Sailing
I’m just an average Joe sailor of 30+ years who has been harboring a dream of sailing the Caribbean islands on my own boat, taking pictures, and meeting interesting people. I would love to entertain you with an impressive list of accolades and sailing accomplishments, but the fact is, I can’t.
Yep that’s it: no circumnavigations, no America’s Cup championships, no rowed across the Atlantic with nothing but a spork and a jar of pickles. So now you’re thinking ‘what makes me qualified to take a boat out into the open sea?’. The answer is quite simple: years of sailing, a love of the sea, and a restless need to get out of this overly protective/comfortable environment into the unfamiliar where adventures happen and a person can test themselves against the unknown.
Let me take a step back and explain where I’m coming from. The vast majority of my professional life I worked at a major high tech corporation engineering computers in Texas. I am very proud of the work we accomplished while I was there; however, for those of you who have never worked in a corporate environment, the weight of homogenized processes and procedures can be soul crushing. Thinking outside the box is limited and your individuality is slowly eroded until the only unique thing about you is your employee number.
It gets to the point where you have to make a decision: stay with the safe and mundane or leave for the unknown and possible failure. It is not a decision to be taken lightly, but for me it was time to leave and take that leap into the unknown.
Once you take that leap the biggest question is ‘Ok, now what?!’ So after leaving the safety of a steady corporate paycheck, I started thinking about what I wanted to do with the remainder of my life. Damn, two huge life decisions in a row, DOH!
I decided I needed to do something that allowed my artistic side some time in the sun. It has been suppressed far too long in favor of the logicial, earning potential side of my left brain. I love photography! The idea of creating beautiful and inspiring images is exciting (not to mention that I can’t draw, paint, or play a musical instrument). I needed a catalyst to jump start my atrophied artsy other self, but it’s not enough to just pick up a camera and take pictures.
This is about the time my lifelong dream of sailing the Caribbean started bubbling its’ way up to the surface again (I don’t think that was an accident). Could it be that simple? Do these two passions mesh together this well? Could I really take my boat and sail around beautiful Caribbean islands and let the sea and the vibrant life of the Caribbean jump start my creativity, all in one glorious adventure? I think it can!!!
This brings us to the website and what’s going on here.
The common thread I find while interacting on some sailing forums and sites is the sense of community and assistance. If you want to belong to a community you also have to be willing to give as well as receive. I know as I embark on this adventure there will be lessons and experiences that will be interesting and helpful to others.
In the spirit of giving back, I decided a blog site would be a good tool for sharing. The amusing part here is that I’m one of the worst writers in the English speaking world. Yet, here I am setting myself up to produce hundreds of pages of musings in full view of the planet, what could possibly go wrong!
So, that’s my story: an average guy with a boat, a camera, a website, and a dream. Pretty simple stuff. I invite you to follow along with me here or any of the social outlets I’m connected to. It should be fun, exciting, informative, and hopefully entertaining!
