I have never been much of a New Year’s Resolution type of fellow. I suppose it is as good a reason as any to take a step back and analyze your life. Set up goals for the upcoming year. But why does it have to be on New Year’s Day? I cannot recall ever setting New Year’s resolutions but I do start thinking deeply about life whenever a new chapter is imminent. Like right now.
I am now back in Luperon in the Dominican Republic and reunited with Arcturus. Woo hoo! She looks good for having sat in one place for over a year. A wonderful woman named Ive took care of the boat for me while I was gone. I came back to polished bronze and stainless as well as a nice clean interior. She is awesome! A local fellow came out and cleaned the bottom for me yesterday and Arcturus is starting to look like she is ready for an adventure. I have a couple of small projects to complete on board but nothing too crazy. Yet.
So, the next phase is looking towards the future. Getting things in place to leave the Dominican Republic and move east, towards Puerto Rico and beyond. Exciting times. A fun game is to ask a sailor where they think they will be in a year. No one knows. We can make plans but the beauty of the lifestyle is that we can and do make decisions on the fly and create a new plan. But as an Over Planner, I like to at least have a Plan A that I know will change. At least it gives me something to thoroughly plan towards even if I know it will never actually exist.
So. I have been reflecting on what I would like to do. Where I would like to go. And I thought it would be nice to create some loose goals or resolutions to strive for during this next leg of my journey. I am looking at November to July as this cruising season and year. What would I like to accomplish?
I will go ahead and start with the classic: Get in better shape. What is a good New Trip’s Eve resolution without an unrealistic goal of achieving a rock star body. I am currently in the worst shape of my life and, based on what pretty much all of my elders have told me, it is not going to get any easier. The good news is that I am back on board. I will be rowing daily. Swimming daily once I leave the Dominican Republic. I think this is actually achievable. Maybe not Rock Star Body but at least Respectable Beach Bod. We’ll see. I’ll report back in July.
In the same thread, I have to make goals for Arcturus as well. I want her to get “in shape”, too. I spent two years hauled out in Oriental, NC and focused the majority of my time on the upgrades and repairs needed to not die in the ocean. Repairs were highest on the list. Upgrades next. Brightwork, cosmetics, polishing, etc. did not rank high on the list. I did all of the big 25 year projects I could think of. Chainplates, rigging, bowsprit, Sampson posts, complete rewire, new fuel tank, engine work, etc. But almost none of that shows on the surface. I actually had one friend that sailed with me in Year One come on board at the end of my refit and say she looked worse than when I bought her. It was a light joke but it was true. The cosmetics received no attention but her innards are fantastic. This next cruising year resolution is to get the aesthetics of Arcturus to match all of the work put in to upgrading her. The good news is that the majority of the work is inexpensive and just takes some elbow grease and patience. Fairly achievable goal.
Money seems to be the next big, classic resolution. Or maybe I should say, I want to get the business “in shape”. I have never really been driven by money. I think I could be a fantastic businessman but I just don’t care about money that much. But I do need it. So I need to fake it a bit. A little bit goes a really long way in a sailing lifestyle. I have always found it easier to find new clients while at home in the US. This next cruising year, I need to figure out ways to connect with clients and make money while anywhere. I am quite good at sustaining the business while away but I have had trouble growing the business. This next season I would like to do a little better. I have not quite worked it all out yet but I do want to focus a fair bit of energy on furthering the business.
Actually sail. There’s a resolution. I am currently smack dab in the middle of the Thorny Path. All last year from the Eastern Bahamas to the Dominican Republic we were attempting to move into the wind. Which is difficult and slow with sailboats. The trade winds consistently blow roughly from east to west. So my next move from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico is moving directly upwind. Once I get to the Virgin Islands and beyond, I will actually be able to sail again. Crazy, right?? A sailor sailing on a sailboat. But that’s what I plan to do. Once I turn the corner into the Eastern Caribbean, I should be primarily sailing forever.
