An Ocean of Setbacks Only Makes the Adventure More Sweet
After endless tears, we're weeks away from sailing gleefully to uncharted lands
At this point in our global sailboat odyssey, we imagined we’d be fully enjoying spring in the Caribbean.
We envisioned already perfecting spearfishing in Bermuda, doing weeks of snorkeling in the Bahamas, and savoring the vibrant culture of the Dominican Republic.
We’d be decent sailors.
We’d be getting ready to aim our hull toward beautiful Central and South America to avoid the onslaught of the upcoming hurricane season.
But, no — even after investing boatloads of cash, thousands of hours, 7 days/week — we’re still working on our sailboat in the place we started in North Carolina.
We bought our sailboat 8 months ago. We’ve taken her sailing only once — for a half day in the local waters to test out the new engine and sails. From a certain perspective, that might still be inadequate. And often, we’ve been full of overwhelming doubts and disappointment.
But we’re finally entering that next phase.
We’ve completed all the major projects and she’s almost ready.
We’re now weeks away from saying bye to North Carolina and starting our years-long sailing voyage around the world.
The day we finally made Chérie fly
When we bought Chérie, she was sitting on stilts in a dust-filled boatyard. She hadn’t been in the ocean for at least 7 years. And we weren’t even sure if she could float, let alone harness the magical force of the wind.
We’d need to learn how to fix her up ourselves. We had never worked on boats before and we didn’t have the money to pay other people.
But the day we got Chérie in the water in February 2025, I felt a smile stretch from head to toe. We did it! We had pizza to celebrate.
Then after a couple more months of work, we finally took her out for her first spin.
We motored out to the Neuse River, which is the channel we’ll take to the ocean when we’re finally ready to leave North Carolina for good.
We hoisted her sails, turned off the engine, and hoped we’d catch the breeze.
Feeling the wind engage Chérie’s sails for the first time, it seemed as if we might lift off the water. We reached 5 knots under sail!
For a brief moment, I felt more bird than human.
I laid on the deck with a gigantic grin, and I had a view of the water I’d never before witnessed.
I looked back at my husband at the helm and he was beaming with pride.
I hadn’t seen him glow like that in years.
It was his full-time job getting us to this point. And he knocked it out of the park!
Sure, we thought we’d make it here much sooner. But other sailors — especially ones on limited budgets, like us — are not a bit surprised it took this long.
I remember back in the fall last year, we told someone we’d be out by November and they said, “My guess is March at the earliest.”
Other people are amazed it only took this long!
Delay after delay? Experienced sailors will say, “Get used to it.”
We’ve finally accepted this reality as part of life going forward. I mean, we’re getting more used to it. And we’re learning to savor the rewards whenever they show up on the calendar.
During our half day of sailing, we got closer to Mother Nature than I had felt in years. I had the sun lighting up my face as we glided on the water a half mile away from shore.
I’ll soon get countless days like this.
Though we needed to pull Chérie back into the dock in that same spot in North Carolina, we knew our time here was finite.
Every tear, every ounce of sweat — it was all worth it.
We knew it would be hard
Back in summer 2024, we bought Chérie at a price that might’ve been a steal. That is, if everything worked as advertised. But we couldn’t accurately assess her condition until we started tearing her apart.
We’d soon learn that nearly all the major systems needed to be updated or replaced. We needed a new engine, propeller, through-hull fittings, cushions, dinghy, rigging, and more. We needed to spend twice as much as the purchase price before we could achieve our dream of moving aboard!
This is why we’re still here.
We’d need to figure everything out ourselves, watching YouTube, reading blogs, and scouring through old sailing books. We got comfortable with trial and error.
We also had no practical skills sailing a boat of this size and complexity.
But we considered ourselves smart and enthusiastic people. We’d figure it out! And we did.
That’s why I smile today.
Throughout this journey, we sometimes conquered a new problem and felt like a championship winning team. Some days, we’d need to lift each other’s spirits by providing heartfelt pep talks.
Other days, when we lacked all hope, we’d just need to shake our heads, feeling the tears well up inside, and admit the reality: “This sucks.”
Before we began this journey, though, we heard we’d experience zeros and tens. Being sailors, we’d have our lowest lows and highest highs. But the highs? People promised us they’d be better than anything we’ve ever known.
So, we kept showing up day after day. And we trained our eyes on the bigger goal — no matter how long it took.
And now, none of it was a mistake.
This is our unique journey.
Every “mistake” got us where we are today.
Change of plans — woohoo!
Given the current realities of the weather calendar, we now need to go north to avoid the 2025 hurricane season.
That dream of going straight to the Caribbean?
Change of plans.
Instead of the Bahamas, we’re going to the Chesapeake Bay around Virginia and Maryland for the first couple months of summer. No problem, though. We’ve heard great things!
This is where we’ll increase our confidence with Chérie. They call it shaking her down. We’ll see what works, what doesn’t work, and what we still need. Hopefully we don’t need much.
Then, the plan is to head further north to New England in the late summer and fall. At this point, however, we realize any plans might be about as reliable as the current value of the stock market.
You might expect us to be totally downtrodden and lacking of hope.
Not at all.
We’re as excited as ever.
Yes, this whole project took way more time and much more precious cash than we had imagined. But, in the big picture, all it did was make us more exhilarated. We now have more invested, but that means the inevitable return will only be that much sweeter.
We’re still adventurers at heart, just much more humbled.
The size and complexity of this project (sailing around the world) is enormous. Shocker. But it’ll only be that much more rewarding.
As we prepare to move aboard…
We’re moving aboard Chérie full-time in June. I’m weeks away from giving my notice at work. We’re finally about to jump in with both feet.
We just need to redo the electrical (e.g., solar and batteries) and toilet system (e.g., finish adding a holding tank). We still won’t have a lot of luxuries, though.
Sometimes, though, we’ll need a break from boat work.
We’ll go on an evening stroll at a local marina that has nicer boats than the one that currently houses Chérie.
Some of these sailboats clearly cost more than $1 million. Unlike Chérie, I’ll imagine these boats have unlimited electricity & fresh water, a full-sized shower, washer & dryer, and a movie projector. And the owners probably paid other people to do the work for them.
But then I’ll think about how they’re all dealing with timelines they can’t control, too.
I’m confident that many of these sailors wish they didn’t have to be working their jobs, could balance their personal and family commitments, or that their sailing schedule better matched with the weather on a given day.
Part of being a sailor, though — and being human — is to accept that which we can’t control.
We do our best, then we throw the rest of it to the wind.
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There is a book that is considered the Bible when it comes to ocean travel, World Cruising Routes by Jimmy Cornell. This book list of the available routes and the time of year when they should be taken. It´s an must. Expensive but worth every cent
what an adventure already! can't wait to read more and hear how you navigate full-time-sail-boat-living (whether conquering, crying, or crudely muddling through - all valid). cheers from a fellow explorer ♡