The Backstory

 Freja: It all started on a dark and stormy night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets-

Kristen: --OK Freja, enough with the drama. How did it really start? How did we end up living on a fancy pants boat sailing around the world with nary a care in the world.
Freja: I don't know???😐I was not born when you and Pappa started sailing.

Kristen: True. It all started in 2001 when we graduated from college and wanted to travel around the world. We worked a lot and saved all our pennies for a tiny sailboat. In 2006 we set off on our 1977 Albin Vega (a Swedish-built boat, small, but with a strong reputation for a sturdy build and ability to voyage across oceans). We sailed for three years from the east coast of the US to the Caribbean and back. Have you seen our blog?

Whisper, sailing between Les Saintes, Guadeloupe, and Dominica.


Freja: No, but you and Pappa are always talking about the good old days on Whisper. Booooring.

Kristen: Well, look at our old blog: under30undersail.blogspot.com

Freja: yeah yeah yeah, does it have any emojis or video chats?

Kristen: Child, that was before Facebook and FaceTime. While we were sailing around on our very small, very wet boat with no shower and a toilet basically in the middle of the living room, we met a few families with kids. The adults were awesome, and the kids were having a very enviable childhood.  We knew that kind of life would be in our future. BUT, we wanted a drier, faster boat with a few modern-day comforts.

Freja: Yeah, like not with a toilet in the middle of the living room

Kristen: Exactly. 

Freja: And then you had to buy a boat called Rhumb Line, because you were going to have me, Freja!

Kristen: Yes, in between Whisper and Positive Waves, Hans went to medical school, completed residency, and worked for three years, and we had you and your sister Matilda. I kept up a blog then too, happysailing.blogspot.com. We've been really busy, but the whole time we knew we were working toward something totally different: living aboard and cruising around the world.

Cruising down the ICW on Rhumb Line, summer 2017 en route from Jacksonville, FL to the Bahamas. Matilda age 4, Freja age 6.

Freja: And yup, we're definitely not living in a house again!😉😊



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