Goodnight, Sweetheart, Well, It's Time To Go

Christmas is over. It's a new year. And I am sitting at a desk in front of a shiny new desktop computer. There's a dishwasher in the kitchen and a washing machine in the back room. I sleep in a bed with covers. And, unlike in years past, this isn't a temporary situation.

We have moved home.


Back in 2010 when we started, this was meant to be an 18-month adventure - two years, max. But one thing led to another, and we decided to cross the Pacific, and Erik got interesting work, and and and. And two years became six.

Preparing to set out in October 2010.

I couldn't be more grateful for those extra years. We've had an extraordinary time as a family. Even when it was raining so hard I couldn't see the bow. Even when I was trying to bleed the engine. Even when both toilets packed it in at the same time at the onset of a week-long passage. All of those difficulties quickly become funny in hindsight. And the good times? Those are shiny to begin with.

Makeshift repair in New Caledonia

I've greatly enjoyed receiving your emails and getting to know you, dear readers. Some of you plan to sail yourselves; others just love to read about the cruising life. But I'm gratified that you chose to share in our adventure.

Arriving in New Zealand

Rather than bore you with a smug recitation of "What I Learned During My Six Years At Sea," I'd like to leave you with one thought - the one thing I've learned that really matters:

Grab opportunities. 

Keep your eyes peeled and snatch them as they stumble by. Jump on them like a mugger on a drunk in an alleyway. That long-ago day in our living room, with a baby over one shoulder and a four-year-old Cinderella in a cowboy hat tearing past my feet, I could have said no to Erik's crazy boat sabbatical idea. I could easily have turned down the prospect of trading my comfortable, happy life for a world of uncertainty, and no one would have blamed me.

Adjusting the baggywrinke underway

Camping out in the Tuamotus

But something intrigued me. There was a spark there.

Opportunities don't always sound fun. They don't sound simple, and they almost never announce themselves as Something Great. But find them. Make them! Run them to ground like a lion taking an antelope. They won't all work out, but you'll have some amazing adventures along the way.

Dinner!

Whitsunday afternoon

Leaving Cairns

Who can resist a hole in the sand?

Riding in the family car

Marine mammal

Grannie wins the Most Frequent Visitor award

And you wonder why we stayed out so long

Every morning, my smiling girls hop on the school bus. Erik catches the train to work. And I start tapping away at my keyboard. Physically, we're back where we started, but this isn't The End.

The Papillon Crew has started their next adventure. I hope you'll have one, too.

Six years later - November 2016