First crossing: It’s a wrap!
We made it! Nearly 6000 nautical miles and 43 days after departing Cape Town, we arrived in Grenada on Friday October 7th.
As we mark this huge milestone in our new life, I share below some overall thoughts on my experience and lessons learned.
1. Baby steps. I’m usually a baby steps kind of person: I like to ease myself into new challenges, gaining knowledge and expertise before I increase the degree of difficulty. Our experience with Catalyst was the antithesis of my norm! To be sure, we would have done more test sails in South Africa before embarking on our crossing had there been time before our visas expired. But with Catalyst being constructed in Cape Town and our destination the Caribbean, ultimately our options were to sail her or ship her. It was time to put my big girl undies on and go for it! During the crossing, my knowledge intake was like drinking from a water hose and I’ve still a long way to go, but I’m so glad we did the crossing. It was an amazing and confidence-building experience! Takeaway: Don’t hesitate to step out of your comfort range – even “old dogs” can learn new tricks!
2. Right team. Pete and I couldn’t have done this 6-week crossing without Captain Dunbar and Dave. Our crew rocked! Dunbar’s vast sailing experience and Balance systems expertise were invaluable as he brainstormed sail plans and any boat problems with Pete and patiently answered my bevy of questions. Dave’s ever ready, can-do attitude, coupled with his years of sailing, made him a huge asset as well. But it was more than just their sailing chops and their shifts on our 24x7 watch schedule – both were positive, fun people to be around who added immensely to our experience. A huge thanks to Dave’s and Dunbar’s family members Michael, Heather, JuJu, Joy, and Sailor for sharing them with us! And, of course, thank you, Pete, for sharing this adventure with me!
We also truly appreciated our extended crew – friends and family who followed our travels from afar, emailing us news, encouragement, and answers to the questions Pete posted. Your support meant the world to us (and helped compensate, somewhat, for Corey’s lack of “girl time” on the crossing)! Takeaway: Surround yourself with the right people: those who challenge you, support you, cheer you on, and bring positivity and happiness to your life – and make sure you do the same for them in return.
3. Cheese moves. Taking a concept from the self-help book “Who Moved My Cheese”, we all get caught up in habits, often without even noticing it. Whether it’s a specific exercise regimen, a glass of wine at sundown, a standard mealtime, a standing date to binge-watch tv, or whatever, you fall into thinking it’s the norm and behave accordingly. This voyage moved our cheese. We had to be creative on how to get exercise, we forwent our regular glass of wine, we ate and slept according to watch schedules, we played board games for entertainment -- the list goes on – and, it was not only ok, it was freeing and fun! Takeaway: Consciously mix it up a little. Habits like brushing your teeth are good. Others can afford to be tweaked or replaced!
4. Hello, hello. While living in Cape Town, we were inevitably greeted by “Hello! Hello!” or “Good morning! Good morning!” (the greeting was always said at least twice), often followed by “How are you?”, “How was your weekend?”, or something similar. This type of exchange happened at the Balance factory, at the grocery store, when entering an Uber – wherever! The South African way is to exchange niceties before diving into the subject at hand – novel to my more direct, outcome-focused approach. But I found I enjoyed the brief connection of, say, greeting a grocery store employee before asking, “Excuse me, where can I find the eggs?” Takeaway: Slow down and take a moment to acknowledge someone as a person before diving into your question or discussion – it reinforces our humanity and makes the world a nicer place.
5. Curious minds. Going 6 weeks without a “real” phone (i.e. no internet) was quite the challenge. I missed being able to call or text friends and family on a whim. I missed drowsily checking email, news, and social media when I woke in the AM. I missed my daily Wordle challenge! My phone was reduced to a camera (lots of sunrise and sunset photos), calculator (converting degrees F into C), stopwatch (timing my work-out intervals), and alarm clock (for my daily watches). But the phone app we vainly reached for time and time again was Google. It’s amazing how Google has become ubiquitous in today’s life. Someone’s always pulling out their phone to fact-find or fact-check…a historical detail, the name of a song, a recipe, a good book, a cool place to visit, driving directions, repair tips – you name it! Takeaway: Having a “time out” from our smart phones wasn’t all bad as it made us focus on the here and now and interact more with one another, but having a search engine at your fingertips can enrich conversations and provide much-needed information.
