The Journey Begins

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And the sailing journey of a lifetime begins with a single mile. From the helm of SeaLight I turned to look back at what we were leaving in our wake, one mile behind us. Our children. Friends. Stuff. Comfort. Routine.

In fact, I did not look back. I never do. As we’ve always told our kids, before leaving on a journey, look into the eyes of the ones you love, say your goodbyes, tell them you love them, then take that step forward into the unknown…and don’t look back. Never look back. That world will be there for you when you return. Lean into the unknown, embrace it, put your whole self into it, and if you feel the urge to look back, fight it. Those you leave behind will miss you, as you will miss them, and that’s okay. They are cheering you on as you push your way into your uncertain future, and they theirs. They want you to succeed.

 

Saying all that, this time for me was hard. I may not see my son Magnus for eight months. And Stella, four. The past weeks have been amazing, with both the kids at home, enjoying many meals together with us, talking, spending time together. seeing Magnus excelling in his college program and working hard as a server, and watching Stella embark on her exciting gap year, working full time and saving money for her upcoming trips. We are so insanely proud of them both. It was hard to say goodbye and there were tears. But we did it.

 

SeaLight’s diesel engine was purring like a stroked kitty as we set the autopilot due east, directly into the wind. There would be no zig zag sailing today – we had 140 miles to cover to reach Oswego and the conditions were not great, with 15 knots of sustained wind (which would have been great if is was coming from any direction other than due east) and very choppy water.

Our friend Mike had arrived yesterday, but the wild weather prevented us from leaving so we waited a day. By 3pm we were on the water, settled into the cockpit and sizing up the route. Mike is prone to seasickness so popped a tablet or two of Dramamine, which didn’t take long to knock him out and he slid into his “dead man in a coffin” routine and lay prone and utterly motionless on the port-side cockpit seat for about six hours, sadly missing out on the delicious shepard’s pie Ana heated up for dinner.

 

Three hours into the trip the winds were over 20 knots and Lake Ontario was giving us a beating. Waves were averaging 3 – 4 feet but several times we plowed the bow of the boat into rogue 6 – 8 footers, flooding the deck with rivers of water as we launched up then smashed down into the next big wave with a sickening crunch on the bow. Every time this happened it felt like the boat was about to break apart, but we knew from previous experience it certainly could take it…but could the crew? 

It wasn’t until 9 at night that the winds finally weakened and the waves settled. I went down for a fitful sleep while Ana watched the helm and at 1am we switched. The waning crescent moon provided scant light so we sailed through darkness.

The Erie Canal

The 363 mile Erie Canal was built in the early 1800's; its purpose, to join the Hudson River in New York to Lake Erie which it accomplished to spectacular results, utterly transforming transport and commerce and spurring massive economic and population growth. It went through three phases of expansion over the next hundred and fifty years - deepening, widening, expanding, re-routing. By the early 1900's new transportation methods had diminished its commercial utility and it gradually became primarily recreational, but left a grand legacy of innovation and a testament to the relentless optimism of the American people. It is still the longest man-made waterway in the United States

Despite this, hardly anybody's ever heard of it outside of the boating community.

As I've been speaking to people about our upcoming trip, most assume we would be sailing down the St. Lawrence Seaway, past the maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, past Newfoundland, then down the US coast. While this certainly is possible, it would add at least another 800 miles onto our journey, and the best departure time for this trip would be in the early summer to give you plenty of time to explore before heading south in the fall. Maybe someday, but not this year.

We will not be transiting the entire Erie Canal, as it begins in Buffalo, NY at the eastern end of Lake Erie and we are starting in Lake Ontario. We will instead sail to Oswego, NY, which is in the south-eastern corner of Lake Ontario and take the Oswego Canal from there after removing our mast. The Oswego Canal is 24 miles long and has a series of 7 locks then connects into the Erie Canal.

Our plan was to be leaving today, but hurricane Helene has kicked up some strong easterly winds up here in Canada and bashing into six foot waves with 20 knots of wind blowing directly in our faces is not the way I want to begin our big adventure.

