Wow… We stepped on to this boat, and everything just felt right. I think you can fall in love with a boat because that’s what happened.
Let’s put the financial side into perspective here. As you are reading this you can be in one of these 3 categories:
Financially open for bigger and better, and I totally understand you not being impressed by this boat;
On a budget but you came by some money and want to put it into your passion of sailing and/or to push further your experience for hopefully a change of career (that’s us);
Far from being able to buy a boat like that nor sustain the running costs but keen to know more.
So, we do have to consider a lot before even thinking of making an offer. But that boat is by far the only one close enough (located in QLD) that ticks all the boxes.
Stepping on to it, I felt good. Being able to walk around with ease, liking the layout, there is just a good feeling about it in general. I think that is so important. And for what we want to do, the size is perfect.
Our idea of living on a boat and navigating through the Pacific Ocean is not for right now. First things first, get our sailing legs into action and without a boat it’s not easy to train. So we decided to go for a smaller weekend boat but big enough if we want to stay a few nights on it.
Enough room for all 3 of us and take some friends. It’s a 3 cabin interior, 36 foot so roughly 11 metres long. The interior is well designed for maximum space with lovely timber. A good size galley with plenty of work bench and good natural light coming in with good ventilation.
The shallow draft will make it great for closer anchorage to beaches or narrow passages which we do have around this area, so that’s a bonus.
It is a saildrive yes… and we got told by so many experienced sailors to avoid saildrives. But in our price range (under $100.000) we couldn’t find any shaftdrive boats. So I guess we will have to stuck to it. We also got told by saildrive sailors that it is a matter of good and regular maintenance and the leaking problem would not happen.
My parents had a saildrive too with their Dufour when I was a child and wasn’t so much of a problem.
The motor on that Dufour 36 is in near new condition with less then 600 hours logged with a new saildrive and near new folding prop.
The deck has quite a large bimini which is perfect to add some solar panels, hatches have covers and I like the triple lifelines around the boat for child safety, I will add a netting also for extra protection.
Overall, very impressed by the condition. It will have to go through inspection by a surveyor, check for osmosis and probably get some work done when the boat is pulled out if the inspection and sell were to go ahead. Have I mentioned the dinghy?… it comes with a dinghy and outboard.
We liked the boat… now checking our finances and gathering more information on the running cost and logistics from there. But if it all goes ahead, an offer will be made very soon. I keep you posted.
Wow! What an intense couple of weeks! Yes you read this well… we went all the way to the other side of the world visiting our families (who some hasn’t seen us in years) for just 2 weeks (it actually came down to 12 days).
We planned our trip to France back in August 2018 for a flight in March 2019. We knew that by March, we would have changed home, changed work and therefore it wasn’t safe to go ahead and book more then a couple of weeks (starting a new job and having 3 weeks off planned doesn’t look great, but 2 is manageable). What I didn’t know is that by booking so far in advance and getting a really REALLY good deal on flight tickets, those prices doesn’t let you change your flight if you wanted to.
And that will explain our move, our intention behind it and how we managed to drive 1700km from Sunny Coast to FNQ in 2 separate cars and a baby on board.
Getting our life back again in Cairns, Fred started work and we found out that he was able to take 3 weeks off for our France trip, what did I do? I went to Flight Centre hoping to have our trip to France extended by a week. Terrible news… Singapore Airlines as much as they have fantastic deals when booked in advance, they are very strict and they would not let us change anything. We would have had to book complete new flight tickets at todays price, over $3000 for the 3 of us. NO WAY!… So sad for us and our families, but that was going to blow our budget big time!
France I love you…
What an amazing 2 weeks!
I can’t believe sometimes what I left behind me. So much beauty and history. No wonder people are surprised we left. Amazing sceneries and architectures, you can’t find anywhere else, wonders known and loved world wide.
Our parents thankfully live 10 minutes a part on the beautiful French Riviera. We then have family a little bit allover but we based our trip in the South of France at our parents and then moved around to visit the wider family and friends. Our main purpose of that trip during March (not the best time to travel to France, if you don’t like the cold) was my mothers 60th birthday… Yay! So we had family from Germany coming down as well for the big lunch (my mother is German).
We had a great time walking the coast in Cannes, Le Trayas and all different little marinas to watch the boats (little marinas… yeah, right! boats were amazing and the marinas far from being small. Sailing and/or yachting is a big thing in the Mediterranean). We loved looking at boats and probably visited 4 marinas during our trip. Sadly no pictures were taken when there… Hmmm! I really need to get more pictures of what we do and see, I am so bad, and Fred is even worse… Hahaha!
