Bye Bye Summer! Whether you’re on the hard, prepping for a big adventure, or suffering from off-season blues, Mindi Braswell from Aboard Marguerite has 7 tips for staying psyched while away from the water. The Y&S editors have added a few ideas as well!

 

N7 Ways to Keep Your Sailing Stoke

In preparing Marguerite, our 24 foot Bristol foot sloop on the hard, we sometimes wonder if we’ll actually get to the point where we leave shore.  Since purchasing her last year, we’ve been consumed with boat projects: replacing parts of the deck, repairing internal water damage, replacing the bulkheads and the cabin sole… (good thing she was a cheap investment!) With another year of projects ahead, we know that finding little ways to feed our dreams while we’re still firmly stuck on land is important in helping us stay focused on our goals.

One way we accomplish this is by fitting a little bit of the sailing world into our lives right now, EVERY SINGLE DAY.  Here are a few of the things that we have found helpful to incorporate into our day to keep our eyes on the prize.

 

STAR GAZE

This past weekend was the Perseid Meteor Shower, so Thursday and Friday night, we stayed up until the wee hours of the morning watching the night sky, learning about constellations, and imagining how the sky will look from the other side of the world.

Young & Salty Tip: Get that dusty sextant out and practice taking sightings on land! 

GET SOME ‘PIN’SPIRATION:

Pinterest is not just for nautical decor! I find plenty of things relevant to the cruising lifestyle (my page, “retirement afloat“, already has over 1300 pins). Finding the pins while I wait in line at the grocery store is a quick and simple way to stay inspired.

Young & Salty tip: Check out our Big List of Sailing Vlogs and watch other people’s adventures.

FIND SOME SALTY TUNES

I have a Spotify playlist called “Aboard Marguerite” where I keep all of my sailing inspired music.  I listen to it often just to put myself in a salt water state of mind, particularly on those days where it seems like we can’t get to the ocean fast enough.

WINDOW SHOP

There’s a West Marine near us in Knoxville with a really knowledgeable staff who are always available to point us in the right direction. This allows us to go and look at the things that we NEED for Marguerite and informs our purchases down the road.

Young & Salty Tip: Build knowledge and skills with some dry-land training! There are plenty of affordable online and in-classroom courses available through various organizations like Power Squadrons.

BRING THE SEA HOME

I also just love the ocean, so I fill my home with star fish and sea shells, pictures and poems that remind me of the sea. My baby’s 1st Birthday was nautical themed (of course!).

CONNECT

We have “met” so many people from the cruising community through our Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook connections.  These people not only continue to inspire us, but help to give us direction and a better understanding of what we’re facing.

Young & Salty tip: Socialize with other young salties! Organize a meet up at your local seaside bar to plan next season’s racing, cruising, or even just have a nautical trivia night.

ENJOY THE JOURNEY

Even though we wake up most mornings with wishes that we were somewhere on a beach, we remind ourselves of how fortunate we are. With running a business, finishing up grad school, and raising 6 kids (not to mention 3 cats, and 2 dogs) it’s important to remind myself to enjoy our life in the moment as we prepare for our fun filled future.

Finding time to fit these activities into our schedule is allowing us to not only stay focused on where we’re headed, but also help us enjoy where we are in the present moment.  It’s given us the opportunity to do things as a family while we feed our passion, and truly, who could ask for anything more?

To learn more about the author of this post, check out Aboard Marguerite’s Youtube channel.