I was born in Durban, South Africa. The Indian Ocean was very present. My father was at sea, making the ocean seem rather normal… only as I got older did I realise that it was far from normal to have a father who was captain and gunner of a whale catcher.
My actual engagement with the sea was limited to swimming. I did not sail. My father did not see the water as leisure; family holidays were mostly spent up in the mountains, where the Norwegian in him disappeared on long walks.
After studying and then teaching economics for three years, at age 25 I left for London. I went by sea, but on an old and cheap cruise ship, from Cape Town to Southampton. For most of my 32 years in London I worked as an analyst in the investment industry. Not an obvious preparation for sailing…
A 14 year marriage produced two daughters, Anna and Louisa. Both now grown up, and with people around me starting to succumb to early deaths or boring retirement, it prompted me to consider what I would do with the rest of my life. I had a strong feeling that if I was going to do something else, at 57 I had better get started.
Well, I had started sailing. I bought a boat. And then I quit my job and rented out my house. I set off, headed initially for the Caribbean. All being well, I will then keep going.
This blog will be some sort of record of what has happened on my journey. I have resolved not to make concrete plans. For once in my life I shall have the luxury of time – and it seems to make sense to allow time to reveal my course…
