April 14 – questions and answers

I will start this post out with a statement and the subsequent questions it has raised.

April 14 is a very important day for us.

Why?

April 14 is the last day we have a place to park our boat.

What do you mean, a place to park your boat?

Well, for the past two years we have paid for an annual contract to have the privilege to park Devilfish in a marina. This year we did not renew our contract and so do not technically have a permanent place to park anywhere.

What does this mean?

This means that we will be moving from place to place after April 14.

What? You’re going to be homeless?

No, Devilfish is our home, we are just going to sail from place to place.

So you’re just going to stop somewhere?

Well, there are some rules about these things. You can’t just stop in the middle of a shipping channel and there are places that are off limits to go (for instance within 150’ of the Statue of Liberty).

Luckily we have charts that give us all the information we need in order to figure out where we can go and what we can do.

Ok, so you’re going to move around on your boat. Got it. What about your job?

Well, I quit my job as of January 1.

What? Your Macy’s job? But you loved that job; are you crazy?

I did love that job (plus I got to be in the Macy’s Day Parade twice – see the pictures from this year below!) and, yes I am crazy. I think you have to have a little built-in craziness in order to live on a boat.

Getting ready to fly this baby dragon!

We hadn’t started the parade yet so this technically isn’t an illegal image.

Bring ‘er down and let that helium out!

Peter at his leisure after rolling up Toothless

I’m really getting into the spirit of things!

No, seriously, why would you walk away from a fantastic, nearly 20 year career in fashion just to be not-technically-homeless on a boat?

That’s a long explanation and requires more words than we have time for today.

Ok, fine. What about Peter’s job?

Well, he’s an airline pilot so he’s able to fly for free from wherever we happen to be so he can go do his job.

Hmmm… Well where are you going to go?

We are sailing north to Massachusetts to a place where we are going to have our rig redone. The rig is everything above the deck, the mast, the wires (called shrouds and stays), the boom, the electrics…

Why are you doing that?

The rig is old and tired. It has sailed around the world and then some. If it fails it could bring the mast down while we are sailing which would be a level of adventure we would like to avoid.

Then what?

Then we are sailing even farther north to Maine. Our plans right now are to continue up into Canada and sail to Newfoundland. It’s hard to plan out much beyond 2-3 months, there are so many variables.

Then what?

Well, I think it’s very flippant to say we want to sail around the world so I won’t say that. There are so many places Peter and I want to explore; a lifetime could not encompass them all. We are going to do what we have always done and follow our hearts and opportunities as they arise.

That’s super weird and no way to live a life. What about security? What about putting down roots? What about settling down and doing what everyone else is doing?

We tried that and found out we are much happier to live this way – see below for pictures of the house we used to have. This life is not for everyone and I would hazard a guess that it’s not for many people at all. You either have wanderlust running in your veins or you don’t. But I’d like to think the world needs both types of people…

Aren’t you scared of sharks/whales/jellyfish/storms/the ocean/being out of sight of land/being alone?

Nope. Sure, some of those things are cause for consideration but we hope we have thought them through enough so that they are manageable. We certainly don’t have all the answers but if we live our lives in fear we never know what we can accomplish by facing those fears. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

But isn’t your boat in shambles? I mean, don’t you not have all sorts of things that people need to survive? Do you even have a toilet?

Yes, we definitely have a toilet. Our boat won’t win any beauty contests but rust on the topsides doesn’t prevent us from sailing. We have been surviving and thriving aboard for 1.5 years. Our requirements have changed as well as our mindsets; as we get farther along in the process I will talk more about what we have learned. Lots has been going on that hasn’t even begun to make it into this blog. We are embracing simplicity but I still curl my eyelashes.

Wow, ok. I agree with you; you’re crazy.

These are actual questions we have been asked since we decided to “sail off into the sunset”. We’ve never been offended or put-off because we know what we’re doing is (more than) a little nuts.

Do you have any questions you would like us to answer? Please leave a comment!