We just sailed into Moorea to spend New Years. During the last 2 months, the weather has been breezy and unseasonably “wintery” but now the heat is sweltering in the southern hemisphere summertime. It took energy to escape the lethargy but I’m glad we motivated!

In the next few weeks, we hope to transition our catamaran Selaví to new owners, start a Green Coco partnership program, and move our life to the Seychelles islands.

We’re happy to unwind and reflect today, amidst all the furor of sorting stuff, packing boxes & duffle bags, repairing the all little things in the boat, and preparing to move onto our new boat in February…

Moorea is one of our favorite islands in Polynesia. It’s just so beautiful. This anchorage has epic snorkeling and great waves, a perfectly calm lagoon, and insane scenery. I ask myself, “why are we leaving?? It would be so easy to stay forever…”

It’s a good question — why change? I think it ties into the heart of why people make New Years Resolutions. It ties into our philosophy on life, which can be boiled down to:

“Follow the stoke. Do what lights you up”. 

On the surface, this may sound like hedonism. But actually, it is disciplined joy!

Resolutions are typically things you think you should do — what you imagine will likely bring you joy in the future. Like stop smoking and going to the gym. It is an investment in your future health and happiness.

Honestly, if we didn’t have kids, we probably wouldn’t be starting this Expedition. We would probably be happy to just stick around French Polynesia, showing people around, surfing, kiting, and sailing. Why change a winning game? That’s a great question.

The motivation to give our kids a fantastic education got us on this track. We’re launching a world-schooling circumnavigation. Starting with this crazy move to the Seychelles, sailing around East Africa, and crossing the Atlantic. We sometimes feel swamped with this transition. We feel a bit sad to leave. But we know it’s the right thing to do for our family and community.

This transition takes a lot of discipline… We are hustling and struggling to get it all done; we are bypassing some big-time enjoyment now, for the name of wellbeing later. What will light us up in the future.

New Years Resolutions are an exercise of this muscle of discipline. We are investing into what will light us up in the future. Right now it feels hard and unnatural. But it makes the foundation for a better life. Discipline is a tough skill to master though.

Luckily, sailing gives us a ton of practice with discipline. As captains we’re constantly confronted with a million decisions while sailing. Lines are chafing. Squalls approaching. Is the mainsail going to tear? Will we arrive before sunset? The answers are not always clear. To make the right decision takes a lot of energy. Sometime literally, with 45 minutes of hard effort for seemingly no gain. Yet inaction may have significant consequences. It takes a lot of discipline to make the right choices.

Making the right choices lies at the heart of seamanship. The goal is to reach the next anchorage in one piece! Preserving the integrity of the boat and crew morale are paramount. Not only to keep the boat from breaking down; so we can reach dreamy anchorages like Moorea and enjoy sunset with a nice cold drink.. that’s what it’s all about.

If the boat is weakened by issues, we may never arrive at that lovely anchorage… or if we do, we might be terribly stressed out. If we are vulnerable to breakdown, problems can spiral out of control. I consider this a low energy state. Boat and crew can be compromised. Bad news.

Over time (with lots of mistakes under our belt!), we learned the value of fixing things ahead of time. Those are the little things that nag us in the back of our minds. Discipline comes from following this intuition time and time again. To make the boat seaworthy and resilient; to increase the energy of each system, so the boat can always deal with ups and downs. To get us to those new anchorages and enjoy them fully.

In 2024 our resolution is : doing what lights us up, for the present moment AND for the future. This is such a dance. Let’s keep evolving, following the stoke and enjoying the dance!