Homeward Bound...

Decision Made – We are on our way home

It is decision time on board SY Matelot.  Well placed for our planned Atlantic Crossing this year, we have been having many conflicting thoughts about leaving European waters - areas that feel safe and familiar.  We are encouraged by these wise and encouraging words from a sailing friend who has almost completed a circumnavigation from Australia.  We hope to see them in New Zealand in 2015.  

“I remember reading an article about sailing and the fear that grips a competent sailor before they raise the anchor. The gist was that only an incompetent sailor would be nonchalant about heading off given the things that can go wrong, even on a short trip. On top of all the usual stuff like worrying about engine failure and the sails blowing out, you will also have the 'will I be well enough' worry given the challenges Cap’n Buck has faced in the last year.

I found leaving Australia and then Asia hard. It felt like there was no chance of turning back. I remember wanting to hang onto the Canaries and my dongle with internet connection, talking to my parents on skype until we sailed out of range.  It is tough knowing that you are moving away from the known. When we got through the Panama Canal I expected to feel relief that we'd come through unscathed. But that night I realised that the reason I couldn't hear the fat lady singing was that 'it wasn't over yet' and I might not feel like it was over till we reached New Zealand. ….”

These comments really sum up our thoughts right now as we make our final decisions committing to the passage back to New Zealand, ie, purchasing medical insurance for another year, ordering the Hydrovane to pick up in Gibraltar…  paying for one year of Satellite phone service…and the feeling that there is no turning back is definitely alive and well on SY Matelot.  It is very comforting to know that we are normal to be giving this major decision huge consideration.

Then there are those sailors and others, who delight in riveting us hopeful passagers with stories of yachting disasters, lists of every possible thing that can go wrong and their own horror stories no doubt amplified.  Great – but we soon develop a philosophical attitude to these helpful folk.  Ok they need to vent, as it is their own fears they are dealing with….

We know that for every disaster there are thousands of successful passages made and people completing one of their own life’s challenges, able to live out their lives enriched by their experience and the wonderful friends they have made along the way.  Their voyage changes them and changes their horizons forever.  We are very conscious that with good health and good luck we have an opportunity to do this.  It is all food for thought, - we never forget that saying:  “We only ever regret the things we have not done in our lives.”

For Pippy, thoughts are with her 93 year old mother in Australia, (full of encouragement, having been a great traveller herself) both of them living in the constant hope and prayer that a reunion will still be possible in 2015, but very aware this is pushing the boundaries.  

For both of us, it is time to be home again close to family and grandchildren.  Pippy finds some sage we have dried on board in the galley supplies and burns it, walking through the boat in a ceremony to bless our boat and all who sail in her, to keep us safe and healthy until our return to New Zealand.  Cap’n Buck raises his eyebrows!

Finances are stretched to the maximum now with the addition of a Hydrovane self steering unit and the necessity to purchase a new dinghy, one which will in effect be our vehicle to get to and from the shore in some fairly challenging conditions and places.  We have had a tough year with our property in NZ and ‘sick’ is the only word we can use to describe our financial accounts.  However our time in the EU expires on 20 August and we must move on, so cannot get bogged down by any of this right now.

We plan to leave Portugese waters around 12 August for our return to Gibraltar and final fit out.