A hair raising few days

Now interviewing hairstylists

As we reach the end of the first phase of our new life (taking the boat 1500 miles east) we have been trying to pack as much fun into every day as possible before we go back to the US for my 8 weeks of work. St. Barths was good fun, especially the diving. As Kirstin and I had only done diving in Bonaire (no sharks), we were quite surprised to be sharing the waters off Gustavia with 6-7 ft legit, scary sharks. We would love to report how cool and calm we were but we found that in those moments, the operative emotion was more like terror, fear, and with a side order of panic......we both remembered the famous "Far Side" cartoon........I dont need to be faster than the shark; just faster than my wife.

Leaving St. Barths, we sailed for Antigua.......needing to arrive during daylight required us (as usual) to sail overnight. Without moonlight there is a certain element of luck in not hitting anything. Well, our luck ran out at 4:00 am (the time when all off-shore crises occur). We had been motor sailing due some contrary strong wind when suddenly the whole boat started vibrating wildly. We shut down the engine and in an instant were fully awake. I inspected the engine room and decided we weren't sinking- a great start to my morning ! We determined that we had probably hit one of the many fishing nets that drift across the seas with no owner.

With 28 knot wind right on our nose and no ability to use the engine, we eventually sailed our way into Jolly Harbour, Antigua. Now the hard part........with zero visibility in the water, I had to scuba dive under the boat to figure out what had wrapped on our prop.......if we still had one. Fortunately, whatever this was had dislodged itself and everything was OK save for our nerves........not being able to see past my nose knowing there are large critters around made me a bit nervous.

So, we have begun the bittersweet task of getting L'ORIENT ready to sit for 8 weeks while we are in the US. Kirstin and I have lived on our boat since 2011 and we don't own any other domicile. The longest we've ever been off the boat was a two week vacation. While I work for 8 weeks we will be vagabonds living in hotels and with family. The toughest transition will be being apart from each other. On this trip we have been been together (not more than 50 feet apart) continually for 100 days.........sailing, working, recreating, and exploring. We both hope this 8 weeks goes fast.

Jolly Harbour Marina, Antigua