From Zero to a Hundred
They weren’t sailors, but they had spirit, and they were ready for a big change. A new catamaran and a couple of continents later, they got all that and more.
Lessons Learned
Four years later, back at the Annapolis boat show, where much of their odyssey started, Craig and Laurie were relaxed, enjoying meeting up with old friends, making new ones, scoping out gear, and networking with the Antares tribe, an extended family of the company’s employees and clients.
That first cruise in their wake, they now talked of plans for the winter of 2012. First would be a stop in December for a session of Antares University in Grenada. Next on the agenda, return to the boat in nearby Trinidad and head north, first for the Bahamas and then to Miami.
They believe it’s important to pass on to others what they learned, and so they took the time to sit down with me at the boat show in Annapolis. “Be patient with yourself,” says Laurie. “Count on it taking way more time than you think. Sometimes we know way more than we give ourselves credit for. At other times, we think we know way more than we actually do.”
Some uncertainties lingered for Craig, like whether they can handle the boat alone offshore, yet he’s pleased he got to spend time out on the ocean, being active. “There are 4,600 miles in our wake,” he says with a smile, “from Río de la Plata to Trinidad. We were on starboard tack almost the whole time.”
Elaine Lembo is CW’s deputy editor.