Until the lake calms down we'll enjoy the comforts of home and enjoy the fact that we don't have to report back to work this Monday, or any Mondays in the foreseeable future!

The Next Trip of a Lifetime - Sailing Our Boat to the Caribbean

Last weekend we had an amazing day on our sailboat with our friends Dave and Kira. We snacked and drank, swam in the surprisingly warm September waters of Lake Ontario, had a glorious daytime fire on the beach, did some campfire surfing, ripped around in the dinghy, and talked and talked and talked. We were so busy talking and having fun that we abandoned our original plan to drive into Hamilton for a big arts and music festival.

At one point we were sitting around fire discussing our upcoming trip and Kira said, "You know, you guys told us about this trip shortly after we met. You said that as soon as your kids were out of high school and on their own you'd be sailing away."

"Really?" I said as I munched on a handful of delicious Snyders Hot Buffalo Wing pretzel pieces. "I don't remember that."

"Well," said Ana, easing back in her fireside chair. "That would have been about fifteen years ago, memories fade. But I'm not surprised."

"You guys have been planning this trip for a long time," Dave said as he tossed another pile of brush on the fire.

They were right. We have been planning this trip for a long time. In just over a week we will be taking leave from our jobs and embarking on a nearly five thousand mile round trip to the Bahamas aboard our sailboat SeaLight. 

Why now? Three reasons.

First, our parents are mostly healthy. Or better stated, our parents aren't likely to be getting more healthy in the future.

Second, our kids are mostly self sufficient. Sure, they can't cook much, they don't know how to fix a toilet, and they think vehicles are somehow self-gassing. But they are willing and able to figure out these things and whatever else comes their way. The only only real obstacle that has prevented them from learning more life lessons up until this point is us, their parents.

Third, this is the right time for an adventure. Our life of work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, WEEKEND, work, eat, sleep...has become less inspiring of late and we need a break. A real break. Not just a frantic week or two off for summer vacation or a quick winter getaway, but some serious time to reset and refocus. The privilege of waking up each morning not knowing where the day will lead, what incredible experiences we'll have, what disasters may befall us, what characters we will meet, where we will travel to, what we'll find. The excitement of daily surprises. The luxury of an unset schedule.

For us, this trip is an early withdrawal on retirement. It's a learning sabbatical. It's a pre-emptive strike on cancer and whatever other god-awful afflictions may be awaiting us in the future. We're not waiting until we're in the grips of a disease before we start wearing the "Fuck Cancer" t-shirt. Fuck Cancer right now.

The trip will take us from Lake Ontario through the Erie Canal which terminates near Albany, New York, and from there we sail down the Hudson River into New York City. From here, we take an ocean passage down the east coast, past Atlantic City, then up into Delaware Bay and south through the massive Chesapeake Bay, passing by Baltimore and Annapolis with likely day trips to Washington, DC. We will reach Norfolk, Virginia which is the start of the Intracoastal Waterway (shortened to ICW), and this will lead us through a series of rivers, inlets, bays, and man-made canals, all protected from the ravages of the ocean. We will travel through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, hopefully reaching Fort Lauderdale or Miami by Christmas, then making the jump eastward across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas where we'll have two to three months of leisurely cruising through the hundreds of islands and thousands of beaches. Sometime in March, we'll turn around and head back home, returning to Lake Ontario by the start of June. The entire trip will take us eight months.

It's a huge trip, much further than we've ever taken a sailboat. Are we scared? Anxious? A bit. But we've spent the summer toiling on an endless series of boat improvement projects, so SeaLight is as ready as she can be. We've been getting down to the nitty-gritty the last few weekends - selecting the right forks, knives, and spoons for the trip, and in the right quantities. Inventorying every single piece of kit on the boat and removing anything that is not required to free up space for things we do need. Waterproofing the canvas. Loading jars of instant coffee and cans of food into containers in the bilge. We even made a SeaLight Visitor Guide for the folks that decide to join us for segments of the trip.

