You asked?

I think it's time we answered a few of your FAQs.

I want to address some of the common questions we are getting about our upcoming journey and also bust some myths out of the water!

What's your plan?














After quickly realizing that circumnavigating the globe isn't an easy walk in the park, we lowered our expectations on what kind of route we wanted to take.

There are a few factors that determine this route. 

First of all, we have to start where the boat is. 

The boat is currently in Chester, Nova Scotia so Chester, Nova Scotia is where it will all begin!

Honeymoon on the Soren Larsen, Oct 2005

Other factors to take into consideration: hurricane season (typically June 1 to November 30 in the Caribbean), tradewinds, and budget.

The most popular route for cruisers on the east coast of North America is to make their way down to the Bahamas and/or Caribbean after hurricane season and spend the winter down there. 

Before the next hurricane season starts, cruisers will make the decision to either head further south of the hurricane belt (Grenada and Trinidad are popular spots to hunker down), head north of the hurricane belt (New England, Maine, Eastern Canada) or to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Europe.

Sailing in Hong Kong, 2006

There are too many unknowns for us to make that decision now. We won't have to decide until around April 2020 anyway. 

However, if given the opportunity, we would love to cross the Atlantic. Definitely a bucket list item!

Cruisers know all too well that sailing plans are drawn at low tide. 

Which means, come high tide, all that could be washed away.



Are you ready?

Well, I don't know if any cruiser is ever ready.

We have been researching, studying and taking as many boat-related holidays as we possibly could since we met and got married.

We honeymoon'ed on the tall ship Soren Larsen in Vanuatu, climbing the rigging and flaking the anchor chain.

We did our Competent Crew and Day Skipper course in Hong Kong when we lived there in 2006.

When we lived in England and the kids were tiny, we chartered a canal boat in Holland and spent a lovely week cruising the Dutch waterways.

1st Family Boating Trip on the Dutch Canals, April 2013

We hired a houseboat from Gananoque on the St. Lawrence River in October 2015.

After completing my CanSail 1 certification with Advantage Boating in Ottawa, we bought a MacGregor 25 to learn on for a couple of seasons. It was great to take day trips out with friends and family, and for Matt and I to learn to work as a team on a boat.


For fun, we also had a Hobie Adventure Tandem Kayak which we would trailer to various bodies of water and go camping with. We even managed to incorporate it in a 24-hour fundraising campaign for We See Hope.

When we were back in the UK in the summer of 2017, we went aboard the beautiful Grayhound Lugger in the UK and cruised to the Isles of Scilly. See our video here of that trip.

We chartered a C&C 30 from Kingston in the 1000 Islands, once in May 2017 and again in October 2017. 

Houseboat Holiday on the St. Lawrence River, Oct 2015

Last summer, we chartered a Hunter 38 from Nanaimo, BC, and cruised up to Desolation Sound. See the video here of our trip.

In April 2018, Matt and I attended the Annapolis Boat Show. 

It was a few days of jammed-packed seminars on rigging, safety, navigation, cruising and everything in-between. 

We also had the opportunity to meet some amazing people, those who were wannabe cruisers like us, and those who have been cruising for decades. 

Our MacGregor 25 in Ottawa, Spring 2016

We left inspired, motivated and determined to make cruising our reality soon.

Not only did we make personal connections to so many people, we have found a very supportive online community who has helped us fuel our dream, answer any and all technical questions and just be there to listen because they 'get it'.

It is a well-known fact that cruisers are extremely helpful and supportive. I feel like our social network has increased 3-fold because of the connections we have made with these cruisers, most of whom we have never even met in person!

Hobie Adventure Kayak

Slowly but surely, we have been increasing our experience and knowledge. Deciding when to pull the trigger and actually go full-time cruising was the hardest part.

Once we did, we enlisted some practical help to transition our 'someday' into 'today'.

Meeting Behan and Jamie Gifford at the Annapolis Boat Show was a turning point in our cruising dream. They are a powerhouse couple, knowledgeable and experienced, approachable and relatable.

Along with their 3 kids, they circumnavigated the world over 10 years on their boat TOTEM.

