Halifax to Norway! The Norwegians have all made it safely across the North Atlantic Ocean! (pic is the old town clock in Halifax) Ella and Sjarmen made landfall in Fort William after 24 days at sea and are now back home in Norway. Fri Inspiration arrived back a week or two ago. Doesn’t it just make you tingle all over to think of their adventure? I’m encouraged by the fact that they encountered no really, terribly, horribly, bad weather on their passage. Not that we are about to set off on such a journey ourselves, but it is still nice to know ...

Here in Halifax, we spent a fine evening with Raewyn and Peter (Saliander). These New Zealand sailors cruised the south coast of Cuba last winter, and then came up to Canada where they anchored in the Northwest Arm near Armdale Yacht Club. They came for dinner and laundry and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting them before they continued on to Newfoundland for the summer.

In other boating news, Jim and I took Kathy Parsons’ on-line Spanish for Cruisers course through Seven Seas Cruising Association. (SSCA) It’s a short one - just 6 sessions but it sure was intense and is a great jump start for us in our efforts to improve our Spanish before heading back south this winter. We are both really impressed by Kathy’s dedication and ability to teach on-line. Check out www.sevenseasu.com for upcoming courses in all sorts of marine topics.

In our landlubbing summer life, we have both been busy. Jim has been doing some consulting, and developing his consulting business. He enjoys being able to draw on his years of experience to mentor others in leadership roles. I have been spending my time in the garden and am thrilled to see that my “less than green thumb” seems to be greening up! Our long cold spring is history now and the plants in our garden are finally daring to rise up. I have beans and squash and cucumbers climbing poles, tomatoes and strawberries in pots, and herbs and salad greens tucked in lots of places. The cosmos, dahlias and impatiens add spots of colour, and I must say - the back garden is almost as good as a cockpit for relaxation!

We both enjoy spending time at the family cottage on the Northumberland Strait, where we cleaned up the mess from the “big storm” of December ’10, and are getting ready to paint it. I wrote an article for our Healing Touch Association of Canada e-connections newsletter and had a wonderful time playing with the overlapping themes of balance, wellness, and movement from both my sailing life and my land life. Jim bought a new tablet and is happily engaged in syncing it with his computer, and finding exciting and useful apps. It’s been a while since he had a new toy!

We’ve been getting ready for the presentations on cruising that we’ll give this summer. As we go through our pictures and old blog postings from the time since we left Gananoque, ON to go cruising, we’ve been reminiscing and planning and analyzing and laughing. Embarking on our first cruise back in 2007 was an unqualified excellent decision for us. We continue to fine tune it: A one time trip or the first of many? Full time or part time? With or without an on-land home? Return to familiar places or travel to new ones? Same boat or new one? What’s our comfort level? Are we risk takers? What do we value? What are our responsibilities? How do we create our best lives?

Good questions! I know for sure that sailing is part of it - and that we’re not following the Norwegians across the North Atlantic!! Madcap likes warm water right now.