You know, it never ceases to amaze me when I find Loree doing things only a true cruising wife would do.

We were in West Marine last Friday evening to get a few things. I was ready to leave and couldn't find her. She was down at the end of the paint supply section. I walked down to ask if she needed some paint supplies. She said "No, I just needed to file down one of my nails". She was using a fine grade of sandpaper. Show me a non cruiser that would be that resourceful.

You just gotta love her!

Over the past 25 years many people have asked how and why I chose the curising lifestyle.  Now that we've started a website, I'm going to try to put it into words. 

When I was a kid, I would see the south sea movies and dream of far away islands with native girls, white sands and crystal clear water, but it was always just a movie.  No reality because I grew up in the North East.  Although I'd been to the Jersey shore and lived near the Hudson River, the ocean was just not a part of my life.  I can't really say I didn't believe that it actually existed but in my world I just couldn't see the dream as real.  Well, that all change in Febuary 1980. 

Defining moment #1
In the heart of a northern winter, I found myself on a plane headed for the island of St. Croix.  As we flew toward our destination I had my eyes glued to the ocean below.  As I watched, the water changed from the dark blue of the Atlantic to a lighter shade and finally it happened!  A defining moment in my life. I saw my first island with a reef around it.  The color of the water was a miraculous aqua blue and the beach was so white that I thought I must be looking at a Hollywood movie set.  But as we started to make our decent I realized that this is real; it wasn't Hollywood and I wasn't dreaming.  All of a sudden it hit me.  Where had I been all of my life?  I was 35 years old and felt like I had just fallen through the proverbial rabbit hole.
 
Defining moment #2
So now I'm this awe struck man in a tropical paradise with big eyes and an open mouth.  I had no idea where to begin, but getting into the water and looking around seemed like a good beginning so I decided to try snorkeling.  Unfortunately, I had no idea of how to snorkel, but I was willing and they gave us a 10 minute lesson in the pool before going out.  Although it was great and exciting, defining moment #2 had nothing to do with the snorkeling; that moment came when I stepped aboard the 28 foot trimaran moored off the beach that was to take us to the reef.  The young guy that was our "dive master" basically told us to just sit down where he told us to sit, not to move and he would handle everything.  I, fortunately, was told to sit next to the wheel where I had a ring side seat.  After checking to see that his charges were all doing what they were told, he proceeded to raise sails.  He then casually went to the bow, dropped the line holding us to the mooring ball, came back to the cockpit, pulled on a couple of 'ropes' (I now know they're lines, not ropes) and off we went.  This was my first time on a sail boat, no motor, just the wind and a kid knowing how to harness the power of the wind to get the craft moving smartly across the bay.  I couldn't believe the sensation.  The only thing that came to mind was "where have I been all of my life."  It felt like 'coming home' after a long and arduous day and I knew, without a doubt, that this was where I was meant to be and what I was meant to do.  If I was to believe in past lives, I would say that I had been here before and had just found my way back home.

The dream all began in Nassau's Club Med where Loree and I found that we each coveted a dream of sailing off into the sunset.  Little did we know back then what that really meant.  I liken it to peaking out from behind the curtains of a grade school play and then finding yourself in a Broadway production.  Same experience?  Yes and no.

The cruising life is difficult to describe because I believe it is different for everyone.  For some people, the thought of being out of sight of land is a terrifying thought and brings cold sweats and a full fledged panic attack.  For others, like me, there is a peacefulness that comes over you and you know that this is where you belong; this is where you were meant to be.

Previously I've written about a defining moment in my life when I was on that small trimaran in Guadalupe.  Well, like anything I have ever wanted to learn in my life, I turned to reading.  In the first year I read everything I could find on sailing.  During my research for the "How to Sail" aspect of my education, I learned all the basics and following the advice of the experts in the field, I concentrated on small boat sailing.  I was told that if you learned to sail a small boat, the rest is easy.  You make a mistake on a small boat and you'll find yourself in the water quite quickly.  A larger boat is much more forgiving.

The next summer, again finds Loree and I at a Club Med in Eleuthera.  Bright and early the first morning we walked down to the beach to find the sailing instructor.  He asks if I know how to sail.  I say I have a little experience (remember, I read lots of "how to" books... that's experience, isn't it?)  The instructor immediately saw through my awkward answer and says, "I tell you what, take this boat out to that buoy out there, come about (that would be turn around if you don't already know) and come back here.  If you can do that, the boat is yours.

The first part was easy.  The wind was light and all I had to do was get Loree aboard, pull in the line that tightened the sail and off we went.  It was easy running out to the buoy, too; all I had to do was keep the tiller straight and we were headed for the buoy.  Now I must back up for a minute and tell you that my loving, trusting wife was very skeptical about the whole episode.  She knew that I had absolutely NO experience.  Never sailed a boat before in my entire life, actually, but I had read a whole lot of books and felt that I was ready.  So there she is, sitting on a small Laser, heading out to sea with Captain Bill.  She had a look on her face that says, "I love you but what have you gotten us in to this time, Ollie?"  Well, the trip out was wonderful!  When I got to the buoy and went to turn around, quicker than quick, the boat capsized.  So here we are, about a half mile from shore with the boat is on its side.  The sail was laying flat in the water on one side and the centerboard was sticking out on the other side.  I need not tell you about the 'I told you so' look on Loree's face.  I say, "Not to worry, my love, I read about this in chapter 6."  So I act like I know what I'm doing and swim around to the bottom side of the boat, put my foot on the centerboard (that's a board that sticks out from the bottom of the boat and keeps it from sliding sideways while under sail), and while holding on to the side of the boat, I stand on the centerboard.  Loree says, "Don't do that!  You're going to break it."  I say, "This is the way you get the boat back upright again, and proceed to walk up the centerboard and right the boat quickly and easily (dumb luck, I assure you).  The only problem was that I was in the boat, Loree was still in the water and the boat started to rapidly sail away from her.  I quickly turned the boat around and went back to pick her up, amazing both myself and my lovely wife.  Once she was aboard, we started the trip back to the sailing instructor.  Unbeknownst to us, the sailing instructor was already in a small skiff motoring out to save another crazy tourist.  By the time he got to us, everything was under control and he gave us the thumbs up signal and motored away.  So I say to Loree, 'Want to do it again?"   She looks at me askance and says, "No thank you.  You can take me back to the beach and when Captain Bill gets some much needed experience, I'll get back aboard with him."