Taking Inventory- A Life Inspired

To voyage from the shallows of land's end to the deep

This is the time of year in which many of us become philosophical as we take personal inventory of the past year- what is memorable, what have we learned, and what might it mean for the upcoming year. As we have been preparing Leilani and working on this new blogsite, we combine some thoughts we wrote before we quit our jobs with insights gained since we began our “voluntary unemployment” and cruising on Layla.  

We remain preoccupied with thoughts and plans of a journey beyond the horizon, out of the shallows to the deep and beyond.  It is a romantic notion, of course, to explore beyond all that is familiar, to cruise over colorful seas to exotic lands. Most people have gone to these places in their mind as they stare out the office window distracted from the routine of daily life. For some, the vision is merely that- an ephemeral and wispy dream that may provide respite and amusement, but is nonetheless, simply fantasy. For us, the journey we have envisioned is not merely from the shallows at land’s end to the deep of the open ocean, but a journey also from the shallows of contemporary civilization to a deep and authentic life presented best to travelers.

Due east from here (Abacos) is Africa.

In his inspirational book, The Cruising Life: A Commonsense Guide for the Would-Be Voyager, Jim Trefethen states, “We must cross oceans to far continents and pursue our quarry where there are no roads.” He argues this quest embodies a group of goals, and that the ultimate goal, death, while certainly is ultimate, it isn't a goal we should be working for. So, our goal should be life itself and those things that hasten us to the ultimate goal should be avoided if at all possible.

A worthy simple goal- a beautiful view from Man 'O War Cay.  

Trefethen continues, "Acquisition and consumption-driven goals...while they are highly stimulating to the national and world economies, they can be hollow, superficial, and once stripped of the mantle of materialism - meaningless."

Last drive to work in Atlanta- I may be the only happy one on this road.  

From the voice he heard in his head while stuck in a traffic jam, Trefethen observed evidence in support of this argument, "...the guy in the snazzy new sedan didn't look any happier than the guy beside me in the battered old pickup." He continued, "This leads us away from the objective goals of acquiring prestige and property to the subjective goals of acquiring knowledge and ideals. Thus, the ultimate goal of life can't be the security in old age, which is a ridiculous oxymoron, anymore that it can be death. It must be the pursuit of truth and enlightenment." 

Trefethen acknowledged that it is one thing to come to terms with this goal and quite another to pursue it. He reasoned there is need for a compact and mobile environment in which you can function during the trip, "What then, if not a Winnebago or mini-van? If we must cross oceans to far continents and pursue our quarry where there are no roads, then what about a boat?"

What about a boat to cross oceans? Leilani is ready to go.

This was the epiphany- a sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something. Of course, the epiphany had to include a boat. As with Jim's dramatized dialogue with himself and the voice of reason, we had same conversation as we pondered the fundamental question - Why should we go? As Jim agreed with himself, we too were convinced that, yes, we could do this thing. We really could do it.

We had that epiphany, several years ago. We came upon a fork in the road, passed the point at which we stopped merely dreaming about a life at sea, and started working towards living it. We realized as Jim had warned, when you reach epiphany, crossing oceans to far continents ceases to be something you would like to do, or dream about, it becomes something you must do.

Beyond the fork in the road

Now after a couple thousand miles of voyaging from North Carolina to the Florida Keys, and back, on to the Abacos, Bahamas, and back on Layla, we are moderately seasoned salty cruisers. The original intensity of the epiphany has not faded over time and space. We sometimes struggle as we return even temporarily to the land life. We try to tone down our compulsion to speak fervently as evangelists about what we have experienced. We hope to show others that even if they don’t embrace the cruising life, they too may find their life inspired.

Sometimes you need a different perspective

We recognize that we are probably hopeless romantics, compelled to move about the planet at a pace slower than you can drive in a school zone. We think that pace suits us just fine. We welcome you to come along and Ride the Blue Sea with us. Best wishes to you on your journey to find what inspires you.  

Sometimes you just need to watch a sunset