My Adventure: by Dale Simonson
I had never seen a blue of such brilliant and mystical color. It was so unique, it became known on our sailboat as Mid-Atlantic Blue. We encountered it halfway across the Atlantic Ocean sailing to the Caribbean when one day the winds disappeared and the seas went calm. 1,000 miles from the nearest land and in water 3 miles deep we decided to stop the boat and take a swim. Leaping off the back of the boat into such an outrageously large volume of water in the middle of nowhere brought an odd mix of creepiness and exhilaration. The mind fills with images of all the creatures lurking below… of Davy Jones’ Locker… of the boat sailing away and leaving you behind… And then, peering down, you see it – the mesmerizing beams of sunlight streaking through the Mid-Atlantic Blue waters to depths beyond imagination. The color was so captivating, it could have been the origin of the old-time myths of mermaids in the sea.
That experience was but one of the hundreds of unique memories experienced during the year+ of sailing that my wife and I did along with one of our daughters. For a full year, and two subsequent summer seasons, we sailed 18,000 nautical miles, visited 24 countries, more than 100 major cities, crossed the Atlantic Ocean twice, and explored much of the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas. Our travels entailed over 100 overnight passages with night-watches, North Atlantic storms with gale-force winds, dolphins playing in our bow waves, bioluminescent seas sparkling at night, scary waterspouts, charming secluded coves for anchoring, countless fellow mariners with fascinating tales, miserable boat chores and repairs, wonderful freedom to explore hundreds of towns, villages, and islands… In other words, it was living life with a few deep lows, and many phenomenal highs.
For more on what life at sea is like, check out our blog at www.from-the-helios-helm.com.
Advice to Others:
Some dreams require a long time to come to fruition. It was October 15, 2005 when I was writing in my journal and reflecting on what goals I wanted to set for myself. My career was going well, my wife and I had 3-year-old toddler twins, and my life was in a comfortable and predictable routine. I have always harbored an itch for adventure and a cautious distrust of too much comfort and routine, yet I knew that with a job, a mortgage, and the responsibilities of raising two children I would have to actually plan my adventures rather than take off spontaneously like I did in my youth. Simply put, I was in a different chapter of life and wanted to plan a big adventure accordingly.
Reflection that day turned into daydreaming, and out popped 11 pages of journal writing that laid out my dream to someday live at sea on a sailboat for a year. I honestly don’t know how or why the idea took such clear shape that day, since the thought had never occurred to me prior to then. The dream that took me an hour to write about in my journal took more than 15 years (5,758 days to be precise) to finally come true. During that time I only grew more steadfast in my commitment to eventually make it happen, never letting a week go by without turning the dream over and over again in my mind. During that long wait, my wife began to share in the dream, as did one of my daughters who was as fixated as I on seeing it through, planning it into a her gap year before starting university. Finally, in July of 2021, after many months of steadily increasing planning and preparation we stepped aboard our new sailboat “Helios” in France and started that sailing adventure.
Two pieces of advice for those wanting to live a dream like this: First, it does not have to be prohibitively expensive. We were not in the low budget category with our boat, but nor were we anywhere near the high end. We were in awe of some amazing yachts in the $10 million+ category we saw with crew to address every need, but we also encountered many sailors on a tight budget with boats that cost less than the typical car, or sailors who chose to trade up their land-based expenses of a house and car for a boat. And beyond the initial boat cost, once at sea you can choose from a wide range of budgets to live within, ranging from expensive marinas and restaurants, to free anchorages and local grocery stores. Just as with life ashore, there are viable options at sea for pretty much any budget.
Second, it takes some serious effort preparation to pull off a dream like this. It’s not exactly a pack-the-bag-and-go type of adventure. But nor is it prohibitively complicated or beyond the ability of anyone with a curious mind and the willingness to explore lots of new topics like weather forecasting, navigation, mechanics, and international rules and regulations. One need not be a life-long sailor, or even a particularly experienced one. As for us, we took two 5-day sailing classes to develop our sailing skills and confidence levels, but we could have done less and been fine since actually, most of our learnings just came from our daily experiences living aboard for so many months.
My final thought is best convey by Paulo Coelho quote, “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine.” It has often been my reminder to avoid slipping into too comfortable (and forgettable) of a routine at the expense of missing out on amazing experiences and memories.
