“Change is the only constant in life.” – Heraclitus

 

This timeless quote by the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus perfectly captures the essence of adapting to change. It embraces the reality of the bluewater cruising lifestyle. Only by embracing change can you successfully navigate the ever-evolving nature of our world. After five long months of a whirlwind visit to the United States, we are back on our sailboat, waiting patiently for us in the harbor of Rota, Spain.

 

Leaving Our Home on the Water

 

Securing your boat for an extended leave of absence is truly terrifying. Our boat is our only home, and everything we own is aboard. We left her in the water instead of hauling her out. We saved money and could leave our refrigeration and other important systems running. ‘On the hard,’ everything must be shut down. The downside is that rough weather can potentially cause damage, especially when you aren’t around to adjust and secure dock lines.

We left our boat to fate, and to a few random people we met on the dock who said they would keep an eye on her while we were away. Each time we leave our boat, we take a deep breath and say a few prayers that she will be intact upon our return.

As a blue water cruiser, you will invariably find compelling reasons to return to your home country from time to time. Our parents and our adult children have given us reasons to return on several occasions. This time, the announcement that grandchild number four was arriving, via our daughter Katie who lives in California, precipitated our visit. We promised our children when we started this 10-year journey, that when they needed us, we would tie up our boat and head home. Katie has a two-year-old and asked if we would stay a month after her new baby was born to help out. Of course, we said, “Yes!”

 

Our Road Trip Adventure

 

We have developed a protocol to assist our visits back to the US necessitated by the fact that our two sons and their families live on the East Coast and our daughter lives on the West Coast. We have to visit everyone when we come home, and that means traveling 3,000 miles from coast to coast. Instead of plane fares and car rental expenses, we simply buy a used car, tent camp our way across the country, and sell it when we leave. The first time we implemented this plan, we sold the car for more than we bought it for. Hoping for the same results, we purchased a used Ford Focus wagon, packed it with our camping gear, and set off from east to west for our land adventure.

Our other family members don’t make it easy on us. Dan’s father lives in Pennsylvania, and my 93-year-old mother lives in Georgia. They expect a visit. So, we headed to Pittsburgh and visited Dan’s father then headed down the east coast to Georgia. We spent two weeks catching up and giving lots of hugs and promises to visit again.

Since we had the opportunity, we took our boat buddies’ offer to spend the month of June in Kentucky and watch their elderly father while the prime caregiver took a vacation. We were helping out friends and it was a paid gig, an opportunity to add much-needed funds to our cruising kitty. Unless you are independently wealthy, you need to find ways to earn money along your journey and this fit perfectly into our traveling timeframe.

 

National Parks and Unexpected Wonders

 

July 1st arrived. We packed up “Wanda Wagon” and headed off to our National Parks and Monuments hop across the country. Dan set a grueling pace as we had to be in California by July 18th, a week before our grandbaby’s due date. We planned a northern route to see some of the more remote US parks and monuments. We set our destination for a park basically not knowing anything about it.

Visiting these parks without prior knowledge is like waking up on Christmas morning and having a huge gift to open. You don’t know what’s inside; you just know it’s going to be wonderful. Boy, were these parks unique and spectacular? Unexpected wonders unfolded before us. We only had time to spend a day at each one, so we soaked up the history and the views, packed up the tent, and went to our next site. Here’s the list of parks we visited going west.

• Mammoth Caves
• Indiana Dunes
• Badlands
• Wind Cave
• Mount Rushmore
• Devil’s Tower
• Theodore Roosevelt
• Glacier
• Crater Lake
• Redwood

We arrived in California exhausted but on time. We were excited to sleep in a firm bed instead of a blow-up mattress and rejoiced at the simple things like a hot shower and electricity. We were ready to greet our new grandbaby and reintroduce ourselves to two-year-old, Carter, who we hadn’t seen in a year.

 

The Joys and Challenges of Family

 

Watching my daughter in the pain of labor is one of the most difficult things I have ever done. The memories of just how painful childbirth is came flooding back. All you want to do is take the pain away, but it is a necessary part of the ultimate result, being able to hold that precious newborn.

Ryder Steven Keville arrived just two days after his due date on the evening of the exotic blue moon. He was beautiful and perfect, just like his momma. Katie had a relatively short and easy birth (she gave birth twenty minutes after arriving at the hospital). We helped back at home by watching big brother Carter, cooking, and preparing their home for the new arrival. Everything went smoothly.

