Drawn to a life at sea

2nd October


This morning we planned to leave for a day sail at 7am after a great cooked breakfast and a quick clean up. It is quarter past six and I am the only one awake…

The unpredictable howling south westerly arrived at 2am together with the mandatory overcast weather, big short waves and crazy confused seas. We are not going anywhere so no one really wants or needs to rise on this our last real day of holiday.

I am not a late sleeper so I am normally up early taking the alone time to write and plot and plan. Not much beats working in the early hours of the morning, sitting at the saloon table overlooking the marina, with the sounds of the ocean in the back round. This is the life.

My thoughts over the last 2 days have been on our return. This is going to be 2 and half months of crazy business. We need to price and sell all our furniture and odds and ends, we need to sell our house, I have a student to teach, a extra part time job organised for most of October/November and the final term of school is to be played out including Honours evenings, entrepreneurial days, fund raising events, exams, school magazine articles and speeches that Rauen needs to have completed and practised with loads of mom’s help of course. Add to this my mom’s visit from the UK, my regular business and work and the fact that I have a new employee who is in training to take over some of my workload and it adds up to hard work, more hard work and a little extra hard work. I guess I’ll be back to working weekends and evenings because December will be here before I can blink my eyes twice and wish it around. And I am wishing it around…it means we move aboard!

We have yet to decide on our exact December plans as our choices are staying home and enjoying a last Christmas in Joburg or coming down here and enjoying a first Christmas on the boat. I guess it depends if our Christmas tree is sold yet!

We have a few last visitors who will be coming down and then things should settle down and we will spend a lot more alone time on board. Translate to: work time on board. It is hard to entertain and work, but this is work I am really looking forward to!

Sitting here at the table watching the water, feeling the bounce and swaying of the yacht as the swell from the huge seas come in and wind shifts her around on her mooring lines is amazing. Even though I can hear the wind howling and know we will end up facing these conditions out at sea it still inspires me. I would never have thought I could be drawn to a life at sea like I am. Amazing.