Many people have the dream of sailing off into the sunset. But the reality is a LOT different than the perception. Herein lies the advice of someone who’s spent 13 years circumnavigating on the pitfalls to avoid.
The paradox of being at sea for a long time is that you do not get more comfortable as time passes, but more scared. You get more competent, and that helps with controlling fear, but competence can only carry you so far. With each passing year out here I feel smaller and more at the whim of the ocean; more humbled, more afraid. People who come on board who have not spent time at sea often tell me they want to see a storm, they want to experience what it’s like. I know immediately that I am dealing with a novice if these words leave a person’s mouth. Storms at sea are not the same as on land. Land lubbers cannot possibly comprehend what it’s like to know the dread and physical stress that an approaching deep low pressure system causes; they cannot comprehend what it’s like to battle 70 mile an hour winds; to be in seas several times larger than your boat; to be completely at the mercy of the weather, your ability, and the frailty of your vessel.
We take a long stop in the island nation of Palau and find some amazing wonders
Offshore Sailing rarely is this good. Come aboard the Best Odyssey as we head sw towards the Gambier islands
After three weeks of living in Panama City, I for one was ready to get underway again. Discovery has received nearly $15,000 in upgrades- new batteries, new anchor chain, new GPS and Radar (after they got fried in Colombia), fishing gear, sail repairs, a myriad of spare parts… Each day I would spend a few hours on the boat doing odd projects in hopes that by the time our departure date arrived it would be less chaos than usual. As we’ll be away from any kind of services, or even a marina for nearly two years once we depart, the time was now to stock up and get her ready, but there’s always a list that remains undone.