Wow! I love the photos that you have included. What an adventure! Those were the days, eh? As I was admiring your courage and daring , I thought back to my 20's and realized that I had some wild adventures too. They fill me with good memories and make me want to step out again. Thank you for the post.
Thanks, Gracie. It is fun to look back and see how much has changed and what's stayed the same. I'd love to hear about your wild adventures too some day.
Absolutely fascinating and what a life you have led, Deborah! Your story proves that we must live every day, and never take it for granted because you never know when it may end.
As an educator, I am so saddened when I see my students passively choosing to watch and consume on their phones - TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, video games - rather than engaging, showing creative curiosity for the world, and actively choosing to be a "doer" rather than a "watcher". I often hear about their paralyzing anxiety, and how terrified they are of the world and it makes me so sad. To be honest - it's easy to point the finger at kids, but many adults are just as bad.
We only get one chance at life and to see, experience, and live is vitally important. The perspective of the world and your own culture, wisdom, and education that your life travels, and experience has given you, is far greater than any classroom or textbook can ever teach you.
I look forward to reading further chapters! Thank you for sharing. I also love the photos!
You are so right, Michael. I see that myself with my own grandchildren and their friends. So much more timid about being in the world than I was and my own children, where we were shooed outside after school and on weekends to entertain ourselves, having adventures and getting into trouble and having to get out of them on our own. No doubt that's why taking our own children off sailing didn't seem as risky as it does now looking back.
What a great story, Deborah. It's beautifully written and reads like a novel. I love it. And as someone who loves sailing, this piece really spoke to me. You and your husband look like movie stars. And I'm looking forward to reading the rest.
Thank you, Andrew. I'm so pleased you enjoyed this, especially because you are also a sailor. When we returned to landlife people always said I should write a book about our experiences, but there were already so many books out there written by experienced sailors, I didn't feel I had anything new to add. Except the part about kids. So I started writing what is meant to be a series for middle-graders about a fictional family who sailed around the world based loosely on our experiences. Someday I hope to get that published.
It’s difficult enough for two people to occupy a small space for an extended period, Deborah. I can’t imagine bringing kids along. Thanks to you, I won’t have to. I really hope you find a publisher for the book you’re working on.
Wow, I love this. You really convey the romance of it all. The beautiful dream you nurtured and raced with.
I’d love to sail the seas too. I’d like to see a blue whale and they’re rare so I think if I spent a few months at sea I might have a chance of it happening. Did you ever encounter one at all?
I remember reading David Crosby’s autobiography ‘Long Time Gone’ where he recounts spending long periods at sea and encountering one and it stayed with me, his awe.
Thank you Julie. Our encounters with whales were some of our most treasured memories. We saw two blue whales, twice the size of our 46 foot boat cruising past us in the Sea of Cortez. And several sperm whales and killer whales on our journey. We once hit a whale, sadly, unseen until the bump but it appeared uninjured. We also watched a gray whale and her baby while anchored in a cove in Mexico. And once when we were becalmed in the Indian Ocean a whale as long as our boat played with us, swimming around and under the boat. Our daughter, 13 years old then, swam with it. We were so thrilled and humbled by the experience.
Wow! I love the photos that you have included. What an adventure! Those were the days, eh? As I was admiring your courage and daring , I thought back to my 20's and realized that I had some wild adventures too. They fill me with good memories and make me want to step out again. Thank you for the post.
Thanks, Gracie. It is fun to look back and see how much has changed and what's stayed the same. I'd love to hear about your wild adventures too some day.
Ha! There are a few stories in my writing past. I'll dig one up JFF. n the meantime, here's a quick tour: https://graciewilde.substack.com/p/a-couple-of-people-i-used-to-be
Absolutely fascinating and what a life you have led, Deborah! Your story proves that we must live every day, and never take it for granted because you never know when it may end.
As an educator, I am so saddened when I see my students passively choosing to watch and consume on their phones - TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, video games - rather than engaging, showing creative curiosity for the world, and actively choosing to be a "doer" rather than a "watcher". I often hear about their paralyzing anxiety, and how terrified they are of the world and it makes me so sad. To be honest - it's easy to point the finger at kids, but many adults are just as bad.
We only get one chance at life and to see, experience, and live is vitally important. The perspective of the world and your own culture, wisdom, and education that your life travels, and experience has given you, is far greater than any classroom or textbook can ever teach you.
I look forward to reading further chapters! Thank you for sharing. I also love the photos!
You are so right, Michael. I see that myself with my own grandchildren and their friends. So much more timid about being in the world than I was and my own children, where we were shooed outside after school and on weekends to entertain ourselves, having adventures and getting into trouble and having to get out of them on our own. No doubt that's why taking our own children off sailing didn't seem as risky as it does now looking back.
What a great story, Deborah. It's beautifully written and reads like a novel. I love it. And as someone who loves sailing, this piece really spoke to me. You and your husband look like movie stars. And I'm looking forward to reading the rest.
Thank you, Andrew. I'm so pleased you enjoyed this, especially because you are also a sailor. When we returned to landlife people always said I should write a book about our experiences, but there were already so many books out there written by experienced sailors, I didn't feel I had anything new to add. Except the part about kids. So I started writing what is meant to be a series for middle-graders about a fictional family who sailed around the world based loosely on our experiences. Someday I hope to get that published.
It’s difficult enough for two people to occupy a small space for an extended period, Deborah. I can’t imagine bringing kids along. Thanks to you, I won’t have to. I really hope you find a publisher for the book you’re working on.
Wow, I love this. You really convey the romance of it all. The beautiful dream you nurtured and raced with.
I’d love to sail the seas too. I’d like to see a blue whale and they’re rare so I think if I spent a few months at sea I might have a chance of it happening. Did you ever encounter one at all?
I remember reading David Crosby’s autobiography ‘Long Time Gone’ where he recounts spending long periods at sea and encountering one and it stayed with me, his awe.
Thank you Julie. Our encounters with whales were some of our most treasured memories. We saw two blue whales, twice the size of our 46 foot boat cruising past us in the Sea of Cortez. And several sperm whales and killer whales on our journey. We once hit a whale, sadly, unseen until the bump but it appeared uninjured. We also watched a gray whale and her baby while anchored in a cove in Mexico. And once when we were becalmed in the Indian Ocean a whale as long as our boat played with us, swimming around and under the boat. Our daughter, 13 years old then, swam with it. We were so thrilled and humbled by the experience.
How amazing. What precious memories 💕I’ve seen a sperm whale myself in NZ and that was amazing. No others though (yet😉)
Not long since read Steinbeck’s ‘Sea of Cortez’.
What a life you lived!