Monday, August 19, 2013

Step 2: Choosing a sailing school

"Island Dreamer", a 41 foot Morgan Out Island, our platform for ASA 103, 104 certifications


"Kermit", a 20 foot Balboa we used for ASA 101 certification
When Sharon and became serious about learning to sail - for us formal education was the only option.  I personally don't know anyone locally that sails, and I also wanted a skilled instructor that would adhere to some sort of structured program, versus some guy saying "pull that line over there and crank this thing-a-ma-jiggy" in between chugs of beer.  I do know one captain that is not officially an instructor, but someone whom I would fully trust to teach me.  However, his west coast location, and the fact that we would have no official proof of my instruction, eliminated him as a possibility.  When considering a life aboard, I wanted to know we had educated ourselves correctly, and not cut any corners.  After all, one day our lives might depend on it.




Sharon reviewing ASA course books aboard "Island Dreamer"

After doing much research, I also decided that we should obtain some sort of standardized certification.  While no specific license is required to sail (non-commercially), US Sailing and American Sailing Association are two widely known and accepted standards.  By showing these levels of certification, it is official proof of the training one has accomplished for their sailing resume - be it for bareboat chartering (renting and skippering a yacht yourself), or for possible employment.  Deciding that education standards were a must helped to narrow down the type of schools we would consider.

Tim at the helm of "Island Dreamer" under Capt. Margie's command

The American Sailing Association and US Sailing both have similar levels of certification, starting with the basics of keelboat sailing, progressing up to and beyond bareboat chartering.  My goal was to achieve proficiency to a level in which we would feel comfortable enough in our skills to safely live aboard a 40-50 foot sailing vessel.  With this goal in mind, it was decided that we should aim for Basic Keelboat, Basic Coastal Cruising, and Bareboat Charter certifications.


Sailing "Island Dreamer" through a narrow mangrove channel
Google search quickly found a local school on the Connecticut's southwest coastline of Long Island Sound, offering US Sailing courses.  On one hand, the benefit of a local school would be the ability to schedule at least a portion of the schooling on weekends, thus saving vacation time.  On the other hand, a local school is also a downfall.  We don't like Connecticut, nor do we feel we fit in here - so why would we ever feel comfortable with a Connecticut school or a class setting here?  Also, education of any flavor is generally expensive, and this school was no exception.  The final nail in the coffin for the local school, was the complete unresponsiveness from the owner when I asked for additional information.  His nonchalant and seemingly non-caring attitude towards me as a possible client quickly helped me eliminate his school as an adequate solution.

Sharon at the helm of "Island Dreamer"
The next best option to local training, was to find a school somewhere in an enjoyable area, where we could pursue our education as somewhat of a working vacation.  I found lots of options in the Virgin Islands, as well as Florida.  But one school really stood out.  Touting the advantages of private, "couples to couples" instruction (a husband/wife instructor couple teaching a husband/wife student couple), as well as a no-yelling policy, Island Dreamer Sailing School grabbed my attention.  Located in Miami, and offering certification while sailing in the Florida Keys was also a very appealing benefit.  While Sharon was still unsure, I was quickly beginning to think this was the right school for us.  Even with the added cost of airfare, this school was still less expensive than the local option we had explored, and offered a much more private and tailored program considering there would be no other students.

I placed a call to Harold Ochstein, the owner of the school, and also an instructor.  Harold immediately convinced me that he truly understood our needs, and our reasons for seeking knowledge towards a new life adventure.  This was not a used car salesman making a sale, this was a guy that had been in my position, and had gone through the things we were facing.  Cementing our choice, Sharon also placed a call to Harold herself.  Harold's calm, reassuring nature soon put all of her concerns at ease.  With our decision made, and acknowledgement of the work ahead of us, dates were decided and contracts were signed.

Capt. Harold Ochstein grilling a great meal aboard "Island Dreamer"
It was real now.  Funds were committed.  Much like college, once a few thousand dollars vacates your checking account, it all gets a little more serious.  An even more valuable commodity, vacation time, was also entered in work calendars.  More precious than gold to us, we would have one full week less to spend at our vacation home to ease the stresses of living in Connecticut.

