Sara Dawn Johnson - Sailing Wondertime: A Family Voyage from Seattle to New Zealand

Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in.

Sterling Hayden, from Wanderer

We are like children building a sand castle. We embellish it with beautiful shells, bits of driftwood, and pieces of colored glass. The castle is ours, off-limits to others. Were willing to attack if others threaten to hurt it. Yet despite all our attachment, we know that the tide will inevitably come in and sweep the sand castle away. The trick is to enjoy it fully but without clinging, and when the time comes, let it dissolve back into the sea.

Pema Chdrn, from When Things Fall Apart

In February 1999, at the wise old age of 23, I started a blog. My then-boyfriend, Michael, and I had just decided to buy a boat, quit our tech jobs, and set sail. This is the first entry:

We're still not sure when the dream began to buy a sailboat and sail around the world. We know it took root sometime during the period early in 1999 when we decided that we hated working and were done with it. We were tired of working for bossy bosses, of commuting in the ever-thickening Seattle traffic, the long hours in the office. We wanted to see the world, to taste new food, smell new odors. We were tired of the endless rain. We were ready for retirement.

At the beginning, the only thing we knew was that we were going to go mad if we didn't get out of the grind we were in day in and day out. We knew that together we could do anything we wanted. One evening, we joked about selling everything, packing all our few remaining possessions in a couple of backpacks, taking the train down to Mexico and simply travel wherever we wanted. If we liked a place, we would stay a while, work with the Mexican people. Teach English or business skills, perhaps. The whole idea instilled in us an amazing sense of freedom. We could do this! Suddenly, it became more real and the research started.

Somewhere amongst our many conversations, maybe while daydreaming of being in the Mexican sun, maybe while Michael was telling one of his stories of his time spent on Seafever (an Amazon 37 sailboat) as a teenager cruising with his parents, one of us simply said, Maybe we should buy a sailboat to go down to Mexico with

And we knew at once that was the answer.

Two decades, five boats, two children, and one ocean later, it still is.

Michael and I bought our first boat in the spring of 1999, a Hans Christian 33T named Jenny P . We lived on board for over two years, sailed locally in Puget Sound waters, and decided to leave Seattle once and for all in 2000. We spent that glorious summerour honeymoonsailing Jenny P up to Juneau, Alaska, meandering through the hundreds of forested islands and mountainous canals on the way.

In Juneau, reality set back in (too much rain, not enough money) so we sailed back to Seattle, ready to settle down to a few more years of work.

A year later, we said forget it. We tearfully parted with our beloved Jenny P, freed ourselves from the bank and began seeking the boat that really would free us from our 95 routine. We found Pelican , a 1965 Alberg 35, shortly after and a year later sailed her down the Pacific U.S. coast to Mexico where we spent the winter exploring this fantastic country by water and land and enjoying the easy life on beautiful warm beaches.

In 2003 we returned to Seattle for a few more years of work, also realizing it was now or never if we wanted to grow our family. Deciding a little more liveaboard space would be nice, we purchased Rivendell , a Tayana 42, in 2004.

Our first daughter, Leah, was born in January 2006 and after nine months of living on board with her and with winter looming, we moved onto land to spread out yet a little bit more. Our second daughter, Holly, was born in November 2008. Our family complete, we dusted off our temporarily-shelved sailing dreams and started to plan how to get back to sea again. We simply knew that giving our two girls a special and wonder-filled life on the sea was what all our years together had been leading up to. We knew it would not be easy, but nothing worth doing is.

Down in St. Helens, Oregon one winter day early in 2009, we stepped aboard a unique little ship, a Benford 38 ketch, and knew at once that Wondertime would be our next home and would carry us long distances in comfort and safety.

I kept writing on the blog through all these years, but the entries contained in this book are the ones I consider the best: the story of our familys journey to New Zealand aboard Wondertime. As youll see, it wasnt easy. But it was surely worth every lesson learnedabout the world and ourselvesand most importantly, every wonder-filled moment exploring the world with our daughters.

Sara Dawn Johnson

May 2018

Wellington, New Zealand

She is a good little ship, and always tugging at her dock lines.

One day, a man had a dream of building a small stout boat that had a nook for everything and neat tidy bunks. She would have a ketch rig that was easy to sail and a center cockpit that was cozy and dry. His little ship would be simple and true.

So, Meridian Passage was born one spring day in 1978 on Bainbridge Island, Washington and was carried over land to her new home in sunny Southern California.

Over the next years, she would be fitted out with a galley for cooking and a dinette for gathering and eating aft, a sea berth, a double berth, and a head amidships, and two little bunks in the bow (perfect forunbeknownst to himthe two little girls who would one day sleep there).

Two stout masts were added and sails and an engine for when the wind wasnt blowing and one fine day she was launched into the sea.

Meridian Passage enjoyed many years of sailing in the sunshine to the California islands, then destiny took her to the Columbia River where she explored freshwater nooks.

One day a small new family happened upon her and knew she was the ship theyd been searching for: not too big and not too small, not too simple and not too complex, not too old and not too new. This lovely ship sparkling in her slip was just right for the little girls who would soon dance on her decks and their parents who would sail them near, and someday, far.

So Meridian Passage was sailed northward up the sea to the sound where she was born and nestled into her slip in the crook of the sound.

The family took to her and loved her right away and knew that she was their true home. Her little girls loved her too, and were filled with wonder every time they visited.

And that is how Wondertime found her new home.

Its time.

Our departure date has been set: June 2011.

We got approved to live aboard Wondertime