November 25, 2008

Time to call it.....

December is quickly approaching and Artemo will not be finished in time to make the 3 day sail to Curasco prior to Christmas. Graham has been putting in 12 hour days trying his damn-dest to make this happen but it was time to call it. We can't keep going at this pace, feeling like we are running a race.

Flexibility is the name of the game with our lives and always has been. We never do, just to do. It has to feel "right" or we don't do it. The things we are always checking against are being #1 Safe, #2 Happy,and #3 Together!

Once Graham and I had the time to sit down with a calendar and take a look at the timeline we quickly realized that Panama and the Pacific crossing wasn't in the cards for 2009. Number of big reasons this isn't right:
  1. Once our major boat "Reno" is complete it doesn't make sense to sail to far away from Grenada, just in case any adjustments need to be made.
  2. The "Reno" sucked a ton of our savings up and the kitty needs to be refurbished before we head out for extended sailing
  3. If we don't start actually sailing until January this wouldn't give us much time to get our sailing skills up to snuff for the crossing.

As you can see, pretty convincing points! Graham and I evaluated our options and here is what we decided. We are flying to Curasco for Christmas and spending the week, relaxing and enjoying the holidays with Grandpa Griff and Nana Cheryl and hopefully my brother Rob. We are then coming back to Artemo and putting her in the water (fyi she is looking Spectacular!!!). We are then going to sail up to Antigua and meet my Dad and Cheryl there. They are going to sail North from Curasco to the Virgin Islands and then sail down to Antigua and meet us there. We will all then sail leisurely from Feb to April back down to Grenada. Taking our time and enjoying the islands we skipped over on our first trip. Smelling the flowers!

At the end of April we will haul our boat out at the yard here in Grenada and we will head back to Toronto for 6 months to add to the trip kitty. We will then be back in Grenada Nov 1st, 2009 to start up again and make the trek to the Panama and beyond!

We are all feeling pretty good about the plan. It took quite awhile to come around to it but it makes so much sense that it is hard to argue with it. The kids weren't totally sold on it but they have come around. They like the adventure and as the boat nears completion and we can begin to see it's potential we are getting more excited about actually sailing her again! They didn't want to come back until we had accomplished what we had planned. Good lesson though about always carefully weighing pros and cons, at each step in your life.

Ok, you got the long story (sorry Brian). The short story is that you are going to be seeing us sooner than you thought! The good news is that we already have the good bye parties out of the way. The bad news is that I shouldn't of cut my hair so short and got rid of all our work clothes.

"Whatever is flexible and living will tend to grow; whatever is rigid and blocked will wither and die." - Lao Tzu

6 comments:

  1. wow, big changes. i hope to see you back in Toronto then!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Back to Toronto!!! We're excited! We can set you up with a rental, let us know if you what you need.

    And, good to see that a) the boat is coming along and b) you're flying to Curasco to see your family! Hugs to the kids!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Zippidy do da, zippidy day, my oh my what a wonderful day. I'm goin see my kids and grandkids in only a few months. Yahoo!!!
    So we will have a great visit in the summer of 2009. Send pictures of the boat when it is done. Try to get a shot of it from top to bottom in one picture as I really want to paint it.
    See you soon.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey - we are looking forward to not only Christmas but also sailing with you next year. Would have liked Cartegena from Curacao but it will be made up by our sailing together

    Grampa Griff and Nana Cheryl

    ReplyDelete
  5. Julie and the fam:

    I know this was probably a hard decision to come to but I am thrilled that I get to see you in a few months in Toronto!!! Good luck, be safe, see you soon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Are you kidding me Cutting your hair was a fantastic move for you. You look like a model with that short cut. I love it!!!That does suck about getting rid of the work clothes though. Your plan sounds like a good one. You guys have it altogether...and I am looking forward to having you a bit closer.
    Trese

    ReplyDelete