You have nothing to fear...

but fear itself...

And never has this been more true. There were a lot of things that I was very anxious about when I first convinced Sally to come sailing.

Sure I had sailed a boat before, I had taken watches and manned the helm on a few night passages while both racing and for pleasure. I had crewed countless times on racers and cruisers, with friends family and competitive skippers. What I had never done before, was everything else...sailing is the easy part!

I had never owned a boat before. Short of a Day Skipper course to teach some of the basics around mooring, anchoring, navigation and seamanship, all of this was new to me.

I had a list of 'things that made me anxious', that I tried really hard to research in order to become more confident with knowledge (theory) prior to actually doing them. These included, anchoring in a crowded bay (how to pick the right spot, how to set an anchor, how not to drag, how not to look like a novice / idiot doing it), clearing in and out of a port (what documents are required and what is the process?), yacht maintenance (what anti-fouling to use, when to use a primer, engine basics), etc.

Our first 'dropping of the anchor', I made sure we had a experienced friend with us to help guide us and ensure we did not arrive in some one else's lap later that evening when the wind picked up.

We had to anchor a number of times since then just Sally and I. I must admit we are getting pretty good at it. I guide us in while Sally does her bit on the bow. I still have yet to convince Sal to dive on the anchor and bed it in, she much prefers to sit on the bow and offer guidance. As it turns out, anchoring is not a big deal after you have done it a few times and we are no longer daunted by it.

However we had never cleared in or out of customs before. We dressed up, yachtie style – meaning I wore shoes, socks, longs and a button up shirt...I wouldn't usually, way too hot. Nerves were on edge...do we in fact have the right paperwork and documents...what is the procedure...who do we see first?

Earlier that week friends had shown us where we had to go and who to see first. We strolled in acting like pro's. “Hi, We would like to clear out” I said to the immigration officer. To which he responded. “Coom bak 1pm, cus we is on lunch at 12.”. I looked at the clock...it was 11:45.

We took the paperwork with us and filled it out over a nice fruit smoothie. Sure we had to wait an hour (and a bit) but hey, we are in the Caribbean. Everything runs on GMT here we are told. “Grenada Maybe Time”. So one of the biggest lessons we learnt was patience.

Sure, in fact we did not have all the right paperwork as we did not have a form to clear us in. The previous owner had it. But... as with all things in the Caribbean, nothing is insurmountable and they waved us through after we explained we had just bought the boat. (We did show our Bill of Sale to prove it).

In short, the documents you will need to clear out appear to be...

1. Passports for you and your crew
2. Previous document clearing you in / out of your previous port

As for your ships registration, it will probably be required when we check in some where (but it was not required to clear out).

The process is probably going to be different in each port, but all in all by asking a few people, they will be able to tell you what to do.

Clearing out (and in) is no longer as daunting as it used to be.

Anchoring and more to the point dragging, is still a bit of a concern. When a big gust comes through I tend to shoot up to the cockpit and eyeball all the other yachts to check that we are not dragging and they are not dragging into our pride and joy! The night likes to play little tricks with the mind though. Shapes always appear closer at night and swinging around in the dark leads one to think that you are moving towards other shapes. However, I left the Nav Instruments on the other day during a good blow to see what we peaked at. 36 knots! While probably not a massive blow by some standards, it is not what we were expecting in the “calm” Caribbean. I anxiously sat in the cockpit for 30 minutes listening to the wind, watching the swing and the other boats. I ran all the scenarios. If we drag, then I will wake Sally and we will up anchor and get out of the anchorage and re-anchor somewhere or hove to just out side the bay. If they drag, I will try get their attention. Dinghy over and bang on their hull or something. (note to self: get a fog horn).

Needless to say, our little 35lbs CQR held us firm. I dived on the anchor the next day and we had not dragged a foot. Our regime of: anchor, leave it for 10 minutes to settle, put the snubber on, reverse on it at 2000 revs for 20 seconds and then dive on it and bed it in even further, seems to be paying off.

As a note, chain does you no good sitting in a chain locker...as a result, we pay out all our chain regardless of the depth of water. As I write this we are in 20ft of water and I have 140ft of chain out. As I have mentioned before, about 40 feet of chain is not even touching the bottom due to the arc of the chain. This extends to 50 / 60 ft when a solid gust pulls the snubber out the water at what looks like parallel to the sea bed. If I lived by the 5:1 ratio, sometimes as little as 40ft of chain would be on the sea bed. I have 150ft on board and wish I had 300...

I had my best sleep the other night. I only woke up 3 times to check our situation (using two of those as opportunities to have a covert pee over the side while it was still night).

The more we live on board at anchor, the more we are relaxing. We trust the holding power of our bedded-in anchor and confident about the terrain we are anchored in. Sure we have manually moved an anchor just so I could bed it in sand (as opposed to weeds) but hey, I needed the exercise and the lung training.

All in all, clearing out was not a big deal. We look forward to clearing in and seeing how that process works. Off to Union Island to find that out!