They are very well known in the cruising community and offer a coaching service to people like us who would like to make the jump from land life to boat life.

The first piece of advice they offered: set a date for departure.

After a date is set, everything else can fall into place.

So we set a date: May 29th, 2019.

Sailing on the Grayhound Lugger in the Isles of Scilly, Aug. 2017

Will you have internet?

It depends. When we are in marinas, we'll likely be able to access wi-fi. 

There will be no continuous YouTube or Netflix streaming, but we will be connected.




How long will you be gone for?

It depends. There are basically 2 criteria which will determine how long we will cruise for:

1. As long all four of us are enjoying it.
2. As long as we have enough money.

So we could be gone as long as 6 months, 1 year, ?

Which brings me to the next question.....


How can you afford all this?

The short answer: we can't. Well, not really.

First of all, it is important to understand that there are many variations of cruising.

There are those that are cruising full time and long-term. They've sold their house, cars and possessions and basically make living aboard a permanent way of life.

There are those who are cruising part-time, switching from land to boat depending on the season and if they need to work now and again to refill the cruising kitty.

Then there are those who are taking a sabbatical of some sort and are only cruising for a set amount of time.

Each cruiser has to decide what is important to them, assess what is practical (read: affordable) and then forge their own way.

I would classify ourselves in the sabbatical category. We don't have unlimited funds so at some point will need to find paid work again. We are renting our house, so keeping ties to land-life. Although we have pared down significantly, we haven't sold/gifted/donated all of our possessions. 

We also sold our apartment in Nanaimo, British Columbia, last year. This paid for the boat.

We have been dreaming and planning this sabbatical for many years so have been (somewhat) diligent in our spending habits. 

Every major purchase in our lives has been based with this dream in mind. 

Was it really worth going out to eat if we could save that money for the boat? 

Was that Starbucks coffee really necessary?

Secondhand toys and clothes are part of the norm in our household.

It became a mindset and a way of life I suppose, to live as frugally as we could. Of course we splurged and treated ourselves on occasion. But we tried to keep our eyes on the prize.

1st Day of Unemployment!!

Over the years we managed to save enough money to cruise for the next 12-18 months. This is based on a $3000 US per month living cost. 

This does not include major boat repairs or major travel expenses. We have factored in a budget for this category, but then again boat repair costs are the wild card in this whole equation. 

They can be minor or major. And if we incur major costs to keeping the boat safe and maintained, this may severely limit where we cruise and how long we cruise for.

All we know is that we have a set amount of funds, and since we are not willing to dip into our retirement savings or the kids' education funds, we will know from month to month how we are doing.

However, we are leaving open the possibility that if we are enjoying the cruising lifestyle so much but have run out of disposable income, we might get creative (not illegal!) and see what we can do to refill the cruising kitty - wherever we are. 

We also started a "Family Sailing Adventure Jar" a while back. The kids would sometimes throw in part of their allowance and we would chuck in some spare change now and again. 

This was more of a teachable moment for the kids, to make them realize that we can all do our bit to save for this sailing sabbatical. 

This weekend we will count it all up and see how much we have accumulated. 

My bet is about a dozen ice cream cones' worth. Possibly even waffle cones and sprinkles included! 



Are the kids excited?!

It's hard to know what exactly goes through their minds, but if I had to guess, I would say YES.

They do know what is happening and have been part of the planning and preparation over the last year. 

They have heard us talk about every step of this journey. How much they understand I'm not entirely sure.

They haven't seen the boat yet since only Matt and I went out to do the boat inspection last October.


While the kids have some experience with cruising and living aboard on holidays, I'm trying to explain to them that this isn't a holiday kind of trip. 

There won't be special treats every day, like popsicles and candy and all that good stuff. 

Instead, there will be daily chores, schoolwork and less screen time than they're used to.


However, despite my efforts in trying to temper their expectations, there are certain clues that lead me to think that they are excited.

For one, they keep coming back home from school and Kids Club with some sort of boat or sailing-related art, composition or creation. 

