Back to Life, back to reality … ♪♪♪

Life on the boat that is.

Stepping on board Fortitude X after five months felt somewhat strange and at the same time so familiar. After a 40 hours odyssey we finally arrived back in Campbell River to find the boat floating (bonus) and in incredibly good shape.  Some get through winter better than others.

As you can imagine, it didn’t take long for us to transform the space from “neatly organized” to “stage of complete chaos”; whatever it takes to make it home again.  We enjoyed our first meal sitting between a stack of laundry, and a set of batteries while we were reminiscing about our previous weeks in Germany and planning for the months to come.

The world had changed since we left Canada in October. Covid-19 as number one thread to mankind has been superseded by more recent war activities on European soil.  We can learn a lot from the courage, often showing up as quiet acts of personal bravery, of the Ukrainian people; all triggered by exceptional leadership. It reminds me once again, why we chose “Fortitude” as the perfect name for our boat; not being afraid to stand up for your values and beliefs.

Our days have been filled with lots of planning, paperwork, and running errands. We spent a marvellous day in Seattle, picking up our water maker, followed by more ordinary hours trying to install it. We treated Fortitude X to a spa day, hauling her out for a good clean and scrub. I am looking after some safety procedures & guidelines, rewriting boat manuals and assembling all necessary reports, boat documents, and information for our journey south. Torsten is performing boat yoga around me, pulling cables, replacing parts and just being a happy camper. He is treating me to the occasional galley dance, always putting a huge smile on my face.

It’s exciting to plan these next steps of our travels and I am amazed about the supportive network of sailors and cruisers sharing their experiences and insights – it might take the mystery out of exploring unchartered waters but provides a tremendous amount of safety and security.

Desolation Sound looks like the first destination for 2022; from there we will slowly make our way down to Vancouver, stopping at some of our favourite anchorages along the way and reconnecting with friends. Starting in August, we will be cruising down the US coast, aiming for San Diego.  The verdict is still out on joining the Baja Ha-Ha or continue sailing on our own all the way to Cabo San Lucas.  I think we might discuss this over a nice glass of red tonight.

Just in case you are wondering: The first pic was taken 35 years ago – and here we are – still smiling!