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Here is a sample for you:
Some people (and often it is our closest family) just don’t understand our passion for sailing. Basically, they think we’re crazy to sell our homes, quit our jobs and head out to sea, to face who knows what dangers. So here is a bit of an explanation for you. It was first published by 48 North magazine.
I’m Not Coming Home, Mom And Dad, I’m Going Cruising
The guilt finally got to me, so I called my parents a month after sailing to the Bahamas. The conversation was predictable:
"So when are you selling the boat and coming home?”
“I’m not selling the boat, why do you keep asking me?”
“We worry about you, all alone out there.”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
“What do you do all day, aren’t you tired of sailing yet?”
“No, I’m not, I like it, I’ve been sailing for 25 years.”
“Well, Mother and I think you should sell the boat as quickly as possible and come back home. Get a job, rent an apartment, settle down…”
Actually, Mom and Dad, I’m planning to cross the Atlantic soon, I thought to myself but didn’t say it.
No matter how often I try to explain, they just don’t get it. They’re part of the Second World War generation in Eastern Europe. They remember the bombs, the deaths, the hunger and then the loss of freedom under the communist regime. They value safety, security, a roof over their heads, money saved for a rainy day or a rainy lifetime.
For me, safety has been a given: an assumed, expected and taken for granted right. I have never been hungry, without shelter or frightened for my life (well, maybe once at sea). So, I long for adventure. As a child, I read “Robinson Crusoe” and books about children exploring the Nile alone or stowing away on ships. I dreamed of a life like that.
So now, I’m living my dream, just like my parents have realized theirs by immigrating to Canada and working their whole life to create the stability they have craved in their childhood and youth. Yet, they forget that their dream is not mine, largely thanks to them. Mostly thanks to them. They have provided me with the stability and thus gave me the strong wings with which to take off and fly. Or sail.
Yes, my plans are made in Jell-O; I live day-to-day, often not knowing where my next port will be or my next month’s meal as a matter of fact. But I have this incredible faith in the abundance of nature that all my needs will somehow be met. I see the proof all around me: the grains of sand on the beach, the drops of water in the ocean, the billions of leaves fallen from the trees, schools of fish, flocks of birds – nature in its glory, following her destiny without fear.
And fear is what I see in my parents’ eyes. Fear of the future, based on their experiences of the past. Fear of hunger and of cold. Fear of death and of life. I wish I could snap my fingers and show them that there is nothing to fear – life is to be lived in the present to the best of our ability, fully and completely sucking the juice each day. I want to tell them to forget about the past and the future for they do not exist. They are only faded frames in our mind’s camera.
I want them to enjoy today. I want them to understand that when I live in the moment, fully in my passion - magic happens. Nature’s abundance provides all that I need, whether it’s the fish I catch today because I’m tired of eating rice and pasta and spend the time and effort learning how to bait my hook and finding out where to drop it, or the work that comes my way through a person I meet at the post office, or the piece of plywood for a new hatch that arrives on the tide.
And if for a time nothing happens, I just batten down the hatches and think that I’m still much better off than all the people who don’t have enough to eat or clean water to drink, or who live in polluted, crowded and violent cities, or who can’t escape because they’re caught in a web of their minds. But they don’t understand. They never will.
Even so, thanks, Mom and Dad.
~~~_/)
Dear friends, Salt Water In My Veins is now available on Amazon. This is what's on the back cover:
"Salt Water In My Veins is a collection of 21 stories from Barbara Molin's lifetime of sailing and living aboard in Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, and while crossing the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. From buying a dream boat that soon becomes a nightmare, to accidentally deploying the anchor in the middle of the Atlantic, the stories highlight the author's passion for the sea, persistence in the face of challenges, and independent spirit.
Barbara Molin's love of the sea and adventure began during a childhood spent at the Baltic seashore in Poland. It then grew when she and her family crossed the Atlantic on board a ship immigrating to Canada. She has worked as a researcher and a project manager for an oceanographic institute and as a reporter for community newspapers. Her freelance articles and photographs have been published among others by Sail, 48 North, Latitudes & Attitudes, Living Aboard, Boat Works and Practical Boat Owner. She was also the founding publisher and managing editor of The Ionian magazine in Greece. Barbara now lives aboard her sailboat, Eidos on Ithaka Island in Greece."
Here are some of the comments I have received so far:
"Interesting! Thanks for sharing. It makes me want to read more. Congratulations!" Ryan S.
"I love it! You are writing about yourself but I can see myself as you journey. I'm different but there is much the same in all of us. And certainly, I can relate to the human spirit in each of us that motivates our searching and our content with our finds. ... Kind of like an armchair tour for those of us who have opted for a different life, to enjoy vicariously. Good for you to put everything together in a book. I like the personal insights. It will bring the 'travelogue' life. Good luck!" love, Linda S.
