I think I’m going to keep it real on this one. Next time I post I can wrap it in dad jokes and sarcasm.

I don’t even know where to start. Things have been kind of crazy. After the whirlwind of the last few months of working double-shifts pulling my normal mechanical engineering simulation load and fixing a boat up on the hard, things felt like they never really calmed down until now.

As my better half has mentioned before, there are good times and bad times that come with this lifestyle. After all, we chose to move into a small, damp, rocking, and smoldering hot or freezing cold beachfront property. I’ll start with the bad (mostly self inflicted stress…).

I’ve been dealing with the stress of all the change, cramped space, and frustrating moments less than gracefully and I’m sorry to the rest of the crew.

Sometimes the stress of keeping everyone onboard safe and dry is quite a lot and my anxiety really gets the best of me. I have many roles including mechanic, electrician, plumber, hair stylist, fisherman, and yoga enthusiast. I don’t feel I have much of an ability to relax. Even with constant work, the list keeps growing. Oil changes, endless filter changes, and always something leaking (mostly windows). Not to mention, how does a boat in the water get so much dirt on it!

At first, I was dealing with the stress of pairing down to the bare essentials while somehow still having most of what we need to repair things, find a creative workarounds, or limp along with things not in perfect working order. All of this without even yet knowing what we would actually need or how to fully care for this new boat. The reality is, you can never have everything you will need for all situations.

Something that is always echoed in the boating community is that you can’t physically carry all the spares you need or you’d be towing a whole other boat behind you.

Pairing down and downsizing in this manner also means you always need to dig into a closet/locker to find and put away everything (including food), and it is always in a tote that weighs about 5 tons. I’m sure part of this is just our boat layout and the number of people occupying it, but we can only work with what we have.

The children had to relearn how to relate to each other and play nicely after 2 years of public school. I, however, am working on relating to and playing nicely with the kids after 12 years of going to work and dealing with mostly adults all day long. I still struggle with patience on this front. There was about a month of Ian and Rowan (new roommates) just constantly fighting and bickering, and it drove me crazy. There are some days that are still really tough and I fail at being a good father all too much.

More recently my hardships have been related to living the transient life and needing to be able to move swiftly and capably when desired, needed, or when the correct weather presents itself.

We recently had a few delays because a few things failed. Specifically our autopilot rudder sensor managed to pop loose while sitting still at a really calm anchorage in Salinas, Puerto Rico. Autopilot is obviously not needed for short trips, but it really helps to not need to hand steer in some cases. It was a whole day of calling customer support and attempting to re-calibrate before I finally got it working. I had planned on maybe 4 hours, but such is boat life. One day might not seem like much, but with ever worsening climate issues, the best weather forecasting is only good for 3 days. It was not a large issue this time, and to be fair most of the time, but a single day might mean a really bumpy ride in the mix or waiting another week or two to move safely.

The other issue with always being on the move is that planning for larger or longer projects is really hard. I have been saving a number of the larger projects for Grenada since we will most likely be sitting there for months waiting on hurricanes to pass by to the north (fingers crossed). The problem with this logic is that the weather is only going to continue to get warmer (and maybe wetter). I might be doing some night projects in the future for this reason. PR and USVI’s are already extremely uncomfortable starting at 8 am.

Now for the good stuff. We have been able to see and experience some really cool things as a family. We have been able to swim clear blue tropical waters, hike in lush rain forests, walk or drive through parts of new countries, and share in all the moments together. We have also been able to meet some other amazing friends along the way.

I feel like I’m slowly getting a better handle on what things are going to break and where, and what parts I need, but there are still always those lurking things I didn’t plan for. I’ve had my fair share of hot fixes and hours/days waiting for new parts. The stress here seems to be slightly subsiding at least.

The boys have finally hit a good working relationship again. Fights still happen, mostly from roughhousing, but they are generally much more manageable. I’m still attempting to relate better…

Passages have been decent (not too bouncy or crazy). We have also luckily been able to avoid any large storms and heavy winds up to this point. Most of the time the kids hang out in the cockpit for air and sea sickness reasons, and either read, talk, fish, or play games. I think this time usually is good unless there is a hyperactive child in the mix.

Once we get to the intended destinations, we have been able to experience some really amazing scenery and wildlife.

I really enjoy nature and wildlife, and seeing amazing creatures like sea turtles, dolphins, squid, and bioluminescent waters up close and personal is amazing. These creatures are fascinating and I’m sad that so much of their habitat has already been reduced, but very lucky I have the opportunity to witness and enjoy them.

The geology, sunsets, and stars are also quite astonishing.

On our way to the Dominican Republic we navigated some massive offshore trenches. You only really realize the scale of these things when you spot thousand foot mountainous terrain 6 miles out and realize that that is an extremely small fraction of the things you’ve been sailing over. The shelves out here are unreal and sometimes extremely steep (12 ft to 12,000 ft deep in fractions of a nautical mile). As I find to be the case with most things truly outdoors and wild, the breadth and expanse is really humbling.

Sunsets in Puerto Rico were absolutely some of the best I’ve ever seen. Mindy and I joke that we have about 6,000 pictures of sunsets but there really isn’t anything quite like open ocean sunsets or sailing in the moonlight.

Being able to get away from the larger cities and light pollution also means we get to see the stars quite clearly. Enjoying the stars and meteor showers that we just couldn’t see with a regular city life is also something we all partake in. I think we are actually far enough south to see the southern cross for the first time.

The cities can sometimes be fun to explore and experience. I don’t particularly find them as appealing as rural areas, but some have quite the history. Parts of the architectures in some areas have been around for hundreds of years and some cities are really amazing to see and experience from the water as well. For instance St. Augustine, FL was quite amazing from the water. Christmas lights were still up at that time, and we were able to snug right up to the old town area: right next to an old Spanish fort.

A larger and older Spanish fort existed in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We didn’t get the chance to venture inside, but did take a small amount of time to explore the old town area. Walking around old town we did notice remnants of the old city walls, gates, and guard towers. The businesses and apartments in the old town area were all vibrantly painted restored brick buildings adorned with small trim pieces dating back probably till the last restoration period. It was narrow, but walk-able, and I would have liked to do some more poking about but we had limited time with a car and needed groceries and supplies.

A large part of boating life is community. Finding other boating families to hang out with, learn from, and help along the way is a necessary and amazing part of the lifestyle. We all know how dangerous, demanding, and lonely the open ocean can be, so when people are in need, someone usually steps up, and when people want to visit, they simply reach out. It is quite a refreshing change from city life where most of the time your neighbors don’t know you and don’t want to. We have already made some really great friends from many different places, all doing the same crazy thing we are.

In summary, the experience has been quite anxiety riddled and stressful for me, but at the same time exciting, peaceful, and fun.

I am quite impressed with how fast we all kind of just switched over to this new life. It has become oddly routine for everyone to just live on a boat at this point. Sometimes it will hit me, especially late at night on a long passage, that we are the only one’s out here, possibly hundreds of nautical miles away from the nearest boat, and maybe more than that from land. Who let me do this? Wait, I can just do this? Then it dawns on me: The real question should be who is stopping me from doing this? Why did we assume these limitations? We, as a species, have been doing this for possibly thousands of years. Can it be dangerous? Yes, but so are many of the things we do every day (like driving on I-77 or I-25). The only hurdles in the way at this point are the winds, waves, and myself. I can only control one of those. I can train, learn, fix, and prepare.

All I know is that I somehow feel at peace being alone on a calm night sail miles offshore. There is still a freedom to the ocean that can’t really be matched on the ground.

Spanish Wells, Eleuthera.