Thanks Cory, having bought a rival 32 and spending the last year or so bring her up to scratch I look forward to the next part of my journey and the second part of yours greetings from Plymouth UK
Wow, very cool, Paul! That will be so fun to sail around in the UK. I’d love to get up there someday & sail, and explore Scandinavian fjords, too. Are you in the water yet?
Yes I sailed her down from Emsworth about 150 nm and have a mooring on the river Tamar just below brunels bridge, now fitting an electric windlass and new water pumps for the sinks working on the mooring has been challenging weather here in the uk has been awful. Still not too much to do, running rigging needs checking and my cutlass bearing needs replacing ….i do all the work myself as boat work here in the uk is not cheap.
Wow, sounds great. I hope you’re feeling proud! We did all the work ourselves as well, including a repower. Saved 10s of thousands on labor, for the same reason. But every square inch has had our hands on it, & we know it was good work! Makes it feel much better.
Great article, Cory! Reminds me of a Dear Sugar advice column (written by Cheryl Strayed) called "The Ghost Ship that Didn't Carry Us". There are countless other lives out there on the horizon that we did not choose. We make the choices we make and grieve the ones we didn't and then we LIVE!!! We live because this is the one shot we get and, yes, hindsight is 20/20, but we can't go backwards!
Thanks, Lisa! And wow, I haven’t read that essay about the “ghost ship” by Cheryl Strayed. I was journaling about this idea last week about regret & stumbled upon this idea of the “ghost boat” never existing. I love that as an evocative analogy. The “ghost…” whatever. We all have them. Ghost career. Ghost marriage. Ghost divorce. As you say, there are countless other lives that we did not choose.
The best we can do, I think, is not beat ourselves up, keep moving, & try to learn from our mistakes. And (what I decided for myself) share all of it with others so they know they’re not alone.
This is how stories are made. ☺️This is a whole lotta life lessons. 🤪This is what makes life an adventure.❤️ Keep on sailing and enjoying this uncharted path. ❤️You bring me smiles, dreams of summer and now Styx’s Come Sail Away will be in my head all day. Pretty good for a Sunday in Pittsburgh. ☺️ Stay safe!!
Thank you Christine! So happy that you’re enjoying the journey. Occasionally that Styx song will come on, & it feels so apt. Haha. Enjoy Pittsburgh! If we were to return to the U.S., that would be on our shortlist :)
I relate to this although I play this several numbers smaller: I probably bought the wrong van ;-)
But the main point for me is that I took the "risk", made the step, widened my horizon and learned a few things. Now I can trust myself more and do the next steps.
Maybe travel more with "the wrong van", experience things and the fact that there is no perfection, live with pros and cons, dealing with it, growing and learning.
Maybe take the step to the "better and bigger" van, with its better and bigger problems :-)
Amazing story, Stefan. You sail with the equipment you got. We also spent too much money on her. Blah blah blah. I often think of people who lose their life savings starting a business they always dreamed about, & can they really beat themselves up too much? No, because it’s part of a well-lived & well-traveled life. We’ll make mistakes. That’s OK. The important part is we fumbled toward the lifestyle we wanted & we enjoyed it!
Great post. I think everyone that buys a boat has worries and regrets. We love our boat, but things always break and we often questioned if a newer boat would have been better.
We don't question that anymore. Visiting other boats and speaking to other cruisers it became clear that is just boats regardless of whether it's a brand new or new to you boat.
Now when we visit other boats we look out for the clever solutions they have to everyday problems and plan how we can implement them in Star. For us it is now about making life on a boat easier not perfect.
Thanks for the comment & compliment! And I totally agree. Talking to other cruisers has made me soooo grateful for our boat & our set of problems.
And so much inspiration, indeed!
Even with the long list of things not optimal about our boat, it’s in good working order right now, & I’m grateful for that. The systems are sooo simple compared to other people’s — especially the newer boats! But even with the broken stuff, like the fridge, we’re fine. As long as she floats, moves, anchors, & keeps a charge, we’re doing OK!