We loved being part of the welcome home and introducing Carter to his baby brother. Our decision to be there for our kids may be a lot of work, but the blessings far outweigh the effort. The problem is… then, we have to leave. After spending over a month with my grandchildren and daughter, our boat was the farthest thing from my mind. Hugging my family and kissing them goodbye is the most difficult thing I will ever do. I spent the first two days back in the car crying. I felt as if the hole in my heart would never heal. If you were to ask me what’s the hardest part of blue water sailing? It’s definitely leaving your family behind.

Continuing the Journey

 

Our next set of National Parks awaited us on our 3,000-mile return journey to the east coast. We had another two weeks of roughing it with our tent and long drives across the country. The scenery through the middle of our country was breathtakingly gorgeous. Once again, even after we thought we had seen the best, the diverse beauty of our country continued to astound us. We slowed down on the way home and spent at least two nights in each campground. It was much more relaxing than the drive out. These are the parks we visited.

• Great Basin
• Bryce Canyon
• Capitol Reef
• Arches
• Canyonlands
• Great Sand Dunes
• Cuyahoga Valley

Two weeks later, as promised to our boys Philip and Derek, we arrived back on the East Coast to spend a week with both their families and visit our grandson Orion, and granddaughter, Elaine. Elaine is also two, soon to be three. Orion is eight and loves us and misses us dearly, as we do him. He spent time on our boat with us and has visited us many times, including spending a week sailing in the Bahamas.

 

Since Orion is well aware of our travels, we gifted him with a wooden world map that hangs on his wall. Each country has a spot for a peg. For each new country we visit, we send Orion a fold-out postcard with pictures. He puts a pin on the map and follows us around the world. (I highly recommend the FELT app. It allows you to make postcards with your own pictures and mail them online with US postage rates. They arrive in three days.)

We also collected the brochures of each park we visited so Orion could read about them and pick which ones he would like to visit someday. Hopefully, when we are done sailing, we will get an RV and travel with our grandkids!

 

Saying Goodbye, Again

 

Our time with our sons and their families was wonderful. We bonded with our grandchildren and had fun and adventurous outings with our boys. They may be all grown up, but they are still adored by their parents. Our sons and daughters-in-law are the best and have become our children as well. Every minute with our family is precious.

Leaving them all behind and heading back to our boat, also our baby is a huge bag of mixed emotions. My heart tears each time I have to leave, then miraculously, it knits itself back together the moment I step back aboard our beloved Equus.

 

 

The Journey Back to the Boat

 

The flight back to our boat is always an adventure. When we go back to the US, we order all the parts and replacements for our boat that are difficult or impossible to get in Europe. Some of these parts are large and heavy. On this trip, we had over a hundred pounds of parts and things we just couldn’t live without. To add to our backpacks, and two duffle bags each, we had to get two extra-large suitcases.

I had gotten an air fryer for Christmas two years back and never had room in our luggage to bring it back to the boat. I vowed; this was the trip I was bringing the air fryer as we now have lithium batteries that can handle the power needed to use it. I was very excited. Dan made sure to leave a space in one of the two giant suitcases for my air fryer. (We still have US power outlets so I can’t buy appliances in Europe.)

It came time to depart the US, leave our family and friends behind, shed our tears, and lug our six bags and two backpacks to the Philadelphia airport. Dan had weighed the bags on a bathroom scale to make sure they were less than 50 pounds. Unfortunately, the scale was not quite accurate.

We arrived at the ticket counter. The first three bags were fine. Our last large bag rang in at 57 pounds. The ticket man peered at us over his spectacles and said, “You need to remove seven pounds.”

Of course, you know what weighs seven pounds? An air fryer. With a look of horror on my face, I watched Dan pull the appliance out of the suitcase and zip it back up. He placed the bag back on the scale. I stood, gripping my air fryer, wondering about its fate. We watched the pounds tally, 48, 49, 50. It stopped exactly at 50 pounds.

 

The Miracle of Packing

 

What occurred next was nothing short of a miracle. Each of our carry-on bags was stuffed to the hilt. Dan walked over to the seats in the lobby and put our bags down. I ran through my list of options on how to ditch an air fryer at an airport. Dan began unpacking all the bags.

