if not madly in love with Carolyn and willing to shout that out to the whole world), to swash-buckling encounters with pirates (Red Sea Run), and even practical advice on "How to Inexpensively and Safely BUY, OUTFIT, and SAIL a Small Vessel Around the World." (You can be sure that last title has become Matt's and my guiding light for our eventual escape!)



For those of you who think, "Boy, I'd love to just sail away, but we have kids. We could never do that," here's the blog for you!   Bringing Baby Home - all about one family's sailing adventures with a boatload of kids! Lots of great pictures and fun posts.

Well, those are my favorite spots to get an sailing fix. Take a look - I think you'll enjoy these sites!


9 comments:

  1. Haha--your relationship sounds very much like mine, Lynne. I'm also the spontaneous one, he's the planner. Took him *months* of research to decide which refrigerator to buy. Sounds reasonable, maybe--if you live in the US or Mexico, anywhere where you'd have lots of choices. But here in your beloved Caribbean, choices are somewhat limited. So--three months to decide between THREE refrigerators? Gosh. But he does balance me out (and I hope I balance him, too).

    Great post!

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    1. Wow - that sounds just like Matt! I think he took about 6 mos to decide on a fridge. With the limited options on an island, it's even funnier!

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  2. Lynn. so glad to found this blog, I always dream of starting a blog especially of my once daily dives at Fortuna Bay like when seeing the two huge spotted rays gliding past me like some apparition form out of space.
    Good thing I have my cats, they greet me every morning with love and affection which makes it worth getting up.

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  3. I think that would make a great blog - Fortuna can be magical. It's so peaceful. Loved diving on the old cargo plane out there! I hope to read about your dives (and your cats) soon!

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  4. the plane is no longer there - Marilyn took it out and distributed all over the area, bits and pieces along a mile of reefs.
    ww

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  5. I thought that was you. Marilyn messed up so many things. But, there are always new wrecks to dive and new places to explore. Now, get blogging so I have another Caribbean blogger to follow so I can keep on top of t'ings! : )

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    1. well, its going to take me a bit to get this blog thing up, i'm sure its easy once one has set it up, in fact i sent a prior message to you but it never made it, not sure why,could be that jumbled up lettering prior to sending it, guess i got that not correct.
      anyway its me and my cats and dogs now, been on my own for almost a year, has been rough

      no i am not a hoarder of cats, but it is very hard for me to turn my back on a little (sometimes) several baby kitties put out with the trash - I feed cats at the dumsters every day, and come across the anbandoned kitties , sometimes no more that a few weeks old. to leave them there would be certain death. i am down to about 80 cats now, and trying my best not to bring any more home and hope that natural attrition will reduce the numbers so when the point in time comes when i cannot care for them, hopefully the few remaining ones may get a home. but they keep me going every day but much of my day is devoted to then, feeding , cleaning, taking to the vet etc
      I attempted to use your email link but cannot connect,message says defaul mail client not properly installed, although i searched for a fix to this i have not been successful

      the 'profile' i still send as ananymous as i am clueless as to the other options, see thats why i love my '69 land rover - no frigging computer with wheels- still have the old war horse - down righ now with tranmission trouble but just got the parts in today so will have it running in a few days

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  6. Glad to hear someone's watching out for the dumpster kitties and puppies. Breaks my heart to think of what would happen to them without people like you. My email is lynnehinkey@yahoo.com

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    1. I am jus part of a small group of folks who are dedicated to helping animals. There is one lady Dallia who is the driving force, she started the 'Cat Cafe' program where cats are fed at the resorts and a little feeding house station is built for them, like a little west indian house, and get volunters to do the daily feeding , she feeds at least 20 sites during the day. which is lot more than the 6 places i feed daily my hat goes off to her. we hold occasional fund raisers to pay for the neuter/spay expense, the regular vet fee is $200 + for one spay, but only two of the 4 vets participate with a discount rate. and there are always new kitties, lots than are put out with the trash cause some one is feeding the cats and dogs.

      In ancient Egypt they had laws that if one killed a cat, that person would be put to death, if a cat was maimed, the loose some major body part. of course we are too civilized instead we discard our animals with the trash. What does this say about our culture/society?

      But yesterday I did have a good day, I occasionally run into this fisherman- Rick, who knows of the cat feeding and gives me 3 large jacks - fish- about 10 lb at least, fresh cought that day. they were cooked last night and the kids had fresh fish for breakfeast, so all hope is not lost these are some folks who care and make a difference
      werner

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