I love reading your sailing blog, Cory! My hubby and I bought a used motorhome, spent the first 6 months repairing and troubleshooting problem after problem, but travelled 25000 miles across the US, Canada, Alaska. It was the best two years of our lives! 😁
Thanks Angie! And wow, that is so incredible you made it that far! Driving (or sailing!) to Alaska is a dream of mine for sure. Was the plan always to live that life for a relatively short time then move on to something else?
We planned for it to be permanent, but my husband's mom got sick so we cared for her for five years. Now my folks need help, so we're here until they don't need us. Eldercare is hard! But we plan to go back on the road when we can!
Wow, yes, I honestly get that. i hope you get on the road soon!! Or at least get some micro trips/adventures to scratch that itch.
I know many many people who have a currently-impossible dream, & one thing i tell them is to think about what you love most about that dream (is it seeing new places? adventure? challenging yourself?), then implement something in your life that does that same thing for you. For example, my impossible dream was going to the Moon, but i wanted adventure & exploring the unknown, so I got a sailboat. If i couldn't do the sailboat, I might move to a new city. if I couldn't do that, I might've gone to the mountains 1 day per week!
The most important part of all this… you did it. You took a chance. You knew you would stumble and might fall but that didn’t stop you. We can always wonder “what if” - there are always other paths we could choose - but honour the choices you made.
Exactly, Darren! We make choices to do things, & we make choices not to do things. We did both. But we kept pushing toward the vision. No use in thinking about the “what ifs?” because we’re here!! You as well, my friend!
Wow, that is soooo cool! Thanks for the comment & rec, Linda.
I was very surprised when I looked into the “great philosophers” that regret was pretty well accepted as part of life. The *cliche* is to “have no regrets!” Or maybe that’s the goal? Either way, I agree with you that regret is part of being human. And it’s all what you do with it…
I would get stuck in ruminating and never move forward if I let myself, but man one never gets to write the next chapter if one is constantly trying to rewrite the last one.
Give yourself the same grace you'd extend to others too to live and learn.
Thanks for sharing that, Daniette! Totally. There are really 2 choices right? We can ruminate (& become bitter), or we can move forward (& be easy on ourselves). I always try to choose the latter. And now I have so many rewards — including a life-long lesson about the power in that choice.
Really, the boat was always capable. The question was — was I?
If you ever want to come check it out you are welcome to stay here. We’ve got a guest room and I’m your typical second grade teacher field trip guide to one of the best cities around. Enjoy the life you are creating. ❤️
Most importantly (it seems) is 1) you're in the Bahamas! and 2) you've sailed 4000 miles. And 3) you're on your way to Guatemala! Seize the day--which you already well know how to do!!
Exactly Jeanine! Same with any life: what happened in the past is out of our control. We can make amends where it makes sense, not beat ourselves up ever, & move on with our glorious futures. Thanks for the kind comment
That is basically the essence of this article haha. I’ve said the cliche many times that “I have no regrets in life.” But one of the reasons I wrote this was to interrogate whether that was actually true or just something I told myself. The reality: I just don’t dwell on my regrets. I make amends to others where I can, but don’t beat myself up for my mistakes. Like you said (& Kierkegaard said), no matter what choice we made, we’d likely regret it either way.
I'm sharing this with my brother-in-law, who sails. He had asked me what kind of boat you had and I didn't know. (I also hope he is inspired by your new way of life!)
Thanks Don! I’m so happy you think he’ll enjoy it! I’ve started to get more sailing people reading my work, so I thought I’d dive into more of the details about my boat while also coming clean that we made every single mistake hahah. A lil something for everyone :)
We did our trip on a 2002 Swan 44. The water maker was a near-constant headache. We also had to drop the rudder twice and put in new lip seals when it started leaking (we got good at that). The Volvo Penta diesel engine died twice mid-passage, making us hand steer with everything off until we got it running to be able to charge the batteries. The high-temp alarm would go off when engine temperature was normal. The stove died right before the trip. Plus hundreds of small things.
Boats are projects. They rarely are perfect. One time my dad said, "Wow, we finally fixed everything". Two days later, the alternator stopped charging the batteries.
You just have to roll with it and learn to be an electrician, seamstress, diesel mechanic, and rigger with limited information and tools but a lot of time.
Plus the more expensive ones are more complicated and more stuff can break.
