Boat U.S. - March 2009 - (Page 57)

When they got home, the boys were full of stories. Sam was all about blow-by-blow descriptions and PowerPoint demonstrations showing off every fish he’d caught, and looking forward to starting high school. Nicholas was facing senior year, when many peers were talking college, and every single concerned adult wanted to know his plans. He’d enjoyed the time afloat very much, and was especially excited by a guy named Andy they’d met in Wallis Island, whose example had given him ideas. Andy was sailing the 36-foot sailboat he’d built. He knew how to fix everything, lived simply, and gadget-free with his wife as they traveled the world, and he’d written a book Nicholas devoured called The Best Life Money Can’t Buy. Nicholas came home knowing what he didn’t want — an expensive liberal arts education leading to a desk job. Nope, he said, he’d been inspired by Andy, and other sailors he’d met who knew how to fix plumbing, rewire electrical systems, and troubleshoot engines. He wanted the independence gained by learning real, hands-on skills that could take him places. What did I think about him skipping college and going to a trade school to become a plumber, electrician, or an underwater welder? “Well, absolutely,” I said, “but what if you went to maritime academy…” I suggested he could earn a degree in marine engineering and also get licensed as a merchant marine officer, and mentioned that the schools have machine shops, and a sailing team, a ship to work and travel on as part of a curriculum entirely geared toward teaching kids how things work. “Wouldn’t something like that be perfect?” He thought it might. So, on November 7, 2008, a grinning Sam returned to another day of a ninth-grade year he was enjoying very much, while Nicholas and I crossed the stretch of northern New England that lies between our home in Vermont and fogbound coastal Maine to the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. In the same place I’d been at his age, he was preparing to make choices and decisions that would affect his life, and as my father had been for me, I was his advisor. Since he’d been gracious enough to leave the iPod on the kitchen table, we were talking. I mentioned that on this very day in 1987, I’d sailed past the Statue of Liberty and back in to New York Harbor, the last day of living out the circumnavigation challenge my father had offered me in lieu of college, and right into the future, which had led to our year with Shangri La. I pointed out another anniversary. One year earlier, to the day, he, Sam, and I had been motoring in through the breakwater leading to the Panama Canal Zone. The car’s windshield wipers rubbed against the glass as we shared a moment of silence. I remembered a squally day and squally moods as we steered past the huge ships at anchor awaiting transit, while I was anxiously awaiting an improvement in morale. Several weeks later, on the other side of the Canal and across 700 more miles of ocean, it arrived. I’d been right to believe it would. Now, my oldest son stands at an important crossroads where this, and other memories of his year at sea, are affecting the choices he’ll make. As he heads into adulthood, I believe he and Sam will always remember, and be influenced by, the kind of looniness that showed us all a Shangri la. Tania Aebi co-owns a women-only flotilla chartering company (Tania Aebi Adventure Sailing) that takes groups of women sailing all over the world. To go on her mailing list, write to tania@sover.net Follow The Journey On BoatUS.com For the duration of Tania’s year of sailing with her boys, every two weeks she wrote a touching and sometimes hilarious blog for BoatU.S., including essays about boat prep and upgrades, schooling and family issues, finances, and the ups and downs — as well as scores of great photos. www.BoatUS.com/cruising/shangrila. BoatU.S. Magazine March 2009 http://www.BoatUS.com http://www.BoatUS.com/cruising/shangrila

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Boat U.S. - March 2009

Boat U.S. - March 2009 Contents Reader Forum Boat U.S. Reports What’s New In The Brew? The Perfect Paint Job Launch Into Spring Boats Gear Wheels One Mom, Two Teens, No Exit So, Nigel Had This Idea Ice Devices It Was A Club Of Their Own Expanding The Boating Universe Tech Connection A Case Study In Getting Results Let’s All Do This Together Classifieds Member Benefits/At Your Service

Boat U.S. - March 2009

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