Restaurants after restaurants, good food and wine all the way, some amazing home cooking that we enjoyed all together with our families. It was such a great time. Short, but so good!
What are the meals we had to have while in France:
Tartare de Boeuf – One of my favourite! It’s a cold raw beef dish spiced up and usually served with french fries… Oh My God!
Paella – As much as it is not French, remember, we are on the French Riviera, the Mediterranean food has a culture that goes from Spain to Greece, to Turkey… It is a very wide culture.
Cassoulet – A popular French dish from the area of Carcassonne, South east France, made of white beans, 3 different pieces of pork, a piece of duck, all cooked in duck fat. It takes 2 days to create this dish, it’s an absolutely wonderful homy dish, very filling and very tasteful. Yummy!!!
Whole grilled fish – We have some amazing fish, I would not even know how to begin. The translation also is a little hard for me, as these fishes are from the Mediterranean, I know them only from France, therefore only in French. I love the simplicity it is cooked with lemon, tomato, herbs… And the fish has so much flavour.
Mussels in Mediterranean Tomato sauce – Another great and easy dish to execute but so flavoursome. Onion, garlic, fresh tomato, white wine, parsley… Another one of my favourite! Served with French fries.
French BBQ, cheeses and cured meats – The list goes on to all the food we ate, not even to mention all the wine we went through. France has such amazing produces, it is paradise for the foodie ones, like me.
… But you can seriously piss me off!
I remembered now why I left this beautiful country. Because of the people. They are all so stressed and always in a hurry to get anywhere. That’s just one of the reasons why we left for Australia, but this is not the place to talk about this.
We hired a car to make it easier moving from one family to another whenever we wanted. First day, Fred drives. After that day, I said to him I would not take the steering wheel for the rest of the trip. Why? People are crazy on the road. It’s already hard enough as it is to find your way around little one way streets, then you also have dum drivers literally driving in your car and being pissed off at you because you are too slow (and we were not slow). Anyway, just one little downside I guess!
Fly me to the moon
Singapore Airlines has a fantastic service. So so good with kids. My little man was small enough to fit in a bassinet, that was really handy, even though as soon as there are turbulences, you have to get the baby out and strapped back onto you, baby sleeping or not, so be prepared to have a crying baby because you wake him up. But William was such a good baby. We had so much fun in the planes and airports. It was always only towards the end of the trip to and from France when we were all tired that it started to be harder, that is to be expected.
Our trip was:
Cairns – Brisbane (2 hour flight)
Brisbane – Singapore (8 hour flight)
Singapore – Frankfurt (11 hour flight)
Frankfurt – Nice (1 hour flight)
We did have the option of flying Emirates through Dubai, we did that in the past, before having William, it was good and not so good. Yes you gain on time, you have one less stopover, and that might be something that you would consider better because you can handle long flights. But I didn’t have such a great experience with that flight, because I get bad legs, restless and sore. So we decided, and especially with William, to have more stopovers so we could walk around in airports.
Thank you for the oils I used
I also used supplements this time and my oils. My trip was so much more enjoyable, thanks to them. For restless legs, I took Gingko and started just with one tablet a day a few days prior departing. I literally had no issues with my legs all the way. I am not mentioning the use of contention socks that are super tight, that’s totally common sense and I use them on every long flight.
The oils I used on William:
Balance blend – throughout the whole trip, to help him stay grounded.
Lavender Peace blend – a great calming blend I also use, just before sleep time.
OnGuard blend – That’s a protective blend I started to use on him and myself, whenever we walk out of the house, to protect us from potential viruses and other bugs out there.
I then also had a variety of oils with me as I use them all the time in many different ways. So it was normal to take them with me:
Citrus oils – I use them in water all the time, first for flavouring but then also for the great benefits of ingesting these oils. It helps in supporting the immune system, having a healthy respiratory system, to obtain antioxidants, to aid the digestive system.
Peppermint – it helps calm any head tensions, just by massaging my head with it. It also helps keep the body temperature down, when I start to get warm.
Ice Blue – for any aches and pains, especially the lower back after sitting for so long in the plane, it eases off the pain with a hot feeling to the area, like tiger balm.
Women blend or elevation blend – for throughout the day, to help me go through any emotional moments I was going through and there were a lot.
