How It All Started

The Idea

I was retiring and had to find something to do. It was suggested that I think on things I liked to do when I was younger, and I remembered that I really enjoyed sailing with a friend of mine. The idea stuck.

Getting Curious

The first thing we did was to get our ASA certification - the course was 5 days long and was done on a 44ft Beneteau in the Gulf Islands off the coast of British Columbia. The hook was set for both of us. The next step was to gain more experience. Everything we read said the best way to get experience was to go racing and do passages. 

Living in Calgary, Alberta, it is challenging to buy a sailboat and gain experience on our own boat, so we had to seek experiences abroad. 

Gaining Experience

I signed up to crew on a boat in South Hampton, UK where I gained experience racing, boat maintenance and also learned how not to act as a captain! That experiment lasted a total of 2 months.

Later that year I set sail again, this time from Finland to Portugal on a Finnish ship. The experience was a real eye opener. So many different ports, so many countries and a captain that was laid back and took everything in stride. There is nothing to be gained by yelling and being belligerent towards your crew.  

From there, a 2 day cruising course was taken that was given by John Neal. This broadened our dreams and desire to become full time sailors.  

A crew member from my passage on the Finnish boat asked me if I could help him deliver his boat from Cape Verde to Trinidad. I jumped at the opportunity as our long term goal is to do passages. What a tremendous experience. Within 24 hours we were no longer within eye sight of land. We didn’t see land till 23 days later when we arrived in Trinidad.  

Our next experience was doing a bareboat charter for 1 week through the Gulf Islands, BC. to see if Christine was still interested in pursuing sailing life. It was a great time, lots learned and more importantly it confirmed to us that this was something we truly wanted to do.  

From there we both went on additional trips. I attended the Antigua Sailing week and then sailed from Antigua to St. Maarten and then to the Azores and finishing in Cherbourg, France. Another passage

made - this time I gained the titles Watch Lead and Chief Cook (where I planned and managed all the meals for a crew of 10 people for 30 days). 

Christine sailed from Scotland to Norway, traveling across the North Sea. It was her first experience  going offshore and dealing with storms and tides. Christine came back from that trip even more excited by the prospect of becoming a full time live aboard sailor. 

Taking The Next Step

With Christine’s graduation within sight, it was time to start looking for our next home - one on water that would take us to the farthest reaches of our dreams.

-Jean