Sailing Positive Waves

 In the years leading up to moving aboard Positive Waves , I watched videos of a Boreal transiting the southern ocean-- Sir Ernst sailed west from the south Pacific to Patagonia; I watched vlogs of sailboats in rough conditions -- s/v Delos in the Indian Ocean; I read the book Storm Stories by John Kretschmer -- lessons learned from a career working as a delivery skipper. After 3 years of open ocean sailing aboard our 27' sailboat and 3 years of reading books and watching vlogs, I felt ready to sail the world on our new Boreal. At least I thought I was. No big shocker, it's a lot different actually sailing your boat with your kids on board in rough weather than it is to watch (from the comfort of your couch) other people sail their boats.   After some less than ideal moments aboard Positive Waves , I am recognizing that my perception of my own risk level versus what I am actually comfortable with are at odds with each other. In other words, I think I am tough as nails and c

Ecstatic to be out cruising!   After a solid week of small boat projects and re-provisioning, including a short-haul to change the zincs and reassure ourselves that there was no ice damage, we were ready to break from the dock and start cruising.  High and dry! The weather was still cold (reportedly the coldest and wettest May on record in Sweden), but since we had been sailing in freezing temperatures in January, the cool spring weather seemed downright balmy. We started close to our Swedish boating home of Smögen and with Hans's parents on board, we motored the grueling 1 (one!) nautical mile to the island of Hållö, home to a nature reserve, lighthouse, small museum, and, most importantly, a cafe. We hiked to the southern end of the island where there are huge, perfectly cylindrical holes in the rock caused by gasses (don't ask me for more technical details!). The majority of the island was a perfect example of the pink-hued granite found in this specific area of the west coa