Hey again sailors and sailor fans.
Well, it is the end of August 2020 and I have been back in Canada since July 7th. I am staying with a friend and enjoying the break from the constant stresses of being a sailing Captain, I really needed this break, I feel better now. It does concern me though that this Covid thingy is still hurting the whole world, even up here in wonderful Canada. No returning to normal yet huh?
I have been staying in my friend Ryan’s basement and working diligently writing my next book for you. I just finished it and just got it published today. I think I will write another book about season two of sailing next.
As I have been sitting here diligently working on my writing and my YouTube videos I have also been thinking about getting back to WildChild. She sits on the hard in Antigua and it is costing me $700usd per month to keep her parked there. I cannot afford this most expensive marina in the Caribbean. Nice place, great people, but I am not the rich people who can afford to be their usual customers.
Hurricane season will end soon and WildChild has to relaunch and start her journey home next year. In November WildChild has to come out of this very expensive boat yard.
I NEED HELP I am looking for crew…
I can sail WildChild alone… but I really don’t want to.
Does anybody out there want to come along for an adventure with me?
Essentially you do not actually need to know how to sail. I am a fabulous sailing teacher and I can teach you how to sail. If you want to learn how to sail this could be the chance of a lifetime. If you already do know how to sail then great.
I need you to be brave, I need you to know how to be afraid, how to handle your own fear. I need you to still be a useful part of the team when the shit hits the fan, don’t freeze up on me.
I need you to be internally strong inside, able to maintain your center. There will be lots of boredom and scary and stressful and happy and exciting and hard times. Keep your spirit up, know how to equalize yourself internally and not fall apart.
I need you to have lots of free time to come play with me. If you are in a place in your life where you have time to take a break from all this COVID stupidity and have an adventure this is it. Wanna drop out of society to live on a sailboat for about 6-9 months? Wanna escape the bullshit of life on land for a while?
You need to understand though that WildChild does have a YouTube channel and the adventure will be filmed. If you come along you will be part of the adventure and the adventure will be shared. You need to consent to being filmed, and if you are willing to help film me that would be awesome.
Please just be chill, calm and easy to live with. Essentially this is a roommate position on a yacht, not a luxury cruise ship. We live a minimalistic life, showering was that thing you used to do on land. We have to conserve energy and water, we live off the grid, we have to be careful about how much energy we use everyday.
Money... People tell me that I should be charging my crew for this amazing opportunity. There are people willing to pay $10,000 for a single week on a yacht…! People will pay me $1000 a month for the privilege of being my crew..! I don’t charge anything.. I won’t charge you anything. This does not mean though… that it is totally free. I am not your mommy and it is not my job to pay for your food. I do not have a lot of money. I am young and do not have a cushy pension income. I earned $0.00 dollars last year and my income this year is not likely to be much better. I cannot support you.
I need you to be able to pay for your own food, and maybe sometimes help out with boat expenses. I think about the money part this way… standard crew food calculation to feed someone is about $20 per day. So you need to come with about $600 per month.
If you are here you already have a pretty good idea of what I am like as a person. Do you think you could live with me? get along with me? Are you an easy to get along with type of person?
Please do not be an alcoholic or drug addict. You cannot be a smoker…! there is 100% ZERO smoking on or even near WildChild, nope not on the bow not in the dinghy.. zero. So clean lung people only please.
Please do not be crazy either. This is more complicated. Everybody is a little crazy, we all are, and it takes a certain type of craze/brave to be a good sailor. But I cannot handle anymore really truly clinically crazy people and somehow… I admit… I do seem to attract them. If you have a mental illness.. have a wonderful life… but just not trapped with me on a boat please. I could not survive that experience again. Being a little weird or eccentric is fine, fun even, interesting… but you need to have the ability to see understand and respect the “other” people around you.
THE PLAN…
Ummm… yeah… am I supposed to have a plan? On this subject I struggle. If I have learned anything living on the ocean for the last two years… its that nothing ever goes according to plan…. Mother just laughs at our plans.
Essentially…. IF COVID does not bounce up again and shut the borders down again… if the borders are open and stay open… if it is possible… lets enjoy the Caribbean for the winter… then by spring get to Florida by around April or May 2021. Then if it is possible… begin the run north to get WildChild home again before winter 2021. Get her all the way back down the St. Lawrence river and back to Lake Erie by September at the latest, earlier if possible.
I would like to sail in jumps. Not rushed and not hurried. Avoid all the nasty weather if possible. Just have fun and enjoy the adventure, no need to increase the suffering for a schedule.
There is a chance… if this Covid thingy goes badly again… and if the economy crashes again as I suspect it will by December… I might just hang out in the Bahamas (if possible) then eventually go back down to Luperon to hide safe and cheap until the world calms down again.
We have to get thru America. This is a bit difficult. America likes Canadian passports and American passports. They do not like anybody else’s passports. They really do not like European passports, its a $595 fine if you show up on a boat without a VISA. If you have a European passport you need to make sure you can enter America, and will need a B1/B2 visa… which I am very doubtful will be easy to get now. So if you come, you need to be able to enter America. So Canadian and American passports are preferred just because it is easier for me and so much less hassle from America. I do hear that Swiss passports can enter America though… maybe?
I am cool with all english speaking nice people on the planet but…… Sooo… umm… you know….
I can provide you with your own cabin on WildChild. I can let you have my V-berth bedroom. So I can offer you a reasonably comfy place to sleep and room for your stuff. I can offer you adventure. Great snorkeling opportunities and to meet interesting new people. I can offer you real life sailing experience in the Ocean. It will definitely be an adventure and you will definitely be a good sailor by the time we are done.
If you think you still might be interested after all this… then just send me an E-mail. Tell me a little bit about yourself. We can chat about this on WhatsApp and see if maybe this will work out.
WildChild launches before November 28th for sure. You can come join me in Antigua either in November (if you want to help suffer thru boat work) or in early December when she is in the water. From there… you know… we just wander around and find adventure.
Cheers Sailors…
Captain Lexi…
. …….. the rested strong centered and almost brave again…