Aila made a gorgeous rock painting with a sailboat. She also made a play-doh boat with her and I on it. She's regularly drawing boats and flags.

The one that impressed me most was the paper origami boat that I made with her. 

She then went on to tape the boat onto 'water' and hang an anchor down below. 

The impressive part was that she knew which part of the boat the anchor hung from, at the bow.

Just yesterday, Tai brought home a hand-written copy of the popular Mark Twain quote which he had seen on a poster and copied down from Kids Club. 

It made us very happy.

We have laminated it and will stick it in our salon when we get to the boat.

When things get a bit hairy or we are questioning why we're doing this, we'll read it and remember how it all began a long, long time ago.

The Countdown is On

 What a week!!! 

I scrambled to wrap up everything at work and bid farewell to colleagues on Friday. 

Technically, my last day isn't until May 22nd, but I had some overtime hours to take. 

OCISO has been an absolute joy to work for. I have learned so much it is hard to put it into words. Like with all experiences in life it seems, it was the people that made working at OCISO so special. 

Not just colleagues, although they were the rock I needed when things went sideways. But the clients, volunteers, community stakeholders... they all contributed to how I see Ottawa now, and how invaluable and essential it is to welcome newcomers into our communities.

I feel I have been granted front-row seats into Ottawa's most generous and enthusiastic hearts. 

Takeaway: despite all the horror and injustices in the world that we hear and see in the media, there are incredible people out there. And they are likely your neighbours!

In between all the goodbyes at work, the kids had several events at school this week, our toilet needed some emergency repairs, and relatives came to visit from Toronto.

Oh and Aunty Anice arrived from Vancouver! Hooray!

I posted this collage of photos on my Facebook Page the other day to illustrate what my brain was like inside. It isn't a perfect rendition, but you get the picture.

And the one about "Mama Bear Finally Snaps?" Yes, that did happen. 🙋

This past weekend went by in a noisy blur. 

We hosted Tai's (early) birthday party on Saturday and then Aila's party on Sunday. 

It was as loud and energetic as you can imagine. 

I was in bed by 8:30pm Sunday night, ears still ringing and throat still hoarse. 

Today is a new day and I'm feeling determined. Time to get some things checked off our list. 

9 more sleeps until Matt and I roll out of Ottawa.

Feeling a bit daunted and overwhelmed, almost like stage fright or pre-exam jitters.

However, Matt managed to resurrect my old blogs from an old site I used to post on. Re-reading my earlier posts from pre-departure adventures, I'm reassured that these emotions are normal and that this is all part of the journey.

Hotel Echo Lima Lima Oscar

Navigational compass, ruler, protractor.

To say it's been a busy few weeks is an understatement.

What have we been up to?

Well, in no particular order or importance... just really what is rolling off the top of my head:

Celebrations: Matt's 45th and my 39th birthdays were marked with cake and very practical gifts.

Matt received a set of navigational items for paper chart plotting, which included a compass, ruler and protractor. We also bought ourselves a good pair of binoculars.

Now, we need to brush up on our navigational skills and actually put these items to good use!

I got some safety tethers for my birthday. Not super sexy, but totally useful.

These are used to hook ourselves to a hard-point on the boat (ie. somewhere in the cockpit, or somewhere up on deck if you needed to be up there). The other end of the tether hooks onto your life-jacket.

The idea is that if a rogue wave comes from somewhere and you are knocked over and swept out, the tether will prevent you from slipping overboard completely.

Of course we will do everything necessary to NOT be in such big seas, or even out of the cockpit when we are underway (term for 'sailing' or 'on the move'). However, it is best to be uber prepared.

Hard rule for the kids: Thou shalt be tethered when/if they are in the cockpit and we are underway. No exceptions.

My cousin, Rhema, got married in Windsor and the entire Wong family went to witness his beautiful union to his wife, Manry. It was a great party. Who knows when the next time we will all be together again?

Wong cousins unite!

Health: I visited our local GP and explained our travel plans to him. He prescribed some antibiotics for various infections and ailments for us in advance so we won't need to rush to a clinic if we do fall ill.

I got myself a couple of extra epi-pens. You know, in case a peanut makes its way into my mouth.

