So .......Why are we doing this ?

Why ?  It seems like a fair question to me...

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”  Mark Twain

   

Here we are living in a great (albeit cold at times) country, in a very comfortable home, surrounded by friends and family. Mark has a very good job working with great people, the kids are in the best schools we could ever dream of and have many wonderful opportunities in our city. Many times a year we have a chance to enjoy live theatre, live music, to eat in nice restaurants and there are endless opportunities for picturesque hikes in the nearby Rocky Mountains. 

We have a cool little cottage where we spend summers surrounded by friends, family and nature. I have a fridge that delivers ice into my cup when ever I want it. We have amazing machines which will wash and dry our dirty clothe for us and toilets that flush upon pressing a handle once (wow!) When I go to bed at night I am filled with gratitude for my comfortable bed and pillows and the knowledge that, with stores nearby that are filled with an abundance of food, it will be easy to plan a meal tomorrow. We are so very, very lucky. 

So...why are we doing this trip again?

While it's true we have become VERY comfortable, maybe, just maybe we have become a little bit too comfortable. It would be SO EASY to just keep going, keep putting in the hours in our everyday lives, and one day wake up; kids grown up, and feeling old. But you see, we have this unexplainable itch that just won’t go away.

When Mark and I first started going out together, over twenty years ago now, one of the thing we found that we had in common and that we both felt very strongly about was that life was an adventure, meant to be lived to the fullest and meant to be lived NOW !!! 

In the early years we had the opportunity to travel and live abroad and we both felt energized by all that we could see and learn around us. The world was just so cool and just so darn amazing ! 

Then came a series of big, life changing events which some would describe as tragedies. These became a renewed form of “wake up call” for Mark and I. Years of sadness and struggle followed where life as we knew it seemed to loose most of its beauty and colour. 

After that came years of resignation; not living but just trying to survive, learning to deal with all sorts of obstacles and challenges thrown in our path.

 And then, quite out of nowhere, came a memory. A memory of a dream that we once shared when we were still newlyweds, living in Australia; that of taking our sailing experiences and making a real trip out of it all ! This distant memory, quite faint at first, was to become more focussed and, through discussion over time, became fully re-ignited! This all in spite of the hand that we had been dealt in defiance of what we had resigned ourselves had become our new life path so the question became: why would we NOT pursue this dream?  What WAS actually standing in our way ?  And how were we going to surmount these obstacles to be able to actually achieve this worthwhile venture.

The defining moment in our lives when we realized that we  actually COULD do this; we COULD plan a sailing trip with our children and we could make our dream a reality, is one I will never forget. We started to make plans and started to work hard to make it happen. It was an energizing time for us as we started to look towards the future with excitement and renewed optimism. We were lucky in that we came across very few naysayers. Everyone of our friends and our family; including my dear mom,our brothers and sisters,cousins, aunts and uncles have been very supportive and share in our excitement. Yes, we ARE very lucky to have so many amazing and loving people in our lives !

Now that our dream is coming closer to becoming a reality; we can say that we look forward to spending time together, quality time with our children, even as they enter their teen years ! Mark is looking forward to having more time to be better involved in the childrens everyday lives and to see first hand, everyday, evidence of who they are becoming as they grow. 

We look forward to teaching them, not just about the different cultures and sites to see but also about LIFE. What life looks like for others and what we have in common with all people. We want to teach them about over coming challenges (internal and external) and to learn about themselves; who they are, how to find strength within themselves and help them to figure out who they want to become as citizen of the world in the 21st century.

I supposed also that trip is an unconventional way of teaching our kids that life is not easy and sometimes it just downright SUCKS, but it never ceases to be something to be in AWE of, it never ceases to be worth living regardless of what happens AND that the best gifts life has to offer can sometimes come disguised in the form of something scary or unwanted at first.

And YES!  We ARE looking forward to getting out of our cushy comfort zone, out of our comfortable beds and endless rows of supermarket choices to get out there and re-learn how to live for the moment, to be self reliant & self sufficient, to challenge ourselves, to reconnect with nature and all it has to offer; the good & the bad. To turn and face fear, look it straight in the eye and then follow through with the knowledge that we are prepared and we can DO THIS! 

                    

quote from John Burroughs

One of Mark’s favourite (borrowed) expressions that he often uses is: “ Go to the beach when you are young!”  and I know without a doubt that his mom and dad would be very proud of him (and us all) in pursuing this dream, now.

