Thursday, December 10, 2015

Back to the beginning

We stopped at the Titusville mooring field yesterday so that we could meet a blog reader who (bless his heart) went all the way back to the beginning of our blog and read it through and contacted us shortly after. In addition to meeting a new friend, it was good to take a day's break from the relentless early morning all day runs we've been slogging through the past few weeks.

The deck of Nomad circa 2008

After a leisurely morning in a very nice, screened-in cruiser's porch at the Titusville Marina doing updates on our Active Captain and Garmin and Navionics with their wifi, we met Colby and gave him a ride out to see Kintala in the dink, followed by a nice lunch in the cafe section of downtown. We chatted about all the projects done on the boat, about learning to sail, about kids and jobs (or the lack of) and goals and dreams. Colby is just starting out with his cruising dream with no prior sailing experience just like us, so the conversation was centered primarily on what it was like in the beginning. We reminisced about our ASA 101, 103, 104, 105 and 114, and about stumbling around Nomad before we had learned much of anything.

As we talked, I began to realize the volume of knowledge and experience we've accumulated in the last eight years. I could see that it could be a bit overwhelming to someone with just a glimmer of a dream and a ton of questions on how to turn it to reality. As we debated the benefits of learning to sail in a trailer sailor versus a boat in a permanent slip, it occurred to me that it's really a good thing every once in a while to sit down and think back to the days in the beginning - to remember that glimmer of a dream that you've managed somehow to turn into reality. The cruising life can be so encompassing that it's easy to forget how far we've come, and I'm really grateful for the fresh eyes of a dreamer to remind me.

Thank you Colby.

2 comments:

Atty said...

Aww..Thanks you guys for taking the time to show me the boat. I had a good time and your insights and information was certainly appreciated. Hopefully we wil have the opportunity to sit down for longer chats in the not to distant future. Thanks for taking the time out :)

Unknown said...

Atty, I also Just purchased my first sailboat, and know very little about sailing. I just wanted to say Hi and that I like seeing that there is more than one in this boat.
Peg