Clearly it is no longer 2015 as is the name of this blog. We're still, after all these years, on a school schedule...or a sailing south schedule...leave in the fall and forget in January that the year has turned. Maybe I'll start Blog #3 in January...or maybe tomorrow for this "going south" on Grace season.
So the "boating south" decision was littered with misunderstandings, guilt, hard work, boat (and land-based house) improvements, hard discussions, new clarity, passivity, assertion, communion, compromise....just about every element of living together in this wonderfully privileged life David and I have.
I was clear since we arrived home in May that I didn't want to be gone from land-based home for 8 months - too long, I loose my community involvement, no way to be creative in the way I most enjoy (dance for those who might not know, or even visual art on occasion), maybe even too much time alone with my sweet husband though I never admitted that out loud until now. And, we'd sort of figured out how to get the boat south without my being on it more than a month this fall. More than the 8 hours I was on board would have been fine, though. The weather delays threw even the possibility of taking Grace south into question. Thus the month of "Maybe. Maybe not." Finally, David was 99% sure we wouldn't take the boat south and we could go another way for a couple months. Maybe.
David struggled with the decision(s). The boat was ready. David is competent and skilled and cautious and the "I've got something to prove" attitude was not present anywhere (phew!). His desire to be on the water was a definite. I was as supportive of whatever decision he made as I could be, not wanting to push a choice which, legitimately, was his. Nervous/anxious as I was about him possibly traveling alone, I was equally anxious about his being unhappy all winter if he didn't sail.
Questions:
(1) Are we wanting the boat south because it is the cheapest winter vacation in a warm place? Ha. Fact checker would dispute this "cheapest" idea in the long-term, though Grace is a fine home and moorings are $30/night.
(2) We do want to be out of Maine winters, right?
(3) Are there other ways to be out of Maine winters?
(4) Do we want/need to be gone for four months to "be out of Maine winters"?
(5) Do we have to be traveling all that time?
One of the things I realized was that I don't want to travel all that time. It feels a selfish use, even waste, of my time and talents. What am I contributing to the world when I move around so much? A considered compromise is to travel to a place then stop and volunteer at something for 2-3 weeks, then continue. Post destruction from hurricane Matthew, there might be many opportunities to volunteer.
Learning continues...as does our journey...soloing and coupling.
These photos are from the HYC dock on our departure day 10/11/16. Beautiful, beautiful day.
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