About Us

 

Whose idea was it? Why did we decide on such a life changing event? Here’s the answer.

Back in the summer of 2014, my then fiancée and I were living in Seattle and busy planning our wedding that would take place in September of that year. At some point during that summer, David casually suggested we sell everything, buy a boat, and sail around the Caribbean for a year since it was something that he had always dreamt about doing. He was in grad school at the University of Washington and had about a year to go to get his master’s degree in Electrical Engineering. However, he was tired of being in school and tired of all the long nights and early mornings rushing to finish projects. I had recently quit my job and wasn't sure what the next step in my career should be. We were both ready for something different that would challenge us and expand our horizons.  After weeks of discussing what to do, we decided to just go for it and would start looking for a boat as soon as the wedding was over.

We originally planned to buy a boat in Seattle, sail through the Panama Canal, and island hop our way through the Caribbean for a year. We went as far as having a survey done on a boat, but we realized that our timeline would not allow us enough time to buy the boat, fix what needed fixing, leave Washington, and be in the Caribbean by the time we wanted to be there. So we sold 90% of our belongings, packed our cars, and moved back to Texas to continue our boat search there. Sailing from Texas would take us a couple of months to make it to the Caribbean rather than 6 months or more leaving from the Pacific Northwest.

David and I both grew up in Texas, and both of our families still live there. My mom and dad, being the awesome parents they are, didn’t blink an eye when we told them we were moving back in less than a month and said yes when we asked if we could stay with them. Their reactions to the boat idea were drastically different. Dad said something like, “You’re young and only live once. Go for it.” Mom said, “Are you crazy?!" We lived with them for about a month and a half until we bought Dulcinea and then became full time live aboards. We unfortunately decided to leave Trixie, our 8 year old Yorkie, with my parents while being away. It was a very hard decision, but we decided it was best for her since she is a very anxious dog and wouldn’t have adapted well. Besides, my parents spoil her more than we do.

I’m sure you’re thinking that we had a ton of sailing experience and knowledge that would allow us to take a sailboat out onto the high seas for a year, but that isn’t exactly the case. David had been a member of the university’s yacht club for a couple of years and knew how to sail small dinghies. He didn’t have much experience on keel boats, but his extensive knowledge about sailing that he gained from sailing dinghies and reading made it really easy for him when it came time to sail our boat. He also can fix just about anything on the boat that breaks, which he has had to do. A LOT. I, on the other hand, had been on a sailboat but didn't have any hands on experience. I joined the yacht club as soon as we decided to buy a boat and learned the basics of sailing in a double-handed sailing class (which I’m happy to say I passed). The rest I’m learning as our journey continues.

Now the goal is to make it as far south as we can before needing to turn back to Texas. We allotted one year to this adventure, give or take a few months, so my hope is to make it to St. Martin before we head home.