This is the boating trip of a lifetime and will be a good test as to whether we enjoy the cruising lifestyle. We know it's not going to be easy - navigating complex tides and currents will be tricky and new to us, spending endless days motoring down waterways will get monotonous, the boat is sure to break (likely several times), we will get on each other's nerves, we will get lost and stuck and confused . But hopefully the great days will outnumber the bad ones, and we'll handle the problems we encounter with determination and fortitude. And if it all goes to hell in a handbasket? Well, we'll figure it out. But I think we'll do just fine and have an incredible adventure - one that ushers us into this next phase of our lives.

We're ready.

Twelve Aunts and Twelve Uncles

I’ve been working on a book project. Two books, actually. I began this project just over four years ago and am happy to say that I finally finished it in June of this year. The books are called Twelve Uncles and Twelve Aunts and I am quite proud of the finished products.

The concept was to write a book for each of my children and gift it to them on their high school graduation day. I’ve never been much for bought gifts, but show me something hand-made, created, built, custom crafted, just for the recipient and nobody else, and now you are into something special. For my birthdays I never ask for “stuff” from the kids; I ask for a handmade card, and I’ve received some real beauties over the years. This year, for the kids’ birthdays, Ana and I made giant cards with scruffy black and white home-printer quality photographs of them over the years, along with some written messages. They loved it.

In these books I wanted to bring together many of the important things I've learned over the years (or in some cases, still trying to learn) and present them to the kids in the form of a fictional story about a family similar to ours. These ideas came from many sources - experiences with my own aunts and uncles, my parents, cousins, friends, and many books and articles on a wide range of topics. I am very, very fortunate to have such a diverse family and kaleidoscope of friends to draw inspiration from, which made coming up with themes for the book quite easy. Reflections of my friends and family exist in the books' characters. Not one-to-one, mind you, but little pieces scattered over many of them, like pieces of a shattered mirror. The characters in this book are fictional, but all fiction comes from the imagination, which is fueled by decades' worth of real memories and real people.

This may sound morbid to some, but one of my goals was to document all the things I'd hope to pass onto the kids before I expire, which (as we all know and fear) could happen to any of us at any time. Here's how I imagine the post-mortem proclamation to go down, likely read from a parchment by a robed Buddhist monk standing on a spiritually significant mountain peak, or at the very least a kitchen table:

In light of my untimely and unscheduled departure from this earth, I bequeath to you, my dearest children, not a generous trust fund, nor a secret map to hidden treasure, nor a chest loaded with bearer bonds, but a gift far more valuable - two books. These books reveal many hitherto unknown secrets of the universe, wisdom compiled from ancient sages and prophets, profound knowledge of the way of humankind, plus I think there was an excellent raisin bread recipe in there too. Read these books, absorb the ideas, and dutifully heed the exhortations contained therein. The elixir in these pages is sure to bring you great riches, success in love, inner peace, stillness, clear skin, a triumphant career, legions of worshippers, excellent muscle tone, and an eternal appreciation for art, beauty, and music. Take these books my children, they are yours.

In truth, I don't even know if the kids will read them or find them relevant at this point in their lives. But I hope they do, and they are able to draw an idea or two from the books that help them along the way as they travel into adulthood. And if not, well, it's been said that writers write for themselves. If it turns out somebody else enjoys it, that's a bonus.

I used Amazon to create the books (it's an incredible tool, and free) and printed out copies for each of my nephews and nieces, our kids, then a copy to have at home. The plan was never to make this a commercial exercise; it was a labour of love. But I decided I do want to make the books available to those interested so I've set the price to the lowest that Amazon Canada will allow, about nine bucks (links below, plus images of the covers). If anybody would prefer a free pdf copy of them, just shoot me an email and I'll send them to you.

So here's a big cheers to all of my incredible aunts and uncles!

Amazon link to purchase Twelve Uncles

Amazon link to purchase Twelve Aunts