January 6, 2021
“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than those you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain
Today the adventure truly begins, 17 hour road trip to the S/V Bilancia……two kids under 10 years old, one overly large Goldendoodle, and a crammed packed rent car. Help me Baby Jesus! It’s a good thing that sailing has taught me a huge amount of patience and determination. I will need to find my happy zen place along the way and quite possibly a bottle of wine for the hotel.
So, yes, I know…..space is limited on sailing vessels. On our first vessel the S/V Moerae (Prout 38), we overpacked without a doubt! But I have discovered there are several things I really cannot do without (especially undertaking homeschooling this trip) and we are quite literally moving aboard so this should be our most loaded trip going forward. So the rent car is crammed. And what can I say…..I like to cook and all my cooking gadgets. Thank goodness for catamarans!
So for those of you following along and wondering what in the world to pack here’s a quick and condensed list of what’s stacked behind me in the rent car:
- Lots of homeschool stuff, in fact most of what I’m bringing is homeschool “stuff”. Crayons, pencils, colored pencils, rulers, glue, glue sticks, binders, tablets, notebooks, paper, etc. If you can name a school supply chances are I have packed them up.
- Computers, iPads, phones….
- Clothes, but pretty small selection for everyone. We typically live in our swimsuits. So a few shirts, couple of pair of shorts, extra bathing suit (there’s always one drying somewhere), something nice to wear out on special occasions.
- Two ukuleles
- Dog supplies, leash
- Extra towels
- Bedding, pillows
- Tools that can be used on the ship, Harbor Freight loves us!
- Extra lifejackets, the kind from walmart that will get trashed, left in the dingy, fly overboard, etc. Highly recommend proper sailing lifejackets that you can move and work in-they are a necessity especially with children onboard. We even have one for the dog.
- Lots of sunscreen and sun hats, uv protected shirts: don’t mess around here skin cancer is a real thing so are wrinkly leather skin sailors.
- Fishing gear
- Speargun, Hawaiian sling (since spearguns are illegal in certain areas)
- Dive gear
- snorkel gear
- Camera gear, underwater and land based.
- And of course my kitchen stuff….more on that later…….
What not to take on a sail boat from a women’s perspective:
- Anything glass that you don’t want broken. We do break this rule for wine glasses but fully expect them not to last the trip.
- More than two pairs of shoes. This one is so hard for me……
- Lots of dressy stuff, another tough one for me. You simply won’t use it. Where most sailors hang out are not dressy venues and I stopped trying to walk on docks and climb in and out of dingies in heels long ago…….
- A hairdryer. I have only ever used one twice on ships. The trade winds will dry your hair just as fast and they don’t heat up the whole interior of the vessel or drain your power. Same goes for curling irons and the like.
- Not a lot of makeup it can and will melt either off your face or in its packaging in the bathroom cabinet.
Google maps says it’s 17 hours and 9 minutes to Ft.Lauderdale, aka the S/V Bilancia, but we all know that IS A LIE. I’m just going to double that time….I’m planning on spending two nights on the way down, possibly three if this mama needs a break. Assuming that I drive about 10 hours a day, I’m hoping to make it there sometime on the night of the 9th. Depending on the arrival time, we may spend an additional night. Since arrival will be pick-up by dingy Alfonz.
S/V Bilancia 