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one down ____ to go

December 8, 2014 by Carly Filed Under: boat baby, Kids, New England, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Sailing

2014 salty

1021 hours underway, that’s just over 42 days

Averaged 6.7 knots

6872 nautical miles

So we have been living aboard and cruising for just over a year now and loving it. When we started we weren’t really sure if this was going to be the life for us. But like with everything we sold all our possessions and jumped in head first. The first month was challenging for us. The girls took their time to adjust while we did projects on the boat readying her to sail to the Bahamas from North Carolina.
Once we got going there was no turning back. It was tough sailing at the beginning, after all I was 6 months pregnant and we had a 2 and 3 year old running around. But boy did we make the best of it and packed a lot into our first year.
We bought a boat, readied her to sail, sailed to the Bahamas, had our 3rd baby, sailed up to Massachusetts to visit family for a breather. From there we sailed further north to Nova Scotia and circumnavigated Newfoundland. We found icebergs, we ate icebergs. Back down to Maine. We found lobster pots, we snagged lobster pots, we cursed those F*#KEN AS!HOLE lobster pots. Had another breather in Massachusetts. Set sail for the Caribbean and that’s where we are now. Wow it was a lot to cram into a year.
Here are some other fun highlights:
  • Did my first crash jibe and bent our boom
  • Experienced a natural birth in the Bahamas – drugs next time please, not that there will be a next time!
  • Saw our first killer whales in Newfoundland
  • Found out that whip lash is possible when hitting rocks at 5 knots – gotta love a steel boat
  • After countless swim lessons and bribery Pri finally learnt how to swim from an 8 year old in 30 minutes at a pool
  • Keeping a container of hermit crabs onboard with no lid is never a good idea
  • Don’t leave garbage on deck in the States, raccoons will board you
  • Never sail when pregnant, severe seasickness is inevitable.
  • Sailing with kids is 100 times harder than without
We are still waiting on the evening that we can actually sit in the cockpit, cocktail in hand and watch the sunset. Every day seems like a marathon with kids onboard, but every month that goes by it gets easier.
So have we learnt anything? Yeah probably a bit. Carl is definitely a better sailor than me and I’m better at teaching the girls. It has been tough on our relationship but I believe we are stronger for it. So how long are we going to do this for? I really don’t know, put it this way we’ve been travelling for a year and feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface.

Plans for next year…

Things are pretty up in the air at the moment. We’ve been trying to stick close to the States due to some unfortunate family illness’s. But we are bold enough to want to plan on  doing the Northwest Passage this summer? Maybe.
So has cruising changed our marriage? In a way yes, Carl now forces me to read every sailing book ever written and happy hour now begins at 5pm, maybe a smidge before. We spend 24/7 with each other and the kids. What does this mean? This means going to the bathroom while still in conversation, waking up to kids in the bed and not realizing how they got there. Lots of beer, lots of rum and mostly good times.

2013

DSCN0597 October – Wilmington, North Carolina
DSCN0662 November – Wilmington, North Carolina
DSCN0736 December – Wilmington, North Carolina

2014

hangout
January – Bahamas
DSCN1388 February – Nassau, Bahamas
DSCN1647 March – Nassau Bahamas (Crew’s Birthday)
DSCN2081 April – Bahamas (Easter)
DSCN2235 May – Massachusetts
DSCN2350 June – Massachusetts
DSC_0126 July – Nova Scotia
DSC_0073 July – Newfoundland
2
August – Newfoundland
DSC_0124 September – Nova Scotia, Maine, Massachusetts
DSC_0134 October – Massachusetts
DSCN2647 November – BVI’s, Caribbean

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Hi, I'm Carly. I'm a mum, an Australian, a wife, chocolate lover and often a seasick sailor. I like keeping a blog for us to look back on all our adventures. If you think this lifestyle would fit your family please contact me and I can tell you the good, the bad and the ugly. Read More…

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