A painful, but actual, resolution is to get heavily dedicated to social media and blogging. It truly pains me (dramatic, much?). Not physically. Just that I resist it like doing laundry or taxes or going to the gym. I feel like any Instagram or Facebook posts are just to try and get people to pay attention to me. I just don’t get it. Never have. But. I have thought long and hard about it and I have a selfish motive in mind that just might be worth the effort. I have a lot of good friends and people that I have met that I think truly want to know how I am doing out in the world. What am I up to? What am I seeing and experiencing? How am I reacting to this lifestyle? I have been talking about this for so many years it seems unfair to just disappear into sailing land without sharing my experiences. So that is why I feel like I should do it. But that has not motivated me to do it in the past. So. I have tried to come up with some other kind of motivation. Even if it is not possible or real, perhaps it will be enough for me to give it a solid go. I want free stuff. I have talked to lots of sailors and travelers that have diligently blogged, Instagrammed and Facebooked and they have received tons of sweet gear from sponsors. I think I have a unique enough package with my professional photography gear, young mobile business, sailor lifestyle that I could generate enough interest to get a decent following and get free expensive sailing/photography/hiking/motorcycle gear (hey, I’m not picky…). So, I have assigned myself a full cruising year homework assignment of taking “it” seriously. And see what happens. I’ll let you know my status in July. (See what I did there? Facebook…status…eh…eh??…..OK, maybe I’m doomed…)
Spanish. I want to get better at Spanish. I am super serious about this one. I am tired of not being able to communicate well. I spent a fair portion of last year in the US working through Duolingo and Rosetta Stone. I think I have a great base vocabulary and can read fairly well. I can struggle through any conversation and make it. But I want to be able to express myself well. Use proper grammar. Meet someone new and be able to have an intelligent conversation in Spanish with them. This will just take practice, diligence and patience. But I am determined, damn it. I’ll get back to you on this one as well. Hopefully in Spanish.
Get back into taking photos. I did an awful job of it last year. Partly because I was hesitant to break out $10,000 worth of camera gear in some areas. So, Dad and I came up with a solution. The whole set up is going to be an entire blog post very soon but let’s just say we did some research and we made some changes. We sold off some lenses and spare gear and I bought a Fujifilm X-Pro2 with a 35mm f/1.4 lens. A Manfrotto travel tripod and a Really Right Stuff compact tripod head. As well as a sweet leather case for the whole setup. It is awesome and perfect. I can have my tripod and camera in my every day bag and no one will notice. I can take very high quality, professional photos with a very small camera. My goal for this next cruising season is to try and relive the enthusiasm I had for photography when I first started. I used to take photos of everything. Absolutely everything. I have not produced many good photos the last few years. “If I am not making money for it, I’m not taking the photo.” kind of attitude. No good. I want to take tons of photos this year of everything and see what happens. Get excited about photography again. For pleasure, not just digitizing artwork or doing portraits. I set up my shop (sailawaywebdesign.com/shop) for the first time ever so that I could offer prints to anyone. I hope to fill the shop up with lots of wonderful travel photos this next year. Stay tuned:)
Write. I do this a lot already but I want to be consistent. This is also a solid reason behind the social media and blogging homework assignment. Good excuse to write consistently. I have been journaling for years but I want to start transitioning back into writing that is acceptable for others to read. Polished, high quality writing. I am not claiming this blog post to be that. But it is a move in the right direction. I want to continue journaling as well but the real focus is consistent writing to share with others. I am excited about this one.
Get websites and e-commerce shops up for 10 new artists. A large portion of my year at home was working on the perfect solutions to help artists make money. I think we made significant progress and all of the pieces are finally in place. I want to continue looking for artists and help them have a web presence to make consistent money from anywhere. This resolution is going to be the most difficult while on the move but I think it can be done.
OK. I think that is enough resolutions for one day. Besides, I can always add or remove one at any point. Not as if I have to wait until next cruising year to make life changes. And there is always New Year’s right around the corner…