Lauren

It seems crazy to be writing my profile as our journey is coming to an end but I guess it's a case of better late than never...

I guess what has held me back is my struggle to write about myself in such a way as to explain how I came to be here, living on a  36' yacht with my family. I mean, who would make such  choice?

I'm no gung-ho sailor who pines for the opportunity to ocean race. I'm not that adventurous - when I travelled in Europe I did a Top Deck camping trip first. I like my safety nets.

I like travelling, I like going to new places. I have lived outside my home land 18 of my 48 years. But I also like stability. I shy away from change. When the kids were little I subscribed to the 'kids like routine' school of thought, probably because I did too. I like structure, I like knowing what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month would be good too!

Taking our family away for a year on a 36' yacht takes me far outside my comfort zone. So why am I doing it? Perhaps I should tell you a few of the things I haven't done and it might make more sense.

When we lived in Wellington, NZ Giles had a Laser 2. He enjoyed racing it with Warren and would encourage me out onto the water whenever he could. I had  a fear of capsizing so in true Giles fashion he made sure we capsized within the first 30 minutes.  Every Single Time! I never got over my fear of capsizing even though we always got the boat back upright and the only thing injured was pride. I did enjoy hiking out on the trapeze though, that could be fun!

When we lived in the Netherlands Giles suggested we buy a boat and sail back to NZ. Was he crazy?! Who would think such  thought? I started buying him books from the English bookshop about the perils of the sea, awful voyages, almost didn't make it boat races and about other crazy people who sail the high seas for fun.

When we lived in California it was 'We're halfway home let's sail home from here'. Still crazy, more books. We had recently married and started our family, who sailed the ocean with kids? Never heard of such a thing.

Then we moved to Australia. We chose our house in Newport because it was by the bay. Giles satisfied his sailing cravings with Wednesday night and Saturday sailing. 'We' bought  a share in Outlaw (an S80) and he also spent time maintaining her. I was busy with the family. We went out on a few sails, opening day, and weekend 'camping' jaunts.

After a while the syndicate wives and partners rebelled. The men were spending too much time away from their families and too much time on the boat. We knew why you might want to have time out from the kids but why on a boat? And so began the learn to sail keel boat years... David, Giles and other helpful men and women at Hobsons Bay Yacht Club taught us how to sail on Outlaw. I focussed on learning the ropes, literally. My job was 'in the office' I got to pull the ropes (now called sheets) to get the headsail to do it's thing. I even learnt how to operate the sheets and brace (thrilling and scary in equal measures) when we were flying the spinnaker.

I took part in two woman-only regattas and a Sunday winter non-spinnaker series. I enjoyed the companionship, and being on the water but wasn't too enthused with the racing aspects. It was good to have a purpose but I have never been competitive. I was happy enough to get the t-shirt at the end of the regatta but didn't have the killer instinct needed to become a racer. I happily left that to Giles.

I did like our pleasure jaunts, weekend trips away and enjoyed camping on Outlaw. So when Giles suggested we buy a cruising boat suitable for cruising on Port Phillip (our local waters) with the potential of later cruising up the east coast. I thought why not? Sailing without the pressure of racing, heading where the wind was going, having a fully stocked caravan on the water without having to drive anywhere with 3 kids in he backseat. Sounded like a win:win to me!

Our kids were 7, 5 and 3 when we bought Meander. We few up to Brisbane to collect her and spent a week cruising in Moreton Bay and sailing down through the intercoastal water way to Southport where we left Giles and two others to sail her back to Melbourne. Weekends , summer were spent getting to know Meander and hoping our cruising skills.

I took courses offered at our yacht club regards safety at sea and earned my boat license. I joined Facebook groups to learn more and ask questions. I heartily recommend the groups I joined - Women Who Sail, WWS Australia, and Kids4sail. All 3 groups are filled with women (and men too on the family sites) who sail with kids or without who have either been through what I have been through or something way more adventurous. I began to see that taking a gap year to sail up the east coast wasn't that crazy. Many people do a whole lot more... Cruising for years with their kids.

In the end it was a case of "what an awesome opportunity for all of us" how could I not sign up for this?