I am so happy that my dad, whom I had a chance to share this dream with before he passed, was giving me the thumbs up too. Even with the potential of getting sea sick, this is the kind of thing he would have loved to try. I just know.

Amelie is back in the water and looking fine !

Amelie IV in the BVIs

After spending nearly 7 months out on the hard and getting pampered by a fine crew in St Lucia, Amelie had her big splash down on Tuesday Nov 12th  !

Captain Mark went down on Sunday with the boys to get her ready and he says that she is looking REALLY good, with a newly painted bottom, new bumper and shiny clean decks !

Mark picked a great time to get down there as the temperatures in town here plummeted to nearly

 - 30 C with windchill! When he called he said it was hot; "almost too hot!" at 29 C. His comment was followed by a long silence, with nearly 60 degrees of difference between us there was no sympathy from the crew up here !

The boys sound like they are working hard with a list of projects on the go. It is quite wonderful actually that between the four of them there are 2 mechanical engineers, one electrician and one telecommunication expert. I’d say that Amelie is in excellent hands. (Mark, if you are reading this, I look forward to seeing if anyone can fix the ice machine, no pressure though)....Hehe! 

Other than this, there is not much more of an update except to say that MC is STILL keeping busy with digitizing all of her school resources. It has been a great journey back in time to re-read (as she types) all of that stuff ! It really helps to get her back into teaching mode ! She has found a great place in town where she has been able to procure herself with all of the material she needs for science, even the coveted microscope! She is really looking forward to sharing all this stuff with the family. She had almost forgotten how much fun science is !

Oh, and in October, we took a little break from all the madness ( home renovations, work, school etc...) to grant a special little lady her lifetime wish to see Disney World. Mark stayed home with Matthew while the girls went out to meet Mickey.

Meg and MC go to Disney World

 Having never had any desire to go there, it was a VERY pleasant surprise for MC who got caught up in all the happiness of the place. Meg LOVED it ! It was a mother-daughter trip to remember and we feel extremely grateful that we were able to do this for Meghan before our big trip, and before our budget gets dramatically cut ! We got a chance to embrace our inner pirate while we were there, having fun with the Pirates of the Caribbean site.

After seeing this photo I realised that I should of asked Meg to be Cptn Sparrow because seeing her in Keira Knightley's body kind of freaked me out a wee little bit, but still funny.

Matthew is doing very well, enjoying school and his activities like swimming lessons but definitely NOT enjoying the cold or the snow boots  and all the layers he suddenly needs to wear. He can't wait to be barefoot on deck again soon.

This is Matthew's idea of the good life.

                                           


Well, according to our official countdown we are 121 days away from D-day. Got to go, lots to do!

Happy Boat Contract

People who will have read my last blog (Globetrotting Puppets) might say; Is that how they are getting ready for this trip? Puppets? Really ?   

Well, yes, partly, but  those are just distractions to keep me amused while I do the more “adult preparations”, stuff like; medical training, school preparation , survival training and one more.

On my LinkedIn profile, I list one of my jobs on S/V Amelie IV  as “Conflict Resolution” and let me tell you:  it’s a job I take very seriously, especially in OUR family.

Now YOUR family might have its very own favourite recipe for conflicts, but I thought I’d share ours with you today:

The 4M Home Made Recipe for Conflict:

Take one passionate, red-headed (can be masked with blond at times), opinionated mom, and make her right 99% of the time, and make sure she is EXTRA sensitive.

Now add one strong-willed, equally passionate (but not as transparent) dad, make sure he is a no-nonsense kind of guy (Read; Quote: “I had a feeling once and I didn’t like it”), and make HIM right 99% of the time.

Mix well, for at least 15 years, (give it time to accumulate baggage)

 To this add one energetic, no holds barred, 100 mile-an-hour, only-stops-when-he-sleeps-tornado of a boy who just entered puberty

Finally, add a passionate, (and oh-so-dramatic) pre-pubescent young lady who has been know to use the sentence “Oh WHAT EVER! ” a lot more recently .

Blend well

Note from the cook :(these are not ALL the characteristics of the four main ingredients. Indeed they do have some wonderful, positive sides ! I just mention  those who mix really well to create the” near perfect conflict condition” required for this recipe)

Next : Sprinkle on some stress, (I find that “Settling An Estate”, or “Home Renos”, or “Leaving A Job”, works well but you can also use “Out Of Town Business Travel” or some other of your family favorites...)

Now, take this mix and then... 

