We are in the last few days of preparing Ceol Mor to splash. Tasks are being ticked off the list, extraneous items are being donated, provisioning is happening in earnest, and we are organizing each and every locker and drawer and loading up the boat. Hopefully, it all goes smoothly and we can once again set sail by next weekend.
In the meantime, friends and family are asking “so what are your plans” almost daily. You can tell straight away that these dear people are not sailors simply by their use of the word ‘plans’. Sailors don’t really make plans. We can’t, as there are too many variables that can and will change any and all ‘plans’ you might want to make. I call it “If A then B-ing”, not planning.
If the new engine and sails perform well (A.) then we will head North (B) in search of cooler climates. We’d love to sail into New York Harbor and anchor by Ellis Island. A very Instagram moment and then there is all that NYC has to offer literally at our doorstep.
After NYC, there are a couple of options. If the weather and winds are favorable (C) we could opt to sail farther into New England (D) or if we can’t get an appropriate window to head offshore we could sail up the Hudson (E). Another option is hanging out in Long Island Sound (F). So many options and so many variables that will dictate the direction we choose.
Then there are our options for the fall. We could sail East from the mid Atlantic, hang a right at the 65th longitude and run to Saint Maarten. Or head to Bermuda, then south. Or Bermuda to Azores and continue on home to Scotland. Options and opportunities to be sure and at this point, we’ve not settled on any as there are just too many variables that will effect our choices.
It takes some time to get used to planning to not plan, to learn to go with the flow. I hate surprises and not having a detailed plan so this aspect of sailing is one of the more challenging ones for me. Mark is much better at going day to day and I’m hoping some of his flexibility will rub off on me.
So we prep Ceol Mor as best we can to prepare her to take on whatever the ocean will throw at us, run through scenarios, look at routing options, check the weather and when asked about our plans answer “ We plan on launching on Friday. After that, well we will just have to wait and see”.
