Back in February, Cherie and I did some dreaming around taking the next phase of our technomadic wanderings out to sea.
We went to the Miami International Boat Show, picked the brains of some great sailing nomads, and worked on defining what we wanted in our ideal floating home.
Noticing our interest, my mom (thank you!) surprised us by sending us a DVD documentary she had stumbled upon about the adventures of a sailing family, and we finally got around to watching Ice Blink this week.
Ice Blink is a documentary about the Martin family, “a conventional family of five living a very unconventional life afloat”.
The story begins in the late-80’s when a young Dave Martin set off to circle the the globe in his small 25′ sailboat. Along the way he met and married his life partner Jaja, and together they had three children (in a 25′ boat!!!) and many adventures during their seven year circumnavigation.
Eventually the Martin’s upgraded to a larger 33′ boat, and after two years ashore in 1997 the family set sail again to explore more northerly waters. Most of the footage in Ice Blink chronicles the family’s explorations of these arctic waters, and the photography and video is stunning. The ice filled seas and swimming polar bears certainly make a sharp contrast to the more typical tropical cruising photos!
But despite the beautiful photography and video footage, we actually found a lot of interview portions of Ice Blink to be a bit… Boring…
But only boring to us because we have spent so much time of our own answering the exact same frequently asked questions, and we could almost echo the same answers the Martins were giving ourselves. We already know how important it is to just get out and go – and that the details will work themselves out along the way.
But if you are in need of motivation and inspiration to hit the road or the waves, Ice Blink’s look at the Martin family provides a great case study of how it can be done – starting with little more than an old boat, a thirst for adventure, and a willingness to jump into the unknown.
Here is a preview video from Ice Blink:
I particularly appreciated Dave’s stories about how he trusted that he would be able to pick up work along the way to fund the voyage. For example, he turned menial work in a meat packing plant into the rewarding opportunity to spend a year overhauling the plant owner’s boat. And a friend’s advice to “take pictures even if you can’t afford the film” eventually led to the Martin’s selling photographs professionally.
Indeed, if you trust in Nomadic Serendipity, things tend to have a way of working out – often in ways that you least expect it!
I also appreciated the way that the Martin’s explained how you must often pass through the challenging “zeros” to truly reach and appreciate the epic “tens” experiences on the other side. I think this reflects an element of challenge and reward that is present in crossing an ocean that is somewhat lacking in our more predictable and controllable land-based adventures.
Speaking of our own boat aspirations… I’ve been daydreaming about sailing again lately (must be the salt air here in Florida), but we still haven’t firmed up what our own next steps might be. Hopefully we will be able to make it to Seattle later this year to get some time-on-water with our technomad friends Steve and Sky. And maybe this winter we will try to take some sailing lessons and/or do some chartering to get more experience. If we both discover that sailing feels like the right next step, perhaps this time next year we will be sailing north up the Intercoastal to explore the Great Loop…
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