With hindsight, I’m not sure which was harder: starting or stopping.
Deciding to start: to quit our jobs, sell our house, buy a boat, wave goodbye to friends and family and then set off into the big blue wasn’t easy. It required a leap of faith and confidence which was beyond anything we’d done before. Thankfully we were both equally committed to making it happen, so when one of us got cold feet the other was there to carry the load and be a steadying voice. It would have been impossible to do it alone.
And then we found ourselves sitting on our unfamiliar yacht, in a damp marina in Mallorca, surrounded by exploding bags, belongings piled up everywhere, in a boat which needed a bit of work, wondering what the hell we’d just done. So we got stuck in. Fixed what was most urgent, found homes for our stuff and after a couple of month of boat jobs and finding out feet we set off around the coast of Mallorca.
We didn’t meet many people at first, but those few cruisers we did meet may have saved our souls. First were Mark and Nikki (Mezzo Magic) who, even before we left the marina filled our lives with laughter and friendship. Next were Jim and Karin (Victoria) who showed us that anything is possible. Then Brian and Kathleen (Pelorus Jack) came with moral support and cookies. And Stuart and Anne amazed us with their generosity. And. and… it is an impossibly long list.
We decided when we set off on this adventure we’d give it six months and see. That we’d take stock on a regular basis to see if we were enjoying it and if not either stop or change something.
But only six months into our adventure it wasn’t working and we were ready to throw in the towel. We weren’t meeting kids boats in the Western Med, we missed friends, the boat jobs were proving too challenging and even simple tasks were exploding. It seemed insurmountable. We contacted a friend and mentor, Leon (Ragina) who told us to stop mucking about in the Med and go find the kids boats in the Caribbean. Possibly the best single piece of advice we received – go find the kids.
Then things got better. And every six months we’d discuss our plans for the coming season, discuss what we enjoyed and what we needed to fix. We debated if we should keep going or if we’d had enough. Every time we’d come to the conclusion that we still had more to do and wanted to give it another six months. And that’s how we ended up in French Polynesia three years later – sitting on a beach discussing for the last time if we wanted to continue or stop.
Sitting on that beach back in March 2019 we decided to stop.
It seemed like an odd choice at the time and it certainly wasn’t a decision of the heart. We were enjoying the cruising life more than at any other time. We’d spent the previous few months in the company of an incredible group of boat buddies, not only for Teo but for us too. The cyclone season in the Marquesas was one of the highlights of our entire adventure. So coming to the conclusion we should stop wasn’t obvious or natural.
The reasons for stopping were varied and numerous, but basically they came down to this question: Do we want to do another four years?
It a strange thing to say, but for us sitting watching Teo play with his friends in the surf, we only had two real options. Sail to Australia and sell the boat or finish our circumnavigation and spend the next few years sailing back to Europe. The latter would take (us) four years. And while we enjoyed our life on Itchy Foot we didn’t want to spend so many more years doing the same. We missed family who were starting to feel very far away from us. We wanted to give Teo a taste of mainstream education so that he has that experience. I (Jon) missed my career: missed working on interesting ideas with people smarter than me.
We also noticed that we’d stopped watching the sunsets. Paradise was becoming normal.
We’ll be releasing blog posts over the coming weeks with the details of how we ended up selling the boat, our time in American Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, California and finally returning to the UK.
But for now, it’s enough to say that we’ve sold Itchy Foot and we’re back in Europe.
Time for a new adventure.
