What helped us make this decision? September 2016, Ryan and I photographed a wedding on the three-masted, 100-year-old beautiful wooden Schooner Zodiac in Bellingham. After the ceremony, the bride and groom, along with their family and friends, raised the main sail as a symbol of their life’s adventure beginning. Harnessing the power of the wind, we sailed around Bellingham bay the rest of the evening. It was glorious!
Returning home, Ryan found vlogs from various sailing families who were circumnavigating with their children. Each evening that fall and winter, our family sat spellbound around the dinner table, envisioning ourselves in these far off places.
Coming full circle, fourteen years ago, when Ryan and I married, we had a few dreams. We knew if God blessed us with children one day, we wanted to home school them and specifically travel to experience historic places instead of just read about them. Sailing presented a compelling means of affordable transportation to accomplish this dream. And we are self-employed photographers, so we could take our craft with us around the globe.
Earlier in January, our family enjoyed a Norwegian cruise to the Caribbean. All week long, we asked each other different questions. “Do we enjoy the movement of the boat? Do we delight in the wind whipping through our hair? Are we partial to the vast outstretched horizon with no land in sight? And what about the people whom we met? Did we cherish their history and appreciate their stories?” As a family, the resounding answer was, “Absolutely yes!”
Upon returning home, we counted the days until Seattle’s boat show on January 27th. We walked though different mono-hulls and catamarans, continuing to ponder if we could truly live this life. Our excitement climaxed when we boarded a Lucia 40 Catamaran by Foutaine Pajot. We fell in love with our dream! Walking aboard, it felt like home. Now the question was of timing. We were convinced we were standing at the door of our future. When and how this was to be a reality, was up to God.
Little House on the Water 
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