Promptly after booking with Island Dreamer Sailing School, our course materials arrived in the mail.  With a matter of months until our week aboard Island Dreamer with Captains Harold and Margie, we had three course books and a lot of material to cover.  Each of the three levels of certification we were pursuing would require passing a written test, and also demonstrating our skills via a practical assessment aboard.  It was immediately apparent that if we were to be successful, we would need to cover all the course materials before our week of training aboard Island Dreamer, thus allowing us to focus fully on all the physical sailing skills.  Our lunch hours and evenings would be filled with regular reading and study sessions.  Our week aboard was approaching.
ASA Course Materials

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

"From one crazy sailor to another"

Kirk Neuert
Way before Sharon and I had ever considered private charters, we used to take a cruise aboard Princess Cruise Lines each Fall.  In 2009, we met Kirk.  Kirk was traveling alone, had a similar knack for adventure, a witty sense of humor, and a thirst for cold beer at happy hour.  Kirk favored the same bar as Sharon and I, an outdoor venue on the upper lido deck with a great view of the adult pool area and the reggae band that had been hired for the week's entertainment.  Our similar interests and a great bar tending staff made it a nice daily ritual of meeting up for a few cold ones while enjoying the sights and sounds.  It also probably didn't hurt that Kirk is Canadian.  Being from the utmost northern side of the Adirondack mountain region, I'm so close to being Canadian myself that I could almost wring maple syrup out of their flag.  Ok, ok, I'll stop with the Canadian jokes... Eh.

Tim and Kirk, 2009
Over a lot of sudsy story telling while aboard, Kirk came to tell me about many of his ventures, starting successful websites and various businesses from scratch.  Soon he explained his latest endeavor, of owning his own sailboat.  He wasn't talking about dinghy sailing or a day sailor, he was going for the real deal.  When you first meet someone, it's difficult to distinguish beer talk and what are real plans.  It was entertaining, and at the time I barely knew him so I let it all slide at face value and enjoyed the light conversation as he laid out his grand plan to obtain his boat.

Lifting Zephyr
The week aboard the Caribbean Princess ended and we managed to hook up via Facebook.  Here's were it all came together.  Within a matter of months, all the "grand plans" Kirk had discussed with me all began to take shape, in the form of pictures and posts on Facebook.  This wasn't beer talk any longer, he was making it happen right then and there just as he had described.  I watched in awe online as he acquired "Zephyr", a 30 foot Islander.  I watched in eager anticipation as Zephyr moved into stands on the hard.  Then one by one projects took shape through the series of pictures he posted as Zephyr was upgraded, repaired, cleaned, and coaxed into her new life with her proud new owner.  From delivery, through all the hard work and determination, all the way to her launch - I watched her story unfold online in front of me, just as Kirk had planned.  It was inspiring and I felt as though I shared in the gratification of his success.

Zephyr being loaded
As I think of my own plans, I get comments of doubt, and surely more doubting stories are shared beyond my presence.  I think back about Kirk's big plans.  I've noticed, like me, he is willing to take on big ideas that might not be mainstream.  And he does this with a fearless flair, not caring about doubting minds or the possibility of a public failure.  This inspires me to think big, push hard, and follow through with my ideas.  People like Kirk make big plans every day.  Some work, some don't - and they move on.

Kirk and Zephyr

Recently I was chatting with Captain Kirk online (Ok, ok, no more jokes...  Eh.).  We were trading stories of our latest ideas and plans for interstellar domination (I can't help myself).  As we chatted, our excitement and enthusiasm seemed to build from one another.  It was a symbiotic moment of equal inspiration and a shared drive of familiar goals.  As he was about to share his latest plan to build a new boat from scratch, he started with "Well, from one crazy sailor to another"...  It was an appropriate, telling moment.  I think we both understood.  Our "crazy" ideas and plans were not crazy to each other.  We might succeed.  We might fail.  But we would try, undaunted by skeptics, and we would gain encouragement and understanding from each other.  These types of relationships are important to have around when planning a life change of the magnitude of which Sharon and I are considering.  Right when apprehension, and fear of the unknown creeps in, it's reassuring to know there are others out there just as ambitious as you.  Crazy Canadians anyway...  Eh.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Step 1: Inception of a plan

Magewind moored in the Bight,
Norman Island BVI
A desired goal is nothing without a plan for execution.  Think about it.  Let's say you want to build your dream home.  Hammer, nails, saws, and wood don't simply start flying around in a flurry of construction.  Your home starts on the desk of an architect, who carefully and painstakingly devises drawings and specifications for your future personal castle.  Likewise, even the most ingenious plans lay completely useless unless a home owner puts them into play by supplying monetary resources and a crew to handle the labor.

And plans, life plans or plans to build a home, are not one dimensional.  They are complex, with lots of moving parts all needing to merge together towards the common goal in harmony.  Seldom does a plan go executed smoothly, nor is it common for a plan to flow in a linear fashion.  As the pieces come together, there are hangups and setbacks.  Research and dedication of resources are committed in iterations until all pieces of the plan have been managed and massaged into that one uniform end goal.  If executed correctly and successfully to completion, the final product of all the hard is a close version of the original proposition.

