The Joys and Challenges: A Guest Post By Captain Mike

8/12/2023

The following post is Captain Mike’s take on things, as scribed by Victoria

Before leaving Lake Ontario last year, I had expectations.

I have wanted to live on a sailboat for as long as I can remember and the idea of sailing off to foreign lands, exploring the world, captivated me. Plus, I wanted to live an easy, stress-free sailing lifestyle, meeting interesting people, enjoying diverse foods and drinking in the beauty of far-off lands.

Victoria, Ocean and I are almost a year into living on our boat and, to be honest, I had the dream a little wrong.

Certainly, we accomplished what we set off to do (i.e. meeting interesting people, enjoying diverse foods and drinking in the beauty of far-off lands) but having an easy and stress-free lifestyle, well, not really. In small pockets, for sure, but the whole of what we have gone through this past year was more challenging than I imagined.

A real enjoyment for me is meeting new people, almost every day, almost always on a beach

Clearing into new countries is a gateway to exploration. We share these duties: Victoria does the French islands and I do the rest

Ocean helps us get to know the locals!

Seeing turtles, dolphins, crabs, fish and all the other wildlife is pure joy

Me, at the helm

You see, actually “sailing” Wild Horses hasn’t really happened all that much. I knew with navigating canals, the ICW and travelling east into the trade winds, I would have to motor but it surprised me how much the wind was directly on our nose even when we started south. And the challenge of Wild Horses, for me, is when she is a motor boat, rather than when she is a sailboat.

The engine, now 21 years old, is the bane of my existence. I am always listening for odd sounds, bad sounds, mechanical failure sounds. In this trip alone, we have had two engine failures, the muffler sprung a leak twice (two different spots), the alternator blew up on two occasions. I just had another engine check and my alternator needs a real once over (it is running extremely hot and the cause is not yet known), the dripless is dripping and the engine throttle has started to slip. So, yes, even with all the well-known issues being fixed and the newly-learned issues pending a fix, I worry. I get chills down my spine thinking about motoring through a narrow cut or close to a lee shore. I am just waiting for the next thing to break. I have always tried to get ahead of developing boat issues through regular maintenance but what I am learning to deal with now are the things that break despite maintenance, including new equipment. Is this just the woes of Wild Horses? Not really. This is the lifestyle and I see other sailors experiencing the same “what’s broken now” daily angst. In fact, it happens so often that very seasoned sailors are quite chill about it. I am not there yet, but some day!

I am confident in Wild Horses as a sailboat though. She handles strong winds well and rides the waves and ocean swell like a champ. Now that we are “south”, we can choose where and when we move the boat. We are not trying to “get somewhere” anymore so we intend to let the wind decide our destinations. The sails will be out and the motor off 😊.

One of many photos of us under motor. This one is on the ICW.

Wild Horses hauled out in Daytona Beach, getting her bow thruster housing repaired

Dave, Barry and me in St. Martin fixing several motor-related issues on Wild Horses

Barry in Dominica fixing the second engine failure on Wild Horses

Barry, our good friend, master electrician and saviour of all things electrical on Wild Horses

Getting dragged into by another 47 foot boat during Tropical Storm Bret

What is this? Wild Horses under sail? Yes, it did happen a few times!

So, what are my biggest takeaways after almost a year of living aboard Wild Horses?

The people we meet are what makes this lifestyle incredible. There is just so much support, goodwill, laughs and sharing of grievances in the sailing community that even when you are alone, you are not alone.
I never thought I would use WhatsApp as much as I do (it is the go-to communication tool for sailors).
Early in our planning for this trip, I had been told to build systems for the boat so that you enjoy the boat as your long-term home. That advice was dead on correct. We love our water maker, our portable washer/spinner, our lithium batteries and solar panels, our Starlink, comfy mattress and bedding, and having a big freezer and fridge.
Our days are far busier with errands and problem-solving boat issues than I expected. We actually need to take “days off” to sightsee or snorkel.
The Eastern Caribbean is not nearly as populated as I thought it would be. We see mostly small villages with very few amenities. Real provisioning is best done in Canada or the US before you leave, or in Puerto Rico, USVI and maybe St. Martin or Martinique.
Hurricanes and Tropical Storms are scary. We were outside the path of Tropical Storm Bret but it still kicked up 40+ knot winds in our anchorage and getting dragged into by another boat during the storm was a horrible experience. Next time we will have a 24 hour anchor watch so we will be aware if other boats are having problems with their anchors.
I expected to miss my family and friends back home. I just didn’t expect to miss them this much.
I rely a lot more on Victoria than I ever thought I would. Before living on the boat, we could do tasks or projects separately if we wanted. Now, we do things together so that we both know how something works and what has been done. If something breaks underway or serious weather develops quickly, we both need to know immediately what the very next action needs to be, and the one after that. Through this, we have become very good at being honest about our feelings. You can’t pretend to be okay if you are not. It has actually made our close relationship even closer.
I didn’t expect Ocean to take to this lifestyle so easily. She is a star. Enough said.

Victoria with our good friend Steve from the sailboat Lola

The TYC gang at Farmer's Cay

Yum! Our water maker produces delicious water!

Even Ocean enjoys some comforts from her former land life

So many laughs with these great friends

Dining together, sharing stories and great times. It is all in a sailor's life!

Too cool for school. Ocean looking very stylish!

My final takeaway is for those planning their own journey. The mental aspect is real. You only get part of the story by talking to old salts, watching Youtubers or even chatting with friends who have done this trip. You can only understand how it will be for you until you do it. For me, the rewards haven’t always, every day, outweighed the problems. But, overall, my life is better for having embarked on this journey. I have so many full days, great relationships, and wonderful experiences. And hopefully by the time I am an old salt myself, I will figure out how to be chill about that boat engine 😊.