This past year, I have been reflecting on our journey as members of Bluewater Cruising Association. BCA has so much to offer to every member, from those with dreams of crossing oceans; heading somewhere warm, or expanding their cruising across the Salish Sea. Each journey is unique, valid and supported.
The first time we stepped on a sailboat was 20 years ago, when we came across a cruise-and-learn. We had no previous experience on sailboats, but both of us grew up on lakes and loved the ocean, so it sounded like a good option for a holiday. We came back from that vacation with a plan to move to the coast and buy a boat when we retired.
We couldn’t wait. We found a Matilda 20 and sailed on a local lake. We continued to visit the coast and found it harder and harder to leave, until we finally moved to Victoria and in 2018, we bought an Ericson 30+. In the first year, we sailed her a 100 days. We were out every weekend during the evenings and used all our holidays to sail. She taught us so much about sailing, maintenance and pushed us to go further, beyond anything we ever thought we could do.
Connecting with BCA
Through our sailing club, we heard about an online session with John Kretschmer, hosted by BCA. As sailors, and avid readers of adventure stories, we signed up! From the initial session, we were hooked and took advantage of every learning opportunity BCA had to offer and our dreams slowly started to evolve. We never imagined sailing offshore. To be honest, we just never really thought about it.
Then we started to meet members of BCA, the doers and the doners who were not just people in a book. People who had created their own adventures and followed their dreams. After attending a few more sessions, we signed up for the mentorship program [1] and were paired with Connie and Peter (Cookie Cutter). They shared their story and sparked something in us to explore and learn and see where it would take us. They answered questions, recommended courses and just spent time with us as our dream started to grow.
Even though we had no solid plans, we joined Fleet [2] for the first time in 2022, on a recommendation from Connie. We are so glad we did. It has been a whirlwind of learning about weather, storm tactics, passage planning, insurance, healthcare and systems to have onboard. The topics were based on experiences of the leaders and the interests of participants. Members of Fleet varied from some who were leaving the following year, those who were a couple years out, and for us it was still a work in progress.
We now have an offshore boat, have completed a major refit and now have a solid plan with a go / no go date. You see we are not even sure we will like sailing offshore, but have a plan in place to get the experience and then decide.
Left: Lunetta at the dock; Right: getting to us getting to know our new boat; Inset: Shannon and Doran
Expressing our Gratitude
I titled this article “Sitting with Giants” after attending an evening of Fleet. I looked around the room and was astounded by the knowledge and experience in the room of the people who have done or are doing it.
To our mentors, Fleet leads, MIST [3] (Mid Island Sail Training) leads, guest speakers, presenters – you are all giants – people who inspire and support us dreamers. Thank you.
Darragh (Chanty V) once shared that there is no organization in the world that better prepares people to go offshore. It is because of these Giants. Thank you for openly sharing your knowledge and experiences. Your guidance has built our confidence and led us to do something we never imagined. Thank you for being a part of our journey, our learning, and our dream.