Sailing into simplicity

Every sunny day, I try to savour the moment, always wondering if this will be the last balmy evening. The late summer offers us a few extra rays of sunshine, mixed with the occasional rain shower. The summer energy of freedom and carefree living gradually fades, as most people return to their familiar routines.

At the tail end of summer, I have one more inspiring story about two people who found their own rhythm. A new rhythm, you could say—a new reality. Sebas wanted to go sailing again this summer. After a failed attempt to cross the South China Sea, with many people getting seasick, I found the idea quite daunting. But we decided to give it another shot.

Through Crewfinder, Sebas found a boat sailing along the Spanish west coast during our holiday, in the beautiful Rías. After a brief introduction over WhatsApp, we decided to join Mat and Kate on board their boat, Tailwind.

Meet the crew

Mat and Kate are the owners of Tailwind, a young couple in their thirties who quit their jobs and bought a 50-year-old catamaran. In IJmuiden, of all places. It was a dream come true for Mat, and Kate jumped right into this adventure with him. She had only spent three weeks on a sailboat before and had been seasick for most of that time, but by now, she's a true c0-captain.

They had owned the boat for almost about a year and had invited friends to share in their dream. Friends invested in making the dream a reality, and in return, could join them on the boat for two weeks. By this point, it wasn’t just friends, but also potential friends, like Sebas and me. Along with another couple and a friend, we embarked on our adventure together.

The vision behind Tailwind is to let people experience that life can be different, to show what it means to live on a boat. During our trip this often raises the question: "What do you really need?" Life on a boat slows down. I can say that Mat and Kate lived in a rather artisanal way: they made their own bread, even grinding the grain on board for better preservation, cultivating their own herbs and they caught their own fish.

Consciousness and surrendering

Their craftsmanship breathed through the daily tasks, both during sailing and everyday life. Sailing requires a certain level of consciousness—keeping your course, reading the wind, feeling things out, adjusting. Being present in the moment. And also being dependent on the elements—can you surrender to that? Mat said that when time is irrelevant, he would never start the engine in low winds. Instead, you wait for the right moment to continue. In practice, with a boat full of people who would only be there for another week, sometimes a different approach was taken. But even then, it was always a conscious decision.

This doesn’t just apply to sailing but also to things like water usage. How you wash the dishes, which water you use for what, when and where you shower—all these choices become more frequent when the boat doesn’t dock at harbours often. It also makes you appreciate the small things more. As I mentioned in my previous blog, showering can become a real treat. This time it was a deck shower with water from the solar shower, warmed by the sun, trickled down as I positioned myself under a tiny stream. It felt so pure, it’s a shower I won’t soon forget.

And of course, there’s also room for the romantic picture of boat life—just relaxing with a cocktail in hand, playing volleyball, and laughing on the beach or having delicious dinners and good conversations on deck. Not everything is always done with full mindfulness and zen.

An automatic sense of fulfilment

However, the slowing down and the focus on all the tasks that need to be done each day to manage the boat, and even more basic, to feed yourself (since you can’t just walk into a supermarket or call for delivery) and finding a place to anchorage for the night, brings you back to the core and gives an almost automatic sense of fulfilment. By the way dropping your anchorage is my new favourite form of wildcamping!

We had conversations about choices, about what you need in life, how you want to work, and how much time you want to spend on it. In some ways, you could consider this lifestyle is a luxury choice. Living on a boat sounds something that is only for the rich. Yet, again it's also a conscious choice to live like this and to choose on what you do want to spend money and on which you don't.

You can choose to live with less. Mat, who used to work as a waiter in the luxury sector, saved all his tips to invest in the boat, while the rest of the crew spent theirs on drinks after their shifts. When we were in vacation mode and wanted to go out for lunch while docked, they chose to eat on board. These small, simple examples make it tangible that life is always about making choices—balancing what it gives you and what it costs you. Standing firm for what you find important and trusting in the solutions. Too expensive to haul your boat from the water? You can always dry-dock your boat by playing with the tides and they had many more examples. This, in my opinion, is tapping into your creative power, discovering and using the inventiveness that we all have as humans.

Did we look into buying a boat afterward? Absolutely. But I also browse Idealista for old houses abroad. That’s what summers do—they inspire you. But in the end, you need the courage to actually go for it. Who knows... In the meantime you can follow Tailwind's adventures here. Thank you Kate and Mat for your hospitality and inspiration, see you next time!