Clary Sage – to ease the pain in lower abdomen… no need to explain why?!
All in all, we had a ball! Just loved our trip, and William got to meet his family. Short but sweet and coming back with great memories. Promises I made in the past and I trust my words this time better now since we have a baby, I want him to see his family more often, we will be travelling back to France sooner then later. A promise a keep not just for me and Fred but for our little man William.
When I got introduced to Essential Oils (EO) for the first time over 2 years ago, it was from a customer in my café I used to have, as he became a good friend and learned that my sleeping was very bad due to stress and overwork. He gave me to try a sleeping blend from a pharmacy brand, I just needed to buy a diffuser and get a few drops of oil in the diffuser with some water and I was set. I could not believe how powerful scent would be. And the constant water noise coming from the diffuser was very relaxing too.
Then I got really unhealthy and unfit to a point I felt pain daily, feet, hands, lower back, shoulders, neck again due to the overload of work hours and not being mindful with my body, always pushing harder, I needed help. I took more staff to help with the work and the money started to be none existent. I got pregnant and the decision was made… We sold.
Introduction to the oils
During my pregnancy I turned into wellness. My objective was to become fit and healthy for my baby boy. And my journey started there. I came across beautiful women in the health and wellness industry helping me and guiding me on my journey. It was only natural to come closer to essential oils.
Highly concentrated pure potent oils coming from mother nature’s best you can find from seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers from around the world. We can find ways to feel better with plants, it’s right here available for us, it’s natural and efficient. They are used for emotional and physical wellness, topically with a carrier oil, internally or aromatically.
Oils are also used in many DIY’s cleaning products and beauty products. So far I have made bug repellent, sunscreen, after sun spray, cooling spray, all 100% natural. Just being able to do this all myself makes it great fun and I know I do the right thing to me and my family.
Health and wellness routine
My daily routine:
Life Long Vitality pack: Supplements for optimal health, energy and longevity. 2 tablets each morning and sometimes 2 in the evening as well during periods of stress.
Women blend: blend of essential oils made for women, helps bring the best out of you.
Citrus oils like lemon, lime or wild orange in water: not just for the great taste, but gets the water alkaline and helps cleanse your internal body from free radicals.
Shampoo, conditioner and body wash, they all have less chemicals and more of the good natural oils.
Yoga collection for workout, great scent and again… helps bring the best out of your workout.
Aromatouch oil for massaging any area of the body, I use it particularly on the back.
OnGuard line, they all help protect and support our body.
On baby William I use Balance blend for during the day to keep him grounded, Lavender peace blend in the evening to calm him down before bed time.
Ice Blue line for reducing pain, muscle aches after workout.
For the whole family, I use EasyAir blend in the diffuser or with coconut oil on chest and back for clearing the nose and DigestZen for tummy pain, massaging the tummy for William with coconut oil and taken internally for adults.
Dosage: Less is more
The one drop has a very high potency, it does not require lots to make it work.
Massaging an adult, the oils is about 1/3 of oil for 2/3 of carrier oil for an infant or toddler its 1 drop for 10 drops of carrier oils.
The best is to try it and if a small reaction happens, lower the dosage even further.
Taken internally, it can be added to drinks or to your cooking and baking. Depending on what you are doing it will require more or less. A drink, the one drop would be sufficient, the baking of a cake it can varie from 5 to 10 drops depending on the size of the cake.
In the diffuser, it’s about 10 to 15 drops of oils of your choice for a 100ml to 150ml of water.
How to get your hands on them
If you know a wellness advocate from doTERRA, he or she is the person to go to. If you don’t, you can go through me, follow this link to access my store:
You have the option to purchase retail price through my link, but if you are eager to change your life and incorporate the oils on a daily basis like I do, it’s preferable to become a member and get wholesale price (you also get infos on that by following my link).
Becoming a member, you have 2 different options available:
1- pay $35 upfront and order any oils of your choice at wholesale price for a year;
2- enrol with a kit (better value) it will wave the $35 and you get started with a kit at wholesale price.
When your membership has started, you have the option of going to a loyalty rewards program (LRP). That is the best way to earn points (PV) and get free oils each month.
I use the oils daily, I love them and share them with people around me. I love being able to offer something that can make a difference in someone’s life. The oils can help in so many ways and be a great way to gift to others something really special like a DIY made by you. I will go deeper in DIYs in a future post.