 ....shove it all in one long floating tube for about a year or more, add heat (tropical heat seems to works well for our family)

.....and “VOILA ! ” (kisses fingertips with her lips) 

You have yourself one big beautiful brewing conflict in the making !

Now if you are NOT into conflicts like me, then perhaps you might want to try a little something I brewed up in my spare time lately, in preparation.It is a contract for our family members to agree on, before boarding and I don’t mind sharing this with you, even if it shows my more mature/sensitive under belly. It is called the “Happy Boat Contract”

*********************

 Happy Boat Contract : 

 As we embark on this adventure together, lets all please remember that each one of us has the power to make this either a happy boat or an angry boat. 

Our behaviors towards one another will impact everyone onboard. 

Of course there will be days when we are in a foul mood, when we are feeling stressed  frustrated or angry but HOW we chose to behave towards one another is still within our control.

Think about what your tools will be in those difficult  times before they happen and use these tools out of respect of everyone else on board. 

Follow these steps if you think you might be feeling angry/frustrated:

1- Realize that you are in a bad mood 

2- Choose to take some time on your own to work it out by: 

    Going for a walk, Listening to music, Writing something down.

4- If you need to, let people know that you need some alone time.

5-Avoid spreading the negativity to others by blaming or lashing out at them. 

6-Once you feel calm decide whether or not this really is a big deal.

7- If it is not (and it usually won’t be)  just wait it out and the feeling will eventually fade. 

8-If it IS a big deal and is an ongoing issue that needs to change and that you need others’ help to make it change then take the time to communicate without anger to the rest of the crew about what the issue is, so that all can make a plan to help you with it. 

HOWEVER : 

If you are feeling anxious scared or sad about something that is not the same thing !  

Make sure that you tell someone, this probably will help more than you know.

When you are feeling happy, proud, giddy  or hopeful : SHARE this with everyone; it might just be contagious! You have the power to make everyone else feel the same way!

We don’t want to look back years from now and have regrets on how we behaved towards one another. We want to cherish the memories of the time we got to spend together.

We only have one shot at this, one chance at doing our best and making this a happy boat, as best we can, so let's do this !

_______________________________

         (Add signatures (preferably in blood), date and notary stamp)

**********************

 

Globetrotting Puppets

So...about the project we’ve been working on.....

Rocky and Chloé from our play "Oh! Canada"

Back in 2011 when we took our offshore training with Mahina Tiare III  (http://www.mahina.com)  one of the goals was to always try to have a positive impact upon the places we visited and the people we met. Often crew would be encouraged to bring medical and/or school supplies.

 This got me thinking : What gift could we bring to the places we go ?  What is OUR area of expertise ? Um, well...I am pretty good at making a puppet come to life ?  And....Come to think of it.....Meg is pretty good at story telling ! If we could combine HER creativity and MY immaturity we might just be able to do wonders !!!

We started off by going to look at an old favorite puppet factory online (http://www.living-puppets.de) to see if any of their characters would jump up at us, looking for Canadian ambassadors.

So, this guy immediately made an impression

                  (Love his belly button...)

                                                                                                                      

We named this one Rocky

Then we found out that they were all out of this radical raccoon, and we quickly fell in love with an awesome  grizzly who even comes complete with a hump on his back and giant paws. The only way he could have been any more realistic would of been if he had a couple of australian campers in his jaws...Oh right...this is supposed to be a kid friendly show...

We found our Chloé

Next we found a beautiful girl puppet and we felt she was the PERFECT addition to the cast.

Finding names for our new friends was pretty simple. It was clear to us from the beginning that our goofy grizzly just HAD to be named Rocky and that our girl, well she just looks like a Chloé doesn’t she! 

Next we had to make these guys look a little more.. Canadian eh ? We thought of putting a Molson’s Canadian Beer in Rocky’s hands, or a “ I ♥ Justin Trudeau” Tank Top on Chloe, but again we have to remind ourselves that this is for kids, right. So we went for the painfully obvious Canadian stereotypes; Hockey and Toques.

Now; You may find this hard to believe but when you go shopping for clothe and you casually tell the person behind the counter that; “these are for my puppets”, you get a few raised eyebrows, but then when you take them out of your bag and let the puppets do the explaining to the salesperson, and it ALL works out in the end. No one called security on us or anything !

   It turns out that Chloé’s feet are a kids size 10 !

                                             

                                              

I think that the guy at the jersey store especially got a kick out of the whole thing...