Wow, thanks for those details, man! That’s crazy for a newer boater that there are that many problems. But I guess it makes sense because it’s still 20+ year-old systems!
Luckily, we haven’t had major issues since we left the boatyard in June 2024. That new engine saved us a TON of headaches for sure. We know people who have spent the same amount of money for a new engine on just keeping their old crappy one running. Blessing in disguise.
We really only wish we had a few more things right now: a better dinghy & a roller furler. We have hank-on sails, and though it’s got some charm to it, it’s a huge pain in the ass when the weather changes or you’re tired at the end of a sail.
Still, I’m grateful for all the stories, no matter what the cost ;)
Ahh roller furler is a game changer so you can reef without messing with the main or leaving the cockpit.
We had some friends with a brand new Amel 60 and they had even more problems than us haha. $4,000,000 sailboat with lots of complicated problems.
I like your boat. It's pretty and has character.
I loved ours too. She got us through a lot of bad weather safely, and all the problems were solvable. I've never known anything as well as I knew that boat, the sound, the rhythm of the engine, how it felt when balanced.
Thanks again for the reflections, man. I like my boat, too. The stories, simplicity, & the utilitarian-ness of it. But we mayyyy get a roller furler after we get to Central America. The cost is crazy though! I’ll have to have a couple good months with my lil business first ;)
Thanks Cory, having bought a rival 32 and spending the last year or so bring her up to scratch I look forward to the next part of my journey and the second part of yours greetings from Plymouth UK
Wow, very cool, Paul! That will be so fun to sail around in the UK. I’d love to get up there someday & sail, and explore Scandinavian fjords, too. Are you in the water yet?
Yes I sailed her down from Emsworth about 150 nm and have a mooring on the river Tamar just below brunels bridge, now fitting an electric windlass and new water pumps for the sinks working on the mooring has been challenging weather here in the uk has been awful. Still not too much to do, running rigging needs checking and my cutlass bearing needs replacing ….i do all the work myself as boat work here in the uk is not cheap.
Nothing in the UK is cheap anymore and good boat repair people are hard to find.
As a welder fabricator I’ve made bits for boats and exotic cars , none of it easy my biggest asset for boat work is patience
Wow, sounds great. I hope you’re feeling proud! We did all the work ourselves as well, including a repower. Saved 10s of thousands on labor, for the same reason. But every square inch has had our hands on it, & we know it was good work! Makes it feel much better.
They say you don’t know a yacht until you’ve worked on it for a year now if it goes wrong it’s my fault
Great article, Cory! Reminds me of a Dear Sugar advice column (written by Cheryl Strayed) called "The Ghost Ship that Didn't Carry Us". There are countless other lives out there on the horizon that we did not choose. We make the choices we make and grieve the ones we didn't and then we LIVE!!! We live because this is the one shot we get and, yes, hindsight is 20/20, but we can't go backwards!
Thanks, Lisa! And wow, I haven’t read that essay about the “ghost ship” by Cheryl Strayed. I was journaling about this idea last week about regret & stumbled upon this idea of the “ghost boat” never existing. I love that as an evocative analogy. The “ghost…” whatever. We all have them. Ghost career. Ghost marriage. Ghost divorce. As you say, there are countless other lives that we did not choose.
The best we can do, I think, is not beat ourselves up, keep moving, & try to learn from our mistakes. And (what I decided for myself) share all of it with others so they know they’re not alone.
It is a perfect analogy! And yes, by sharing our experiences with this, it does indeed help others. So, thanks for sharing🤗🤗
This is how stories are made. ☺️This is a whole lotta life lessons. 🤪This is what makes life an adventure.❤️ Keep on sailing and enjoying this uncharted path. ❤️You bring me smiles, dreams of summer and now Styx’s Come Sail Away will be in my head all day. Pretty good for a Sunday in Pittsburgh. ☺️ Stay safe!!
Thank you Christine! So happy that you’re enjoying the journey. Occasionally that Styx song will come on, & it feels so apt. Haha. Enjoy Pittsburgh! If we were to return to the U.S., that would be on our shortlist :)
I relate to this although I play this several numbers smaller: I probably bought the wrong van ;-)
But the main point for me is that I took the "risk", made the step, widened my horizon and learned a few things. Now I can trust myself more and do the next steps.