6. Stuff happens. We knew we’d bought a phenomenal boat, but we also knew our crossing would not be flawless. Catalyst is only hull #6 of a new boat design and, as with taking any boat out for a 6000-mile 24x7 “road trip” across the Atlantic Ocean, it was inevitable that stuff would happen. (Have you heard the joke, “What are the two best days in a sailor’s life? The day he buys a boat and the day he sells it!”). Getting Catalyst was a dream come true, and we’re certainly NOT ready to give her up! Yes, stuff definitely happened – and it seemed like when things went wrong, multiple bad things happened at the same time (think “Perfect Storm”). Thank goodness for Pete’s and Dunbar’s ingenuity! But throughout it all, we knew we were safe in an exceptionally crafted boat. Now that we’re in Grenada, we’ll work with the Balance team and local reps to make Catalyst as good as new. Takeaway: When the inevitable goes wrong…roll with it, learn from it, and work as a team to rectify it.
7. Ocean blue. Sailing the vast expanse of open ocean didn’t intimidate me as much as I’d suspected. In fact, it reminded me of driving through the huge, unsettled swatches of the western and midwestern U.S. As on my cross-country road trips when I marveled at the thought of settlers in wagon trains venturing across unknown and dangerous terrain, on our crossing, I thought of all the ships in the early days crossing oceans without weather forecasts, maps, electronics, or refrigeration – now that’s bravery! Takeaway: Be thankful for those intrepid adventurers who came before us. Humbly use and appreciate all the great tools mankind has subsequently invented to make our journeys far easier and safer.
8. Tiny home. Within the past two years, we moved from a large family home of 20-years to a much smaller rental home, and now to an ~600 square foot home on Catalyst. (Granted, we selected a catamaran over a monohull in part because it was roomier and had more separate spaces to relax.) The process of culling our possessions was painful, but the impact of downsizing has been freeing – less time spent cleaning house, fewer spaces to search for missing items, and more time and incentive to get out of the house. Takeaway: Bigger isn’t necessarily better when it comes to living spaces (as long as there’s enough room to store your toys! 😊) Find the space that fits your lifestyle.
9. Watch time. My two 3-hour shifts on watch each day gave me time to contemplate our journey and appreciate the world’s natural beauty: the sunrises and sunsets, the starlit sky, the bioluminescence, the flying fish, the seabirds, etc. I enjoyed the playlists shared by Don, Katia, Marci, and Craig – feeling closer to them as I listened to their selections half a world apart. Although there were times when the boat was rocking and rolling and my eyes were glued to the sails, instruments, and water around me, it was more often a peaceful time to gather my thoughts. Takeaway: We’re so often in go-go-go mode. Make the time to slow down, catch up with yourself, and enjoy the beauty that surrounds you.
10. Sunrise, sunset. We were greeted by beautiful sunrises nearly every morning and enjoyed spectacular sunsets nearly every evening (although my camara doesn’t do them justice, check out the photos at the end of this blog!). Similarly, we encountered amazing people throughout our journey. The friendliness and responsiveness of the Balance team in Cape Town was truly remarkable (thank you Peter, Talishia, Dave, Mark and Mark, James, Tabit, Rihaan, Snitch, Emmanuel, Tariq, and the rest of the team!). We also so enjoyed meeting and hanging with fellow Balance owners Meg, Paul, Helga, Jono, Ben, and Liz, and we’re looking forward to more adventures together.
There were so many others in Cape Town and during our passage who enriched our lives. Noteworthy examples were the generosity of folks like Hazel and Matt on St. Helena and the kindness of policia Christina and Costas in Noronha – all drive home the essential goodness of people across the world. Takeaway: While we’ll certainly follow the adage of keeping old friends while making new, we’re excited to put ourselves out there to meet people from all parts of the world and all walks of life.
Overall, the crossing certainly was an incredible growth experience, and we’re looking forward to many more adventures and insights as our journey continues!
