Mission
We are a couple who, like many of you out there, built successful, fulfilling lives, families, and careers. We worked hard and played harder, but we found ourselves at a point asking, “What’s next?”. To be clear, we were not interested in running away from work. To the contrary, we loved our jobs and the challenges that they presented. We found the so called “rat race” to be fun, challenging and it kept us sharp, engaged and on our toes. Eventually though, we knew there would come a day when we would need to think about life after career. We started looking ahead for a new challenge and in our early 40’s and 50’s respectively, we came up with a plan for what we called “The Next Chapter”.
We took a hard look at ourselves, our passions, strengths, and weaknesses and what could keep us engaged and driving forward in self-development that was ultimately fulfilling. Neither of us are the “sit on the sofa with a historical novel” or “play 18 holes in the morning” types nor did we want to embark on another “traditional” career. No, we needed something completely different. Something that could keep two classic Type A personalities engaged, challenged and growing. For some, a career becomes part of their identity and facing the latter years of a traditional career becomes a challenge as one may lose that identity, that motivation to get up in the morning. We needed something that would help us define ourselves in the next chapter of our lives. Taking that hard look in the mirror, we set our plan.
We decided to follow one of those age old adages and make our passions for sailing and travel the foundation for our next chapter. We had met while sailing and over the first few years of our relationship, we had sailed whenever possible, pushing as far afield as a week or two of vacation would allow. What if we made a life on the sea, exploring the world, the basis for our next chapter?
Now, sailing for fun in protected waters is one thing but offshore sailing to distant shores presented us with the challenge of mastering new skills. We had always had a passion for travel and meeting new people in their own settings. Sailing would provide us a cost effective way in which to get there. Finally, it stirred something in us that we had forgotten we could feel. Excitement for something totally new and unique that when one is young is a near constant companion but over the years fades as its dulled by the routine of experience. So, our goal was set, sail the world, find new places, add to our group of friends, and perhaps even rediscover ourselves. This is the story of that journey
01. The galapagos
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On July 15th, 2020 Ecuador opened its ports to private vessels, this started our discussion on heading South to see the country and if possible, cross to the Galapagos to see the Islands.
02. Riding a hurricane
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Gargoyle arrived in Vista Mar Marina with Hurricane Eta in full force on November 3rd, 2020. The winds gave us a fast push through the Gulf of Panama and after battling wind gusts of +35 knots coming into the marina, the crew was very happy to be tied up to the docks.
03. enter the caribbean
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We had a rather serious sail during a rare weather window and after five days and one rough night, we landed in George Town, Grand Cayman on January 11th, 2020. Following a14 day quarantine aboard Gargoyle, we were free to explore this amazing COVID-free island.
04. Bora Bora to fiji
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Famed sailing author Jimmy Cornell had the best words of caution for us, calling out the portion between Tonga and Fiji as “…having a reputation as the being the most hazardous of the South Pacific….confirmed by the number of cruising boats that were lost in these waters.”
“Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.”
ANTHONY BOURDAIN
History
It all started when Carla phoned and asked Kevin to take a “quick look” at a sailboat in Coal Harbor, Vancouver. We had just sold our CS Merlin and found ourselves “boatless”. The search for the boat that would be the cornerstone of our long-term plan of Bluewater cruising had just begun and this boat seemed to check all the boxes. The next day, we walked down together to chat with the broker and two weeks later we were handed the keys, Gargoyle was ours. It must have been destiny as a week later, we were signing a lease to sublet a live aboard slip at the Greater Vancouver Floating Home Cooperative for a year to test out if we (and the furry crew) would be able to live day to day on a sailboat. A year later, we had sold our townhouse, become owners of shares in the Cooperative and the planning began for our dream journey. We started to retrofit Gargoyle with the equipment required to sail full time and to prepare ourselves with ongoing sailing experience and the knowledge required for our journey.
Now, eight years later, we’ve sailed Gargoyle across oceans, visited 19 countries, transited the Panama Canal twice, crossed the equator three times and passed over the international date line. We have sailed through a pandemic, dove with countless sharks, learned to surf. anchored in the shadow of castles and even boarded down an active volcano. Those adventures have only whet our appetite for more. Sail along with us as we explore new places in our world as well as within ourselves.