All Hands On Deck   Adventures on land and at sea

It’s a foggy July morning in San Francisco. I’m sitting at our dining room table with a steaming bowl of oatmeal and a generous mug of coffee, catching up with the world after an early morning trip to the gym. For a moment, the giant life changes of the past year are undetectable. This could be any non-work day morning from the past. Then I hear a whimper from the bedroom and smile, realizing my luxurious morning alone time is over. Life as a stay-at-home mom to our (almost) 3-month old must go on.

G.M.M. 2.5 months old

The details, while important, aren’t essential to this story and I know the majority of people who actually read this blog already know that Lee and I welcomed our son Gunnar into this crazy world on May 4, 2014 (yes, Star Wars Day).

My last blog entry covered part of Pirat’s return to the US, which Lee and I undertook in spring of 2013. Thanks to helpful crew, Pirat and Lee made it safely to Maine that summer and we packed our boat away for storage in a cozy Rockland warehouse. At the time, we didn’t know when we would return to sail our beloved boat-home. We hoped our next voyage might involve a new little crew member but that scenario was still a long ways off.

Pirat in her winter home.

While Pirat has been hibernating in her warehouse, Lee and I have been sailing my dad’s boat on San Francisco bay as well as racing Vanguard 15’s, International 110’s, and an occasional J-105. We have kept our skills sharp and even learned some new ones, as one can only do by sailing a variety of boats in different conditions. I think (I hope) Lee and I are ready for the challenge of sailing with an infant!

There’s a baby down there.

Gunnar has already been sailing on the bay a few times. We first ventured out when he was a week old and so far he has handled the boat really well. My dad’s boat has been great for accommodating a baby’s needs but Pirat will pose some additional challenges (I’ll get to those in another post).

Before I get too carried away, here’s the loosely outlined plan for the next month: Lee, Gunnar and I fly back east in a few days. Lee will quickly prep Pirat for launching while I hang with the family and organize our stuff to bring onboard. We’ll bring Pirat from Rockland to Bremen, a short day sail, and anchor in front of The Parents’ house to load up. If all goes well, we’ll set sail some time in the first week of August and explore the Maine coast until we eventually reach Nova Scotia. We will have to allow enough time to make it back to Bremen by the end of the month, pack Pirat away again, and fly home.

Wow. It’s taken me 3 days to write this post…that doesn’t bode well for regular writing on this expedition but I’ll do my best. I’m off to pack our bags for that Monday morning (6am, ugh) flight!