Canada at Last

“The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.” 

--Kakuzo Okakura, The Book of Tea

We’re still learning this lesson. And while we haven’t yet realized “the art of life,” we’ve adjusted and readjusted several times this year. 

If you know me well, you know I like to be in control. I organize our cruising life with endless calendars and spreadsheets. And when the unknowns associated with the pandemic unsettled our plans, I doubled down. We can only control things we can’t control with more control, right?   

Fortunately, sailing teaches us a different way. We ride up and down each wave, and sometimes we ride out storms. Sometimes we slam into the troughs and sometimes we need to wait for our sails to fill with wind again. We adjust our lines. And most importantly, we approach the unknown with curiosity and excitement. This is where the magic happens, not in spreadsheets and fixed plans. 

Sailing involves risk. And we recently took some big ones. We took a hiatus from careers we enjoyed, and I said goodbye to students I loved. We gave up our steady paychecks, important time with our families, good health insurance, and the comfort of routine, all in search of this magic.  

The ongoing pandemic hasn’t allowed us to return to Alaska and venture further north into Prince William Sound and Kodiak as planned. Nor did it allow us to get a jump start in our bigger ocean crossing plans and sail south to Mexico. At least not yet.

But it has allowed us something better: to go with the flow. And on July 19th, we got good news: The Canadian border would open to vaccinated U.S. travelers on August 9th.

So here we are, anchored in a delightful bay in the Canadian Gulf Islands we would have surely passed up if our earlier plans panned out. We’ll let the wind carry us where it will and explore areas we may not have a chance to explore again. We’ll go at our own pace and let the magic happen. :)

Relaxing in Selby Cove

Magic

Nature provides in a public orchard on Prevost Island