Have you tried doTERRA oils? Now is the time… We have the privilege to be in a time where nature’s beauty and power is in our reach, it is the best time to find natural remedies to our problems and step into more conscious living.
Following my previous article/video I made, here we are now in beautiful Far North Queensland, Cairns, and more precisely Trinity Beach.
I explained why we wanted to go back to Cairns. Even though we used to enjoy the Sunshine Coast very much for the last 5 years, we have made very good friends while running our restaurant but financially it made more sense to go back and live in our unit until we are ready for our next step, living and working from our boat.
Before leaving the Sunshine Coast, Fred decided to pass his second level of his sailing courses, the Day Skipper practical course on the boat. 5 days of sailing, passage planning, navigation planning, organising the boat, preparing the crew, learning to be in charge on the boat.
Fred’s week on the boat coincided with our move to Cairns, so we arranged to have our furnitures picked up by removalists prior him going on the boat and William and I stayed at friends house for the week.
We used removalists for most of our furniture, but both cars and some items had to be driven up. A 3-day trip with a 5-month-old baby in 2 separate cars required some good preparation for a comfortable journey.
First, let’s equip the car for baby needs:
–Baby seat reinforced with cushioning. Nothing more annoying then having a head tilting to one side when you want to sleep. I bought some mini roll pillows he was able to put his head down. I have to say he was most of the time more playing with it, therefore not used for the purpose intended, but know that you can find them at “Cheap Auto” for really cheap.
–I also bought socks to put on both back car windows, to avoid any sun to come in. It was bright enough during the day but covered really well any sun exposure. Let’s not forget the veryverywarm time of year we decided to make this journey.
–I had a mirror placed in front of him so I could see him at all time, and the funny part is that HE was the one watching me at all time. I thinkhe liked to be able to see mummy,it was reassuring.
–Right next to the mirror, I had a fan going. It wasn’t strong, just enough to make the air move around better towards him so he could enjoy the A/C better. I bought that at BCF store, be aware though the style of batteries can be expensive, so don’t let the fan running for nothing, like I did.
–Changing station for on the go. I had a box arranged with all the necessaries for changing William efficiently. Nappies, baby wipes, powder, cream, hand sanitizer, change of cloth, mat and a bin with bin liner for dirty nappies. The bin became handy for everything else that needed to be disposed of like sandwich wrappings. And the back seat became the place I changed him, so nothing too crowded on the back seat.
–I do my own purees andbottle feedformula, so you can imagine the importance of storage and having clean water when arranging his bottles on the go. We bought a 2L hot water container for the boiled water to stay hot and kept cooled boiled water in a separate water container stored in the Esky. When needed, I was mixing both waters in William’s bottle until I found the right temperature.The water used wasthose5L mineral water in carton you find in the supermarket.The bottles were sterilized in Microwavesterilizerand made sure we were always staying in placeswith a microwaveand leftthe bottles sterilized in thesterilizerduring the journey and taking the bottles out one at a time, keeping the sterilizer always well closed. It’s not perfect, but worked and William did not get sick.Purees were made prior leaving and I decided to make only fruit compote so he could eat them cold, kept in the Esky. It was refreshing and he enjoyed having something else to eat then his bottle.
–When staying overnight, we decided to have his own bed to make it more familiar and get him to settle quicker. It was still a cot style, small enough to fit in the back of Fred’sute.
–EssentialOils on the go.I have used, Balance blend throughout the day to help him stay grounded. Massaged him a few times during the day at the bottom of his feet.When he wasn’t digesting a feed well, I have a Digestive blend I use on his tummy by massaging clockwise until it settles. And at night time I use the Lavender oil on his head and feet, again I massage and make him smell on my hands, to calm him down, ready for a good night sleep. Oils need to be diluted in fractionated coconut oil, especially on baby skin. I have roll-onbottlesof 5ml, I put only 1 drop of oil in it,therest is coconut oil.
Mum and Dad needs:
Now that baby is ready and comfortable, it’s important forus, mum and dad, to also be prepared for this journey.
–Communication is key when you have a baby. We needed to be able to communicate between cars with ease and used Walky-Talkies. I had mine hooked on my shirt on my chest, easy access to press when needed to get through to Fred in the other car. When William was giving first signs of discomfort, we communicated best places to stop,depending on the time of day and where we were in our journey. I was always able to push for another 20 minutes to half hour before William was unsettled, that gave me time to find a place to stop safely and comfortably.
