This is the first in a series of blog posts I started earlier this year.  The entries follow our journey from dreaming about our one year sailing trip to making it a reality.  These posts have just been moved here from my personal blog: ericaconway.wordpress.com.

March 28, 2011:  The Dream

I love the idea that these words are the first words to document the adventure of a lifetime, the adventure that will change each one of us and our family as a whole, enrich our lives, and deepen our relationships with one another.  The adventure that will take us from our safe little home in Ho-Ho-Kus to places we have never seen.  The adventure that will teach our children a deeper appreciation for the size, depth, diversity, and beauty of the world in which they live.  The adventure that will open our hearts, test our endurance, strengthen our fortitude, and deepen our love.

For now, the adventure is simply a dream.  But it is a dream that has been shared, which brings it to the next level of becoming a reality.  I’ve wanted to take a year to sail with my family for quite some time.  I’m not sure where or exactly when the dream took solid shape, but of course it stems from my lifelong love of the ocean.  I have had a deep connection with the ocean for as long as I can remember.  When I think of any moment in my past where I was on the water, I have memories of feeling completely at ease, completely myself.  Even in a gale force wind, in freezing cold rain, after days of racing on a sailboat, I still felt more alive, and frankly, happier, than 99% of my time on dry land.  When I’m on the water, I live in the moment; I am the moment.  The ebb and flow of the waves on the beach are like breathing to me.  The water recedes; I breathe in.  The waves crash over the sand; I breathe out.

I grew up boating on Long Island every weekend and I lived on the water for years during my childhood.  I learned to sail as a teenager and met my husband Chris on the sailing team at Cornell.  Chris also grew up sailing and has a natural talent for literally everything that has to do with boating: all aspects of sailing, meteorology, mechanics, physics, and safety.  After college, Chris and I raced sailboats at all levels.  We raced around the bouys (day races) as well as distance races of up to 5 days.  The highlight of those Glory Days was when Chris competed in the Transatlantic Race on a 55’ yacht.  His toughest opponent was none other than Dennis Conner of America’s Cup notoriety.  For years, our free time was spent racing and enjoying a sailing lifestyle.  What better way to share our love of the ocean and sailing with our children than to give them the opportunity to fall in love with it themselves?

My secret plan to make this dream come true was hatched last summer, on August 16^th, 2010.  We were enjoying our summer vacation at the ocean (of course) on Martha’s Vineyard.  We were catching up with longtime sailing friends Bryson and Cindy Hall.  Bryson and Cindy live near Newport, Rhode Island.  Nine years ago, when we were thinking of a name for our first child, we knew that we wanted a strong name- one that symbolized an adventurous, independent, unique spirit.  So we named our son Bryson.  Bryson Hall is a great friend, and more adventurous, independent, and unique than most people we know.  He’s a few other things too, but we’re hoping our Bryson skips some of the notorious traits of his namesake!  Anyway, Bryson and Cindy now live on their Beneteau 50 in the British Virgin Islands for 5 months each year.  They told us all about how wonderful it has been to cruise down there and invited us to come visit during our winter break.

Guess how long it took to book our plane tickets?  About five minutes.  We were so excited about taking the children sailing, spending time with our dear friends, and reconnecting with the ocean we loved and missed so much.  And then…I realized that a trip like this could…Possibly. Convince. Chris. To. Do. Something. Crazy.