We’ve always loved the water and when our teenage daughter decided she wanted to learn to sail and travel the world, it sounded like a brilliant idea. It also sounded like a fun challenge. It didn’t take long to realize that it was going to be one of the biggest challenges we’d ever undertaken…especially since none of us knew how to sail. Not to be dissuaded, we moved forward, deciding to document the journey in hopes we could inspire other future sailors (especially those on a budget) or even entertain those who have zero interest in setting foot on a boat.
Step one, start small. Step two, take on the world. We’re not sure where this will lead, but one thing’s for sure. It’s going to be “A Hull of a Ride!”
In our case, the spearheads of this insane project are Jo, our daughter, and myself.
Mom (Renae)
I was born in Michigan, and despite having a terminal case of wanderlust from a young age, I spent the first 3 decades of my life there. I went to the University of Michigan where I realized that my desire for change wasn’t limited to just location.
Most people would consider getting into a top university a chance to straight-line into a high paying career. I, on the other hand, considered it an opportunity to be a kid in an academic candy store. In the five years I spent completing my Bachelor’s degree, I majored in just about everything for a few weeks. My interests ranged from Medieval Studies to Classical Languages and Literature. Those things like Plato and Socrates that no one wants to read in English…I tackled them in Greek and Latin. In the end, I had a degree in History with minors in Art History and English Literature.
The biggest thing I gained from the time there, other than determination and connections with an amazing network of people, was the discovery that I loved learning about the world. Languages, music, art, literature, and even cultural norms were all fair game for my brain’s fascination. So, when Jo said she wanted to do this, it sounded like a perfect excuse to explore the world firsthand.
It’s my goal to learn to be completely self sufficient on this journey regarding boat repair, celestial navigation, and all the other fun parts of sailing that come with this kind of journey. I’ve also accepted the jobs of blogger, YouTuber, and all around social networker.
Dad (Brad)
He was also born in Michigan but has spent his adult like seeing more places than he ever wanted to. He’d be perfectly happy to just stay put at this point, but always cooperative, he’s agreed to let us drag him on this insane adventure.
With experience in everything from jewelry design and auto, motorcycle, and watercraft designs and mechanics to electrical engineering, he will be our go to problem solver while we learn the ropes, because if it can be done he probably has an idea of how to tackle it.
Aside from books and videos, he will be our primary source of information regarding boat repair, engine repair, and even the sewing skills we need to make various projects around the boat, A true jack of all trades and philosopher, he’ll be the emotional, moral, and probably literal compass that we all gauge ourselves by (have I mentioned that he has an internal compass that never seems to fail).
He’s a self declared misanthrope who will mostly hide from the camera for the next few years.
Jo
Unlike me, Jo has pretty much been on the move since she was born, and she has no interest in stopping now. Eventually she’d like to earn a captain’s license and open her own charter business.
When she’s not learning about sailing or the world of blogging and vlogging, she’s tackling her other interests. Right now it’s learning Japanese, but she also loves drawing, painting, and learning to play various instruments. If she’s anything like me, this list will change by next year, but that’s part of the draw of this lifestyle for her. If a new passion develops or interest in a new location suddenly nips at her, off we go to explore it.
She’s thrown herself into the deep end and is learning right from the start how to handle boat maintenance and repair and wants to learn to sail single-handed in case an opportunity ever arises for her to do some solo traveling.