Tanya Hackney - Leaving the Safe Harbor: The Risks and Rewards of Raising a Family on a Boat

Leaving the Safe Harbor

The Risks and Rewards of Raising a Family on a Boat

Tanya Hackney

The Worst and the Best

1. Rocking the Boat

Big Dreams

2. Uncharted Waters

A Leap of Faith

3. Sink or Swim

Survival Skills

4. Running a Tight Ship

Discipline

5. Learning the Ropes

Making Mistakes

6. Close Quarters

Conflict Resolution

7. Chock-A-Block

Collecting Verbs

8. All Hands on Deck

Teamwork

9. Batten Down the Hatches

Hardship and Hope

10. Getting Shipshape

Organized Chaos

11. See Which Way the Wind is Blowing

Decision Making

12. Plumbing the Depths

Gratitude and Awe

13. Ships Passing in the Night

Friendships Afloat

14. Troubled Waters

Patience

15. On the Right Tack

Give and Take

16. Smooth Sailing

Simple Appreciation

17. Course Corrections

Flexibility

18. Safe Harbor

Letting Go

New Dreams

For Jay, our intrepid captain and for the crew of Take Two

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didnt do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain

Whos Who on Take Two

Jay, Captain and Chief Engineer. The problem-solver, the magic genie who funds the dream, and the introverted computer genius with an adventurous side. He grew up sailing and served as crew on race boats. He has two full-time jobs, working as a consultant and keeping the boats systems running smoothlyhes equally adept at designing a database, plumbing a boat toilet, and wiring an electrical panel. Fun Facts: he has to medicate to prevent seasickness, loves extreme weather, and stands out like a sore thumb in Central America.

Tanya, First Mate and Ships Cook. The impulsive idea man, extroverted family ambassador, and neurotic control freak. She may be afraid of everything but doesnt let it stop her from living a full and exciting life. She loves planning trips, taking the night watch on passages, and is in charge of setting the anchor or picking up a mooring. She loves meeting new people, serves as French/Spanish interpreter when necessary, and knows how to find things in a new place. Fun Facts: she plays ukulele, reads voraciously, and likes to kayak.

Eli, Second Mate. The firstborn son, a frustrated perfectionist, a lover of the great outdoors, and a wordsmith lovingly known as Captain Vocabulary. Hes in charge when Jay and Tanya are off the boat and helps stand watch at night on long passages. Hes the one who goes up the mast when the need arises. Fun Facts: he loves to freedive, plays D&D, and is working on a private pilots license.

Aaron, Second Engineer. A Mr. Fixit, he loves tools, can talk to anyone with his charismatic personality, but can sometimes be a bit of a prima donna. He helps with boat projects like installing a water heater or changing the oil in the engines. His motion sickness limits his abilities on passages, but hes capable of piloting the boat in coastal waters. Fun Facts: he plays electric guitar, rebuilt his first carburetor at age seven, and knows almost everything about WWII tanks.

Sarah, Quartermaster. A creative genius, who likes to draw and can play several musical instruments, and has a ready wit, though you might not know it because shes also a bit of a hermit. She helps with docking and anchoring, knows where to find anything on the boat, and enjoys sailing in small sailboats. Fun Facts: shes excellent at using just the right movie quotes to fit a conversation, is fluent in Spanish, and bakes the best cookies.

Sam, Able Seaman. Hes got an indomitable spirit and the ability to charm animals and small children, yet somehow most often shows us his spastic clown persona. While sailing, he stands by to help wherever needed, and he likes to take morning watches on passage. Hes the fisherman of the family. Fun Facts: hes a frustrated percussionist, a drummer without a proper drum set who taps on anything that resonates, and he can solve the Rubiks Cube in thirty-two seconds, juggle, and touch his tongue to his nose (though not all at the same time).

Rachel, Midshipman. The youngest, born after we moved aboard Take Two, precocious and wise beyond her years, empathetic and imaginative, and possessing a flair for the dramatic that comes with the downside of a quick temper. She sleeps in a single bunk we built for her amidships and loves to sit in the captains chair on passages. She is learning to pilot the dinghy and loves to help in the galley. Fun Facts: she adores animals, has a big singing voice for a small person, and can recycle anything for use as a toy.

Take Two, Custom Wooden Sailing Catamaran. Our boat is more than just a vehicle that gets us from point A to point B; she is a part of our family. We love and care for her, and she, in turn, shelters and protects us. She was designed by Dirk Kremer and built at the Waarschip yard in Bouwjaar, Netherlands in 1991, the year Jay and I rode the school bus together in high school. She is forty-eight feet long, twenty-six feet wide, and has a draft of four feet. Her typical cruising speed is eight knots, but shes capable of double digits in a brisk wind. She was cold molded, made of cedar and layers of marine plywood and epoxy, with a fiberglass skin below the waterline. Her keels and cross beam are solid mahogany. We are her fourth owners, having purchased her for less than $200,000 in Fort Lauderdale in April of 2008. She has crossed an ocean, spent a few years as a charter boat in the Virgin Islands, survived several hurricanes and once even circumnavigated one. Shes been our full-time home since August of 2009.

The Worst and the Best

May 2016. I am at the helm, the only crew still standing. The captain is wedged in a corner of the cockpit trying to nap. The others are lying prone, sleeping where they fell, some outside in the cockpit, others on the settees inside, and one, half naked, on the salon floor. If there were a soundtrack for this day, it would include crashing waves, wind whistling in the rigging, the drone of a diesel engine, crewmen moaning and groaning, and the sound of someone throwing up at the rail. The wind is wild, whipping my hair around and chapping my face. We are pounding into six-to-eight-foot seas, directly upwind, sails furled and both engines running. Occasionally, I get hit in the face with salt spray from the bows burying themselves in a big, green wave.

It is the kind of day people imagine when I tell them I live on a sailboat and they stare at me with an odd mixture of horror and admiration on their features. Perhaps they are thinking of the fisherman in his yellow rain slicker on the Gortons fish sticks package. Well, sometimes it is like that, but only for a day or two out of the year. Sometimes, believe it or not, life at sea can even be boring. But usually, like this day, it is a combination of highs and lows, the highs often being better than you can imagine, and the lows, worse.