What ??!!!  30 Bucks for a mini Habs jersey ??!!! Well, on the bright side, Rocky won’t be outgrowing it anytime soon.

                                                      

The final look for Chloé

And for Rocky

We are currently working on the script. This will not be completed for a while, as we are quite busy preparing our trip in other ways, but Meg and I sat down one evening and did a quick brainstorming. We had loads of fun bouncing ideas off each other, this is what we’ve come up with: 

Characters: 

Chloé; A sporty, Smart Young Canadian Girl from Aboriginal Descent. She’s bilingual (of course) and has been traveling on board a sailboat with her family for the last five years.

Rocky : A Goofy-Patriotic-Hockey-Loving Grizzly Bear, who is obsessed with Maple Syrup and who is known to spontaneously start singing “Oh Canada!” when ever someone mentions Canada.

Opening scene: 

Chloé is sitting on deck, binoculars in hand, when she suddenly sees a very peculiar sight: An Ice float drifting in the distance, carrying a bear, who is wearing a hockey jersey and frantically waving for help.

Our opening scene.

We later find out that Rocky was stranded on this ice float when he was visiting his cousin ‘Inukshuk’ the polar bear in the Arctic.

The story continues with the new friends reminiscing about all that they love about Canada...friendly banter ensues, yada yada...

What we really hope to achieve with this project is to find a way to build positive relationships with the communities we visit. We figure that kids, no matter where they’re from, love puppets and love to hear about other  countries. We hope to bring them a new outlook on the world, a chance to ask questions and maybe a few laughs too, by visiting their schools. Oh, and it might just fit in nicely in Meg’s school goals too AND it takes care of my puppet addiction.

Before signing off I have to give a shout out to the ‘Minister of Canadian Heritage’s’ office in Ottawa.I wrote to those lovely ladies today and they said that they would gladly help us out with a big bag full of Canadian pins to hand out on our visits to school and such, so nice !  THANK YOU!  Gee, I wonder how much that big bags of pins weighs.

.

The countdown is on 

Busy.....being a landlubber.

I have been told recently that the point of having a blog is to keep adding new material on a regular basis so I must apologize to you on the small chance that you were eagerly waiting for some news, we have been busy here on land.

It has been go-go-go since we have come back to Calgary after a much needed visit with friends and family out East this summer. We tried to see as many people as we could while there...sadly we missed a few, but crammed in as much quality time with as many people as we could while there. Since our return to cowtown it seems that our days are filled with so many things to do! The countdown is definately on ! It looks like March 21st is the day we will use our one-way tickets.

This may seem like a long time, but when I break it down into ALL the things we have to do before we go, it propels me into a frenzy of packing and list making....

When he is not busy flying solo across Canada :)  Mark has been spending alot of time settling the estate, selling off his mom's house and land and getting our house ready for renting. (This means all those little home improvements we have been putting off for so many years -paint, carpet, deck, doors.... are finally getting done). He also spoke to his boss last month and made a formal request for some time off (phew). He is also overseeing the final preparations needed for Amelie, ordering parts and materials  for her maintenance and upgrades. In November he is looking forward to going back to St Lucia for a "Guys Only" trip which will include getting the boat back in the water and some trecking around the local islands. I am not sure if he has warned the boys that each of them will be bringing one extra bag with them when they come down......

Meg doing her open water training in Bequia

Other than starting grade 6 and her usual swimming, choir and drama (classes!), Meghan is busy with completing her online PADI diving course (theory). She had taken her "introduction to diving" while in Bequia last spring and it seems she shares her dad's enthusiasm for the sport, so this is the next step. It is alot of work
 (2 hours/week) and she is doing very well !


 Matthew has been actively busy achieving puberty, and he is doing an excellent job at that, consequently keeping us all a little bit busier ! He gets an "A" in Escape Artistry as we have had to resort to using our "Amber Alert" Locating GPS Device more often these last few weeks ! Everything is bigger and louder these days as Matthew grows more and more into himself and seeks indepence, but he never ceases to amaze me as he emerges from childhood into this beautiful young man he is becoming.





And the "great culling" we started in the spring continues as we attempt to sell/give away/throw out more and more things, including our beloved "OrionSky" in August. This little sailboat had been an excellent- albeit at times ruthless and unpredictable-teacher to me; teaching me be to be more self assured sailing on my own, as well as how to get out of all sorts of adrenaline enducing predicaments! I have had many beautiful and  memorable moments with her and she will be missed ! Since we still have alot of things that need to find a new home, we have decided to organise  an "Everything-Must-Go-Give-Away-Weekend" for our friends and collegues in Calgary (Stay tuned for announcements in February gang). We hope that this will take care of most of the material stuff we will still have by then.

