Sunday, February 21, 2016

The First Step

   
Family Christmas photo from about 6 years ago.

We have our passport photos in hand and will submit the paperwork for our family passports tomorrow. It is the first step of many, however, it feels nice to have this checked off "the list".
     Make that two items, as I created this blog.

We have not told many about our plans, as we won't leave for another 18-24 months. There is so much to do between now and then, most importantly, find a boat for our family! We are in the middle of our search and have decided upon a catamaran. We currently own a mono-hull, but with five of us, we really need the extra space a cat provides. The second major thing is to sell our house. We have finished construction, putting on the finishing touches,  and are waiting the mandatory two years before listing it.

 So why not tell everyone of our plans? Well, its' not like we are leaving tomorrow. We've got awhile to go and many things to cross off "the list" first.

When did we decide to sail around the world with our three kids? Before we were married, Jared owned a Hobicat16. We loved taking it out on the lake and did many sail-camping trips on that thing. Right before our wedding, Jared built a beautiful kayak out of mahogany. A few years and three kids later, found us moving to the Monterey area, where Jared sold his beloved kayak. After all, we couldn't all fit inside it, so we decided to look at sailboats.

We joined a local sailing crew and raced twice a week, starting about 2010. We both received our ASA certifications in 2011 and leased our own boat that same year. We leased until about 2014, when we purchased our own boat, going in with four other families to split the costs. We sometimes take the kids out on races, but usually, it is just Jared or I that go (mostly Jared these days, as I am home with the kids, chauffeuring them around to sports practices, play dates, etc).

We definitely love going out sailing as a family and go as often as we can. The kids know basic terminology and sometimes help with the sails or manning the tiller.

We are often found sailing around the bay with our dog, Sunny. She's a perfect sailing pup!


 

 planning...