So, We're Buying A Boat

A first time look at Amara!  Our boat.

Currently, Martin and I are oceans apart (not really a good way to start this adventure, right?) but only for a little while.  A week ago, Martin left for France while Lily, our four-year-old daughter, and I are still tucked away at our home here in Utah.

First things first, I guess I should explain that we are in the process of buying a boat.  Not just any old boat, but a 56-foot Catamaran that we will soon christen her with the name, AMARA (a-MAR-a), which means, "To the sea" (ok, so we took poetic license and added the "A" at the end).  We played around with hundreds of names but kept coming back to Amara since it really was what we wanted to do in the first place, "Go to the sea!"

Martin's bags that he took with him over to France.  
In case you're curious, that long tube is full of fishing rods.

There he goes.  Off to France.

Martin is in France finalizing the sale of AMARA (which he actually purchased on a satellite phone while skiing through Antarctica to the South Pole), installing additional equipment, testing engines, checking sails, buying sails and pretty much getting her ready to sail.  It takes a lot of time, energy and money to get her ready in time to hopefully sail her next week to Mallorca, Spain.  Martin's plan is to leave the docks in Canet, which is in the South of France and head toward Mallorca, Spain. Then he and his crew will go around the tip of Spain and aim for Gibraltor.  From Gibraltor, they will set sail for the Canary Islands.  Right now, the plan is for Lily and me to meet Martin and Amara in the Canaries where we will provision the boat for our 18-day trip across the Atlantic to St. Maarten in the Caribbean.

If all wraps up this week and all the issues have been addressed and fixed, Martin will leave from Canet to the Canary Islands at the end of this week.  This should take Martin and his crew about 10 days, pending weather.  I'm going to need to get used to this phrase, "depending on the weather" because it will be the topic for many discussions and decisions in the future while sailing Amara.  Right now, we live in a world where everything is instant, e.g., downloading a book, a song, seeing a movie, getting food, gas, anything... in an instant.  I'm going to need to rewire a few things in my head so that I can get used to understanding it when Martin says, "Well, we're going to need to check the weather."  Some things may not come so quickly, but I am fine knowing that we are sailing together.

Here, in Utah, I have been given the duty of wrapping up all things at home (insert panic attack here).  I am working on getting the house handed over for family to stay in, finalize last minute bills, and oh yea, buying bedding and decor for the boat.  I plan on shipping everything we need for Amara to some unknown destination in St. Maarten.  Truthfully, it makes me a little nervous.  Of course, I could do the shopping and decorating along the way, but if you know me (which I'm sure you will through this blog), I'm a bit OCD and terrified of ambiguity.  So I'd rather buy now, rather than regret it later.

Chaos.  Which I'm known for not handling too well.

Getting closer to ship these off to St. Maarten.
We'll meet them there in about four weeks.

Martin is in France with our captain, Patrice, and our good friend Garry.  I feel a wee bit sorry for them because not only is France freezing this time of year, but add in cold, brittle wind that is whipping at them all day long as they hang out at the dock in Canet.  This doesn't sound remotely enticing to me.  So, I'll go about my assigned duties and only moan and beg for sympathy from my family and close friends.  I'll keep quiet when Martin calls.

Many have asked Martin and me why we are even doing this in the first place?  Well, my gut reaction is to say, "Why not?" but that isn't why.  This is something that Martin and I have mulled over for the past year.  We've done our homework.  First, we attended three large boat shows (Oakland, Cannes and Annapolis) where we looked and looked at every catamaran out there.  We have sat in on many seminars at these boat shows, received our ASA sailing certifications and have plotted and planned over how we were going to make this happen.

Martin was born to be an adventurer.  He still has a boy-like quality that always wants to see what is on the other side, no matter the route.  He has always wanted to know what is possible to do that no one else has done.  He has swam with sharks, dolphins and whales.  Martin has participated in Ironmans and above all, he is an accomplished outdoorsman.  Martin bought his first sailboat when he was nine and has continued his passion for the sea up into adulthood.  It is his first love (and I am okay with it).

I, on the other hand, I'm a planner.  I like to know where I am going and figure out the easiest way to get there.  In this respect, Martin and I are polar opposites.  I had really never thought about seeing the world on a sailboat, but you have to admit, it does sound pretty dreamy.   Even though it was never a lifelong dream of mine, the minute Martin put the thought into my head, I couldn't yank it out even though I tried.  I would say to myself at times, "This is crazy!  We have a daughter!  We can't just pick up and go?"  However, I am just as much of a dreamer as Martin and as soon as those fears subsided, I was on board with him 100%.  A girl can dream too, right?

This isn't about us leaving the lives we currently have, getting rid of all of our worldly belongings and wanting a simpler life.  We like things complicated, but the timing is right for us NOW.  Our daughter won't be in kindergarten for another two years and there is no time like the present for us to get out there and see the world from a different view.   Our view will just happen to be from the deck of Amara.

Last year, Martin and I were at a boat show and we sat in on a class that was being given by the famous sailor, Jimmy Cornell.  Someone in the audience asked him why he would sell everything, uproot his family and take off on a sailboat for six years with his wife and two young children.  I loved his reply.  He said, "I grew up in Romania.  At the time Romania was behind the iron curtain.  You Americans take your freedom for granted.  You don't know what it is like to grow up where your basic human rights and freedoms are taken from you.  So, when I had the chance, I left Romania and decided that I wanted to be free.  I wanted to have the freedom to do whatever I wanted.  Sailing on my boat and seeing the world with my family--that is my kind of freedom.  So we went!"

So, we are going to go as well!  We are about to embark on an adventure that neither Martin nor myself are completely sure of how it will turn out.  Martin is terrified that after 3 weeks of this I'll be ready to head back to the mountains of Utah.

Boats break and we aren't the most apt sailors as of yet.  That is why we are bringing a crew with us for the first six months, to make sure we learn the ropes and become more sure of ourselves and in handling Amara on our own.  In fact, we may decide to keep the crew the entire voyage, we're just not sure yet.  Martin keeps telling me that I need to get used to living in ambiguity.  That's tough for me, but I am willing to take a stab at it.

Truthfully, I have to pinch myself thinking that this is really going to happen.  That we made this dream of ours a reality.  We already have our plan mapped out to where we will sail for the next year and a half and I'll make sure to post it so that our readers can get an idea of where we'll be... or trying to get to at least.  I can't wait to get this adventure started.

We hope you follow along as we set sail on Amara.

Post Edit:  Martin just read this post and sent me an email that said, "The ocean was my first love, but only because you weren't around yet.  You are now my foremost love!"  (Love him to the moon.)