Trading “Security” for Life on a Sailboat?
In 1955, Hunter S. Thompson wrote an interesting piece entitled “Security” asking at the outset, “… (security) means safety and freedom from worry. It is said to be the end that all men strive for; but is security a utopian goal or is it another word for rut?”
I will not say that I have found the security within our life a rut, but rather it has offered us the freedom to focus on family or seek out new interests; to pursue new hobbies or increase knowledge.
This freedom to learn and expose ourselves to new things led us to sailing.
Together, Frank and I earned a few sailing certifications and began to immerse ourselves in learning about sailing and the lifestyle of living on a boat full-time.
Our forays have sparked a desire to live more simply, to be guided more directly by the rhythms of nature and to learn first hand about countries we have yet to see.
The decision to change our lifestyle is not designed to free ourselves from some “rut” but rather a desire to explore and learn new things by living a little differently.
We look forward to the challenge of using the wind as our major form of propulsion.
We anticipate buying foods from local markets and figuring out how to prepare them.
We hope to snorkel and dive some beautiful and remote places.
But I admit, sometimes I fear the idea of navigating without references like “the McDonalds on the corner!”
Learning how to thrive in a sailing environment and working as a team to reach our destinations are goals Frank and I are equally exited about.
As we prepare to uproot ourselves, I admit there is some anxiety about leaving our familiar and secure lifestyle. But there is also anticipation of learning a huge variety of new skills, expanding our knowledge base and discovering lesser known places.
We foresee some amazing experiences, yet we sincerely hope family and friends will come to visit because our journey will be deeper and more beautiful by sharing it with those we love.
Thompson concluded “Security” this way, “…who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?”
Posted on May 5, 2015, in Uncategorized and tagged american sailing association, ASA, boat, catamaran, cruising, family, freedom, friends, guests, helia, Helia 44, Hunter S. Thompson, leaving, Let It Be, live aboard, moving, nature, navigation, sailboat, sailing, security. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
Well put. Exciting challenges up ahead.
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Thanks, Amy. I keep reading your posts and learning new stuff! Such a learning curve, but exciting.
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Hey guys! So excited to find you! My husband and I are getting ready to pick up our brand new Helia in La Rochelle in July and Suky Cannon let me know you are out there with a Helia. We’re in the planning stages of commissioning all the work on our boat post-production and creating the incredibly long list of things we need to buy. We also have just ordered our genniker in all red, and I see yours is red too — we love the look of it, so we’re happy we made that choice. I’m looking forward to seeing what you learn about your Helia along the way 🙂
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Hi Tasha! How exciting for you. A brand new Helia will be fabulous! We have had ours (hull #4) in charter since March 2013 but we are removing it from charter Sept. 1st. We too have a list of things to do to “de-charterize” our boat. We plan on heading to Puerto del Ray on Puerto Rico late in September and have the work done there.
We anticipate about 6 weeks of work in PR, then mid to late November we will begin cruising the Caribbean. We expect to sail the Leeward and Windward Islands until hurricane season 2016.
We wish you the very best of luck and hope you love your Helia. We are very please with how she sails and think the helm is a fabulous lay out.
We would love to meet you if you will be in any of these areas. Do you know your plans yet?
If you don’t already follow it, Out Chasing Stars is also a Helia and David and Amy sailed their boat from La Rochelle to Florida. They are great and their blog has a ton of info which may help you.
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Opps! I am sure we have mentioned you guys to each other, but maybe didn’t do a formal invite. Tasha, Frank & Mary Grace live(d) in Coppell TX and we met up with them in Feb 2014 after David and Frank chatted via Cruiser’s Forum. We also got to see them in March of this year when we were in Dallas. We are planning on meeting up with them in Tortola around Nov 1 (yay!).
Mary Grace, we met Tasha and Ryan at the Miami boat show this year as they were considering the Helia. They are awesome, fun people and we’re super excited to meet up with them, at some undetermined future point in their Helia life! 🙂
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Thanks, Amy. You have mentioned Tasha before so no lack of intro on your part. I simply forgot but remembered after I looked at the blog. We look forward to meeting in person! Best of luck w the Helia, Tasha. We are certainly happy w ours.
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