–2Eskies, 1 in each car. We bought a bag of ice every day to fill them both up and it lasted all day. 2 refillable water bottles each, I had some energy drinks, easy grab snacks, fruits, sandwiches I made everyday, salad in container that only needed some all ready made dressing and shake in the container, some reusable cutleries. Good thing with the 2L hot water container is that William was not going through all the water, so I drank some instant coffee with that water too.
–Essential Oils on the go. I have used for myself myhome madecooling spray (Witch Hazel, Peppermint mixed in water and in a spray bottle) I was spraying that on my face, neck and chest throughout the day when I felt hot. Fred used the peppermint diluted in fractionated coconut oil and rubbed it at the back of his neck, cooling sensation instantly. We also usedTerraArmourblend whichIlayered directly on my feet, ankles, legs andarmsas an outdoor blend againstmosies.
–Stopping overnight in comfortable motels. Noneedto spend huge amounts in hotel rooms, motels you find on the side of the road in bigger cities were absolutely fine. I always made sure we had a pool, so I could refresh little William and have some play time and all I needed was a microwave in the room, a bed with clean linens and towels and ashower. In the evening weate what we had left from the day and me made a stop at the supermarket to make the sandwiches ready for the next day. In the morning we stopped for fuel and ice for our 2eskiesat the petrol station.
First motel was a BIG 4, first time around, always to check it out as I heard it was very kid friendly and yes it is, plenty of games and playground,water parkto occupy the kiddies. However, it was advertised inRockhampton, butnooo… it was at least 40 km out, closer toYepponand even then when they say it is inYeppon, their was at least another8 to 10 km to the actual site. So careful with that one, we lost a good1 hourand a half of driving just to get to that place.
The second was a small motel just at the entrance of Bowen called THE PEARLY SHELL MOTEL, very cute little place and clean. Supermarket near by and just off the main road, so perfect for a quick early lift off the next day.
–I prepared one bag with all the clotheswe need for the trip. Best is to fit it all in the one bag, because you already have so much to bring inside the room (2eskies, sterilizer, hot water bottle, Mineral watercarton, swimming needs, baby toys… and we actually carried his cot too) you do not want to add too many travel bags on top of everything you already carry to your room. So we kept it down to one bag with all our clothes.
–Unwinding drink. Whatever you fancy, don’t forget to stop by the bottle shop and get your fancy drink to unwind after a long day of driving…One night it was beerand the other it was wine and we indulged in a BBQ on the last night by the pool.
Arrived in Cairns during traffic time… I did not remember Cairns being so busy. It took us so much time to drive through Cairns to make it to Trinity Beach. Definitely we’ll have to avoid certain roads during peak hours.
Finally their and back to a life I almost forgot. But somehow it feels like it never changed, just one add-on, little baby William in our life, and he will have to adapt to a very different climat.
First, I have to be very clear, this video was more of a test then anything, trying out the phone and iMovie, it was more out of fun and then uploading it on Youtube. Done!
Since the video was made, we have taken another decision. Buying a small boat when in Cairns to train ourselves. The initial idea was to wait until we have sold the unit we have to then buy a bigger boat, but the idea now is to stay up there and live in our unit until we are ready to have our charter business, and that is not going to happen for a few more years.
RYA Courses
Fred is undergoing his courses as I write this. He is going through the first step which is COMPETENT CREW booked for the 22nd to 26 October but parallel to that he has started the theory DAY SKIPPER courses online. The idea was to have the theory finished before the practical Day Skipper courses begins in November, and it looks like it is putting a little too much pressure on Fred. Let’s not forget that he still works full time and we have a baby that doesn’t give us much sleep.
We have pushed forward our move to Cairns to December now as our tenant have not signed a contract and the longer we stay on the Sunshine Coast the more it cost us money. That’s why the Day Skipper Courses that was initially booked in February will no longer happen. See below fees quoted from Sunshine Sailing Australia.
Meet Carl from Sunshine Sailing Australia:
Carl is an all-rounder at Sunshine Sailing Australia. Coming from a rich racing pedigree he holds titles as the 1998 Qld champion of the Sabot sailing class, and an elected Australian representative at the 420 class world championships in Athens 1999. Carl went on to cruising after his dinghy days, sailing Australia’s east coast and in to the pacific, he also continued to race on 80ft yachts in the Sydney to Mooloolaba Yacht Race and Hamilton Island Race Week.