Matthew's squish machine

So what else do I do with my time ? Other than making endless lists, exhausting inventories  and breaking down schedules into elaborate time lines; I recently dove into school preparation for the kids by revisiting Alberta Education Programs of Studies for grade 7-9 (my old stomping ground) and also by setting goals for Matthew. I have been enjoying getting back into this and gathering material....especially the science and math stuff (if anyone can figure out how I can succesfully pack a compound microscope and some test tubes into our luggage-and convince Mark that these are needed-I would appreciate the input). Luckily Matthew's program material is mostly easy to pack (well except for his "squish machine"....which will sadly not make the cut).



In my spare time I have also been ordering all sorts of gadgets from WestMarine and MEC stores, gathering the necessities for the emergency "ditch bags" (the evacuation bags we hope to never use)  and making a "general operations manual" for the boat.

This month I will also be focussing on some more medic training with a friend who is a paramedic here in town and in November I will be taking a "Survival-At Sea" course through our Blue Water Association. I must say that I am looking forward to getting into THAT life raft !

Soon I will be practicing in one of these

There is one more special project I am working on but I will tell you all about it in the next blog.

 I am quite excited to share this with you soon. Can't give it all away in one day !

So, for now, this is how we are staying BUSY. I have to say that not having a TV helps alot!  I get my kicks monitoring the "National Hurricane Center" online instead. It is quite a disconcerting hobby at this time of year as tropical storm systems seem to be popping out like gum balls out of a machine. I have been keeping an eye on Hurricane Humberto, he is on his way and he looks like he is one angry hombre

The sun is rising now and the kids need to go to school, so I will sign off  but
I promise that I will try to keep this blog new and fresh at least once a month until we leave and then after that, hopefully more often !

The things we have to give up

Our great garage sale, Calgary 

                      

It’s official !

 After 20 years of accumulating useful things (such as raccoon skin hats, didgeridoos, wooden fruit, emu eggs and “penis gourds”/true story, look it up)......we have started the MASSIVE undertaking of de-cluttering our home......after removing the considerable layers of dust...we make a big pile and go through it all... no item escaping scrutiny.... each being sorted into either the “Garage Sale Pile”, the “Throw Away Pile” or the “Give Away Pile”.


We have offered many of these prized possessions to friends and family with, curiously, very few takers.....so now I just show up at people’s houses, object in hand offered as a gift.....I won’t lie to you, there have been a few raised eyebrows and some nervous/ shaky thank yous ! It goes something like this: “ Hi there ! ....I found this angklung (Indonesian Instrument made of bamboo) in my living room and I thought this was the perfect thing for your home.....You are welcome my friend, you are welcome .... 

Garage sales have been successful so far, but only because we have resigned ourlseves to let things go for ridiculous prices....it is amazing to me that what was a valuable work of art on display in our house for 10 years, when picked up and carried twenty feet to the garage suddenly gets demoted to "junk" in an "Everything for $2 !" cardboard box. Oh well....we just grin and bear it as we haggle over 25 cent with our neighbours....and as I feverishly try to tell the new owners all the stories that go with each treasure, and some kind souls actually hang around to listen, bless them!



Now there are a few MUST haves that I can not bear to be parted with which will either go to storage or come on board with us, one of them being my dear old friend, my classical guitar...which sounds like it has a wet blanket sitting on it when I play, but I love it anyways ! It has been with me everywhere and I will not leave it behind. I have images of me playing it under a palm tree somewhere, or when we are stranded for days in the doldrums (dead calms) of the Atlantic Oceans.

Today in his infinite wisdom, our captain came home with a replacement for my guitar, something that will take up “less room” as he says! I think he just likes it because its new and kind of a cool gadget, it needs NO amplification, I have to admit that it does look pretty gnarly.

This got me thinking about all the things we need to give up, or replace for reasons of storage space and practicality.

Make no mistake, the guitar is coming....

Our extensive DVD collection gets replaced by a single hard drive

Our elliptical machine is replaced by a resistance band

My night lamp becomes a head lamp

This marvel of engineering becomes this, slightly damper, one

   

Even the view from my bedroom window gets transformed !