Our Transatlantic Crossing to Lisbon on Wind Surf

“It’s alright Don’t need to know what’s around the bend It’s okay now You don’t need to know how every story ends. It’s alright It’s alright It’s ok Don’t need to hold on to what is gonna pass...” Ryan Harris, It’s Alright Heading Home   After two weeks aboard Wind Surf, a morning arrival into Lisbon, and two quieter days in Faro beside the tidal waters of the Ria Formosa, our quick unplanned spring journey had finally reached the point we had been trying not to think about. We were heading home, indeed we had to head home to take care of things. For a little while, Portugal had softened the transition between relaxing at sea and the realities at home. Revisiting Sé Cathedral in Lisbon had returned us to the beginning of earlier journeys on the Rota Vincentina , the Camino Portuguese , as well as the Coastal and Espiritual routes - though not without the shock of realizing how much both the city and we had changed. Faro, by contrast, gave us a gentler landing. Birding the Ria Fo...

“Sailing is a lifestyle, a philosophy, a passion.” Jimmy Cornell   Sailing across the Atlantic When we first crossed the Atlantic aboard Wind Surf, everything was new. The ship, the scale of the ocean, the rhythm of sea days, the slow unfurling of sails, the music at Compass Rose, the dolphins at the stern, and the strange pleasure of letting land disappear for days at a time all arrived as discovery. That first voyage was shaped by anticipation, excitement and the novelty of sailing. We set out for Ponta Delgada and Lisbon, missed both, sailed instead toward Gran Canaria, and eventually disembarked in Cádiz, where the altered voyage opened into fifty-five days of walking across Spain to Santiago and beyond. This second crossing on Wind Surf was different from the beginning . To return to something loved is not the same as encountering it for the first time. Coming back means that memory comes aboard with you. So do expectations. You remember where you stood for sunrise, which...

“I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.   I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.”   John Masefield, Sea-Fever   Transatlantic Travel Preparations   Travel insurance purchased. Flight booked. Transit to the airport arranged.   On paper, the essentials are straightforward. A short list of confirmations and receipts that suggest readiness and confidence, or at least the appearance of both. In reality, the day before departure rarely feels easy or calm. Instead, it races past as a kind of disarray, where each small task leads to another, and the exc...

“Oh, yeah I lost myself tonight Oh, trying to find my horizon line I'm trying to find my way back home Trippin on the cobblestones Need a friend in the dead of night Don′t know if I'm gonna laugh or cry”   Sez Szabo, Figure It Out   Questions and Decisions   We have never been ones for making plans very far in advance. More often than not, our journeys have taken shape on the spur of the moment.  With the decision to set out arising at the conclusion of another journey, when one path opened as the precious adventure came to an end.  Though it might seem chaotic to some, it is an approach that has always felt natural to us.  It has given us a certain freedom and a sense that our travels and movement throughout the world were revealed, showing us what came next.   Over the past few months, we have worked throughout the winter, considered a number of different trails to hike in the coming year and tentatively considered where our travels might yet take u...