After Fred spoke with him, we went on visiting a Bavaria 36:
And as much as the description and the pictures are appealing, it is much smaller then you think. It’s actually really good to visit boats, it makes you realise the space you really have, and the idea on living on a boat is great but you still need enough space to move around and a 36 is tiny too small.
BUT
For training and going out on the weekend, it’s perfect! Only in that case we would not go for a boat that expensive. We would look at half that price.
So our search will keep going… from Cairns, living in our unit.
It has happened!… I have given birth to a beautiful baby boy.
Amazing the emotions that comes up with the arrival of a baby in your life. It’s nothing I have ever felt before. Not all are good, depending on the circumstances, I can jump quickly from joy to sadness. Your life is turned upside down and there is nothing you can control, but the love is always there no matter what.
William was born at 41 weeks on 19thJune of this year.
Minor complications at birth, something that doctors, and nurses are seeing every day, but for me it was like going through hell and back, physically but especially emotionally. I know that 50 years ago my baby would probably not have made it, and this realisation of today’s possibilities in the medical area made me become very grateful and even more attached to my little man.
He was born at 2.715kg and 49cm with sugar level extremely low. I had a temperature too which was a risk of infections. We also later on discovered that he was low on salt. Doctors also found my placenta to be degraded, which probably would have been the cause of an underweight baby with sugar levels being low, my guess is William was not getting any good nutrients anymore for days due to my placenta fading quickly past due date.
We spent 5 days at the hospital. 3 days for William in intensive care to get his levels back to normal and consistent and another 2 days to work out the breastfeeding.
Something I would have never imagined to be so difficult… the breastfeeding! Something that I expected to be natural and without difficulty became the stress of the beginning of my life as a mother. Then comes the crying from my newborn with pain I felt he was not going to make it. Then comes the restless nights, the exhaustion, the loss of appetite and energy to do yourself any good. I felt, and I am still recovering from it, tired and unhealthy, unmotivated and anxious… There is also the fact that I can’t work, which is normal, any mother would be having maternity leave, but I am 2 months in and feel the need to be appreciated for the work I do. And right now, I feel unsupportive to the finances of our household.
Breastfeeding. What makes it so hard?
Aren’t they made for giving breast milk when a baby comes? I pushed for 5 weeks, trying to breastfeed, working on a pump every 3 hours, hurting so much I was crying out of pain until I decided to give up. And then the guilt kicks in. You start wondering if you shouldn’t have done this longer, maybe I would have gone through this. I heard stories from other women taking months before they worked it out. I felt like a gave up too quickly and started to beat me down. I got told to give up one stressor. I stopped on trying and straight away felt better for taking that decision. But I still wish deep in my heart I could have breastfed, it is something I miss terribly as a new mother, and that feeling is there every time I see a mum breastfeeding.
The crying. What is it that my baby needs?
I know a baby cries a lot, but there is crying… and then there is CRYING! Crying to make you aware that he needs attention, like being hungry, needing a nappy change or being tired, is one normal sort of crying I can understand. But the CRYING to a point of ripping his lungs out and almost not breathing anymore, he becomes so red and tensed, I thought something was so wrong I ended up at the hospital twice and at the GP a few times as well because I was so scared of him even dying… I overreacted! Babies have another 2 reasons for crying:
Tummy pain. That seems to be a classic for all newborns at so many different levels. And my baby seems to react to it very strongly. It is part of a growing process that babies can’t handle very well. Of course, on top of that having to give him formula milk because I stopped the breastfeeding is probably not helping.
Purple cries. For no particular reasons, a baby would cry and just needs comfort and cuddles until it stops. Mine is not so much into this. As I really believe the issue that he is having are painful winds not coming out nicely.
Here he is. My little man. I fall in love all over again. A different love. The kind of love that has a connection made within you, within your womb when William was growing inside. I feel like I have a responsibility, I want to give him everything he needs, I want to ensure he is well. I watch him sleep and can’t sleep without an ear open for a sound and can’t wait for him to wake up because I miss him. When he cries, I cry. When he laughs, I want to hug him, so much joy he brings me. It is all to be felt by living these moments, explaining it is just not the same.
A baby requires food much frequently as they have much smaller stomachs and are growing very rapidly. It does become exhausting having to feed every 3 hours, but thanks to my husband contributing to the house works, he relieves me where ever he can. I very often end up by spending my entire day in my pyjamas… Hahaha… Depending on the night I had and how the day progresses, if I have a happy easy baby today or not.
