Saying goodbye is so hard to do. Seems like we’ve been doing a lot of that this past week. It never really sinks in until after you’ve left and you think “Damn, I’m not sure when I’ll see them again”. Sort of surreal. Amid all of the excitement of us preparing for our trip, there’s that undercurrent of sadness of having to say goodbye to the people that mean the most to you. Trust me, it’s a real buzzkill.

Our friends and family threw us a big farewell party at our old neighborhood beach last weekend, which was awesome! We were surprised and totally flattered to see how many people showed up. Friends, family, and old neighbors that we hadn’t seen in quite sometime all came to wish us well and give us a proper send off. It melted my heart to see how many people truly cared about us and were so supportive of our adventure.

We brought the boat up and docked it at the end of the pier so everyone could see our “house” and dispel any ideas that we would be sailing to the islands in nothing more than a canoe with a bed sheet as a sail. Seriously. I think a lot of people were blown away with the boat… I have to admit, it does look pretty awesome now with the new sails and cushions. Plus all of our shit was neatly hidden away, giving the facade of ‘this is how it looks all the time‘. Ha. If only they could see it now. Disaster.

As nice as it was to see everyone, it was a little weird having people from all different circles coming together in one place. It was sort of like a wedding… We tried to talk to everyone, but felt like we didn’t really have a good conversation with anyone. Goodbyes are pretty awkward anyway, so instead of standing there not too sure on what to say, we just decided to wrap it up with a big hug and a “Hey, I’ll see you later”. And I hope we will.




So, in wrapping up our farewells, we have a few short shout outs to some people who have played a huge part in helping us get to where we’re at:

To our family and friends: thank you for keeping it (and us) real. We are beyond fortunate to have such amazing people in our lives who helped shape who we’ve become today. Sure, there were plenty of times when you thought we were absolutely nuts, but hey…. It’s US! Do you really think we would ever just settle down and be normal? (I swear, we tried!) Come on, you know us better than that! Despite what you may think, we’re not sailing off into the sunset forever… we will be back. Until then, we’re only a phone call / plane ride away. And we promise to never attempt to beat the weather and to always wear sunscreen. We love you more than you could ever imagine and thank you for everything.

To the team at Annapolis Yacht Sales: we are so humbled and forever in your debt to everything you’ve given us over the past two years. Thank you for taking a chance on Matt when he walked through your doors asking for a job with absolutely NO experience working on boats. Your support has absolutely helped us get to where we’re at now – from helping us to find the perfect boat, to teaching us how to fix it up and learn to sail it, to providing an overwhelming net of support and encouragement to help us actually leave the dock. You are our cheerleaders, our friends, and by all means our family. If you ever want to open an office in the way, way South, let us know!

To Bumfuzzle and Windtraveler: two blogs that inspired us to go from Suburbs to Sailing. Thanks for sharing your stories and planting the seed to our dream! Here’s hoping that our adventure will turn out half as awesome as yours have been. If we ever cross paths in the future, drinks are on us!

To all of the vendors who have helped us make the boat ours. Charlie Saville at Warrior Yachting, Christopher Ford Yacht Canvas, Annapolis Rigging, the awesome staff at West Marine and Fawcett Boat Supplies in Annapolis, Ian at PYI for help with the auto pilot, Kate Chaney at AYS for the gel coat work, the staff at the Smokehouse Tavern and Bay Ridge Wine & Liquors for giving us sustenance (and liquid courage) to keep going, Annapolis Landing Marina for giving us a great slip with an amazing view, Pleasure Cove Marina & Staff…. The list goes on. It truly does take a village, and we thank you for all of your technical know how and support to get us on our way.

THANK YOU! We’ll catch you on the flip side!