A Family Sail

Not going to lie, three kids under three kind of puts a damper on spontaneity.  It's not that easy to go anywhere or do anything on a whim these days.  There are nap times to consider, diapers to change, feedings to be had, bedtimes to honor and about a million other things thrown into the mix.  So when Scott suddenly said, "Let's go sailing" this last Sunday morning after no forethought or planning on our part, my knee jerk reaction was to reply with a, "you're joking, right?"  But he wasn't and I didn't and we learned the important lesson that we've still got some "get up and go" left in us.

It was a gorgeous day, the wind was steady out of the west, the seas were flat and the sun was warm and high.  We travel pretty light for a family of five (at least we strive to) so we packed up some lunch, my new favorite light weight baby carriers, a diaper bag of reinforcements and off we went.  No toys, no bells, no whistles.  Just us and the kids.  It was an awesome day on the water and it completely made it clear that we can absolutely sail as a family of five and still enjoy it.  Our good friend AJ came with (you might remember him from the delivery from Georgetown to Tortola) and the six of us delighted in the kind of Chicago day that makes living here during this past winter totally worth it.

Isla was completely content and busied herself happily with the boat while she sang her impressive repertoire of songs.  She is a self-entertaining champion and an awesome little sailing companion.  The twins napped in the slings and when they weren't sleeping they were giggling and cooing in the pilot berth.  They have salt in their veins and, being Pisces, love the water and outdoors.  It was a dream come true and the kind of day you store in your memory bank under "extra special" to recall on the days that don't go so well so that you can maintain perspective and sanity.  It was fantastic.  I am seriously more excited than ever to get back down island aboard Asante.  More on this in a later post (spoiler alert: plane tickets have been purchased).  For now, here are some pics of the beautiful day aboard my dad's boat*.

*After my last post about sailing on my dad's boat, several of you inquired as to what sort of boat it was.  It is a custom built Kanter 47.  As my dad always says, "Britt, there is no such thing as the perfect boat....except the one you build for yourself". She's a beaut.