The Kindness of Cruisers...

Dedicated to Vernon and Donna on Endless Love Too, Sarah and Doug on Mindemoya, Keith and Marcey on Mimi - fair winds.

Where to start.

It has been quite an eye opener for us London folk. We lived in one of the biggest cities in the world and did not even know our next door neighbours. We do not speak to people on the transport system and we most certainly do not go around asking random people's advice. Keeping our anonyminity was what we were used to.

But cruising is different. It is a community where every one knows what it is like to be novices and some
profess to still be learning after 20 years on the water (yes and on the flip side, a few do profess to know it all).

There is always common ground and a story that can be shared. Generally these are the frustrating ones of parts that once ordered, have never arrived or the hairy ones of being stuck in hurricanes or the usual story of charterers (or the French) dragging anchor into you.

We have met some wonderful people whilst getting the boat ready in the yard. They have taught us a lot and asked nothing in return. Most are cruisers that take a few months off every year to sail the Caribbean, some are just starting their adventures and some ending theirs, selling up and moving back to dry land.

To aid in our networking with salty folk, there is a daily VHF session every morning for cruisers to listen in and find out all sorts of info, ranging from weather to stuff for sale to when the next get-together / event will be. Cruisers ask questions and for help regarding all sorts of matters and the forum of listeners all too often has a useful phone number or post session call to discuss.

Regardless of the radio to hide behind, yachties are a social bunch. We have had drinks with a few people now despite being the 'new kids on the block' (figuratively and literally as we are most people's children's age...or younger). It is great to sit in another boats cockpit, admire their home and take note of the little tips and tricks they use. How to keep your head from blocking, best way to store fruit and veg in the heat, etc. Their stories are also inspirational as they tell tales of other beautiful anchorages and islands just begging to be explored.

We have received a few gifts from cruisers who are returning home and no longer had need for a few items. All that they ask in return is that we pay it forward. What a wonderful attitude to have to life...

Welcome to Miami

Two ferries, four bus rides, a dodgy motel and 2 flights later we have made it to Miami. On our cruising budget we have ruled out any lavish expense (this includes eating out) and as such, the 36 hour option to take us from Salt Spring Island on the west coast of Canada to Miami on the south east coast of the US was the appropriate choice for our situation.

To start our journey, Gem and I bundled into the back seat of their Honda with our suitcases taking up another seat, bursting with sailing gear and xmas goodies. Alright for dog who had the run of the boot laughing at us peculiar humans bunched together! After a short 30 minute ferry ride to Vancouver Island we even managed to squeeze in 3 Canadian Sailcraft 36 boat viewings in Sidney prior to heading to the mainland.

It all started to get a little tedious when on the bus from Vancouver to Seattle. What should have been a 2hr 40 journey ended up being a 5 hour slog through the US border control who treated us as if we were blatant terrorists. Being a Brit means that I have never been subjected to the third degree when going through passport control. Oblivious to the troubles other nationalities have, I breeze through with little questions and wonder what all the fuss is about. With the tables now turned, Dylan assures me that it is way worse at Heathrow with him using an indefinite leave to remain visa in his Canadian passport yet still subjected to a thorough dressing down every time he dares enter and exit the country. Managing to control my outrage at the treatment the border control was subjecting us to, we re-board the bus and head on to Seattle. Just as well we refused the mincemeat and sourdough starter jars that Dylan's Mum had made for us!

With our flight out of Seattle not until 7:25am the next day, we had pre-booked into a Travelodge. Upon arrival I was instantly reminded of a motel used in the murder scenes of Dexter. Apart from our room sounding like it was located in the middle of a race track, I barely slept a wink as I convinced myself the home boys playing latino music full blast at 1am were going to break into our room, going through various ways I could tackle them in self defence. OK so we did only pay $46 for the privilege of having a snooze but at the risk of sounding twice my age – I just wanted a good kip with the little hours we did have available!

With at least a week planned in Florida to complete our shortlist, I'm sure we shall be repeating that scenario a fair few more times although lesson learned – check out the neighbourhood before booking.

Next mission – buy a US sim so we don't pay through the nose when contacting brokers and get cracking on our boat hunting.

One step closer...

We have had a lovely relaxing 2 weeks at Dylan's parents on Salt Spring Island (check out the view from their living room below!) being fed amazing food in large quantities. Xmas presents have equipped us with boat related items including a magellan GPS, cruising guides for the Caribbean, a germinator and solar showers. Gem (Dylan's Mum) has given me a cruising recipe book containing her old favourites and I have been using the time to test some out, with successful results!

Salt Spring Island is full of interesting characters and people who have jumped off the corporate treadmill, choosing instead to move to a slower laid back lifestyle, living on an island with like minded people. Hippies aside (and wowzer there are a lot of them), we need to get cracking on our Caribbean adventure.

