The Sweet and Salty, Sailing With Family

Nikki Wynn

Mar 11, 2018 — 6 min read

Our biggest fear is living a static life. We half-jokingly say we have a case of Sedentary Lifeaphobia. Because time has a way of thrusting us forward at warp speed. Days turn into years and before we know it, we’re looking back at the past wondering what we’ve done with all that time.

Everyday life for most of us has a way of blending together. Routine settles in and it becomes difficult to distinguish one day from another. But, as perpetual travelers our mission is to avoid routine, seek out new experiences and rack up as many milestones as possible. Especially with the people we love most, our family.

Each year we make a concerted effort to spend time with family and share experiences that leave heavily imprinted memories.

However, our unique lifestyle makes us exceptionally difficult to catch up with. We’re never in the same place for long, there is rarely an airport nearby and the notoriously fickle Mother Nature dictates our schedule. The effort to coordinate and accommodate each other’s time, schedules and resources seem to increase each year.

How is it there are thousands of apps and services available to help us become more efficient and save time…yet, it seems we’re all busier than ever?

Luckily, Jason’s family loves to travel, and loves us enough to spend their hard-earned cash and vacation days to make the journey to wherever in the world we are. We have a vault of lasting memories ranging from Alaska to California, the Bahamas and now Panama!

In other words, we try desperately not to take these opportunities for granted. They don’t last long so it’s important to savor every moment.

Are you ready to meet the family? Click the play button and sail with us to the Las Perlas Islands of Panama (Pearl Islands in English) and get the scoop on what its like living on a sailboat together, as one big family at sea.

Memories provide a record of past experiences and anchor them in time. They give our life coherence and meaning.

These special moments don’t blend together, they stand out. They give us a feeling of pause, as if we’re able to slow down time to spend it together…even if it’s one short week out of a year.

Real life is Sweet and Salty

We try really hard to focus on the good (dolphins, rays, snorkeling and sunsets) but also share the reality of this slightly insane un-sedentary way of life. We learned a ton from our family’s first visit aboard s/v Curiosity which we shared here: www.gonewiththewynns.com/sailing-with-family-our-mistakes This time I think we were all more prepared for a sailing adventure.

We don’t hold back with our fam and we let everyone participate as much as they want. To our delighted surprise, they wanted to be a part of it all, even the not so glamorous bits. Experiences were had, memories were made, and elbow grease was used.

Learning how to filet a fish wasn’t exactly on Lauren or Alexis’ bucket list, but they both volunteered the moment I asked if anyone wanted to give it a go. I always love a girl who’s not afraid to get her hands dirty! #GirlPower

Lines, knots, sails and fishing gear were tended to with excitement. Everybody had a dish-duty day. Mom and Jacob wanted to help scrub the hulls of Curiosity. Gabe was the designated sous chef. And everyone was up for scrubbing the salt off the deck after being at sea. This was not a chill-out charter sail for this Curiosity Family Crew, which is how they all earned their crew uniforms: Our fancy shirt and hat!

I know we’ve been promising a swag store for a while. With the feedback from the fam we’re in the process of making a few product tweaks before launching it. We promise the swag store will go live this year!

A Tearful Goodbye

Saying goodbye to crew, friends and especially family can be extremely difficult. Even for us seasoned travelers who are constantly on the move. What made this goodbye especially tear-inducing is also what makes life great. Lauren is getting married, we’re about to sail halfway around the world, Jacob is moving to the east coast and mom (AKA Mary) is…well, crazy busy like always.

Each of these individually are exciting, but in our heads, we realize, there’s a good chance we might not see anyone for a long while. That’s a tough pill to swallow.

Lauren’s wedding falls right in the middle of our Pacific Ocean crossing. Jake and Alexis start new jobs soon and will likely not have the time or budget to visit for a while. Flights to French Polynesia are ridiculously expensive and time consuming so Mom may have to wait for a more affordable location too.

In the end, we’re all departing with seared in memories that forever anchor us together. Let’s hope these shared experiences will keep our hearts full till the next big family adventure. It’s gonna be tough being away this next year, but I guess that’s what Instagram and WhatsApp are for.

Thank You!

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Sailing Report

To see our full map with interactive pins, click here: gonewiththewynns.com/map

Dates: 12 / 21 – 27 / 2017
Nautical Miles Sailed: 107
Anchorage: La Playita (Panama City) Isla Chapera, Isla Contadora, Isla Viveros (Las Perlas Islands) – All can be found on Active Captain: http://bit.ly/2oHvPkg
Cell & WiFi: Isla Contadora had cell service but that was all we had.