Why are you doing this?

I suppose it's odd that a girl from Flushing and a guy from Rosedale end up navigating the cruising world. (It's odd enough that we're together at all, but that's another story..) I certainly didn't grow up with boats or on the water (Flushing Bay doesn't count), and neither did he.  Ross has always been curious, extremely handy and equiped with an innate sense of purpose and motivation when there's something he's eager to do or learn. He's a sight to behold when he gets his mind set on accomplishing something. It's one of my favorites of the many traits of his I adore, and it's contagious!  His adventurous spirit has kept me off the couch and out into a world that had been beyond my wildest dreams. He constantly reminds me by example that I should never, ever stop learning and exploring; he taught me to have the courage to dream.

Many moons ago, he bought a sailboat and taught himself how to maneuver it and navigate it himself. Too bad there was no YouTube in those days!  I can only imagine those first trials and tribulations. It wasn't until 8 years ago that he bought his first power boat, The Zone, a 52 ft. Jefferson with twin catapillar diesel 3208 engines. She has a 4 ft. draft, a 15ft. beam, an airdraft of 17.5 ft., a Westebek 12.5 kw diesel generator and now has a bow thruster and an inverter.  She goes about 12 knots at cruising. Sitting atop her proudly is the dinghy a Caribe 13 ft. inflatable with a 50 hp Yamaha.  





The Zone in Spanish Cay



After many journeys with Ross, sometimes alone, sometimes with family, all delightful times making precious memories, he asked me if I would consider cruising the Loop.  At first I thought he meant taking 6 months or a year off from work to do this.  When we next spoke about it, he said he'd hoped the journey would be for 1-3 years.  Honestly, when he said that, we were in a restaurant and I spit food across the table and almost choked.  I immediately started crying and got defensive, filled with all of my fears about doing this, and doing it now. "Leave a job I love that pays me generously; leave my family, my friends, my life as I know it?? And I know nothing about boating other than the bathroom's called the head and the kitchen is the galley."

It was then that I started reading books by women who have done this, and started reading blogs by other Loopers.  This book changed my outlook and rid me of my fears: Changing Course: A Woman's Guide to Choosing the Cruising Life I recommend it to those of you still wondering why I'm doing this or considering it yourselves.  The more I read and the more Ross and I spoke about all aspects of boating and the lifestyle and what I have to gain by joining the man I love on the journey of a lifetime, I began to get as enthusiastic as he was. It soon became my dream as well. Another book I'd recommend to women is, "Women On Board Cruising", by Lisa Targal Favors.  Lisa and her husband Jim have become our heroes.  We've followed them for years through their second Loop and onto their present course. Jim & Lisa Favors and their blogs, books and websites Their experiences, and their way of describing them, spoke to Ross & I.  We hope someday to meet them and look forward to meeting so many like them who help others benefit from their experiences, mistakes and all!

If you know me, you know that I make lists.  Top of my list was to take a class from Seasense Boating  by the women captains I've read about countless times. I took a 5-day live-aboard class this past April in Sarasota Florida.  As luck would have it, the only other student was a journalist for Power and Motor Yacht Magazine.  We're actually in an article called, "Getting My Bearings" by Alyssa Haak in the September issue. Nothing like having your introductory experience driving a power boat, tying knots, completing engine room check lists and navigating documented for the world to see. Boy did I learn a lot!  That class truly took some of my fears away and gave me the confidence and knowledge I needed.  I spoke with Ross from time to time during the class, which the article describes as "boot camp without the yelling".  When I described what we were doing and asked him more and more questions about The Zone (to compare with the vessel we were learning on), he was delighted!  He fully expected that after a day in the engine room and blisters on my hands from tossing lines, I was going to beg off the whole Looping idea and say, "screw that!" That couldn't have been further from the truth.  It showed me that though I have more to learn than I thought, it's possible to do it, and to learn while doing it, and that I can, like Ross, dock a big-ass boat, stern-in first!