Dan and Paula

Dan has been sailing (Lasers, S2) since he was in high school.  In college, he taught sailing at the Naval Academy.  Fast forward a few years, and he decided to buy a Catalina 30 sailboat in San Diego and live on it.

That’s where I come in.  I was in graduate school in Reno, Nevada, and Dan came up for Naval flight training in Fallon.  Through a friend of a friend (thanks Wendi!) Dan and I met one night at a bar called “Easy Street” way back in 1994.  (Try not to judge.)  After a few months, I visited him in San Diego for Thanksgiving and I was introduced to sailboat life.  The “west wing” of Dan’s place was the very small head!  We also went sailing with his friend, Chris, in the Pacific after a night out on the town and a big breakfast.  Needless to say, I fed the fish for several hours and clung to the sides with both fear and frozen hands.  I’ll never know why Dan didn’t drop me like a hot potato at that point given his love of the water, but he hung in there for the long run.

I’m happy to say that I don’t always get seasick now!  But I still do as the following, extremely unflattering photo will demonstrate:

And as you can see above, Ariana and Ryan follow in my footsteps.  Also, please note the pan…

Here are better days:

And even better days with wine and good food in Venice:

Ariana and Ryan

I am hoping our kids are at the perfect age for a trip like this.  They are old enough to take care of a lot of their own needs, to stand solo watch during the day (and watch with us at night), but not old enough to pitch a serious fit about leaving friends, etc. at home!

They have been attending ETYSA sailing camp in New Bern, NC each summer since 2010, and both have learned how to sail, despite their initial lack of enthusiasm!

Ariana

When Ariana was asked what she was most worried about going on this trip, she said it was her schooling/education.  She is apparently worried she will “fall behind” her classmates, but we are confident that this experience in and of itself will be an education far greater than that which could be achieved in a classroom.  Plus, she still has her traditional, academic curriculum she is completing.

Ariana is definitely a fish when it comes to the water and I look forward to her finishing her scuba certification in the BVIs so we can dive together!

When we first moved onto Do Over, I let the kids determine the “theme” of their new room.  Ariana wanted tropical and this is her stateroom:

Ryan

Do all boys in this generation love video games?  I hope not, but it sure as heck seems that way, and Ryan is not the exception!  I think Ryan will miss the Internet mostly.  That being said, he has really grown to understand and (almost) appreciate sailing, he enjoys swimming, and he also dreams of finding black pearls in oysters in South Africa.  He wouldn’t be opposed to skiing on the south island of New Zealand either.

Here is a short video of Ryan at the helm.  Ryan is going through a phase where he really doesn’t like his picture taken–especially by his sister.

MVI_2909

Ariana and Ryan in the new trampoline.

Ariana and Ryan racing together for the first time in a Topaz regatta in the Outer Banks.

They came in 2nd out of 8, so now Ryan likes sailing with his sister!