Wind-Borne has been our home and has kept us safe and secure for six years as we sailed the Caribbean Sea and explored the many tropical islands of our dreams.
In 2007 we decided to become part time sailors by spending five months each year in Canada and seven months in the Caribbean. This decision was made not because we were tired of the Caribbean but because we wanted to return to the Canadian health care system.
I will continue to maintain the website during the months we are sailing but it will be put "on the hard" along with Wind-borne, each year while we are back in Canada
We have acquired some very important things during our voyage. The first and best is some wonderful friends.
Many of these friends are cruising buddies who are out there living the same dream as us. We enjoy the sunsets together, share meals, laugh, swim and hike together. Often we separate and head our own way to different islands but frequently the day comes when we drop anchor in a bay and spot those same long lost friends anchored nearby. The companionship begins anew. We rely upon each other to help when the dinghy goes adrift, the engine breaks down, the boat springs a leak or someone is ill and needs help. There is no 911 in the islands, there are only friends.
Our other very special friends are the locals we meet on some of the islands. Some become close enough friends that they take us into their homes and communities. We have opportunities to enjoy the local customs and foods in a way that we would never have a chance to do as a tourist. We get to share with them the joy of accomplishment and the sadness of loss. Our local friends become our family away from home.
Strange and unexpected, are the friends we have made with some of the people who claim to be living their life vicariously through my journal.We refer to them as our stowaways. Many are people who are in the process of planning a voyage similar to ours. They contact us with questions and ideas. They even tell me off when I am late in posting my journal. The fun thing is that we get to meet many of these people when they arrive in the islands on their own boat.
We have also acquired many memories along the way. These memories I documented in my journal and hope that when the day arrives that we have to become "dirt dwellers" again, I will have the journal to help me reminisce of our voyage on Wind-Borne III
Lastly, while cruising we have gained a lot of knowledge which I hope to be able to share with others who are planning to do the same as us in the future. A lot of the fun in gaining this knowledge was often knowing nothing and learning later from our mistakes. There are many new pages in the web site, have fun and explore!
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do then by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the Dream. Discover.-- Mark Twain --
