Anchors aweigh! (a perspective from the first mate)

First mate log entry number 1:  8-March-2014

First mate?!!??  But my business card says I am a senior engineer working for an oil and gas company in Norway!  So why am I writing this message now with job title "first mate"?  Perhaps I should start from the beginning.

I hail from the US, a quaint little harbor town on the St. Claire shores of Michigan, perhaps you've heard of it...Detroit?   Well more like the inner suburbs on the corner of "plain lane" and "nothing to do avenue".  The sort of comfortable place where the idea of sailing is spoken like taking a cold shower and ripping up 100 dollar bills as fast as possible.  Fast forward a few years to 2008 when I came to Norway for work.  I thought to myself, I'll just be here for a couple years then find my way back to the land of convenience.  Back then I would have never told you that while on this assignment I would meet the love of my life and in 3 weeks time quit my steady job to sail around the world in a 44 ft catamaran....with our 2 cats.  Up until now my life has been fairly linear.  You know, school, job, brush my teeth 3 times a day, lather, rinse, repeat!  On April 1st, that will suddenly change as we start our journey sailing for 18 months from Europe to Australia on a path that is as predictable as the wind itself.

Being from the US, I've never sailed.  A country known for its land lubbers (and blubbers), a sea faring nation we are not.  The first time I ever stepped foot on a sail boat was just recently.  Just a couple weeks ago I took my FIRST sailing course so I could learn to rescue my partner if he falls overboard.  I am one of the most clumsy and uncoordinated people I know and here I am having to command a half million dollar vessel when its my turn on watch and my husband is asleep?!? While I am a whiz at my particular flavor of engineering, I haven't the first clue how to fix a boat when the engine fails, or how to operate a dinghy, or even the navigation system.  My language skills are perfect so long as everyone speaks English!  The worst part is that I am a total control freak in normal life.  But what happens now when the world of "normal" doesn't apply?  How does a person control total chaos?

Don't be fooled, getting over these challenges and fears is the reward I'm looking forward to!  If all I learn on this trip is how to sail, a bit of Spanish, a bit of culture, repair a diesel engine, how to not have a panic attack in stressful situations, and learn to be a bit more practical, it will have been well worth the missing paycheck! I'm not talking out of stupidity here, being able to stay calm in emergencies and solve problems under pressure is a rare skill, one that you don't earn working behind a computer screen your entire life.   Moving around to different places and starting new jobs always has a difficult beginnings, but, fortunately they don't stay that way forever....and that's when the fun begins.  Luckily my darling companion is an expert sailor and so we have at least all the skills on board the ship we need to make headway while I get caught up.  And our two cats are always on cue to provide comic relief.

And so here it is only 3 weeks away, the day I never thought would come when I would put Norway in the "rear view mirror" just as I have many of the places I have lived.  But this move, unlike the others, has no clear schedule or destination on the manifest.  The new 2 year plan is much simpler really, discover a simpler life on a sailboat and find out what happens later.  Perhaps this time the destination is not something I can find on a map.

Anchors aweigh!

Elizabeth