"Looks and reads great!" Isha P.
"Barb, you have captured the restlessness of the Nomad! When do we get the next installment?" Nancy S.
"So glad you continued with the writing in spite of its demands. Loved the first chapter and I am enticed to follow this nomad on her discovery voyage. Loved the way it explores both the physical world and the psychological." Mary Z.
"What a wonderful achievement!!!! Looking forward to reading it." Barb C.
"It's on its way!! Yippee and congrats . . . Now to get your autograph on it. Hugs," Nancy & Rich
"Well done mom! Can't wait to read it." Justin S.
"Congratulations on your new book. That is wonderful news! I hope it goes well." Eirini T.
"My lovely incredible Barbara, This makes me feel so happy! I read the introduction and can't wait to read the whole of it :)You are so awesome! Well done to you! Love, love, love the title." Priscilla S.
"How exciting! Congratulations on a great achievement. I'm going to buy it for my Kindle and really looking forward to reading it!" Melanie F.
"Congratulations with your book! I read the first chapter and wanted to read more, it's good stuff." Ester van Z.
"Congratulations!! I know how hard it is to get a book done! Well done, and I just ordered a copy:)" Beverly J.
"... your book seems quite interesting and I'm honored to work with such a distinguished author." M.G.M.
"I got the book over the weekend and am enjoying it immensely. You're a good writer- I know how many times you must have re-written each story!" Beverly J.
"Almost done your book. It's been an on again off again read! (I read a lot for work, so reading for pleasure is difficult). You have a very good sense of humour. The chapters I find most compelling are the funny ones, like Anchoring in Corsica (deadpan humour) and Cure for Recession Depression (wit and satire). You should consider writing more of these, even some stories that are second hand or embellished. I think you could find a publisher if you did. I think a book of humorous anecdotes by a frazzled female skipper would find an audience. " Ryan S.
"We have very much enjoyed reading your book. It brings back lots of cruising memories." Jan and Dave H.
"I wanted to mention, too, that earlier this fall I had an opportunity to read Salt Water in My Veins, which I enjoyed immensely for its wisdom and humour – and which is beautifully evocative of a lifestyle and culture of which I admittedly have scant experience, but which has always fascinated from afar." Bob M.
The podcast of the first chapter, Nomad, "left me speechless. Especially the way you read it... the style reminds me of Lawrence Durrell." Mike Tyrrell
"I did finish reading your book and between you and me it was a very interesting read and demonstrates your talents as a writer." Anonymous
"This is a book you will definitely want to read if you're into sailing, or living a life off the grid. The stories are not only entertaining but also full of useful information about living a simple life aboard and being resourceful. Barbara shares her experience and all the ins and outs of her journeys with us. She shows us what it takes to live such a life and you cannot help but admire her.
Looking forward to her next book!"
Ester van Zuylen
Ithaka, Greece
"I read Salt Water In My Veins in a day and overall found it an enjoyable read. It's a good, honest account of a life at sea from its beginnings to the present day. We witness the evolution of a complete layperson with no seafaring experience whatsoever to a competent sailor and skipper of her own sailboat. Along with perils, failures, and routines, we join in the beautiful sensations provoked by the sunrise, the phosphorescence, the swell, the stars... The author's sense of humour makes us smile and her way of telling her misadventures arouses a knowing glance and a feeling of closeness in us. A great read for anyone who is interested in different ways of life, as Barbara Molin writes eloquently about living aboard a sailboat and what it entails: the sense of community with other sailors, the strategies to make ends meet and to cope with the maintenance of the boat, and certainly the pleasures of living a distinct life that satisfies your wanderlust. " Suni Belliure
"This entrancing book chronicles one woman’s voyage of self-discovery as she pursues a seafaring life which has carried her from Canada’s west coast to the Sea of Cortez and the Caribbean, then across the North Atlantic and, aboard her beloved sailboat Eidos, through the Mediterranean waters to Greece and its breathtaking archipelago of offshore islands. Molin’s offering comprises twenty-one rich and nuanced stories of daily life as a maritime nomad; of the personalities, seascapes and landscapes that she has encountered en route; and of the memorable adventures (and occasional misadventures) that have punctuated her unique journey. Showcasing Molin’s subtle insights and gentle humour, and training a perceptive ethnographic eye on the engaging world of 21st-century cruising, Salt Water in My Veins paints a vibrant portrait of life at sea that will resonate with anyone immersed in, or simply inclined to learn more about, such an alluring, if sometimes misunderstood, lifestyle and cultural experience. Even incurable landlubbers such as myself will draw inspiration from Molin’s stories of personal challenge, perseverance, and ultimate achievement. Cover to cover, Salt Water in My Veins is an absorbing read, and a fitting testament to a life so obviously well lived. I can’t recommend it highly enough."
Dr. Robert
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