That’s it – we’re done. We’re back home. Obviously, we haven’t been blogging…we’ve been in a weird head space.
It was emotional coming home…With every week on the ICW, we got a little closer to our return to society…to normal life. Oddly enough, as we got closer, we became more and more accustomed to life on the boat. We got better at reading the weather, more comfortable with things breaking, less bothered by delays…It was starting to get easier, and we were starting to figure it out. WE WERE HAVING FUN! MJSailing always said it takes a year before you really get into the groove, and we now understand what they meant. It was getting good.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.
We returned to the Mentor Harbor Yachting Club on July 16, 2015. My folks threw a huge party and really made us feel welcome! We had cake and expensive champagne. We put on our smiles for the cameras. It was amazing, but it really hit us hard – it was the end of an era. Had we done everything we wanted to do?
Honestly, after TARA was safely tied up, we didn’t go back down to the boat for two months – not because we were sick of sailing, more that it was too emotional to be on Tara after living aboard for 10 months. We couldn’t see her stuck in a marina…or something…
It has taken us some time to decompress, think about what we’ve done, and absorb all of the crazy adventures. In the end, as expected, the hard times have turned into amazing stories that we reminisce about again and again. In the end, IT WAS WORTH IT.
We’re happy to be back to a big bed and hot showers. We have a comfortable place to live (thanks Mom & Dad!) and a nice grocery store around the corner. Life is good – we’re home safe and have a lot of incredible memories.
In other ways, we are sad. Operation Tropication has ended. We know if we did it again, we would do a lot of things differently…we know we would do it BETTER…but that’s life right? There’s always an opportunity to do it better, no?
Now it’s November. Many of the friends we met along the way are probably down on their boats now, preparing for their crossing to the Bahamas and beyond. Many of them are “snowbirds”, which we used to think was a dirty word, but now we have learned to appreciate.
We have started looking at boats/magazines/blogs again, thinking about the next adventure. The reality is – once sailing is in your blood, there’s no escaping it.
COMMENCE PHOTO SEQUENCE:
SURFS UP! Folly Beach
Haaaaapppppyyyy
Rent a car and drive to Trader Joes, only to find out it’s a freakin’ used furniture shop. FAIL.
Sitting in St. Johns Yacht Harbour while the years first tropical storm brews offshore
Mark’s first haircut in a long time
We love Charleston. Have we mentioned that before?
Virginia
AMERICA HAS TOUCH SCREENS TO ORDER DRINKS?!
AMERICA HAS CHEAP PIZZA?!
WTF?
Front approaching. Nature rules.
Gearin’ up
Lovely spring day in the Chesapeake (it got much worse from here).
Pops happy to be aboard!
Family sail in the Potomac
Happy Spinnaker Dad!
First Maryland Crab Experience. Holy Old Bay
Annapolis
Amazing sky in Rock Hall, MD
Amazing sky in Rock Hall, MD cont’d
Racing a major freighter into the C&D Canal
We were pretending there was an apostrophe in there. D’Urban Highway. Say it with us. D’Urban.
Overnighter! Dark night up the NJ Coast
Calm Foggy Morning – NJ Coast
FOG HORNS
Genoa blaster into Sandy Hook
33 hours, 170 miles, First overnight sail. Tired n’ thirsty
BACK TO NYC!
Printing this and putting it on the wall.
Splurging in the city :)
Continental
AirBNB loft in Brooklyn. Thanks to our host!
Picnic in the city
Cold grey megacity
Liberte
Weird Panorama
Threading the needle
Happy/Cold
Get your sway on
WRITE IT DOWN OR FORGET IT
There’s the sun!
Back to Catskill
Found our stands (amongst the chaos)
Awww yeah
Spring has sprung!
Damn. Mast down again
Passing our old friends When and If in Albany! Pretty with the mast(s) up.
Lock 1
Rainy barbee solution
Free docks are great
Glassy mornings
During our trip we were pessimists, optimists and realists.
High water delay in the ICW = visit home!
Nice to be back :)
Summer backyard greenspace
Caitie gets her hair did
West Virginia
Sister time at the lake for July 4th!
Saucy Ladies
Sistertrip to Charleston!
Rocking our July 4th swag
Mad Dog
Reliving University
Grillmaster
I wish I looked as hot as she does
Snoozin’
Spirit Cake! Cousins!
:(
Heart Steaked Box
Rainy motoring in the ditch
Casual
Young punks. The kid second from the right is giving us the finger.
Vintage postcard moment – Holley, NY
Who knew?
Happy Place
‘Yonce
Gorgeous weather – Eastern half of the canal.
Last two locks – LOCKPORT, NY
This is it!
They had a disagreement
#Enhance
First “Canadian” in a loooong time
Tasty
MAST BACK UP! Buffalo, NY
Wally workin’ on the radar
Doing what he does best
Last night – Erie, PA
Product placement
Don’t bug me before coffee
Mmmm…Cake
MHYC we have arrived
Smile for the camera!
I do all the rowing around here* (*JK – we’re equal opportunity rowers)
