CURRENT LOCATION: Anchored in Mosquito Cove, just outside the entrance to Jolly Harbour, Antigua
17 04.505' N, 061 53.541' W
Since we turned north and effectively ended our exploration of new Caribbean islands, we have been receiving e-mails asking, "Why?" Just to assuage any fears among our friends and family, we have not taken ill and are not dead broke. Nor has any calamity to relatives stateside forced us to make this decision. This path is one of our own choosing.
Let me also state that we are not suddenly disillusioned with this lifestyle. If you have read the blog from the beginning, you will realize that our only goal was to go cruising and sail our boat to the tropics. Well, goal accomplished! There was a lot of speculation regarding where this lifestyle might lead us: around the Caribbean, across the Atlantic, even around the world. However, all that was just blue sky thinking, untethered by the grounded reality that we had never spent an extended period of time living on the water and sailing to new destinations.
We learned a lot about what kind of cruisers we are in that first year. We spent the first few months away from North Carolina in very active go-go-go mode. We saw and experienced a lot of new places and gained much in the way of sailing experience. But the pace wore us ragged, and the joy of discovering new places soon became a chore of (yet again) moving the boat.
Then we settled in Culebra, and a different phase began. In many ways, we found that life was easier when we weren't constantly on the go. Especially when we really liked the place we had dropped anchor. After a while, though, once the explorations of our immediate surroundings were complete, we discovered a need to have something more to do. Thus developed our involvement in the community as librarian and algebra teacher.
We could have been contented with the continuation of that lifestyle in Culebra for a while, but the temptation to explore more of the Caribbean held an equal allure. I won't say that it was a coin-toss, because the decision to move onward was a long and difficult deliberation.
Consciously, we set off on this journey further south with a very modest goal: go as far as Dominica, then figure out what comes next. Subconsciously, we set out to achieve a better balance of cruising pace and downtime. In St. Martin we stayed for a month and slowly moved from anchorage to anchorage. We got a full appreciation for what French St. Martin had to offer without wearing ourselves out. Three weeks in Antigua continued that leisurely cruising pace. Here we had found another island where we were very happy with where we had dropped anchor, and could easily imagine staying for a while. Things sped up a bit when we headed to The Saints and Dominica. In The Saints, crowded anchorages, rolly conditions, and deep water discouraged us from staying long. In Dominica, the cost of exploring the island was a bit more than we had bargained for, and the clock ticked loudly in the face of their short immigration allowance relative to weather windows. With these flavors in our mouth, we asked ourselves, "Is there any other place we
really want to visit?"
Strikes in Martinique made that island less than tempting. We have already been to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, during our days of sailing school. And, all that we had heard about Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela made us less than eager to visit either location. I suppose that visits to St. Lucia and Grenada might have been nice, but nothing really called to us about those destinations to make the effort to put more miles under our keel. Although the sailing is better along this route (compared to the Thorny Path), land effects, wind shadows, and sea conditions still make moving the boat a real chore. We liked Jolly Harbour in Antigua, and the thought of spending a couple of months in relaxed live-aboard mode was quite appealing. So it was back to Jolly Harbour we went.
That still doesn't explain our decision of returning to the United States, but it sets the stage by explaining our mindset at this point in time. With hurricane season approaching, we promised ourselves that this year we would be either north or south of the hurricane zone by June. The main drivers for electing the northern option (and returning home) are two-fold: Motivation and Money.
Cruising requires effort. Cruising requires continuous sacrifice, compared to a land-based existence. Cruising siphons money with limited potential to earn. It is for these reasons that cruising requires one to be motivated. Motivated to take advantage of the freedom to explore new places, or motivated to take advantage of all the free-time available when staying in one place. Put simply, our motivation to continue cruising is waning. I prefer not to be so introspective as to analyze why that is the case, it just is. We have truly enjoyed the experience, but lack the motivation to continue indefinitely in this lifestyle.
When we decided to live life for a while without an income it was obvious that we would be relying upon savings. I am far from a financial expert, but I do feel comfortable with the concept of diversification. Therefore, we divided our kitty among a variety of investment vehicles. Some were focused on providing easy access to cash in the short term. Some were focused on the modest goal of keeping pace with inflation. Some, if the market did well, might even produce an income. It was these latter investments which did not perform as expected, as you might imagine given the current state of the economy. However, there is some wisdom in the fact that we won't realize that loss until we need to remove money from those investments. Although we are not knocking on the door of those accounts just yet, the need to begin earning money again is certainly going to occur much sooner than we had originally expected.
So, what happens now? Well, first we need to get back to an environment where earning a living is a possibility for us. That means returning to the United States. As soon as it became apparent that we needed to return home, Sheryl suggested a long offshore run to Bermuda. The spark of motivation returned and we became excited about this final adventure. It would be the longest offshore run we have ever attempted, traveling 1000 nautical miles north to Bermuda. Then, after a short stay, making another 700 nautical-mile run west to the US.
Once back on US soil, so to speak, our focus will be two-fold ... put the boat up for sale and start working on what we want to do with our land-based lives. Yes, that is
correct, the boat is going to be sold. In our opinion, a 35-foot sailboat can be a very cost-effective home. However, living aboard drastically limits our employment options. Keeping a 35-foot sailboat which is not our home is an extravagant luxury which we are not capable of financially justifying.
Prudence will be prepared to meet potential new owners.
The Chesapeake Bay makes for a great place to work on that preparation, most especially because it is north of the hurricane belt. Upon arrival, we will begin searching for a marina where we can live aboard and easily accomplish certain tasks. The ideal marina will be reasonably priced, have clean shower facilities, and good WiFi service to the docks. It will also be located in an area where we have easy access to a grocery store and FedEx, UPS, or US Postal services in the absence of owning a car (via walking or a bus routes). We foresee the need to be doing a lot of shipping, because we have a lot of stuff on the boat which we plan to liquidate. Right now,
Prudence is stuffed to the gills with cruising equipment, spare parts, books, guides, and charts. All of these should fetch a fair price on Ebay, Craigslist, consignment stores, or nautical fleamarkets. In addition to giving us a little money back from our investment in all of this stuff (albeit a fraction of that rather considerable investment), it will make the boat show better to potential buyers. A cavernous cockpit locker looks much better than one stuffed with gear.
If you (or anybody you know) are in the market for any cruising equipment, books, guides, charts, a dinghy, an outboard, or even a 35-foot boat, please keep an eye on our blog site. I am working on a comprehensive website which will list and describe all that we have for sale. The site will go live sometime in June.
What happens after we sell the boat? To be honest, we don't know. We will find ourselves in the rather unique position of being a late-30's/early-40's couple who own absolutely nothing but a few suitcases full of clothing. Perhaps we will find jobs which allow us to live somewhere overseas, or maybe I'll go back to school in preparation for a new career. Alternatively, we can pick any city in the country to start our new lives. The job-search net can be cast far and wide. No matter what, though, we plan to take the biggest lessons we have learned from the cruising lifestyle with us. Live simply, save money, and any idea you can image eventually becomes possible.