3 months in and we are starting to get used to our family life!
William is turning 3 months old and he is starting to look more like a little man/toddler, not a newborn anymore. He has changed so much. Now he weighs 5.3kg for 61cm, can do all the tricks in the book for a baby of his age. I am so proud every time I see some growth which is happening every week. He is such a happy baby, smiling all the time and we can really start having fun with him. Even Fred was surprised how he was able to have fun already with him and missing him when he does not see him for a while. I did not let Fred get close to William when he was sick that Fred really missed having him in his arms. That connection with Daddy has definitely happened and they are bonding so well together.
I started to buy a book “sailing for Dummies” and realised that even if there is plenty of useful information, I was progressing very slowly. I needed to put these information into practice.
I decided to take my first sailing lesson on a 4.5 metre dinghy on the Noosa river. My instructor was young, very young compared to me, but really friendly and knowledgable and we got along really well. The issue when you learn on a small dinghy, if you make even a small mistake, you will capsize the boat which means the boat will turn upside down, and I wasn’t too keen on going for a swim.
Another big problem is that after I worked for more than 20 years as a chef, my body has become very stiff, and in this type of boat you better be agile and flexible. If it is your case, good for you!… I did not enjoy the fact of having little room for mistake and the fact that I was hurting myself every time I moved around. I stopped after my second dinghy lesson.
In the mean time I was reading my book and a lot of the content started to make sense. I also looked at some videos on the internet and learned a lot of things there. I have to admit, the sailing language is a problem for me, I never spent enough studies in my life, and learning that language and also not in my mother tongue is challenging.
Your learning curve will be quite difficult if you do not learn the nautical terms as quickly as possible. All sailors and instructors will only use nautical terms. This is why I recommend to read a lot as well as practice.
I then moved to a slightly bigger boat, a J24 (24 footer coastal day tripper only keel boat). I did 3 different courses from Mooloolaba with Sunshine Coast Sailing. I learned a lot more and gained confidence in my capabilities. The courses I did were: Keelboat Crew, Helm and Seamanship.
I learned to steer a boat (directing your boat),I learned to do the most important nautical knots, there are a lot of knots to know but I realised only 4 or 5 are really important, and for now I never needed to use the other ones.
Figure of 8: A very simple knot used at the end of a rope to stop it from sliding of a cleat (fitting to secure a rope under load so that the rope doesn’t slip).
The Bowline: It forms a loop at the end of the rope, it will resist any form of pressure, really useful to attach anything with a lot of movement like the main sail.
The Reef Knot: It permits to attach a rope to another rope very strongly.
The Cleat knot: It is the knot you use to attach the boat safely at the marina.
The clove Hitch: It is the knot you will use to attach the fenders(big buoy on the side of the boat to protect it from being damaged at the marina)
Funny fact: If you sail away with your fenders still on the side of the boat, you will definitely look like an amateur to other sailors, not recommended 😉
I also learned to understand wind directions which for me was the most important thing to learn on a boat. If you can’t understand which way the wind is blowing, your boat will never take the direction you want to or even worst not go anywhere at all. I then learned to position my sails, however in that matter I do only know the basics. As for the old school sailors, it is only after many years of practice you will instinctively know how to position your sails perfectly.
I have watched a lot of videos about the sails and the winds, even some with scientists from NASA and yes it will take a long time before I know it all.
Funny fact: The most important instrument on the sail boat, even on a million dollars boat, are small pieces of string on each side of the sails indicating if your sails are positioned perfectly into the wind, they are called the Tell-Tale… Hmmm!…
I learned as well, a few different parts of the boat, which rope is attached to what and their function and as you can imagine most ropes have a different name so you don’t get lost to which one you have to use; some technical terms and some rules of the road; how to put up an anchor, the very basics of the man over board situation and the basics on how to read a chart.
One of the things I was very interested in and in my opinion wasn’t pushed enough for me, was the reading of the charts and the understanding of the tides, but I know if I push my courses to a higher level I will learn that later on.
These lessons were very useful, and again my instructor was very friendly and we became very close but now I am ready for another bigger boat and look forward to see and use some of the electronic equipments (GPS, radar, autopilot, chart reading, etc…).
From now on, I am going to the Yacht Club in Mooloolaba on a regular basis on Wednesday or Sunday. They are doing friendly races between local sail boats, I can join as a crew until I become a member and so far have learned quite a bit every time. I also like the fact that I am jumping on different types of boat, it gives me an idea on the type of boat I would like to buy or not buy in the hopefully not too far future.
