Honesty!
02 September 2011 | Albany Western Australia
Sue Watt
Winter is over in Albany – we have already had some beautiful sunny days where the children have worn shorts and tee shirts, played at the waters’ edge and we’ve all sat outside enjoying the warmth of the early spring sun. We’ve also had spring rain and storms – but we definitely prefer the sun!
We have been pottering about – doing all sorts of jobs on board – some little – like replacing cleats that were worn and no longer gripping, a few halyard lines that were chaffed and wearing out, inside jobs like servicing the engine and what not. Since we arrived we knew that we would spend the winter here – waiting for good weather before beginning our adventure – and while the day of our departure, being determined by weather more than anything else, is still not a certainty – we do know it is getting closer.
Almost every day, when he completes a job, Peter announced that ,’We’re ready now,’ but then the next day we think of something else we can do and then – when it is done – he announces again that we are ready! The fact of the matter is that you are never really ready as such - there is always something more that can be done, added, fixed, replaced, serviced – it’s simply a matter of being ready enough!
A few of our readers have commented to us that we write a lot about the things we do wrong – and not so much about things going well.
Well it’s quite deliberate!
When we first thought about sailing we both began reading things – books, blogs, magazines, articles – anything we could get our hands on. A lot of what we read left us feeling quite daunted. Some of what we read made us feel as if this was an exciting challenge but one we could undertake.
When we looked at the different things we were filling our minds with, the thing that stood out the most to me was that those people who wrote of their failures, their mistakes, their accidents and then how they recovered, left us feeling like these were normal people, people just like us, with a goal and a dream and the willingness to learn, and that if they could achieve their goals despite setbacks, so could we. How could you not conclude that when reading Jessica Watson’s account of slamming into a whopping great big bulk carrier on her last sea trials but still setting sail to circumnavigate the globe alone? It takes guts doesn’t it to not only make a mistake but to talk about it. But we contrast that with writings by others who only talk of what goes well, with no hint of mishaps, well it leaves you wondering if these are not ordinary people. For me, it’s not relatable and far from inspiring.
So to all the bloggers and writers of sailing before us, we say a hearty thanks for your honesty and feel that if it wasn’t for such truthful narratives we might not have had the courage to embark on our own adventure. You allowed us to feel that it was possible and that we could do it! So when it comes to our blog – well the heart of it for us is honesty but also a compulsion to encourage others with our trials! Yes things go wrong, and no we don’t shirk away from talking about it! Not as an act of self-abrogation – but in the interests of encouraging others that they can venture out and have a go. They might, like us, get things wrong, but then they might, like us, keep going anyway! Not everything will be perfect and you will have moments – but at the end of the day that’s where the humour in life comes from! Someone told me once that it was better to laugh at yourself first – before others did and in a way I believe this is true. The capacity to say – oh my gosh, you won’t believe what I did, frees us from feeling that we must get it all right to succeed but it also allows us to laugh at our failures and encourages others too to have a go!
And after all that’s what humour is, isn’t it – problems + time – todays struggle becomes tomorrows laughter – we just try to get in early!
In reality we actually get a lot of things right! Our confidence in our capacity to sail around the Australia – and then the World has grown hugely – the children have developed skills and grown in unimaginable ways – it’s really quite an amazing thing. Our yacht, which has already circumnavigated the world one and a half times, is so well prepared and equipped that we can be completely confident in her. After spending the winter preparing her we now know this yacht so well – every detail – every system – every piece of equipment.
So as we spend our last weeks getting all those final little things done, finish stocking the cupboards and getting everything ready that might be useful to us, we will be anticipating lots of fun sailing days ahead – and, no doubt lots of moments – good and bad – and we will be sure to document all the best bits!