The tropics are so far away. And June is so close.

I always dreamed of traveling the world under sail. But I never dreamed of doing it with a toddler as crew.

Acting on a dream changes the dream. Turning the dream into your day-to-day life immerses you in the necessary details that were never part of the dream per se. Right now we’re concentrating really hard on the details that no one ever dreamed about. Languid days under sail and deserted anchorages will come soon enough, inshallah.

We’re holding weekly meetings and managing lists of tasks. More items are added than are crossed off. Every material aspect of our lives is changing in a few months. When I take a deep breath and relax my eyes spin in opposite directions.

The house is under contract. We have Ft. Abercrombie state park booked for our goodbye party (May 19, 2 PM, you’re invited). And we have a putative departure date – June 2nd, as June 1st is a Friday, and therefore unsuitable for departure.

Now we just have to finish up at work (we’re trying to finish seven scientific papers between us), sell or store everything we own that isn’t going on the boat, figure out our systems for sailing with Eli, fix up the boat, provision…and leave!

The barky in project mode.