Endings & Beginnings

some exciting news!

On crisp, cold morning in Victoria BC Jasper and I sat in Latifa’s cockpit drinking a coffee together. After over a year of life consumed by the boatyard and Latifa being taken apart and put back together again it felt both alien and ordinary to sit as we always used to, just us onboard again. No shipwrights, no major work to be done - everything onboard was more or less how it should be. It felt like we were slowly coming back to a more normal pace, and our nervous systems were beginning to settle after months of stress and hard work.

A beautiful BC morning.

When Jasper showed me the advert for a boat for sale on the east coast, I felt a little re-emergence of something I’d been missing. New possibilities.

‘No boat - not yet, not right now.’ We talked about how we shouldn’t tie ourselves to anything so soon after we leave Latifa, that we shouldn’t use a boat as a crutch - we should figure out who we are without one.

Boats are pretty all consuming and it’s not just the time, the work and the money, it’s something more than that. Its identity, its part of your relationship, its home and adventure all rolled into one. We weren’t sure we were ready for all that again so soon.

It felt comparable to leaving a relationship - we didn’t want to jump into a rebound.

Over the coming days we talked and talked, ‘Is it the right time?, ‘Are we being crazy?’ ’Should we wait?’ But as we always do, in the end we were able to rationalise why trying to buy a boat now was actually a great idea.

And off we went, as we do when we get an idea like this. Swept happily away and able to think of little else.

Sailing Latifa towards Canada after over a year in the boatyard.

The boat we were looking at had just had a big price drop - the owner eager to sell. It was a good price for a solid boat with a fair bit of gear. She was looking pretty shabby, and there would be a lot of work to do, but nothing we couldn’t handle.

Jasper called the broker and booked a flight to go and see it - 3000miles away in Connecticut. Across the continent. We were about as far away as we could be, but we had some flight vouchers - so we thought why not? A free trip.

Our minds ran away with us and within days we were talking about her as though we already owned her, like everything was going to work out. We had plans and dreams about what we’d do and where we’d take her.

But then we got a text from the broker a couple nights before the trip. She’d sold.

It was like the wind was sucked out of us.

We felt stupid for allowing ourselves to get so carried away. It was hard to swallow as boats like these don’t come up very often, let alone for a price that we could afford. We wanted a boat for the long run, a boat that could take us around the world. Strong, fast and able to cover the miles. We wanted something that could take us to remote places in safety and style - and - crucially - within our quite limited budget.

A few days went by and we felt lost. It was a strange time for us; a moment where you know something is about to end, your life is about to change completely, but you’re not sure what will follow. We have lived and worked on Latifa for 4 years now and the experience has completely re-shaped our lives. Sailing over 15,000 miles together, living in new places, absorbing the cultures of Polynesia and growing in our love for the ocean. We have learnt so much along the way - but where to go next? Where should we put our energy? Should be go back home to Cornwall? Were we ready to pause exploring for a while? What would going home mean? Would we get stuck?

The boat in Connecticut had been a catalyst; making us question what we really wanted and what made sense for us right now. It had shown us something important.

This summer we went to a talk by Kiana Weltzein of Women & The Wind and she talked about how the more you set up a life on land the harder it is to leave to go sailing; and the more expensive things become.

We figured that right now we had some savings and we worried that if we moved home without much of a plan, then our money could just get swallowed up and we wouldn’t be able to say exactly what we had spent it on. Better we thought to buy a boat within our means while we could, even if it meant being a bit more broke for a while afterwards. We could figure it out, but at least we would be a step closer to our dreams of sailing around the world under our own steam.

Sunrise at sea sailing from Galapagos to Marquesas.

It didn’t take Jasper long to find us another boat. A more expensive one, but one in better condition, also on the east coast. We called the broker and arranged a viewing - and this time we vowed not to get carried away. To approach it calmly and with self control… Jasper would go and see it and survey it objectively, if it seemed like a good project we’d make a low offer and see what happened. If it didn’t pan out we hadn’t lost anything - at least we now knew that we wanted to find ourselves a boat.

As I dropped Jasper at the ferry to Vancouver, at the start of a long journey to Boston, he asked me if we were crazy… what were we doing?! The distance of the trip over just a few days was starting to sink in and it felt totally mental. 3000miles for a craigslist ad!

But off he went anyway and a couple days later he was onboard the boat in a freezing cold rainy boatyard. She was a good boat undoubtedly, a Swan 43 - designed by Sparkman & Stephens and built in Finland in 1971 by Nautor. A classic ocean racer / cruiser, from a time when fibre glass boats were overbuilt. A go anywhere boat with beautiful lines and strong bones.

The next day he drove to see another boat, drawn by the same designer. This time she was beautifully finished and quite immaculately maintained with a very tidy interior. She was a nice boat, but perhaps a little lighter built and a bit sportier than the Swan. In many ways she was a more ready to start sailing, and advertised for a lesser price but it didn’t feel quite right for us.

Having seen a comparison Jasper then drove back for a second viewing of the Swan and his mind was made up. This was the boat for us, one that we hoped would be able to carry us safely into whatever our next chapter held. He made an offer that day and drove to go catch his flight back.

A couple of days later we got the call and after a little back and forth we had an offer accepted!

Fast forward a few weeks and we’ve just got the bill of sale in our names. We plan, we dream and we figure out all the logistics of buying a boat remotely in the states. Already boat ownership is becoming very expensive and I have yet to even set foot onboard!

As I sit here in Latifa’s saloon writing this it feels so strange that there will not be many more evenings like this. Latifa has been our home for so long now, I know every inch of her and love her in a way I don’t think I will ever have with any other boat. I’m so grateful for the way life on Latifa has shaped us; given us the confidence to cross oceans. She has taught us how to live well and to trust fully in one another.

One chapter is ending and a new one is beginning and it feels exciting and a little daunting, but I feel ready for all the new challenges and fun it will bring.

I am also SO glad that I will have more to write about in the coming year as I document this next part of our journey! So please do subscribe, your support means so much!