So for me, it's two things:
Firstly the challenge: Growing up, my life goal was to skipper my own yacht in the Sydney to Hobart. Why? Because it was there. To say I could do it.
Now Galini is not a Sydney to Hobart yacht, and I don't know if I will ever own something capable of completing the Hobart, however, Galini has provided me with plenty of challenges along the way. I could sail before I bought Galini, but it had always been in the confined safety of the harbour in Club races, and yes there is the racing aspect, trying to better yourself and your peers (don't get me wrong I do enjoy racing) but taking Galini out of the heads, and, eventually, onto her new mooring at home was something I've never even come close to doing before and yet, I can now say I've done it.
Coastal cruising to many on this forum may not seem like a big deal, indeed as some of you have said it's the norm rather than the exception. But for me it was a new challenge. And the challenge doesn't stop there, now I just have to challenge myself to get to different places, or do it better, or start to see the problems before they occur. Learning new things, how to care for Galini, all are challenges.
Secondly the experience: For a bit of background, I'm a MWO (or what used to be known as a Seaman Officer) in the Navy, and there is nothing quite like the experience of standing on the morning watch on the Bridge watching the sun rise with no land around us. While I can't at the moment get those experiences on Galini, the experience of seeing new places and just watching the world around me I absolutely love. I really enjoy being on the ocean and seeing different places and different things.
Again bringing Galini up to her new home after a long hard day underway, we run out of wind, drop anchor and have a coffee while watching this:
For me it's not escapism, I'm not trying to escape my normal life, I'm trying to enrich it.
All of you engage with nature every time you raise a sail
Also it's a nice challenge to make your boat selfserficent and the rewards of it and you learn some thing new every hour of every day in many many ways
I have neither rhyme or reasons sadly.
Like all the true loves of my life.
It all just kinda happened .
And now....I can't imagine life without her.
Both boat and girl
