Sailing?
Yes, that tiny detail... We've never actually sailed!Although Ryan claims that I "have some good sailing experience from growing up in the West coast of France" (probably referring to my optimist sailing when I was 9), together, our combined experience of maneuvering a sailboat is close to zero.So how do you consider sailing around the world with no experience, and where do you start when you're totally new to the sport?Well thing is, we can't really sail yet. First, we need to wait until Ryan is fully recovered from the goose attack that cost him a shoulder reconstruction surgery earlier this spring (true story!). Also, we both already used all of our paid holidays this year.Long story short: we're not getting on a boat before at least January 2016. Meanwhile, Ryan spends his time nerding himself out with everything sailboat. I came home one night and I had not even taken my shoes off when I heard Ryan shoot:
"Honey, I learnt everything about toilets, and I think we will be fine!"
(Note for the future: Ryan is the toilet master aboard.)
But back to the point, here is the plan: as soon as we can (that's January 2016), we get on a boat with an instructor, stay at sea for as long as we can, and learn as much as possible. As Ryan described it, we need over a short and intensive period of time to:
- See if we truly enjoy sailing
- Gain some practical experience
- Experience life at sea
We want to get a real taste of life aboard a sailboat, both in nice conditions and through foul weather, when we're fresh, sharp and excited, but also when we're tired and easily irritated. We want to figure out how we work together as a team. We want get insights on what we need to learn and all the aspects of the voyaging lifestyle before we embark on our adventure. Oh yes, and we need to learn how to sail too :)If after that we still like it enough to consider making it a lifestyle, our plan is to buy a boat next spring, and spend the summer sailing around Stockholm's archipelago. If it turns out we don't like it for whatever reason, we'll move on.With that in mind, Ryan contacted a bunch of schools in Greece, Malta and all around the Mediterranean, told them about our project and asked what kind of classes they would recommend for us to take. We ended up choosing the Hercules Sailing School in Gibraltar and here is why.While other schools copy-pasted pages of their website in their answer and suggested we picked some courses that would seem relevant, Chris and Mandy took our project seriously and immediately got back to us with a personalized suggestion that felt spot on. A look at the reviews they got from former students confirmed our impression and we made up our minds quickly.Chris and Mandy suggested that Ryan and I spend the two last weeks of January 2016 aboard a 33 to 36 foot sailboat, at sea all the time, alone with an instructor. According to their own words, we will "start from the very beginning", which is indeed what we need. Besides, what a better way to form our team than to learn everything together?During these 14 days, promised to be intensive, we will go through two classes called "Competent crew" and "Day Skipper", both theory and practical. Chris and Mandy have been living on a sailboat for 17 years, and we're sure they'll also provide us with valuable insights throughout the class.We will beforehand receive some material we can study, along with suggestions for what we can do ashore so we're 100% prepared in January. It couldn't sound better to the eager beginners we are.So, we just payed the deposit and are now officially signed up to our first sailing class. Even if it's still 6 months away, it's getting real! Although we have a very nice trip to Israel and Jordan coming in two weeks, and a visit to Des Moines- Iowa, over Thanksgiving to look forward to, we are excited as ever and can't wait to start sailing.Next week, we will be at a boat show in Gustavsberg (close to Stockholm), Allt på Sjön, to start looking at what kind of boat and equipment we would like to get. Come say hi if you're around!