What Was Your Epiphany?

Canibul, you bring one issue to mind, Whil my "epiphany" as stated earlier was more a search for something, our home in the Santa Cruz Mountains had an ocean view you wouldn;t believe. We could see the tip of Monterey, and the Potato Patch outside the Golden Gate from our living room. We were on the top of a mountain 4 miles from the shore. Every night we would see boats anchored out, and the fishing fleets lit up looking for whatever was in season. The sunsets were something to behold. Being surrounded by the sea, and being so close to it, but yet, not being a part of it was more than I could take. I noticed when I would come down from the mountain and get on the water, I never looked back at the mountain, but when I was on the mountain, I only looked out at the sea. I am sure in some, there is an element in their personality that draws them to the mountains, but in me, there is an element that draws me to the sea.

[Canibul]

Me too, me, too. I have turned down lucrative jobs in my life, because they would require me to live inland. I cant help it.
I also discovered I have that 'sunlight' thing. I got depressed in New England winters, when I couldn't arrange a trip to a tropical climate for a month or so. I didnt realize it til the first year I had to spend an entire winter in Massachussets. I was on Prozac by February.

Anyhow, it was a good excuse to sell out and move to an island. Mental health reasons, you see...

[sailtimegirl]

My epiphany caused or was caused by a chain of events. I think someone else has already mentioned the chicken and the egg.

My husband and I were having some discussions about planning for early retirement. We were visiting my snowbird parents, and there happened to be a Trawler Fest going on in Fort Myers. Eureka, the light bulb went off in his head. We would buy a trawler, sell all of our land based assets and cruise the world. (My children still laugh at the look that came over my face.) I had several problems with his plan. First, the only boating experience he had was canoeing, and he would get lost. Secondly, and most importantly, his plan was to cut all ties to civilization and get away from people. He was very introverted and hated dealing with people. His plan would have isolated me from almost all types of social interaction.

Okay, so more like a flashing red light went off in my head and I could hear someone yelling “Danger, Danger”. I realized that I could not picture myself stuck on a boat with this man and actually call it fun. Then I realized that I couldn’t see myself spending my golden years with him at all. So the thought of cruising kept me from ruining my life.

But, I have to admit that the thought of cruising was now in the back of my mind. Oh the places that I could go and the people that I could meet. Then I met John. John was raised in San Francisco, and both his father and grandfather had been ship captains. He got his first small sailboat when he was seven and has owned a boat every day of his life since then. He had spent thirty years planning to move aboard and spend his retirement years cruising. His wife had spent thirty years waiting for him to outgrow his dream. When I met him his dream was still alive, but his marriage was over too. Could this be just a coincidence that both divorces were caused by plans of cruising?

But, wait a minute; I had never been on anything but powerboats. You mean this boat needs wind to make it go? How does that work? The pressure was on. What if I didn’t like sailing or couldn’t get the hang of it? All of my worries disappeared the first time I stepped aboard John’s boat. This was where I wanted to spend the rest of my life. I spent the first summer learning everything I could about handling the boat. By the end of the summer I could get her in and out of the slip by myself, and handle her in most wind conditions. We have spent the last five years upgrading equipment and building up our cruising kitty.

So my ex-husband’s epiphany brought me new love and a dream that we will realize together in June 2007.
:kissy:

[GordMay]

sailtimegirl ~ so, what’s your “ex” doing now? Irony would suggest, that he’s not single-handing a trawler.

[sailtimegirl]

Gord,

The irony is that I ended up with the canoe. I think that he gave up his idea of a trawler. Last I heard he was thinking of moving back to Montana. I think he missed the sheep.

Cheryl
S/V Air do Shocair

[markpj23]

How many of these "girl-steals-dream-and-runs-off-with-a-yacht-captain" stories must we endure???

Cheryl - sounds like yours was truly a life-changing event!!

[Canibul]

I was married for 23 years to a woman who was terrified of deep water, terrified of boats in general, and refused to even try to learn how to swim. People who knew what I was all about thought I was out of my mind. Perhaps I was.

Now am married to a former nationally rated swimmer, living on a small tropical island, looking for a catamaran. Not sure that that says about life, but it must mean something.

"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what you are for what you can become. "
(Charles de Bois)

[ess105]

Here's my story of how my wife and I became committed to the cruising dream and my own Epiphany.

My wife and I have always enjoyed travelling. For years, the main expenditure in our life (apart from food & mortgage) would be on vacations. While we managed to visit some very interesting places, it was ultimate ly dissatisfying as the 'rat-race' we were in, only allowed us to take short breaks. We were never anywhere long enough to really understand the place and more importantly the people.

So in our idle moments we used to discuss our travelling dream. One day we would semi-retire and somehow have the time to travel the world slowly. We would toss ideas back and forth but it was really only pipe dreams at the time.

The first seed was sown when we managed to pick up a cheap trip to the Bahamas back in '98. During that trip we took a daysail out to some excluded island. Something felt so right about being on a sail boat and going where you wanted, when you could.

However, sailing seemed to one of those things that 'other people did' so that seed just stayed in the soil.

A couple of years later I was on one of these corporate leadership/team build things where we spent a night and a day on a 67ft Global Challenge racing boat. The culmination of this was spending a few hours performing a challenge in Long Island Sound.

