S.V. Argo

I've got the best family! After a few incredibly hard days of trekking, we made it to the top of My. Kilimanjaro! .funger started to arrange the trip a year ago, and I had no idea where I was going to be, but I wanted to do something special with my brothers, so I decided no matter where I was with Argo, I'd make it happen. It seems that things just worked themselves out from there. I'm letting the universe bring things to me, and my job is to say yes(or no). Who knows what the next year will bring. If I've learned anything, it's that life is unpredictable.

MVP of the trip is my fleece which has kept me warm across two oceans worth of night watches, up to Everest Basecamp and now to Kili.

This past week I've been staving off the post crossing depression with a mini cruise. I picked up Dove and Seraphim in Nuku Hiva after my boys left and we set sail for what was supposed to be a quick transit to Hiva Oa. The only problem was that these islands are beautiful! And we just kept stopping, staying a few nights, and living life! Between the best spearfishing I've ever seen(like really really amazing) fresh fruit every day, swimming with manta rays, I couldn't ask for a better way to spend my last few days on Argo.

28 days later and we've arrived in Nuku Hiva! It feels surreal to finally be here. For the past six months, I've had my head down in the details planning this crossing. Worrying about everything from crew logistics, building new things for Argo to make the crossing nicer, and repairing broken equipment. At one point it almost felt like it was never going to happen, with months of delay at the canal, critical equipment breaking just before leaving, etc etc. But, we persevered through it all. Of course not everything went according to plan. On the first day out, our motor bit the dust, and we didn't have the spares to fix it.

But it was a beautiful crossing, and the relief of finally just sailing made all the worrying before worth it. It's funny how when you are out there, your entire world folds down into your boat, your crew, and the weather around you. And all of a suden, even though you are in the middle of nowhere, you just stop worrying. Almost as if once all the chatter of the outside world is gone, and you are alone with yourself, all the worrying just disappears, since there's nothing to feed it.

And now, after it's all over, is the inevitable days of drifting. No longer having a goal, I'm existing in this liminal state between what's happened and what comes next. Now's the time when you have to work the hardest to keep yourself together. Can't wait to see what comes next!!