We sold everything & bought a sail boat!

Well, a lot has changed in my world since I wrote to you last.

Yes, you read the subject of this email right, we have sold everything (house, art studio, furniture… everything) and bought a sail boat!

But before I get into the juicy topic of how, when and where, I thought I’d fill in the blanks a little and let you know why.

I’ve been getting more and more emails from lovely readers wanting to touch base and check if I’m ok. It’s been months since I last wrote, the longest time since I began my newsletters over six years ago, so here is a little back story.

(And thank you for your kind messages. I really appreciate them more than I can express here. I’d hug you in person if I could!)

As I mentioned a few months ago, 2016 was a very challenging year for us. And, as hard times often to, it pushed me to consider how I wanted to live. What was truly important for me now. What did I desire? How did I want to spend my time? What were my defining values?

Do you know what?

Not much showed up.

I barely found the desire to get out of bed.

When we moved to Tamworth, Andrew had secured a job as a quarry production manager, but I didn’t know what was in store for me.

I was away from my studio and garden. Away from Andrew (he was working away in another town on contract for three months) and away from my friends and family. I did have gorgeous little Lacey Jane, she’s such a dear little soul. But along with other stresses from the year, I struggled to find the inner spark I usually carry.

I just didn’t want to be there anymore.

The medical system was terrible for a newcomer. If you weren’t already a patient it was hard to get an appointment. I couldn’t book into see a psychologist for months (that’s country Australia, apparently) and it wasn’t until I came back to the Sunshine Coast and my usual doctor ran blood tests that we discovered I’d become chronically deficient in vitamin D (which helped explain the depression I’d fallen into. If you’re feeling consistently down, after that experience I’d definitely say it’s worth checking your vitamin D levels).

As it turned out, too much sunshine in the ‘outback’ had me walking Lacey in the twilight hours since it was over 40 degrees most days during summer. My body became way out of balance.

Plus, I was just plain miserable. I won’t go into the details, but there were other stresses in my personal life that weighed on my heart so heavily and made me question what was really important.

I missed Andrew like crazy.

I was tired of having bills and financial pressures that sapped the joy out of living and complicated everything; I was tired of feeling so stressed my neck froze up, sending me to the physio for the second time in three months; and I was doubly disillusioned by society’s drive to make more money, so you could consume more things, forcing you to make more money, so you could consume more things etc. and all the while, hardly get to spend any quality time with the people you love.

So there I was, one day near Christmas, feeling miserable and wondering what the point of anything was, when I flicked channels and found a documentary on TV.

At the time I was holed up in a tiny cabin in a caravan park in the dusty outback town of Narrabri, NSW, in 47 degree heat. And there, on the TV, was a scene which served quite a contrast to my surroundings.

It was an episode of Ben Fogle’s series “Where the Wild Men Are” featuring Rick Page & Yasna Tuta. The couple were living aboard their gorgeous yacht, cruising around French Polynesia, complete with glistening beaches and palm trees.

The pivotal point came when Ben asked Jasna, as she was slicing bananas and mangoes they’d been given by a local man, preparing the fruits for her solar dehydrator, to rate on a scale from 1 – 10 how happy she was.

Jasna paused, looked around her, and said with a contented smile, “10.”

I looked around myself, at the dishevelled quilt on the bed, the curtains closed to keep out the heat and the air conditioner struggling to make a difference, and thought, “I wouldn’t be anywhere near that. I’d place myself more like a three.”

And with that, the seed was planted.

When Andrew got home, covered from head to toe in dust from the quarry he was managing, I asked him if he’d like to live on a boat.

Now, this wasn’t the first idea I’d had to change our situation. I’d also asked him (inspired by the series on 9Life) if he’d like to live in a Tiny Home. The immediate and non-negotiable answer to that was ‘no’.

But sailing took him all of half a second to agree to. It had actually been a dream of his that was tucked away as “something that probably will never happen but would be great it if did,” dream drawer.

Thus began the search for the right boat, the way to finance it, and just how we would make it happen.

The problem had been, no matter how we tried, we couldn’t picture ourselves going back to live on the Sunshine Coast. There wasn’t much (if any) work there for Andrew as a quarry manager and while we loved our home, studio and garden, we weren’t particularly attached to the town where we lived.

So, we decided to put the house up for sale to downshift and simplify our lifestyle.

Within less than two weeks of it going on the market, our house sold to the first people who saw it. Which felt like confirmation we were on the right track. After that came the massive process of selling all our possessions (hello Gumtree!) and fitting the rest of our things into a single bedroom my mum generously offered us for storage.

Meanwhile we searched up and down the coast from Cairns to Sydney, and clambered over dozens of boats. My evenings were filled with scanning BoatSales.com and other sail boat brokers websites, trying to find the perfect boat.

I bought multiple books on sailing and choosing the right vessel, including books by the famed cruising couple Lin and Larry Pardey and an excellent volume called “The Voyager’s Handbook” by Beth Leonard. Gathering a theme from my purchases, Amazon helped me stumble on Rick & Jasna’s book “Get Real, Get Gone: How to Become a Modern Sea Gypsy and Sail Away Forever.”

Written by the same couple who inspired the sea change from their doco, I snapped it up.

It was exactly what I needed right then.

Their book was so practical and informative; it gave me all I needed to know about the shape keel we needed for safe ocean passages, the size windows to look for, the type of rudder that would be safe, what instruments you need and a whole range of tips on sail size, boat length, teak decks and more. I gradually shared what I was learning with Andrew over the phone and he was very receptive in amongst his long days at the quarry.

Then, searching online for all those criteria, I found what appeared to be the boat for us. She took my breath away with her lovely upholstery (of course, the most important element on a boat :)). She was a good length, had the right keel shape, a skeg hung rudder, and a centre cockpit, but I just wasn’t sure about the propeller being suspended out so far.

So, since they had been very approachable on their website, I wrote to Rick & Jasna asking what they thought, and low and behold, they wrote back!!!!! The next day!!!!! I was beside myself. They offered the most helpful advice and tips. Plus, they allayed my fears about the prop, saying it’s quite normal and she’s a very well respected boat design.

After waiting a few weeks to have time to make it to Sydney, we got to look over her in person, along with dozens of other boats, and sure enough she was our favourite.

It took a few months, but we went through the motions of securing her and when the sale went through, I was thrilled.

Her name is Day Dream. She’s a Robert’s designed Martzcraft 35, made in Sydney, and I loved her the minute I saw her.

After much searching (both of the soul and of the waters), Andrew handed in his notice in Tamworth, we packed up the small number of belongings we’d kept for this next adventure, drove to Sydney, and moved aboard.

That was two months ago.

I’ve begun editing a little video for you from our first weeks living on her, and am looking forward to sharing it with you in the coming few days. If I enjoy the process of sharing them, I plan to continue making little video blogs of our travels so you can come along and share the adventure with us!

I’m loving the sunsets, water and freedom we’ve slipped into.

I also want to run more painting workshops up and down the east coast of Australia this year and would love to meet up with you there. I’ll be launching Flourish with Painting & Creativity in the coming months too and would be delighted to have you join us in what is my proudest online program.

And in the meantime, I’m setting up a Patreon page where you may like to become a patron to support the production of our new sailing videos. I’ll share more about that soon.

Thanks for sharing this wild ride together. I’ve missed writing to you and am looking forward to this next chapter

When we create a little space for dreaming in the darkness, we never know where we may end up

I hope the compass of your desires leads you towards your heart’s hidden dreams.

With love,
Nicola xx