Starting the Adventure

Written Dec 5 2019.

Starting the adventure of your life with your family and undertaking a much awaited trip that is meant to be both a vacation, and a new way of life for your parents and a gap year for you, is wild and difficult to explain. People ask the simple question what are you up to, the story of how it all came together comes up, and then often people ask, with a look of incredulity in their eyes, why ? Why choose to spend a year on a small boat, spending weeks at sea? Usually the very next question is (predictably) : is it safe? The only simple answer to that question is that like all great adventures and undertakings in life, this adventure comes with its risks, its expected pitfalls, its low moments but I can truly say that for all of that, all those questions have long since been answered on this trip. Nothing truly compares to watching the moon set, like a incredible gold boat illuminating the horizon as it drops lower and lower in the sky; watching the sunrise in the mornings as you rub sleep from your eyes and inscribe the logbook with your coordinates, your speed and the state of the weather at the moment (and perhaps crabbily argue with your watch mate) and perhaps wistfully thinking of those still sleeping in their warm, unmoving beds free from waves crashing over the hull of the room you sleep in, as the bowsprit dives into the waves.

Needless to say this adventure is nothing I expected to be. I chose to leave for this adventure with an open mind and open heart, ready for the challenges it would undoubtedly throw at us and it has surprised me in many ways. We have hard days sure, when morale is pretty low because its wet, cold, and everyone is a little bit tired of it all or there is something going on with the boat (as I am sure the technical readers will understand it always seem like there is a project happening or a part that needs fixing or replacing). But I feel this unified sense of direction and adventure helps push us through the rough patches. As far as technical issues, Isabelle and I do our best to help and understand what needs to be done but my parents are the real heroes when it comes to working on the boat. They quite literally poured their blood, sweat, and tears into the boat and it shows in the way they care for the space. It is amazing and wonderful and inspiring to see how they tackle the problems that come their way (most of the time without complaining). I am more and more keenly aware of their role in getting us to where we are today, in their unfailing commitment to undertaking this adventure.

This represents my unofficial first post for the blog and I will be sharing more in the upcoming weeks as I catch-up on the trip so far as (incredibly) it has already been almost 3 full months of living and exploring aboard SV/Tomten!

On another note, for photos of the trip and our adventures, please check out our gallery that can be accessed via the main menu. Bear in mind, we are are still working out the kinks with the website, it’s a work in progress 🙂

With love,

Rosie.