Epilogue: This Cruising Chapter of Our Lives Comes to a Close

March 7, 2012
CAPAZ is no longer our boat.  She has new owners.  People keep asking how I feel about the sale and the answer has been that I feel like it hasn't hit me yet.  However, as I opened my long dormant Blogger Account to write my final post, the real answer that I think always I knew was underlying my apathy is already starting to well up inside of me.

Brad and I are quickly approaching the 20th anniversary of our first date.  I don't remember talking about cruising that night, but the first conversation couldn't have been too long after it.  "Going Cruising" has always been a part of our relationship.  It was a constant but dymanic dream and goal that evolved as our lives unfolded.  There have been many relationships and decisions over the years that have been touched by its presence with us. 

I am so greatful that I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to take the time to have a great adventure with my family aboard CAPAZ.  I have learned so much, made such great friends and experienced so many things that would not have been available to me had I not followed this dream.

Part of the reason that I don't feel a huge loss with CAPAZ's sale is that we bought her almost four years ago knowing she would not be in our lives for a long time.  Don't get me wrong, CAPAZ was a great boat, in so many ways, really the perfect boat for us.  But our goal was never to sail away or live aboard forever.  I have told many people:  Brad and I figure that we will probably working in some capacity for the rest of our lives, so we might as well take a year or two of "retirement" when we can really enjoy it with our boys.  That was our goal.  We also said that if we had to sell our house to make it happen, we would do that too.  So, for me, CAPAZ's sale was just the next step along the path.

I had fully intended to write a few blog posts about the re-entry process, but it seemed like the time I had been using for keeping up this blog while we were cruising was taken up by other landbased activities.  We have lived on land for close to a year now after being "live aboards" for almost two and half years.  While I love being home in Seattle, back near family, friends and familiarity, there are so many things about a simpler, slower paced cruising life that I try to keep with me.  There have been challenges along the way, for sure, but they are far out weighed by the richness and flexibility that I gained from stepping out of my "regular" life and doing something out of the norm for awhile.

"Going Cruising" is still and will continue to a be part of Brad's and my lives in our work and even looking toward another adventure in our future.  It is not clear when or how it will happen, but then again it wasn't ever very clear how the first 20 years were going to work out.  So, I hope that CAPAZ takes care of her next owners as capably as she took care of us and the two families who sailed away aboard her before us.  For me, I am ready for the next step . . . . . . . .whatever it might be.

PJ Baker