Are We Leaving Yet? (Handling a HUGE Change in Plans)

We were so excited to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean! We worked so hard on the boat and planned our provisioning and storage and THEN... 1 hour into our test sail to Cabo Verde, we had to turn back. Three new issues came up. Thanks again to my husband, Brett Pierce, for the outro music. Later, everyone we spoke to said we made the best choice-not just to turn back that day but also to wait for next season. Apparently it's pretty common as people discover issues with their boat, especially if the boat is new to them. Someone asked me, Did we chicken out? Like was crossing the ocean too scary? I laughed a bit because crossing the ocean felt fine, it felt right, I was excited-but waiting until next season is actually a bit more scary because all my plan are gone. I'm entering the unknown; our financial plans must change, our career plans are askew, seeing our loved ones has to be rescheduled? literally everything about our lives has to be reworked. And I guess this is as good a time as any to remind you that if you want to support this channel, please select a paid subscription to my Substack, link in a pinned comment. I keep all my content free across platforms, so your help ensures that everyone has access, from this channel to my blog to my podcast. The one thing I know for sure is I'm not going to stop sailing for sustainability. I don't know where we'll go before next season, but the Canary Islands are ecologically amazing and several of them are recognised Bio Reserves! We'll of course take advantage of being in the best place in the world to work on the boat, completing some needed projects and maybe some fun ones too. Another friend asked me if I was sad about not crossing the Atlantic and not being in the Caribbean this year. I guess I am a little, but I really can't complain. I'm excited to be here and engage in some remote work with my Earth Law colleagues and produce meaningful content. This is just a huge change to adapt to and there are so many unknowns I'm still wrapping my head around it. But that's a good sailing life lesson. We will be confronted with change, with all our plans going to shit, with a huge amount of unknowns, with things outside of our control. All we can do is work with what we have to make the best of it. We must be patient with the situation and gentle with ourselves.