We've come to the end of what we're calling the Keys and Cays Cruise - To the eastern edge of the Bahamas (next stop Africa) and back again! And what a trip it's been!
There were several points along the way where we almost gave up and said, 'This is too hard' and went home. The learning curve was far steeper than we thought it would be and we had some very painful (and humbling) lessons along the way. We're used to knowing what we're doing, for goodness sake, and found it very frustrating when we didn't know how to or couldn't do things in the way we expected.
Quite frankly, we were unprepared for the weather reality and at times found it frightening. We should have known more, but then again we read every book / blog on the subject that we could get our hands on so perhaps we're a bit hard on ourselves. I do think we tend to take making mistakes or not knowing things harder than some would and beat ourselves up unnecessarily. Some would just shrug those things off and we tend to agonize over them.
Taking the break after the shake-down cruise and going back to England for a breather was the right thing to do. I'm so glad the UK government insisted that I be present for my citizenship ceremony! It gave us a chance to regroup, get our heads back on straight and think about what we wanted to do without also having to think about the weather, anchoring and how to do this or that.
The decision was to keep going, to give it another shot and do what we set out to do - and we are so glad we did! We made it all the way out to the Exumas and back. We did what we had read and dreamt about for so long.
And after the shake-down cruise, it was 'less hard', I don't think I'll ever say living aboard (versus 'going sailing') is a walk in the park. We were more confident, had been exposed to some of the things we encountered before (so it wasn't 'all' new) and also we were out of the dead of winter. Things are much nicer and easier to bear when it's 80 degrees out rather than 40!
When we took our UK break, we decided to have the summer back there. We were talking this morning and if the decision point were right now, we'd keep going right up the coast. We have a great summer planned with all sorts of adventures so I'm not disappointed, but if the decision point had been now it probably would have been different. Anyhow, we'll really be looking forward to coming back next fall!
With all of its ups and downs, it has been a fabulous trip! One of the highpoints of our lives and we're so thrilled that we've had the opportunity to do it. It's made us grow in ways we never even considered and we've seen things that we'd only read about in books.
Just a few of my particular high points:
- Sitting in a bay with the Miami skyline lit up before you was pretty darned impressive
- White Cay while it was just our own deserted anchorage
- Allens Cay for gently getting used to snorkelling and the funny iguanas
- Exuma Park and lying out on the deck watching the starry sky (we will, however, take a mooring ball on the inside harbor next time and avoid the bouncing experience)
- West Bay for its beauty and calmness in an easternly blow
- Staniel Cay was my overall favourite for loads of reasons - beautiful sea, beautiful surroundings, snorkelling with the coral and the fishes in Thunderball Cave, Club Thunderball and the restaurant at Staniel Cay Marina, and the glimpse into the Bahamian way of life.
(I'm sure Steve will post his, he's long overdue for a blog post!)
The experience has been life changing (I did say a while ago that sailing changes you). The time to step away from the hurly-burly and think about what's important to us has been especially valuable. We're clearer and more focused than we've been in a very long time, but calmer. Confidence has been restored and it's grown - if you can make your way alone across a rather big piece of ocean, where else could you go?!
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