After quite a bit of research and asking around on the online sailing community, we bought travel insurance through World Nomads to cover any health costs that we may incur.

This includes medical emergencies, evacuation, etc.

We all went to get our eyes checked at the optometrist. No issues there.

We all went to the dentist for x-rays, cleaning and cavity filling (only for the boys!)

I went for my last (claimable) massage the other day. I may try and sneak in one more. Just because.

Matt and I learned how to suture a wound using a raw turkey thigh. Thanks to a friend who is a medical practitioner, she taught us how to carefully sew a wound closed shut.

It's a bit like sewing a patch on a pair of pants, but with much finer thread and a u-shaped needle.

I hope we never have to do it, but there will be times where we'll need to administer first aid to each other, and this is good to know.

We went to the local Travel Medical Clinic and got our immunizations for Hep A and Typhoid.

Since Matt had recently (Fall 2018) made a trip to Malawi, he only needed one shot. Tai and I needed two needles.

Eye check-up - all good!

But poor Aila had to endure 4 needles, due to the fact that she was up for her MMR Booster anyway on top of the immunizations.

We hadn't realized how long it would actually take to get all these shots done.

After a lengthy consultation, they also talk you through safe drinking water tips and tricks, preventing sunburn, how to avoid diarrhea and so on.


Finally it was time to get our immunizations. I decided that I would go first to show the kids that it was nothing at all and that it didn't really hurt.

Aila was up next, but the poor kid has such skinny pencil arms that on needle #2, big crocodile tears began sliding down her cheeks.

She wasn't audibly crying (yet) but it was obvious she wasn't enjoying the experience.  By the 3rd and 4th needle, she was whimpering and then full-on crying with projectile tears.

By this point, Tai had cornered himself in the corner of the room, watching with wild horror as his sister was getting jabbed.

Suture a turkey thigh? Check! Thanks to Paula T.

He was next and there was absolutely nothing we could do to convince him to take his shirt off. We promised him bottomless Ginger Ale afterwards and as many scoops of ice cream as his heart desired. Nothing. Not even sure he heard our bribes over his screams.

It literally took everything we had to wrestle his shirt off and keep him somewhat still for his needles. Tai sat on Matt, who sat on the chair.

Matt basically wrapped his arms and legs around Tai's waist while I held Tai's neck and arm in a sort of choke-hold. I'm sure I used my legs and feet somewhere in there too.

Try holding down an 80-pound boy who is kicking, thrashing, screaming at the very top of his lungs and basically trying to wriggle and worm his way out of the room. All the while as the nurse is trying to inject him with a sharp needle. Twice! Not. Easy.

It was only after the whole ordeal was over that I realized Aila was now the one cowered in the corner screaming hysterically as she watched her brother go through this trauma.

Might I add, this was all in a small, windowless room at the clinic. Probably the size of our mud room. Ugh.

My birthday dinner post injections. Look closely, there are probably tear stains on the kids' faces still.

Oh and this was on my birthday! Who's bright idea was it to book the appointment then?!

Afterwards, we went out for my birthday dinner.

Pretty much all was forgotten by the time dessert rolled around. Thank goodness!

Boat Stuff: Matt and I continue to attend our Boat Maintenance & Diesel Engine course every Wednesday evening.

Our instructor is an 83 year-old walking nautical encyclopedia! He is incredible. Years ago when he retired, him and his wife cruised the US and the Bahamas over 4 years. Lots of experience and stories there!

In early April, I attended my VHF Radio License course at the Britannia Yacht Club through Advantage Boating and passed the exam - phew!

The law is that one person on-board each vessel must have a VHF ROC (Radio Operator Certificate) license.

Although I wrote the test, we all studied together as a family. For a while, we were all speaking in phonetic alphabet to each other and calling Maydays and Pan Pans from the basement.

We are lucky that the international maritime language is English. Makes it much easier for us to communicate to foreign vessels.

Tai teaching himself a few chords on the ukelele

We registered our boat with her new name "Anjulia Sue" with Transport Canada. We are currently getting some graphics done and will have it made up as a laminate sticker. Very exciting!