Currently, we are slightly past the inception of a plan.  We drew a line in the sand and started formulating a loose approach for a new life, a new chapter.  This first important step of declaring a plan and starting to determine the required pieces usually requires some sort of stimuli.  At some moment in time, something is required to set a new direction in motion.  For us, there were a few things.  We have always had the desire to make some sort of life in the Caribbean - eventually.  We initially pictured this as a plan for retirement.  As we traveled more and sailed more, a life on the water began to attract our interest.  Add in the stress and lack of life quality in Connecticut, and our thoughts of a move at retirement started getting pushed forward to an escape from misery.

Steven Ulrich and Debora Ruffe
Next, a plan needs a catalyst - something to spur an idea to life.  Enter Steven Ulrich and Debora Ruffe, owners and operators of "Magewind", a 46 foot catamaran sailing yacht which Sharon and I chartered last fall in the Virgin Islands.  If there ever was a catalyst for change, this was it.  Steven and Debora are charming and doting, and shower their guests with a luxury vacation for which life lasting memories are surely to be created.  Well worth the price of admission to say the least.  But above and beyond being amazing charter hosts, they exude energy and inspire positive thought.  During our time aboard sharing fabulous food, cocktails, and stories, Steven and Debora offered a new point of view and encouraged us to question ourselves and our situation.  While we had been meandering in a Caribbean direction for a few years, this was the spark that ignited a fire and made us look at our loosely gathered ideas as more of a plan, and less of a dream.

Group shot aboard Magewind before saying goodbye
Although at the time we didn't have all the pieces to a plan (and we still don't), it was clear that if we couldn't confidently sail, then there was no future in the plan at all.  Obviously, this is the first and foremost step we needed to take.  If we were going to be serious, it would be required that we commit some time and resources towards exploring our new found direction.  At first it was decided that I would learn to sail.  Quickly I realized this was a half-baked solution.  To be realistic we're talking about living aboard a 20-30,000 pound sailing vessel, on the ocean.  We're not talking about ski boats and lakes here.  The only probable solution was for us both to learn, and both gain confidence in our ability to live at sea.  Operating a boat of this magnitude is mostly a team effort, and add to that the possibility of one of us getting hurt at sea...  Both of us would surely need to get trained.

So this is where we would start.  Our little exploration into our possible future would require quite a bit of work in studying, a week's worth of vacation time for the actual school, and some monetary resources to pay for it all.  Worst case, we might fail in which case we would incur the loss of committed resources.  Second worst case, maybe after going to school we might decide we didn't want to live aboard.  All in all, not bad really - we would still learn to sail yachts which could be used for future sailing charter vacations.

The beginnings of a plan had hatched...

EX-PATS

About a year ago or so, I was wandering around the internet, day dreaming about the islands and a life in the sun - Surprise, surprise right?  Admittedly, I'm a bit of a YouTube junkie.  I seem to find endless amounts of entertainment, varying from auto reviews, to travel shows, to videos of people simply doing stupid things.  For the record, whenever you hear "Hey guys, watch this..." things are about to get funny, and in all likelihood painful for someone in the video you are watching.

So on one particular morning in the gym, I stumbled upon a nicely put together video, the first of which would become a series.  The series is called "EX-PATS".  For any who are unfamiliar with this moniker, it means "expatriate", or someone who has left their home country to live in a foreign land.  The best aspect for me about "EX-PATS" is that the series is centered around those who have moved to the islands, or to the Caribbean region.  Yes, they had my complete attention.

The host of this new show is none other than island legend Jimmy Buffett's daughter, Savannah Buffett.  For the kicker, the very first episode was centered around my favorite island of all, St. John.  The series is now at the end of it's first year and has now yielded a dozen episodes.  Production quality is excellent, and while I'm sure many aspects are staged, Savannah offers a very inviting and simple tone to every episode almost encouraging the viewer to take a moment to imagine the reality of making of move themselves.

The entire episode list can be found here EX-PATs with Savannah Jane Buffett.  And make sure to check out the first episode in the series, documenting Cheech and Kevin of St. John Brewers.  We had the pleasure of meeting Cheech last Fall while we were on island, and the additional pleasure of grabbing a few cold ones at their bar in Cruz Bay "The Tap Room".  I can not wait to have a few of their Tropical Mango and Island Summer Ales this Fall.  I can taste them now...