1. A Sea Change — M J Winters

October 2012 – Set Free

“I want to give up work”, I stated to my husband, who was already enjoying the benefits of early retirement.

“OK.” That was all he said, and that was all I needed to hear, to give me the confidence to give up a career I had carefully cultivated for 25 years.

The day I was to hand in my resignation, I walked into the office pumped up with the monumental step I was about to take. Walking past the reception into the main office, I expected for everything to be different. I was sure I wore a big sign saying Mel is not only leaving the company but the only life she has known. Instead, when I entered the office that morning, all was normal.

Everyone greeted me as they had done a hundred times before, and suddenly a sense of mourning came over me. Not only was I giving up my work, I was giving up my sense of belonging. I would no longer be an intricate part of this or any other integrated team. Banding together, our team had accomplished so much, having shared the heart ache of failure, as well as the incredible joy of success. With one short resignation letter it would all now disappear, and I would be set adrift into the unknown.

I took a moment just to let the reality of what I was doing dawn on me. I had known what I was doing when I had made the decision, of course I did, but now faced with what I was walking out on, it all seemed so much more confronting. For the first time in leaving a company, I wouldn’t be walking into another job. I would be on my own with no place to be and worse no salary. The thought suddenly terrified me.

I turned away from my friends and colleges and started up my computer. A picture of the 42’ Catamaran my husband and I had just purchased flashed onto the screen. Looking at it I smiled. No, I wasn’t giving anything up, this was a chance of a lifetime, a chance to venture into another life and how many people ever get to do that.

Many years ago, I had met a work colleague who said something that has resonated with me ever since, ‘In life you go through different phases, the important thing is to make the most of each phase in your life while you can because you never know how long it will last.’

Looking around me, I acknowledged I would miss being part of the micro world around me, and the reliable salary that went with it. Just as I would worry over my own sense of worth, a worth I had mistakenly based solely on my career. But beneath all that loss and worry, I felt a burning sense anticipation for what was to be my next phase of life and more importantly for the first time I could remember, I felt free.

I was venturing into a world of possibilities that I had never permitted myself to consider. The world was literally my oyster, and while I ventured into unchartered territory, for the very first time, I felt like I could finally pursue the many old, abandoned dreams. Dreams I had previously relegated to impractical, due to their lack of financial security.

This time I was free to do as I wished.

November 2020 - A new life

It’s was odd feeling sitting in our home in Australia, a home already sold, as we decided on where in the world we would move to next. Without a job and with the family grown up, we no longer had anything to tie us down. So we looked for paradise, and paradise, at least in our minds meant the Bahamas.

With two hundred islands, most of which were uninhabited, partnered with glorious beaches and warm tropical weather, how could you go wrong. But while we were happy to ‘Go where we had never gone before,’ we did feel the need for a quick exploratory trip to be sure.

After only a couple of days of exploring the Island of Grand Bahamas we found the perfect house. It was amazing, with a gorgeous kitchen, not that I cooked, and a Balinese bathroom paired spacious rooms that looked out onto its own dock.

We put an offer on it straight away, and with the house settled, we decided to visit Abaco, an island just beyond Grand Bahamas. There we rented a yacht to sail around the many small islands bounding the mainland from the Atlantic Ocean.

It was also a good time for me to get some much-needed lessons in sailing before we travelled to France to pick up our new catamaran. With the sails raised Dave, my husband, taught me how to steer the yacht. It was wonderful sailing around the islands and anchoring off the pristine, white beaches. But even the new becomes old when you do too much of it and soon I found steering the yacht exhausting. Looking to my husband relaxing back as he watched the sights pass us by, it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe he was having too good a time of it all.

“It’s good practice,” he insisted. Mm… I wasn’t convinced, still the setting was beautiful. The water was so calm and clear you could see the seafloor.

Unfortunately it was in during this blissful time that we got some unwanted news. The owner of the house we had under offer, had changed her mind. The gorgeous house was no longer ours. We were back to searching for a home.

Given we were already in Abaco we decided to continue our search here, and to be fair after seeing some of the sights we had started to fall in love with the area. We inspected house after house, but none were as good as what we had set our minds on.

There was the pink house, a terrific house with a balcony, only it looked down on the local drinking hole, a very noisy drinking hole. We saw a house set on the beach, but the décor was just a little too odd (chandeliers in a beach bathroom?) not to mention it was very close to the water line. And then there was the house that Dave decided was too good to miss out on.

This house did not have a balcony, it didn’t even have a second level, rather it was a single story, rectangular, termite infested wooden shack. The kitchen was filled with appliances that belonged in a museum and in the place of cabinets there were shelves made out of planks. The bathroom was similarly prehistoric, but worst of all there was no air conditioning.

So why did my husband decided this was the place for us, well the block of land spanned the island, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to Coco Bay, a calm shallow bay paired with a dock for our newly purchased yacht we were to soon acquire.

I could see the major benefits of the land, but still I yearned for a balcony and a modern bathroom and kitchen. “We will build,” he assured me and with those famous words I conceded.

December 2020 - Our New 42’ Lagoon Catamaran

The visit to France to pick up the yacht wasn’t what we had hoped for, we were met by the news that the sale of our house in Perth had fallen through due to finance. Then on returning home the sad news that Dave’s mother, a widow, was in hospital, likely with cancer. He departed immediately to the UK where she lived while I prepared the house for sale again and rushed to catch up with him. Sadly just as I was to board my flight Dave gave me the news of her passing. Time stood still as we dealt with the aftermath. Now more than ever we were pleased with our decision to abandon working life and experience adventure, life was short, sometimes too short.

Having travelled to a very chilly France we met up with Tony, the Captain who was going to take on the brave job of; not only teaching my husband and I how to handle a catamaran, but also sail in the company of a couple under stress, not something I envied him for.

Entering the marina in Les Sables d’Olonne, we spied the yacht from a far. Getting closer, my heart started to race. We had purchased a boat, not just any boat, a brand-new spanking 42’ Lagoon Catamaran. It was great, we explored all the nooks and crannies, and my imagination came to life, but all too soon the excitement was over, and we were lugging luggage and what nots into the boat and yes included in that luggage was the infamous golf clubs we had hulled all the way from Australia, which disappeared into a hole in the front of the boat.

Next, we were shopping, but it was not the kind of shopping I preferred; we bought gas bottles, ropes, fire extinguishers, bedding etc. etc. The next day we were still trying to figure out where to put everything. And then we got to sea trial the boat. I was at the wheel and yes it was pretty exciting though more and more I realized I had so much to learn before I would be ready for my Coastal Skippers which equated to lots and lots of homework.

We still had a lot more to do but a storm was on the horizon, having analysed the weather it was decided we either depart tomorrow morning or we would have to delay for several days. All systems were go, we quickly went to work to purchase all the remaining safety equipment and food stuffs to ensure we would be ready in time.

Now done, we are all exhausted so I guess I should go to bed as our sailing adventure starts tomorrow.