finally, an update.

I'm a few weeks back from my trip to the British Virgin Islands and I have lots to tell you.

First off, I promise this is the last time I'm away from this blog for so long. It's been hard with a small person needing and wanting all my time and energy and what seemed like this momentous eternity of treading water on this dream of ours. We had some hiccups. Our plan was to leave last fall. Obviously that didn't happen. It was a matter of waiting too late and simply not doing what needed to be done to Interlude that tripped us up. There were so many questions about how and if we were going to proceed with our potential cruising lifestyle this spring. Plenty of things hinged on one major piece of the puzzle. It wasn't whether we could financially make it work, it wasn't whether or not we were prepared to cut our ties with the creature comforts land life afforded us, it wasn't how we planned to raise a VERY busy toddler on a boat. Really, it was me. 

The decision of how to proceed depended on my seasickness. I haven't spoken about it much because it creeps up on me sometimes and not at other times. And when it has crept up on me, I've been down for the count. I start out sleepy, then nauseous and then eventually, occasionally, I vomit. Sorry for the visual, but if you've ever suffered with motion sickness, you feel my pain. It's not really ideal for someone who plans to live and thrive on a boat 24/7/365. Yeah. Imagine being sick all. of. the. time. Sounds miserable, right? The thing is that my sailing experience had been day sails on San Diego Bay (where I NEVER got seasickness), and on Lake Michigan. Any of you who have sailed on Lake Michigan know that she can be a blessing and a bitch. They don't call it the windy city for nothing. What comes with the sometimes spectacular wind is waves. Big, fat, tall waves. And they're super fun when they're coming on your beam. Note the sarcasm. Being tossed isn't fun, but it's a part of sailing.

Which brings me to my second of all....We are going sailing come June. Our cast off date is still based on the weather, of course. We have some projects to get taken care of and some preparing we need to do (more in my next posts about these projects). What lead us here is this: I went to the BVI for sailing school a few weeks ago as a live aboard and I wasn't sick the entire week. I started the few days before sailing school by hydrating myself properly and taking super doses of vitamin c (which I had read about here) starting right before we got on the boat. As long as I kept a snack nearby and kept my fluid intake up, I felt great. And that's how it went for a week. 

Honestly, with all that there was to be done, I don't know that I would have been sick anyway. I took a few American Sailing Association courses with a sailing school out of Nanny Cay in Tortola called Sistership Sailing School. If you are a woman or family looking to get comfortable on the water, I highly recommend looking into this. It was a great practical on the water training. Mostly it was familiar but I did get to experience some new things like: anchoring, mooring, and man-overboard drills. I got more comfortable with docking, jumping (hoisting) the main, and the rules "of the road" of sailing. There are areas I will continue to work on, but I feel confident and empowered by the week I spent sailing with Pat and the other 3 ladies on the crew with me. 

So, I'll be updating this blog more regularly and telling you all about preparations for our departure. We've got some awesome families who are going to help with a few projects that are upcoming and we couldn't be more grateful to them. Looking forward to sharing all that is to come with you guys.

And now, here are some photos from my adventures.

perhaps?

After my recent bout with tossing my cookies I figured I should get serious about making a move to get my seasickness under control. First up in testing is sea bands. You know, those ridiculous elastic wrist things that you wear on the pressure points on the inside forearm. They run around $13 and since my mom has owned a pair since they came on the market I knew what to expect--I just had yet tried them for water excursions. 

We saw the wind was very light a few Sundays ago but also that the swells were nonexistent. Perfect. I slid those oh-so-chic looking wrist bands on as we motored out and we were off. My only only real complaint is that the little nobby bit that pushes on your pressure point starts to hurt a little upon extended wear. I felt just peachy the 4 hours we were being carried along by the breeze. I wouldn't say this is a definitive review, as the sea was a calm one, but for now, I'll be using them again. I'm also looking for a product recommended to me by my sister-in-law called Motion Eaze, which I have yet to find. Will keep you posted!

on tossing your cookies

Monday was a first. We took Interlude out for a sail knowing it might be windy and did our best to account for that by reefing in the main so we wouldn't be over powered (read: tipped way, way over with the sails practically straining from the force of the wind). What we didn't account for was the 4-6 foot waves. At first it was fine. We motored out, me as the lookout on the bow, the bowspirit bobbing up and then landing with a white capped splash back down. Totally cool. I held on to the railing, flexed my knees to absorb the impact and was a-okay. Then we put the sails up and I was at the helm, which I find greatly improves any feelings of nausea as I am constantly scanning the horizon and generally occupied making sure we are on the right course, taking full advantage of the wind for optimum speed, etc. And I was fine until I wasn't. It crept up on me real slow like. And I chewed some ginger candy and maybe I was feeling okay? It was hard to tell. But then those 4-6 foot waves I mentioned, well they were coming at us crosswise, rolling us from port to starboard instead of bow to stern. So I changed our course and we headed back bow into them. Up and down, rolling from the top to the valley like on the roller coasters that make your stomach feel like its dropping out of the bottom of you abdomen. Over and over, so high I'd lose sight of the horizon and then so low all I could see was the azure water surrounding us and the sound of the hull cutting through them sounds more like slapping than the usual melodious fizzy bubbling. I let Josh steer and laid flat on my back with my eyes closed in the cockpit, breathing through the discomfort. It seemed like it was working one second and then the next I've got my head over the downwind rail tossing my cookies. Did I mention this is the very first time this has ever happened to me (unless my mom can recount some horrible car trip I've blocked from my mind?). I did feel better but as for my future as a sailor, I'd say I've got some serious sleuthing to do on how to nip this in the bud. 

family time.

My parents finally made it up last weekend to see Interlude! I didn't get near enough pictures. My mom was begging me not to snap too many, as both she and my sister were miserable with motion sickness, despite Dramamine. Sorry guys :-( 

Upon seeing the interior of Interlude, there were two different reactions from  my folks. My dad: "this thing seems HUGE inside", and my mom: "teeny, tiny. I could never see living in such a small space". To each his own, right? We happen to side with my dad's point of view, generally. I mean, who couldn't use more square footage? But then again, other than long term provisioning, we are pretty much living here and have everything we need with space left over (we are so proud of ourselves for being thoughtful with what we'll actually "need" as live aboards even at this juncture).

After a tour, stowing of our belongings, and trying out the kayak, we ate some Kringle (a local claim to fame), grilled up some local brats, then headed out for a sail. The wind was good but the swells were not great. I was a little queasy and I think by the end even my dad was a little sick. Must run in my family. My mom wasn't as sick as I have seen her, but Sara was barely functioning. She tried sitting on the deck, in the cockpit, and I think she even eventually went below and laid down on the settee. Poor kiddo. 

We only sailed up to the lighthouse (Windpoint) and back since we could see a front coming in. I think it was plenty for everyone. Once we got back, we tied up the sails, tidied the lines, hooked up the shore power and got below before it began pouring rain. Pouring, and pouring, oh and also? POURING. It was also blowing. Good times! My entire family, minus Josh and myself conked out in various spots in the cabin. All that fresh air really got to them, I guess! 

Eventually the rain let up and we ventured out to the Yardarm for dinner before saying our goodbyes. 

A good time was had by all, as my grandpa would say. Even though some could have had a less queasy time of it, to be sure!