A connection was finally made and the idea that perhaps our dream of slowly travelling the world could be done by sail boat.

Having no experience at all, my wife and I decided it was worth investigating. We visitted Newport and Annapolis sail boat shows that year and discovered there were sailboats we could imagine living on. We started sailing lessons and discovered we enjoyed sailing.

We began to form our plans. They were long term as we had teenage children and we felt it was too late (and too early) to take them with us so timeframes were set around college time (2010/2011)

Each year we would travel to the boat shows (usually Annapolis) to look at the next batch of new boats. We always felt that one of these we would be buying second hand sometime in the future and we learned something each time we went. Each year we would sail some more, read some more , talk to more cruisers and browse the web some more. The cruising dream grew.

All the while our careers ground on. Success was coming at a cost though. Stress and anxiety grew year by year. The new 'cruising dream' became somewhat of an obsession (for me) and it became my escape plan. I had a way to escape the rat race I was in and I could think of nothing else.

My Epiphany.

My Epiphany was when the realization came that the rat-race was not something I was escaping from, it was the thing that was allowing me to realize my dreams. I suddenly felt I had been so ungrateful to scorn the very thing I had the accident of birth to be in that gave me the chance to go and do the things I'd like to do. I am now able to remind myself that I really am one of a luck few who can make a choice like this.

I no longer feel any need to "escape". Our dreams are just as strong and I KNOW we will do this. In myself, I feel a whole lot better about the days ahead, those that will preceed our casting off.

One final note I have for those who feel the world has changed. Of course it has. But so have we. Part of my own epiphany is the realization that it's more the changes within me than those without that have shaped my perceptions. To me, the ultimate allure of the cruising life is the continuing opportunity to change ourselves through the people we meet, the places we go and the cultures we learn.

Steve

[R&B]

OK here is the bottom line......I know a little bit about this thanks to being a paramedic in NYC for the last 23yrs......."S" happens its true....life offers you no promises....I am able to see people regreting their lives daily....This is just plain sad! Age, sex,race or economic backround do not matter, what does is trying to live you life without regret.....People ask me all the time about 9-11 (yes I was there and we wont go down that road) but it is not a world changing event that should change your life...far more people get ill, injured or die on a daily basis that would make 9-11 look like a walk in the park.....life without following your dreams is empty. I know that the obsticals can be large trust me we have almost overcome all of them to date....but as it is said if you spend all you time looking at the obsticals you lose sight of your dreams.... NO REGRETS!

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by ess105

... My Epiphany was when the realization came that the rat-race was not something I was escaping from, it was the thing that was allowing me to realize my dreams ...
... One final note I have for those who feel the world has changed. Of course it has ... Steve

Very well said, Steve.

Although I’ve often advocated the “Go small, go now” philosophy, Steve reminds us of one of the definitive characteristics of growing towards maturity - an appreciation for “deferred gratification”.

I’ve been a cruiser & wannabe all my life. I still recall reading my predecessors writing (in the 50's and 60's) of “the good old days of cruising”, before modernity came to the Islands. Steve also reminds that, that “these days” are “tomorrow’s good old days”.

[Islandmike]

Kai Nui

You are absolutely correct about different personalities being drawn to Mountains vs Oceans for instance. For a while I worked in Kansas City and had the opportunity to drive to the Rocky Mountains a number of times. I saw views that blew my mind, some of the most beautiful things I have every seen...But I was born on an island, I love the sea and eventualy left one of the best jobs I every had to come back to the sea. Cant tell you why, it just draws me.

[GordMay]

I was born in a hospital, located on the pan-flat & featureless prairies.
I love any geographic features, particularly mountains and water (rivers, lakes, & oceans). Mountainous Islands have the charm of combining both.

[Islandmike]

Gord,

How very true...

[rebel heart]

Not sure exactly when the lightbulb went off. I always wanted to do crazy things, and generally have been able to do them.

But sailing around the world is like the ultimate, and it's really been tough. It takes years to prep for, can put a lot of stress on the family in the interim, and .... well... it's hard to stick to a plan for multiple years.

I keep socking away money into my mutual fund for the trip, loading up the 401k for later on, and try to do everything I can to make myself marketable to the global economy. Easier said than done, but I'm not getting any younger.

I'll be dead in the ground in probably less than 50 years. All I need to do is remind myself of that, which isn't hard, and I'm sufficiently motivated again.

[Amgine]

The skippers with more macho than brains were out today on English bay, which is really the beginning of a fjord into the mountains and runs right past downtown Vancouver... and I was day dreaming of some mountain islands up the coast, but mostly about Quatsino Sound; I missed several recommended anchorages there on my trip 'round, and I think I ought to rectify that.

I lost my arial in Winter Harbour; too many eagles and not enough perches.

Maybe I'll sail down to Sucia next weekend, if the weather behaves. Not this weekend - the kid's convinced me to take him snowboarding a half-hour from town. More than half the houses don't have screens; there are almost no mosquitos! (not true at most of the anchorages up the coast, alas.)

And if you don't mind sailing in rain and cold, it's a mighty find place to be a sailor.