What's Next? Shore Leave!

The other day I mentioned on our Facebook Page that we were hauling our boat and heading back to land. It was quickly followed by a flurry of concerned emails and comments questioning what the heck we were doing and why. While I'm pretty sure I've written about our plans to head back stateside for hurricane season a while back, I guess I have a little explaining to do.

So...

We are heading back to the greater Chicagoland area for a few months. There are several reasons for this, namely:

• It is hurricane season here and boats and hurricanes don't mix. While they are projecting that this will be a very 'mild' one, we are still smack dab in the middle of the "danger zone" so we're going to play it safe, haul our boat, and prep her accordingly. 
• We have three babies. Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles and friends want to see and love up on those babies. Who are we to deny them? 
• It's summertime in Chicago. Chicago + Summer = Awesome.
• And finally...cruising with three very small kids is incredibly hard work. I don't know how I can adequately explain it to you if you haven't done it, but - suffice it to say - this is not easy. Don't get me wrong, we love it and we've found a great groove, but a little shore leave looks mighty good right now. We get zero breaks from 24/7 parenting and I'm tapping into energy reserves I didn't know I had on most days. Scott and I have not had a single 'date night' in six months. I've not slept more than five hours in a row in nearly two years (still nursing) and simply having an adult conversation with my husband is something that is rare. This little land break - and the promise of baby sitters - will be nice to re-charge our batteries. 

One question people have is: Why not sail to Grenada which is, technically, out of the "danger zone"? This option was discussed/considered for a solid two seconds before I gave Scott a resounding "hell no". We've done the trek to Grenada twice (once with Isla as a baby) and know enough to know that if we did it with our current baby-to-adult ratio, I would arrive in Grenada either a) divorced b) a full-blown alcoholic or c) in a straight jacket. No thank you. When they are a bit older? Sure. But right now, three to four hour day sails are our max, which is perfectly do-able and exactly why we based ourselves here in the British Virgin Islands.

And here we shall stay.

As daunting has hauling the boat, packing up kids, and flying stateside is (so.much.work) -we, thankfully, have quite the ground crew to help us out...

Our friend, AJ, who made his first appearance on the blog during our passage from the Bahamas to the BVI's, and again when we re-launched Asante earlier this season as a family of five, offered his assistance in helping Scott put the boat away, as these days I am tied up with the kiddos. We graciously accepted and having him here with us has been a huge help. We love you AJ!

Also up for sainthood is my mom, who flew down to help me fly back with the girls. When Scott and I made the decision to haul the boat, we decided that it'd be best for me and the girls to fly home first so that a) we wouldn't need to get a hotel room (3 kids + 2 adults + 1 hotel room - decent sleep = a primo spot on one of the innermost circles of hell) and b) Scott could have a few days on the boat without us aboard to get her prepped (3 kids + 1,0005 boat projects = 0 projects completed). Flying alone with two lap babies and a toddler is not allowed on airlines (at least I don't think it is?), so my mom offered to help me make that trip. There are not enough adjectives to describe how thankful I am for this. It's possible and highly likely she saved my sanity with this gesture.

It takes a village.

The girls and I fly out tomorrow and AJ and Scott fly out the 15th. As it stands right now, Scott will return in September to get the boat livable again, and the girls and I will fly back down in October to resume our life afloat. The 'adventure' will continue...

In the meantime, I have tons of blogs to write, hundreds of emails to hopefully answer, plenty to catch you up on and no shortage of photos to share - so, fear not, you will still get your healthy dose of babies, boating, and tropical sunshine from this blog during our short hiatus.

As always, thank you all for the unwavering love and support - I know I sound like a broken record, but you guys are the BEST. Having you along with us has made this cruising season that much better.

THANK YOU.

Get at it AJ!

Making our dinghy pretty again. 

The boat is a mess. Note the THREE PAGE list of things to do!

Sailed off and stowed.

All our lines cleaned and drying.

They are a handful, but boy are they fun!