I do have to request special days off from work, it’s not always easy, so learning is slow but with persistence, one day I will become myself an old school sailor who can teach a young guy like me.
Funny fact: I am 37 years old today, and for the sailing world I am a kid, and it reminds me of the times when I was 15 as an apprentice chef.
We always lived close to the sea. had the privilege to enjoy summer times on the beach, being able to visit islands near by and put our heads down in the water to discover the wonders of the world beneath the surface.
That was the Mediterranean Sea, the so called French Riviera. beautiful place visited by millions of tourist every year. It use to be the place where the northerners drove down to escape the cold in winter 50 or more years ago, now to a summer attraction for international tourists.
But for us locals, we knew where to go and how to escape the crowd.
We were young and adventures then. Loved climbing onto the rocks, swimming distances and snorkel around the shores to find cuttlefishes and all sorts of rock type fishes like groupers.
I met my future husband during the summer of 2006.
We were both working in the same hotel in Cannes, in a very luxurious 5 star hotel on the beach. He was a chef, I was front office receptionist. It did not take long to realise we were meant to be together, especially after a trip in Corsica, a French island 138 nautical miles out from Nice. We spent a week there driving around the island when we just met a few month ago.
On our return from Corsica, Fred and I decided to move to Australia and settle there. What a crazy idea that was for our parents. They never believed we would be staying forever. They always hoped for our return. It is hard to move so far away but that was our dream to discover another place and make a living there. Why Australia? That was Fred’s choice. He loved the idea of going to a place with so much nature and wildlife, but especially the Great Barrier Reef. I was in love and followed.
In 2007 we said our goodbyes to families, friends and France.
We grabbed our couple of suitcases each and $2000 in our pockets. Landed in cairns, Far North Queensland and started to look for work. Fred was able to find very quickly a work sponsor for us to be able to apply for residency.
During our 7 years in Cairns, we enjoyed every second weekend going out on the reef and enjoying this amazing environment below the surface. It was magical! We fell in love with this eco-system, the colours, the behaviours and we decided to pass our scuba diving levels. We reached Divemaster level and we could have worked in the industry but our future brought us to some place else.
We opened a French restaurant in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast.
Our first small business, how exciting that was! Extremely tiring, physically and emotionally challenging, but it was our baby and gave it all we could to run it as best as possible.
Our regulars loved the traditional cooking and the environment we gave to the place. You walked in and felt in Provence. You had authentic food cooked by a proper French chef and a bar menu with typical French drinks.
But we struggled. the finances were not good. We loved it but it was all in vain. We hoped for a better life and we had the opposite. The hours were too long; We were barely able to go away on holidays or when we did, we suffered financially. And definitely no holidays back to France, which was hard on our families. Physically we started to feel the pain; Fred had injuries and we decided to slow down and take staff. This is where it all started to go downhill. The financials were not able to support staff and the customers were not seeing me as much as I had to help Fred in the kitchen.
5 years running a small business and we got pregnant.
I became pregnant in September 2017 when we decided it was time to sell. I was not expecting the business to sell so quickly. It was like the Divine Order was working on our side on that one. It was time to move on.
Dream life on a boat couldn’t be any closer.
We always loved our travels in beautiful and remote places, meeting with the locals and discovering the beauty of secluded islands. Always close to the sea, with our passion for scuba diving, we also realised we liked being on boats. Starting with live-aboards while we went scuba diving, we loved the idea of being at sea all the time and spending our days and nights on water.
We are now in the process of learning to sail, looking for a boat to buy and finding our way to earn an income online so we can keep sailing and finance our journey.
I invite you to follow our journey as we go… You might like where it will bring us and possibly give you the desire to do just the same.
William was born at 41 weeks on 19thJune of this year.
Breastfeeding. What makes it so hard?
Here he is. My little man. I fall in love all over again. A different love. The kind of love that has a connection made within you, within your womb when William was growing inside. I feel like I have a responsibility, I want to give him everything he needs, I want to ensure he is well. I watch him sleep and can’t sleep without an ear open for a sound and can’t wait for him to wake up because I miss him. When he cries, I cry. When he laughs, I want to hug him, so much joy he brings me. It is all to be felt by living these moments, explaining it is just not the same.
Journey to Freedom Sailing 