So yes we have ciguatera poisoning, yes we are feeling rather under-par, and yes we have been advised by our doctor NOT to undertake any challenging commitments. But we just can’t help it. A change is blowing and we live on a sailboat.

Up until now our plan has always been to exit Florida (where we acquired Champagne), cruise the Caribbean chain of islands, make our way to Panama and through the canal, and then hold our breath as we attempt to cross the planet’s biggest ocean before landing somewhere on the eastern coast of Australia. This route–let’s call it Option A–is the most straightforward way to get from our current location to Oz, and offers the dual benefits of following the Trade Winds and remaining in the company of a great number of private yachts that are also following this same conventional wisdom. In short, it’s as parent approved as sailing-across-an-ocean-to-get-home can be.

But at some point a different idea pops to the surface and no matter how much ballast we try to pile-on, we just can’t seem to sink it–call it Option B. What if instead of turning west we turn east; what if instead of saying goodbye to the Atlantic, we sail straight across it? What if instead of bobbing along the Caribbean we hobnob in the Mediterranean?

It just so happens that no fewer than three couples–all good friends of Clare–are getting married this summer in Europe. It just so happens that there is a massive convoy of boats leaving the Virgin Islands bound for Bermuda this week, and shortly thereafter for the Azores. It just so happens to be the optimal time of year to undertake an eastbound crossing of the Atlantic. AND, it just so happens (I’ll shamefully admit) that remote palm-lined beaches, Island Time pacing, and deep fried everything with rice ‘n beans is starting to wear a bit thin.

It’s time for a change.  So then, without further ado, hard to starboard…new heading, the Mediterranean! Onward to craggily shorelines dotted with crumbling castles; to intermingling soundscapes of overlapping languages;  to flavors of anciently rivaling cuisine. Away with us, there’s no time to lose, make a new course for the Old-World.

To changing plans.