Friday, January 22, 2016.
The last month has been quite a busy one. Besides work I started searching for a boat to buy. And it was – again – overwhelming. The choice, the options, the price range… making me feel small and incapable all over again.
Talking helps and helped. And i see that the decision to unveil the project was a good one. Apparently the project has grown steady enough within me to not be abolished by the “reward” of talking about it.
Recently i read the nice advice that “things can only happen when you start to go”. And it is true. You will not see the open doors unless you leave the room you are in. It sounds so smart-alec. But if you think about it, it is purely trivial.
I started to carry my plans outside of my head. I looked for boats on the net. And when i was feeling overwhelmed i talked to Evi about it. Her advice was to choose three boats i like and simply write the owners. I did so. And then i contacted other people i know (my sailing teacher, my captain on the Tres Hombres and a sailor i met last year). And i contacted the boating magazine in which i read an article about a young family who did a similar trip.
And the reactions were throughout reassuring and positive 🙂
The author of the article contacted me and was super-helpful with advice, my sailing teacher offered to meet with me and “my captain” reassured me in my decision. And “the boats” i contacted responded and answered my questions. Form the questions and answers i learned to ask better questions.
And the sailor i met last summer called me today and was also super-friendly and -helpful. He told me that he has a spare life raft that he’d sell me and gas-cans which he can lend me for a season. He also gave me quite some valuable advice on equipment and energy supply.
To conclude, i can only repeat that all these doors only started to open once i got going. Would i have not decided to do it, i would not have spread the word and contacted all these people. And subsequently would not have received all the information and offers i got.
(Cover image: fog hitting the pacific coast near San Francisco)