Home-Schooling: After hours and hours of research and consulting with school teachers, friends who are teachers, people on homeschooling forums and just families who are cruising full-time with their kids, I have amassed a smorgasbord of workbooks for the next academic year.

I wouldn't say I feel prepared, but I certainly feel armed with tools.

Learning how to loom & knit. Thanks for the tips & tricks, Debbie N!

The main advice that I hear from homeschoolers is to be consistent. Our plan is to do a bit of home-schooling every day, even throughout the summer and on weekends.

This is so when we have to take a break because there is something exciting happening that particular day or if we are doing a big passage and we can't give school our full attention or maybe they/us are too (sea)sick to work, then we can skip school.

Stay tuned on this topic.

It's one of the biggest adjustments I think we'll be making in the next several months.

Learning how to be home-school parents and home-school kids. And more importantly, working together!

Besides needing to cover the basic curriculum, I'm also hoping to have some free time in between boat repairs and general chores to learn new hobbies. We had a crafty friend teach us how to knit and loom.

I've also purchased a ukelele for us to learn. Trying to sneak in our travel guitar too on the boat, because playing duets is always more fun.

Newest member of the family: the Laundry Pod!!!

Laundry On-Board: This deserves its own heading because we talk about this topic so much at home.

From how we will do it, to how often, to who will do it. I like the philosophy of "You wear it, you wash it."

But I realize if we follow this rule, we may be encouraging our children to never shower, to never change their underwear and to basically live like filthy slobs. We needed another solution.

On our FOXY overland trip, we had a big yellow plastic container which we filled every morning with our dirty clothes.

We would add some water and detergent and then close the lid. All day it would get bounced around in the LandRover and by the time we stopped for the night, our clothes were well agitated and well 'spun'.

All that was left to do was rinse, wring out and hang.


The other day we came across a neat little gadget called the Laundry Pod through a friend.

It's basically a large salad spinner that can hold a few small items to wash. Throw in your dirties, add a tiny bit of detergent and fresh water, spin spin spin, then rinse rinse rinse.

We ordered one right away.

It does take some arm strength to spin the thing but once it gets going, it has the momentum to keep spinning several rounds before needing more human power.

It won't do bed-sheets or large sweatshirts and jeans. But underwear and socks? Yup.

Looks like our kids will be getting some good arm workouts on the boat!

Other: We sold one of the cars.

We did one last family ski session of the season. It was wet and rainy, but on the bright side there were no lineups at the lifts!

We hosted several dinners and get-togethers with friends and family before things get really crazy, although it's pretty crazy already.

I have gone through almost every cupboard, closet and shelf in the house now.

Stove-top pressure cooker. Thank you Karen H!

We have also off-loaded many items by gifting, donating or selling them. Who knew a kid's magnetic shape case was such a sought-after toy on Kijiji?

I am the Master Pile Maker. Nothing is in boxes yet. Unless you count the things that we are storing in the basement, in which case they are boxed and labelled and stacked.

But everything that we are taking on the boat, everything that we are storing at my dad's house, everything that is left in the "Maybe we'll take it but it all depends if we have space" category.... all of it is in piles. And piles within piles.

A friend gifted us with her stove-top pressure cooker. She received it as a wedding present but never had the opportunity to use it.

Serious game of Catan

This will be one of our most important appliances to cook on board with.

The fact is many of our household appliances would not be possible to use due to their extreme power usage, so having a stove-top cooking appliance will make a huge difference in our cruising life.

Goodbye George Foreman grill, electric kettle, Instant Pot, microwave, coffee machine and so on.

Hello one pot wonders cooked on our gas stove! Feel free to email me any favourite, easy pressure cooker recipes.

A little rain didn't dampen this Easter Egg Hunt

Ok, time to sign off here.

There is always something to do and I could go on writing, but I try not to compromise on sleep.

This planning and preparing stage reminds me of when we were about to embark on our African overland journey in 2008 with our beloved Land Rover FOXY.

Or on our cross-Canada (well, Nanaimo to Ottawa really) motorbike trip in 2009.

