HAVING IT ALL
A few months ago we ran an article on ‘how to work from your yacht’. It sparked quite a conversation. Whilst the feature focussed on the logistics - how to juggle the competing demands of boat maintenance and a job, how to set up with reliable data - it raised a wider debate. Should you work from your yacht? Is it feasible to combine cruising with ‘everyday’ life, or should sailing be about disconnecting?
Patrick and Sheila Dixon are firm believers that it is possible to ‘have it all’. To cruise, but to continue to build a serious career. To liveaboard, but maintain a family home. And to spend time away, but regularly see family and friends. Their feature on ‘hybrid cruising’ makes for fascinating reading (see page 34).
It won’t work for everyone, but for some ages and stages their approach is an interesting alternative to the sell-up-and-sail-away route.
Meanwhile congratulations to Katie Mccabe for her recent sail around Britain aged just 14. While there are no longer records awarded for being the youngest (or oldest) sailor to complete a voyage, Katie was determined to sail solo round Britain in her 26ft Morgan
Giles design – but her insurance company said otherwise. The solution? Her dad shadowed her the whole way round, sailing his own boat.
Sailing may be a sport for life, but some life stages are more challenging than others. Sometimes a break with convention might be needed to help cast off the lines.