Online Dating

Here we sit on-board a 45 foot catamaran preparing to cross the Atlantic Ocean. How in the heck did we get here? Well, all good things start with online dating....

Graham and I signed up on websites called "Find a Crew" and another site called "Ocean Crew Link" which felt like what we imagined online dating is like. We crafted a shiny profile introduction and picked a few photos, we selected our preferences such as "not looking for romance", "prefer boats where drinking is allowed", "non-smokers", "no diet restrictions", "looking for ocean passages", "available for Nov/Dec" and then we waited…..

"My husband and I have sailed across the Pacific and Atlantic with our 2 children. The first sailing adventure began in 2008 on our 1976 Ketch we named Artemo, which we purchased in Antigua and sailed to New Zealand. We arrived in NZ in 2010 and sold the boat in Jan of 2011. The next trip began in Les Sables Delone France where we purchased a brand new Jeanneau 44i in 2012 and sailed across the Atlantic. We enjoyed this boat for a number of years and sold in 2015. We love our family, our adventures, morning coffee, cooking, hikes, snorkeling, diving, free diving, kayaking, happy hour in the cockpit with the setting sun, wide open ocean passages, great food, laughing and friendships. In our work life we both own our own businesses and are consultants. I am a project manager and business analyst just having finished a successful 3 year project and my husband is a software engineer and aircraft maintenance engineer and can basically fix anything. I love travel and adventures and even though I am usually more nervous than Graham for new things, I welcome that feeling."

Soon the fun began, with notifications of potential matches and emails from potential suitors...I mean captains ;-). We could then review their profiles, read about their boat, the crew and sail plans and see if we could be a match! We did video interviews with the boats where the dates and sailing intentions seemed to mesh with ours. It did seem a bit crazy that based on a bit of online stalking and a video chat that we would buy airfare and show up at one of these boats ready to cross an ocean but what is life if you don't take a few risks! The other fun aspect was that the boats were everywhere in the world. Our adventure for Nov and Dec had the potential to take place in so many different places. 

It was so interesting to talk with all the various captains and hear about their experiences and why they were looking for crew. We narrowed our choices down to two boats which would be two very different experiences. 

Option 1: The first boat was a Beneteau First Racing Yacht (mono-hull). There was a very experienced racing skipper on board and he would be bringing along 6 crew. Sleeping arrangements would be 3 in each of the two bedrooms. There was bunk beds and a double in each room. The skipper had his own berth near the nav station. They would be racing but the skipper said that given they would be participating in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers which is more a rally than a race they would be doing a few things to make the passage a bit more cruising than racing such as putting the seats back in the cockpit but that he wasn't the kind of guy to ever say "oh well if it takes us another day…", lol.   I was very honest with him as well and let him know that I had reached out because I thought this might be a great way to build my skill and stomp on my fear. I let him know that I didn't have any racing experience but that I was usually capable of more than I realized. I told him I did tend to be nervous but I wouldn't want to let anyone down. He seemed really knowledgeable and confident and even in our short conversation we could tell he would be a great teacher and a steady calm influence on the trip. We asked for a couple days to really weigh the pros and cons and said goodbye. Graham and I were both very interested after hanging up but we did have concerns about having that many people on board, the sleeping arrangements and cooking/eating.

Option 2: The second boat was a 2018 Lagoon 450F Catamaran. Basically 45 feet of pure luxury. We would have our own cabin and our own bathroom with a shower. The boat had all the bells and whistles. Many things that we never thought a sailboat could have such as

dishwasher, washing machine, nespresso machine, bread maker, ice maker, air conditioner, upper helm cockpit separate from the 2 other cockpits!! for sitting, relaxing and eating. Hmmmm this is a tough choice…. We interviewed with the captain, his wife and their adult daughter and they were really nice and knowledgeable. We felt confident in their skill and felt that we could all be a good fit. Their dates and sail plans worked perfectly with the time off Graham was able to get. The only catch was that they had narrowed their pool of potential candidates down to us and 3 other individuals….uhoh…competition. After speaking with them we decided it would be really great to gain experience sailing on a catamaran to give it a fair shake before we decide on our next boat. We agreed that if they offered us the spot that we would take it.

Later that day we received the email that we were the successful candidates and I wish I had a video of me jumping like a nut around my bedroom alone ;-), unfortunately Graham was at work. So this is how we ended up on this amazing boat, with these amazing people and ready for a new adventure. The captains name is Berry and his first mate/wife is Mei. Their daughters name is Mara. They are all dutch but have lived for a very long time in New Zealand and more recently Australia. They are quick to smile, easy to talk with, really competent, fun loving and interesting. My gut is saying that we are going to have an awesome time together and that we made the right choice!

We are currently in Las Palmas, Gran Canary Islands. We arrived on November 17th and have been getting to know our new family. I am happy to say we chose right! They are all so nice and have set up a very comfortable way to live and sail. We are all working together as a team now to prepare to cast our lines and sail across the ocean departing on Sunday, November 24th. Gulp! We anticipate it will be 20 days at sea. Stay tuned for more updates.