I can honestly say that one of my husband’s greatest strengths is his ability to fit things into a limited space. Our car across the country was packed so full of camping gear, food storage bins, and everything we thought we needed, that the back of the car was a good six inches lower than the front. We bought brand-new tires before we left. Our back tires were bald when we returned. But, we had everything we needed packed in that car for our two-month journey.

Dan’s merchant marine training included packing. He had to learn the most efficient way to pack containers into cargo holds. Somehow, this translated to packing anything anywhere that requires innovation and ingenuity. After ten minutes, Dan had repacked the bags. It was an intense struggle zipping up those bags. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. My backup plan was to try to sneak the air fryer onto the plane along with my two bags. I would start crying if they tried to take it from me and explain how it had to be taken out of our luggage and that it was a precious gift.

Thank God, we didn’t have to use that plan. However, it did get flagged on the baggage x-ray equipment. I guess they don’t see many air fryers packed into people’s carry-ons. Dan rolled his eyes as he had to unpack the bag and get everything repacked and zipped back up.

 

Welcome Back to our Home on the Water

 

Fast forward to a comfortable and pleasant flight back to Madrid from Philadelphia. We rented a car in Madrid and made the six-hour drive, with our six bags of luggage, back to the marina in Rota. Since it was an overnight flight, and neither of us slept, we had to stop halfway and take an hour’s nap in the car. Exhaustion had been chasing us and finally caught up.

As I sit here writing this blog post, we have had two days to unpack, catch up on our sleep, and try and stow everything we brought back. The major repair parts are the gooseneck for our boom, which we just completed, and a new pump system for our autopilot. Dan is busy working on replacing the old one. We pray this does the job as we can’t continue without our autopilot.

When we arrived back at our boat, we discovered our refrigerator had broken. Dan spent the first day troubleshooting and ordering the part he needed to fix it. We had a few other minor mishaps. We spent a week sewing a new bimini for our cockpit last spring. Apparently, the heat in Spain is very intense. As the boat sat here all summer, the isinglass on the front of the boat turned brown. The glass is ruined. I need to replace several sections. This was a huge bummer for me as this is going to be another huge project that needs to be completed before we leave the dock next Tuesday.

However, despite the unexpected repairs, our boat is afloat, and we are still alive, and still in love. We will pull our boat out of the water on Tuesday, have her bottom scrubbed, check the through-hulls and important stuff under the waterline, and then set off for the Canary Islands. We hope we make it this time as we are in Rota because of the broken goose neck and autopilot. With everything fixed, God willing, if nothing else breaks, we can continue on our route to cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean this winter.

 

Embracing Change

 

Change is the theme of our lives. We have to adapt to land, to water, to good times, and stressful times. We realize we have transformed from people who once lived the daily grind, to those who adapt to every change and obstacle that is thrown our way. The difficult part of blue water sailing is the unforeseen problems that arise. The best part is looking at the beautiful world around me and being able to say, “Today, I live here. This is my home.” Orcas and broken parts may be in our future, but we will prevail. Hopefully, you will be joining us vicariously as we travel on this amazing adventure.

 

HUGE ANNOUCEMENT: The Book of Our Journey

 

The book of the first five years of our voyage is complete! You can live the search for our dream boat, join us as we cast off the dock lines, and experience the joys, discoveries, and mishaps of the first five years of our sailing adventure. Our Kindle book or print book, “Riding the Waves of Reality: Tales of Triumph and Turmoil in Blue Water Sailing” is available on Amazon for pre-order. Be one of the first to get a copy on November 1st! Click on the link above or search on Amazon: Books Alison Gieschen.

Everyone who leaves stars and a review by December 1st will be eligible to win a custom sail bag. Pick your design and fabric and have your dream bag made aboard Equus and mailed to you. We hope you love reading the book as much as we loved living the adventure. Thank you for following!

 

Prepare to embark on a breathtaking voyage as Dan and Alison sell everything they own to pursue their shared dream of sailing around the world.

Join Dan and Alison as they embrace the unknown with unwavering resolve, transforming doubt into triumphant victories. Their laughter will echo through your soul, their tears will tug at your heart, and their story will beckon you into a world where destiny unveils its splendor. Set sail with them, and let their experiences become yours, as you discover the exhilaration of living boldly but not always fearlessly.