Sailing Azure

June 24, 2023

That is the question my husband of thirty years asked me as we were returning from visiting good friends at their home on the island of Vinal Haven in Maine. In the beginning, there was no timeframe just musing about what it would be like to move our home on the water to various ports, meet new people and keep our brain matter active by building new connections. 

As I sit on the deck of our retirement boat and play back the scenes that brought us to this home, I am both amazed and comforted by what Mark and I can (still) do when we make a decision and work together.

The first boat, Lord Stanley, a charming and sturdy 31-foot Pearson that Mark, the sailor of our duo, could teach me to sail. At this point, my sailing experience was as a passenger a few times. We spent two years sailing SV Lord Stanley up from the Hamptons and around Boston Harbor and the Islands while searching for our dream retirement boat on Yacht World. 

Mark had a goal of retiring before 60 and I was ready for a big change so we went to work to make it happen. 

We spent countless hours researching products, boats, health and boat insurance, sailing internationally and learning from others already out on the water through email, blogs and Youtube. We took sailing classes and certifications, went to boat shows, talked to brokers, and made offers on boats and lost boats.

Ultimately, through the kindness of strangers that chase the same dream, we found our boat SV Azure, 2019 47’ Fountaine Pajot Catamaran in Finike, Turkey. 

As a therapist who employs the work of Brené Brown, I know that to live fully is to feel vulnerable the flip feeling of which is courage. As we wait for our paperwork from the USCG we are learning about our boat, practicing anchoring, motoring and sailing, meeting Turkish people and other expats from around the globe that are drawn to the sea.

I now know that retiring with Mark on a sailboat is incredibly challenging, full of possibilities and offering each of us the best of the other.