S/V KARMA IV

As I effortlessly begin my umpteenth attempt at updating our blog the strong winds of change have swept through our lives. Since our last entry Nancy and I visited Vietnam, spent weeks with our great friend Ron in Cambodia then spent weeks more immersed up to our eyeballs in sunshine ...and a nice pool. We both took a long deep breath in Ko Lanta, Thailand where we hunked down and chilled out... about as much as I have in recent memory. We read, talked, sipped gin (mixed with the nicest orange juice I ever tasted) and we dared to think outside the box....like playing "what if" ...except for real. In that pool we came up with a plan, a plan so fantastic it would surely be the greatest gamble in our lives.... and all we had to do was have the courage to just. do. it..... gitter dun, look forward not back, big dreams unfulfilled.....

Three months since that promise to ourselves we have sold our house in Nova Scotia, visited Vancouver Island, British Columbia and have just returned from our second trip there after obtaining a property on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, Canada. We will pack what we have left by August and drive west some 6000 km over 13 days. So far so good...the PLAN is working!

KARMA IV will play an even greater part in our lives now, as both floating cottage and escape pod, from the madness that exists on todays roads... glad I had the sailor bug.

and now back to our regular programming....KARMA

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Vessel Name:	Karma IV
Vessel Make/Model:	1988 Bayfield 36
Hailing Port:	Halifax, Nova Scotia
Crew:	Allan & Nancy
About:	Allan and Nancy are both retired military folks who wanted to travel beyond the confines of the resorts and the canned vacations. A week in paradise was no longer going to be enough, what was enough were the long cold winters, too few daylight hours and the hibernation from living all year round.... [...] More
Extra:	In late summer of 2009, Nancy and I had the opportunity to visit Newfoundland on the Atlantic east coast quickly followed by a marathon drive around Vancouver Island on the Pacific west coast of Canada. These two trips made us realize that joining the convoys of RV's, campers and cars just wasn't [...] the sort of adventure we were looking for. On our last day exploring Vancouver Island we drove by a small bay with a few sailboats sitting at anchor, their relaxed occupants totally unconcerned for the poor souls stuck in the chaos of highway traffic just yonder. How delicious would that be, a defining moment that made us realize that freedom to roam would best be done aboard a sailboat. WE NEED A PLAN A 5 year plan was conceived,discussed and repeated repeatedly on the overnight flight back to Halifax, by the next morning we were committed to finding out just how we would become sailors. During that winter and into 2010 we took courses conducted at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron superbly taught by Mike & Linda Whitehouse, both experienced cruising sailors who not just taught the course, but made you part of it. By 2012 we had completed training to an intermediate CYA cruising standard, bought a Bayfield 36 and set about bringing this weary beautiful sailing vessel into the future and a new chapter in her life about to begin. We have accepted that sailing has a cost but its on our terms, the weathers schedule and where the wind blows...no romantic notions, its a fact that sailboats need favourable winds! More

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Who: Allan & Nancy

Port: Halifax, Nova Scotia

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