Maybe travel more with "the wrong van", experience things and the fact that there is no perfection, live with pros and cons, dealing with it, growing and learning.
Maybe take the step to the "better and bigger" van, with its better and bigger problems :-)
I agree to keep sailing.
Amazing story, Stefan. You sail with the equipment you got. We also spent too much money on her. Blah blah blah. I often think of people who lose their life savings starting a business they always dreamed about, & can they really beat themselves up too much? No, because it’s part of a well-lived & well-traveled life. We’ll make mistakes. That’s OK. The important part is we fumbled toward the lifestyle we wanted & we enjoyed it!
So glad you got the van, man!
So happy my FYP lead me here. I built this brick by brick
Wow, awesome to know that my work is getting pushed out there! And even more thrilled that you enjoyed it!
This is so cool! Keep sailing ⛵️
Thanks so much! Will do :)
Great post. I think everyone that buys a boat has worries and regrets. We love our boat, but things always break and we often questioned if a newer boat would have been better.
We don't question that anymore. Visiting other boats and speaking to other cruisers it became clear that is just boats regardless of whether it's a brand new or new to you boat.
Now when we visit other boats we look out for the clever solutions they have to everyday problems and plan how we can implement them in Star. For us it is now about making life on a boat easier not perfect.
Thanks for the comment & compliment! And I totally agree. Talking to other cruisers has made me soooo grateful for our boat & our set of problems.
And so much inspiration, indeed!
Even with the long list of things not optimal about our boat, it’s in good working order right now, & I’m grateful for that. The systems are sooo simple compared to other people’s — especially the newer boats! But even with the broken stuff, like the fridge, we’re fine. As long as she floats, moves, anchors, & keeps a charge, we’re doing OK!
I love reading your sailing blog, Cory! My hubby and I bought a used motorhome, spent the first 6 months repairing and troubleshooting problem after problem, but travelled 25000 miles across the US, Canada, Alaska. It was the best two years of our lives! 😁
Thanks Angie! And wow, that is so incredible you made it that far! Driving (or sailing!) to Alaska is a dream of mine for sure. Was the plan always to live that life for a relatively short time then move on to something else?
We planned for it to be permanent, but my husband's mom got sick so we cared for her for five years. Now my folks need help, so we're here until they don't need us. Eldercare is hard! But we plan to go back on the road when we can!
Wow, yes, I honestly get that. i hope you get on the road soon!! Or at least get some micro trips/adventures to scratch that itch.
I know many many people who have a currently-impossible dream, & one thing i tell them is to think about what you love most about that dream (is it seeing new places? adventure? challenging yourself?), then implement something in your life that does that same thing for you. For example, my impossible dream was going to the Moon, but i wanted adventure & exploring the unknown, so I got a sailboat. If i couldn't do the sailboat, I might move to a new city. if I couldn't do that, I might've gone to the mountains 1 day per week!
The most important part of all this… you did it. You took a chance. You knew you would stumble and might fall but that didn’t stop you. We can always wonder “what if” - there are always other paths we could choose - but honour the choices you made.
“The ghost boat never existed.
The real one crossed the Gulf Stream.”
Exactly, Darren! We make choices to do things, & we make choices not to do things. We did both. But we kept pushing toward the vision. No use in thinking about the “what ifs?” because we’re here!! You as well, my friend!
Thanks as always for the thoughtful comment.
Love this Cory. Regret is just part of being human, especially for one who holds themselves to high standards, as I know you do.
Daniel Pink wrote a great book about it, "The Power of Regret - How looking backward moves us forward". It's worth a read.
But at this time, you are on the right path - your radical path.
Sail on! 🌎💙
Wow, that is soooo cool! Thanks for the comment & rec, Linda.
I was very surprised when I looked into the “great philosophers” that regret was pretty well accepted as part of life. The *cliche* is to “have no regrets!” Or maybe that’s the goal? Either way, I agree with you that regret is part of being human. And it’s all what you do with it…
I would get stuck in ruminating and never move forward if I let myself, but man one never gets to write the next chapter if one is constantly trying to rewrite the last one.
