I feel the urge to pontificate, and to wrap our trip up in a nice, tidy package. These are some random thoughts after being back on land for two months.
God is alive and well and living in the South Pacific. There is such beauty in this world, and such order. I simply don’t have enough faith to believe that all this bounty and creativity is a random accident. I have seen such amazing design and harmony in nature, and am more grateful than ever that there is a Master Designer at work in the world.
It’s good to spend time with your family. It might be two weeks or two years, but it is worth the effort to carve out a block of time where your family is dependent on each other. It encourages teamwork and trust. In the middle of some very dark and stormy nights in the ocean, I had to remember that, while I was on watch, I was responsible for the safety of my sleeping family. That kept me focused and alert.
This was NOT a vacation! Cruising is very hard work. You have all the jobs and responsibilities you have at home, without the conveniences to help you do it. So many times, Jim had to create some part or tool out of just what he had in the cockpit locker. If you run out of an ingredient while cooking, you make do with what you have. A major grocery-shopping trip becomes even more challenging when you have to walk two blocks from the store to your dinghy, and then try to get the groceries to your boat while bouncing over waves. Did I mention that many of these small islands sell their chicken eggs loose – not in cartons? Cooking a meal at a 15-degree heel, in 90-degree heat, with all the hatches closed so the waves don’t come into the boat was an exciting challenge. Then developing the rhythm to actually get the food from the bowl to your mouth made it an Olympic event. Okay, but there were also many perfect evening meals in the cockpit, watching the setting sun…
People are really the same all over the world. They enjoy being generous, they enjoy showing you their lives, and learning about yours. We met so many kind natives of the small islands in the South Pacific who were completely satisfied with their simple lives. They prided themselves on a job well done each day, they loved their families, and they honored their elders. They would go out of their ways to perform a small act of kindness. They would beam a beautiful smile if you spent a little time in their home. They would talk for days after being invited aboard your boat, and tell their friends how amazing it was to spend time with some Americans.
It’s very difficult to change the pace of your life. While sitting on the boat in the ocean, surrounded by turquoise water and watching a blazing orange sunset, I promised myself I would not get back into the rat race when I got home. I convinced myself that it was going to be possible to remain aloof, say no when necessary, and not get sucked up into the whirlpool of materialism and busyness that is rampant in America. Now, a mere two months later, it feels like I am almost back. There are needs to be met in business, family and church. High school is almost upon us, bringing a completely new set of requirements. There are booster clubs to join, meetings to take, panels to sit on. Molly and Jessie seem to be smarter at this “saying no” business than I am. They have decided against all extra-curricular activities for their first semester, just to gauge how much time they need to spend on their studies. I think that is pretty smart. I continue to remind myself to remain calm, and try to go to my “happy place” often during the day. I’ll keep working on it until I get it right.
It takes a village to get out of town. We have so many people to thank for helping us make this voyage. The employees of Marine Servicenter, led admirably by Dan Krier, have worked very hard to keep our business growing while we were gone. We came back to a stable, viable company, and we are so proud of all those who made it that way. We had some amazing sponsors for our trip, including Jeanneau America, Navionics, Nobeltec, Ray Marine, North Sails and Harken. We had people taking care of our house, our animals, our bills, and our toys. We had prayer warriors who prayed us through the rough spots. We made friends, many who we have not met yet, through our website. They encouraged us and championed our voyage from all corners of the US. When we didn’t update our website in a reasonable amount of time, they would write and say, “Is everything all right? We haven’t seen an update in a while…” We are grateful beyond words for the people who helped us untie those lines and supported us during the two years we were gone.
Finally, if you have a dream to go cruising, DO IT! We met couples in their seventies and eighties who had been out cruising for 15-20 years, and were still having fun. We met families who blew their kids’ college funds to go sailing for a couple of years. We met people at different marinas who desperately wanted to go sailing, but were simply too afraid to make that final move. They had the boat, the means and the desire, but not the courage. We met people who had just retired, who were all ready to untie and go, only to have their spouse die or get very ill. Our two years went by very quickly – I’m pretty sure we weren’t even missed that much, but we have enough memories to last the rest of our lives.
I would like to personally thank my husband and our captain, Jim, for being the driving force behind our adventure. He had a dream and made it happen. The bonus was, that the rest of the family got to go along for the best ride of our lives! ~ Jeanna
Rard Family Ocean Adventure 