Goodbye Boston: A Sailor's Proclamation

"The decision to flee came suddenly. Or maybe not. Maybe I'd planned it all along -- subconsciously waiting for the right moment." Hunter S. Thompson

I am leaving Boston. There is a laundry list of reasons why, but it boils down to an essential few. This is my third winter up here, and to be honest I've had about enough. The cold is oppressive; it latches onto your soul, sucks your vital will to live and leaves you breathless and desperate. It inhibits activity on both a mental and physical level. I've tried to get used to it, but the thoughts of what I could be doing if it were 30 degrees warmer have overcome me.

My career, more than likely, will be put on hold. Had I known that I would be spending 8 plus hours per day staring at a computer monitor in the middle of a cube farm, while the world, my youth and my life pass me by, I would never have signed up in the first place. I have been with the same company for three years, since I graduated college, and I have yet to be involved in any engaging, serious design work. I now have my masters in engineering and I am still given table scraps of projects. I've paid my dues, enough is enough. I doubt I will return to a desk job, if anything I will return to this field in a more hands-on and satisfying line of work. That's all I really know right now.

On to the good stuff: sailing is a sport and way of life for the restless and youthful. People save up for their whole lives to do this, but why? Sailing is a reletively cheap lifestyle. Winchelsea is not only my home, but she is my vacation, my hotel and my restaurant, all with an ocean view. What else do you need, exactly? Sailing is also a sport of courage and daring; a fulfilling challenge in all parts of being. It is about going into something great, unknown and to be flat honest, pretty scary. It's not that the sea is out to get you, though; it just doesn't care.

I will be leaving in mid September, just after the peak of hurricane season and before the late fall gales begin to blow up here. My plan is to sail from Boston to San Diego. Not all at once, however. I will be stopping in Florida for a period. Then it is off through the Caribbean, down through the Panama Canal and up the Pacific coast of Mexico. When it's all said and done I hope to arrive by about this time next year. I'll be sailing around New England for the summer, and learning how to handle Winchelsea. Some may think I am lacking critical experience, but I have been sailing for about 5 years now. The main difference between the experience I have and the boat I own is not the sailing itself; it is all the auxiliary knowledge that goes along with a cruising boat, i.e. the electrical systems, an engine, a separate water system, navigation, provisioning, the head, the galley, etc. The sailing part, as well as motoring, are things I can handle.

I've been on boats since I was 6 when my parents bought one to cruise around Sebago Lake in Maine. I owned a small Boston Whaler when I was 16 and 17 in Sarasota, and got that thing into some pretty hairy situations. Enough with my credentials, I'm not writing to validate this trip to anyone. Sailing (and motoring when necessary) down the ICW and the US east coast is one of the most basic and introductory routes you can take, outside of the trade winds in the British Virgin Islands, which I also plant to sail. If I can't handle that, then I would have to eat my own words and dreams and admit that I'm not cut out to make the trip all the way to San Diego, yet. After Florida, I'll bum around the Caribbean for a bit, peruse the Virgin Islands, gain some more experience and then set out for Panama. After the canal crossing, which I hear is quite an experience in itself, its up the coast of Mexico; I'll be sailing in waters my boat was made to cruise in. Again, and I pointed this out in one of my first blog posts, someone has completed a circumnavigation in my boat before; she is definitely sea worthy and up for this trip.

My time in Boston and at my current job is over. I've had a good run up here, but it is time to turn a new page in my life and move on. I can't describe it in any more detail than it being just a feeling, a push and a pull, that is leading me this way.

I thank you for reading this extra long blog post. This is something I have had on my mind for a long time. It has grown inside me relentlessly, and I'm happy you're here to support me.