Give yourself the same grace you'd extend to others too to live and learn.
So today an inspirational song I love and live by- "Forward Always" by John Brown's Body. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HrqOOPuW0v4
Thanks for sharing that, Daniette! Totally. There are really 2 choices right? We can ruminate (& become bitter), or we can move forward (& be easy on ourselves). I always try to choose the latter. And now I have so many rewards — including a life-long lesson about the power in that choice.
Really, the boat was always capable. The question was — was I?
Thanks for the link!
If you ever want to come check it out you are welcome to stay here. We’ve got a guest room and I’m your typical second grade teacher field trip guide to one of the best cities around. Enjoy the life you are creating. ❤️
❤️ 🙏
Most importantly (it seems) is 1) you're in the Bahamas! and 2) you've sailed 4000 miles. And 3) you're on your way to Guatemala! Seize the day--which you already well know how to do!!
Exactly Jeanine! Same with any life: what happened in the past is out of our control. We can make amends where it makes sense, not beat ourselves up ever, & move on with our glorious futures. Thanks for the kind comment
It's so difficult to completely avoid regretting things from the past. If I could, I'd go back and fix mistakes, but I know I'd make different ones.
That is basically the essence of this article haha. I’ve said the cliche many times that “I have no regrets in life.” But one of the reasons I wrote this was to interrogate whether that was actually true or just something I told myself. The reality: I just don’t dwell on my regrets. I make amends to others where I can, but don’t beat myself up for my mistakes. Like you said (& Kierkegaard said), no matter what choice we made, we’d likely regret it either way.
I'm sharing this with my brother-in-law, who sails. He had asked me what kind of boat you had and I didn't know. (I also hope he is inspired by your new way of life!)
Thanks Don! I’m so happy you think he’ll enjoy it! I’ve started to get more sailing people reading my work, so I thought I’d dive into more of the details about my boat while also coming clean that we made every single mistake hahah. A lil something for everyone :)
His response was, “She looks pretty tough. No boat is perfect.” And he said he’s looking forward to reading your post.
Thanks Don. She’s absolutely tough. Tougher than us hahah
We did our trip on a 2002 Swan 44. The water maker was a near-constant headache. We also had to drop the rudder twice and put in new lip seals when it started leaking (we got good at that). The Volvo Penta diesel engine died twice mid-passage, making us hand steer with everything off until we got it running to be able to charge the batteries. The high-temp alarm would go off when engine temperature was normal. The stove died right before the trip. Plus hundreds of small things.
Boats are projects. They rarely are perfect. One time my dad said, "Wow, we finally fixed everything". Two days later, the alternator stopped charging the batteries.
You just have to roll with it and learn to be an electrician, seamstress, diesel mechanic, and rigger with limited information and tools but a lot of time.
Plus the more expensive ones are more complicated and more stuff can break.
Wow, thanks for those details, man! That’s crazy for a newer boater that there are that many problems. But I guess it makes sense because it’s still 20+ year-old systems!
Luckily, we haven’t had major issues since we left the boatyard in June 2024. That new engine saved us a TON of headaches for sure. We know people who have spent the same amount of money for a new engine on just keeping their old crappy one running. Blessing in disguise.
We really only wish we had a few more things right now: a better dinghy & a roller furler. We have hank-on sails, and though it’s got some charm to it, it’s a huge pain in the ass when the weather changes or you’re tired at the end of a sail.
Still, I’m grateful for all the stories, no matter what the cost ;)
Ahh roller furler is a game changer so you can reef without messing with the main or leaving the cockpit.
We had some friends with a brand new Amel 60 and they had even more problems than us haha. $4,000,000 sailboat with lots of complicated problems.
I like your boat. It's pretty and has character.
I loved ours too. She got us through a lot of bad weather safely, and all the problems were solvable. I've never known anything as well as I knew that boat, the sound, the rhythm of the engine, how it felt when balanced.
Thanks again for the reflections, man. I like my boat, too. The stories, simplicity, & the utilitarian-ness of it. But we mayyyy get a roller furler after we get to Central America. The cost is crazy though! I’ll have to have a couple good months with my lil business first ;)