Or on our cross-Atlantic house move from the UK to Ottawa in 2014 with 2 young kids, 17 pieces of luggage and a 5-day stopover in Iceland.

Like all the other times, our departure date will come. And ready or not, we will go.

Anniversary

What is an anniversary?

Why do we commemorate people or events on these particular dates? Is there a better term for a 'death anniversary'?

I was dreading the month of April for the entire year. Mainly because I knew what was coming up on April 24th. It was to be the anniversary of Mom's death. One year ago. And that date will never change.

I could feel my anxiety rising with each passing day in April. One day closer until April 24th. One day closer to the anniversary.

Flashbacks to that day and the days following kept leaping in my mind, more vivid than before. I think April will always haunt me.

Dad asked me how I have coped over the last year with my grief. I said I coped by keeping busy, out of necessity I suppose but also out of avoiding the grief itself, especially in public.

Privately, I coped by allowing myself those 25 minutes of commuting every morning and every evening in the car to cry or scream, without needing to apologize or stifle myself.

As cliche as it sounds, this year has forced me to put into perspective what kind of life I want to lead on earth - now.

All my insecurities, excuses and perceived challenges have lessened somewhat so that I can boldly, but still tentatively act on my dreams.

April 24, 2018 will be the date Mom left this earth. It will also mark the turning point in my life where I realized the true significance of: Life Is What You Make Of It. So take a deep breath and dive in.

ANJULIA SUE

Let me introduce you to two very special women.

They have shaped us, our lives, our values and our future. And by us I mean Matt and I.

You may have met them or you may have known them as 'Bonnie's Mom' or 'Matt's mum'.

But here is a little history of these two incredibly strong, hard-working and loving women, our mothers.


Sue Thornington (nee Le Quesne)
July 14, 1949 - June 20, 2011

Born in Scotland, and grew up on Jersey in the Channel Islands.

Sue was trained as a Childhood Educator and worked tirelessly with parents, schools and children for most of her career. She loved Sudoku, chocolate eclairs and never missed watching Wimbledon on TV every year!


Anjulia Wong (nee Ma)
January 26, 1953 - April 24, 2018.

Born in Hong Kong, immigrated to Canada at age 16, graduated as a Food Scientist and worked in various labs and companies in R&D. 

Anjulia was artistic, creative and loved to cook, do aqua-fit and tai-chi. 



These two women had vastly different childhoods and careers, yet there were so many similarities.

They were both frugal, hard-working at home and on the job, loyal to family and friends, and fiercely protective of their family. They appreciated the simple things in life, especially a good cup of hot tea.

They also both loved discovering new places, travelling far and wide. They encouraged and nurtured their children, relishing their successes as they spread their own wings. But above all, they loved their grandchildren. Adored them endlessly.

So when it came time to rename our boat, we didn't have to think long. We knew the boat must bear the names of our mothers, somehow.

Many people believe that renaming a vessel is bad luck. However, we wanted something that was meaningful to us. We will do the necessary protocols that will banish all bad luck and superstition that comes with renaming her.

Another thought to consider: boats are 'female' and you will often hear them being referred to as 'she' or 'her'. 

So we needed a name that was feminine but original, simple but easy to pronounce. 

We tried to be creative, playing around with the names and letters. In the end, we decided to keep it simple. 

And so, it is official. Our boat is now called ANJULIA SUE.



We talk to the kids about their grandmothers and let them know what they were like, what kind of things they enjoyed and how much they love them, when they were alive and even now.

We never say that they don't have grandmothers anymore. We just say that they are not alive, but that they will always have grandmas.

It was hard to find suitable pictures to accompany this post. Our mothers were the ones always behind the camera! But here are some I found from August 2009, almost ten years ago.

JENGA fun :)

Matt and I took a trip to northern France with our parents and these were snapped at Honfleur beach and at our gite. It was a special trip, just the 6 of us.

Although they are not with us in the living world today, Anjulia and Sue remain a part of us in spirit and memory. And now our floating home will carry their names. 

Our boat will keep us safe as long as we take care of her, just like our mothers did for us.