Goodbye Pearl
Our time in the Bahamas this winter proved to be both restorative and reflective as we navigated changing family circumstances. The shifting sands of life have redirected deep-rooted currents which carry a yearning for home. Family comes first, time compels us to reign in our horizons and transiting the Panama Canal feels one step too far. Our new radius is the North Atlantic and so it dawned on us that Pearl's reins should be in the hands of someone else to realise more distant dreams.
Pearl, our beautiful Garcia 45 Exploration, gifted us two and a half wonderfully varied and life affirming years. It’s hard to convey how much fun we have had as we have been both lulled and stretched by life at sea. A life of vivid colour, continual change, wildlife and the making of many new friends. What these new currents haven’t done is drown our love of the sea and cruising, it just needs to adapt.
We shall explore Europe on a seasonal basis and I am excited by the process of designing a smaller boat in my mind. She is going to be rather quirky, as we have eclectic ambitions.
The making of such a big decision is strange, for with the clarity of commitment comes the loss of control. Our fate now lies in the hands of others. The plan is to sail
Pearl home via Nova Scotia and the Azores for we are told she will be better suited to the European market. This is an exciting prospect with the Azores having a particularly strong pull for me.
In my younger days, I had a cunning plan to sail there on a Hobie 21 with my older brother. We were to sleep in a rudimentary shelter on the rack. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, another project took off and it was shelved. Who knows, if someone comes along with a good offer the same fate could befall this next attempt.
Many planets on differing orbits need to line up for our future to be decided and so we shall live for the day and make a good fist of whatever comes along.
The latest planet which scorched its way into all our skies is of course COVID-19, the trigger for our dash back to Cornwall. It’s been both a curse and a gift; after eight months away we needed a break from the water and our earlier-than-planned return gifted the best spring on record.
With no distractions allowed, we have taken great pleasure in getting the tools out and completing many outstanding projects. The partial lifting of the lid had me foraging off the beach to catch a spider crab weighing in at 2kg. Its flesh sweeter than lobster prompted the thought that if you keep rushing for the next hill you’ll miss the valley. It took my time snorkelling in the Bahamas to open my eyes to this delicacy that’s been sat on the doorstep for all of my life.
COVID-19 has many implications, the worst of which is not being able to see family and friends. Another is not knowing when we can safely return to the US, particularly as medical insurance doesn’t cover the virus. Mid-to-late July is recognised as getting late in the season for a return to Europe. If it comes to it we will ship her home with Sevenstar Yacht Transport who did such an amazing job of shipping Spirit of Mystery from Australia.
I’ll never forget watching her launched via the ship’s crane, clambering down the ladder with a bag of food, checking the skin fittings, dropping the strops, starting the engine and setting sail for home.
It was easy to the point of being surreal.
As one door starts to close, so another begins to open with a blank sheet of paper, a pencil and the freedom of imagination. I love this phase of a project for it is purely creative, unfettered by the constraints of realities to come. It reminds me of the first boat I built as a child deep in Australia. My ocean was the backyard, the materials cardboard boxes. I spent hour upon hour undertaking imaginary voyages, each calling for a modification.
This, I am sure, is where it all started.
Many iterations have followed from cuttingedge mono hulls, multihulls, and an 1854 Lugger, to kayaks and sledges. It’s invigorating to be adding another to the list.
It’s hard to convey how much fun we have had being both lulled and stretched by life at sea