After hours and hours of trawling through the internet with the help of Dylan's parents, we have come up with a short list of ten boats consisting of 3 Cabo Ricos, 3 O'Days, 2 Tartans, a Hood and an Amazon all between 34 and 40 foot and all in Florida. Flights have been booked to Miami for 4th January and we are now lining up the viewings. By the time all boats have been seen, we will be experts on the geography of Florida! The viewings are taking us from the northern town of St Augustine, all the way down through Titusville to the West coast towns of Sarasota and Fort Myers, ending up where we started in Miami.

Excited and slightly daunted at all that needs to be done pre and post boat purchase, we are under no illusion that there is going to be a helluva lot of work that needs to be done to get a boat ready to head to the Bahamas.

The plan...

The initial plan...subject to change at a moments notice!

Quite a bit of thought and research was done around what we wanted to do and hence what we wanted. As we are both relatively inexperienced with cruising, we wanted to ensure that we started off in a location that was not only fantastic for sailing, but also not too challenging so as to allow us to learn safely and comfortably. Hence us deciding that the Caribbean would be an ideal place. Many of the islands / anchorages are day sails apart with the odd over night passage required. The climate is tropical, water gin clear and it is a beautiful place to sail. We did initially toy with the idea of buying a yacht in Europe / UK and sailing it locally and prepping it before then crossing the Atlantic, however a number of factors dissuaded us. The price of yachts in Europe are a lot higher than the US, sailing in the UK can be a bit chilly (even in summer) and doing a transatlantic crossing might scare the crew from ever setting foot on a yacht again. The game plan is to pick up a yacht in Florida and sail it down the leeward and windward isles and be out of the hurricane belt by July. A bit of a push seeing as the season has already begun and buying a yacht is not just a "jump on it and sail it away the next day" sort of activity! Generally a fair amount of time will need to be spent preparing a yacht for cruising.
There is also the risk or "analysis paralysis" - Sitting in a marina trying to buy every contingency piece of gear, waiting for the perfect weather, needing to do "just one last thing" etc
There is also the risk of being naive and heading out under equipped / prepared and running into issues.Getting the right balance is tricky and different for each individual.

So now we had a jump off location to start our adventure; our next step was to identify our requirements for a yacht!

Leaving London...

In preparation for our adventure, we must first sell a London flat and 8 years worth of possessions to accumulate as many freedom chips (money) as possible. Ebay, two trips to my parents place in Wales and a couple of charity trips later - our flat resembles an ikea showroom, bare and empty with a few clothes to take with us (each item justified the effort of carrying them - doubt Dylan will agree with that!).

Last Friday we made the trip up to Hampstead Heath to get the jabs necessary for our trip. £166 and 5 jabs later, we had a suitable array of bruises on our arms...now for the Yellow Fever side effects to kick in apparently in 4 - 7 days time.

We spent a good deal of time researching the right 'yacht' bags to take on our trip, settling for 155l and 90l Helly Hansen bags, Dylan had to be sure that the zips wouldn't rust when on board our yacht. After packing our few remaining items and Christmas pressies into our luggage, we still have plenty of space for those 'must have' items of clothing that were heading for the recycling bin (result!).

May I remind you that at this point in time, we own no yacht, nor are we even in the same continent to buy one. A trip to Canada (via Seattle) to see Dylans family is first on the itinerary prior to flying to Florida and starting our boat hunt.

I am typing this post whilst sat in a motel room in Seattle at 6am, slightly jet lagged. Looking forward to a day sight seeing around the home of Starbucks.

This is us...

How did all of this start? I cast my mind back many months ago. I think it was a thought process and a conversation about "what do we really want to do?'. A sailing adventure was one of the first things to cross our minds. It stems from an element of adventurous inkling and the fact that we had both worked pretty hard in London for the last 8 years as Management Consultants, accumulated houses, shares and other such material things but really had nothing to show for it.

With that in mind, Dylan and I decided to go off on a Caribbean adventure that has been months in planning. We have put our jobs on pause, sold most of our possessions to fund this excursion with many people thinking that we are nuts (I tend to agree!).

I have just marked my 25th birthday, finally I can hire a car abroad and in the UK with no excess - yet I can skipper an 8 tonne yacht in high seas with no qualifications, experience or age restrictions!! Dylan is looking forward to his 31st winter.

Our ambition is to buy a yacht on the East Coast of the US and sail around the Caribbean, ensuring we are out of the hurricane belt when the time comes - soaking up as much of the Caribbean sun as we can adding a stack of stamps to our soon to be overflowing passports. Very similar to Management Consulting, we are being thrown into a completely new experience with semi inflated arm bands - its going to be sink or swim (literally!)

Our preparations currently include a reading list consisting of the sage words of Lynn and Larry Pardey - The Cost Conscious Cruiser and The Embarrassment of Mangoes by Ann Vanderhoof.

The advent calender we have counts down the days to our departure rather than to Christmas - each chocolate marking a day closer to the start of what promises to be an amazing experience...

The purpose and intent of this blog is to keep everyone updated as we go on our adventure. We shall be taking Miss Mac with us and will update when we can. This is the first post of hopefully many many more...