The Next Chapter

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We've been quiet lately over here at S/V Wanderlust, but it's not because we've been up to nothing - that's for sure. We've had more than our share of action the last several months, everything from catastrophe to elation. But, where to start? How to convey the craziness that has been our lives since the wild hurricane season of 2017? I'll start by getting everyone up to speed.

Ben, our pup Ruca, and I were living in St. Thomas this fall and had been there over six months. We'd fallen in love with the island, and had no plans to go back to the states. Liveaboard life in the islands was all we'd hoped for. Plus, we'd just found out we'd be welcoming a fourth crewmember... a baby was on the way, and we'd be meeting him or her in late spring! We were elated, but unfortunately didn't have much time to celebrate.

A few days after we found out about our new crewmember, the news reported Hurricane Irma spiraling toward us, the strongest hurricane on record... ever. We ran from the USVI to Puerto Rico and narrowly missed Irma's eye. But, that left us in Puerto Rico when Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc on the island soon after. In the aftermath of Maria, we spent a few weeks stumbling around Puerto Rico without clean water, access to grocery stores, gasoline, ATMs, or electricity. We realized the situation in Puerto Rico would not readily improve, the US Virgins had been nearly decimated, and there was really nowhere for us to go. By staying in the islands, we were potentially using valuable resources needed by long term islanders who had homes and families to support there. Plus, the islands we'd loved so much had become incapable of accommodating our careers, and unfortunately, jobs were a necessity. Ben had been working aboard a charter vessel in St. Thomas, which was destroyed in Irma, and I needed internet and a functioning airport in order to do my job. To top it off, caring for our little bun-in-the-oven was not easy - proper nutrition and prenatal care in the midst of a hurricane disaster zone was absolutely impossible.

We wanted to stay and volunteer, to wait until the government help arrived, to continue our lives in the Virgins... we wanted so badly to raise a sailing island beach baby... but the destruction was overwhelming and help was nowhere to be seen. We felt we might have been doing more harm than good by staying, meanwhile our bank accounts were slowly emptying, and I hadn't seen a fresh vegetable in a month. Pressure was mounting, and Ben and I opted to leave the islands. With hurricane season still in full swing, sailing Wanderlust to the mainland wasn't a safe option, so we left our beloved boat safely docked in Puerto Rico. With the help of family, we finally got a flight to Missouri, with Ruca in tow. We stayed with family for two months, where I could work, Ben searched for jobs, and we got our feet back on the ground. Ben landed a great job with Vail Resorts in Colorado, and we moved to Denver in early December.

On one hand, we're extremely excited about what's to come for us - a new adventure born out of sadness and necessity, in the Rocky Mountains. Starting over, a new chapter. Raising a mountain baby doesn't sound so bad... Ben's so excited to have a new snowboarding partner, and I can't wait for family camping trips and Christmas in the charming mountain towns. There's even sailing, we've heard, on Lake Dillon near Denver in the summers. We began to see this change as a true blessing in disguise.

On the other hand, it felt incredibly selfish to celebrate our new adventures, let alone publish posts about them, considering so many people we know and love have suffered, and continue to suffer, from hurricanes Irma and Maria. Our boat made it through both the storms unscathed, we have loving family back home who rushed to support us when we left the islands, and we've been able to more-or-less rebuild life in the states. But all the people whose boats we saw at the bottom of the harbor? All the people and families we saw struggling to find food, water and medicine? All the people who lost their boats, their homes, their businesses? All the ones displaced with nowhere to go? They're still suffering, struggling, and trying to rebuild through the rubble... months after the storms. There is so much destruction, so much sadness, so much loss, so much helplessness. Thinking about the state of the islands (all while we enjoy all the modern conveniences of stateside life) sends a crushing feeling through our hearts.

Overall, trying to cultivate happiness to celebrate our upcoming adventures, while grappling with our own sense of loss, our guilt, feelings of helplessness, and sadness for those around us, has not been easy. Putting it into writing has been nearly impossible, so I know you'll all forgive us for the silence lately. We're still doing our best to help the islands from afar, while begrudgingly accepting the fact that, in it's current state, the Caribbean cannot be our home, and really, Colorado is a pretty great second option. We're sad, excited, happy, nervous, curious, and heartbroken all at once... I told you, life is really complicated right now.

We're coming to terms with the fact that this big, beautiful life only moves in one direction, forward, and fighting the inertia of the universe will get us nowhere. Hurricanes happen, disasters happen, blessings happen. So, we're welcoming Denver, and all it has to offer, as we welcome all change - with open arms, the good with the bad, the way the river learns to flow around the rocks.

We hope you'll join us in celebrating the new and exciting beginning for our soon-to-be family of four, as landlubbers!

Thanks for reading,

Ben, Quinn, Ruca, and our little Bun-in-the-Oven

P.S.

You probably inferred that living in Denver means >>We're selling Wanderlust<<, because we want what's best for us and for her. We love this boat so much, which is why we aren't sad to let her go on her own new journey. We'll be busy with land life in the mountains, and our boat needs and wants a full-time crew. She doesn't want to be tied up to a dock, waiting for us to show up and lift her sails a few times a year. Wanderlust is a boat that needs to take people on once-in-a-lifetime adventures, to travel to far off places, and show people the wonder of the sea. She needs new owners, so that she can change their lives, like she changed ours!

If you'd like more information, please contact our broker, Carlos, at Denison Yachts in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, 787-550-5236.

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