Here in the summer of 2024, I decided to start a new way of life. Recently retired at 62 years old, I thought, “Ah, what the hell.” I made a decision that started what I think could be a new unfolding of adventures in my life. Like most people, I spent all the previous years of my adult life handling things that needed to be done. The kids today call it “adulting.” Job, children, house that was slightly bigger than I could afford, build a business, care for an ill spouse, lose my spouse, keep looking for life, and always live within limits imposed by society and “the way things are.” But here I was at 62 and nothing was the way that old dream promised. My wife died at the young age of 56. My family was healing but still broken. I was exhausted from working so hard for so long, and there wasn’t that much to show for it. All I really had was my cabin on ten acres in the forest, a small group of new acquaintances who were mostly well into their seventies, and my sailboat. “How the hell did I get here?” I wondered.
Gardening and living off the land had been a dream of mine all my life, and my cabin home showed it. I had developed a lovely large garden. I’d been dabbling in maple syrup. I had dreamed of what a piece of land could mean again ever since I left the land my wife and I had purchased before we were parents. We left only a few years later, but the dream never died. Having this place was, I thought, the best that things could be.
And then I had an idea: Why not go live on the sailboat? It’s a 38 foot C&C Landfall, so the boat has plenty of space for living aboard. But I thought: Maybe not. Maybe I’ll just experiment with it. See what it is like. Two thirds on the boat, one third in the woods. We got the boat into the water in early May. I spent some time there, worked on her, raced on Memorial Day weekend, then got more to work. I don’t know when exactly the decision was made, but pretty soon I heard myself telling others: “I’m living on the boat this summer!”
Thus began my adventure. So far, the adventure has two aspects—the boat and the community. As soon as I started staying on the boat, I realized I had some work to do. For years, I had limited time to spend here and so when I did get here, the urge to sail was strong. Let’s see, I really should fix that leak in the head where blue stuff is dribbling on the floor. And that propane issue should be solved. And… But then I would realize that I only had three days, only two of them were nice weather, and I declared to whoever was there, “Ah hell, let’s go sailing!”
That’s how you end up with a large project list on your boat just to make it livable.
The second aspect is the community, and this is where I was very surprised. Bayfield is a wonderful place to live in the summer. I’m at Port Superior, which is an unusual marina. When people are here, they sleep on their boats. They stay at the marina. The marina has a swimming pool, a nice clubhouse where people often gather, a restaurant, and a wonderful deck that overlooks the marina.
But even better, I find myself a two minute drive from Ashwabay mountain bike trails, two minutes from Big Top Chautauqua, and two minutes from Bayfield, which has restaurants, hardware store, groceries, and so on. Plus, if you need a little more town, Washburn is ten minutes and Ashland is twenty. And there is virtually no traffic! It seems like the perfect place to live!
At least, it is perfect for the summer.
And this is why this decision is launching a bigger adventure in life. Living on a boat in Lake Superior is not a year round solution. The boats come out of the water in October at the latest. There can be a lovely autumn, but living on a boat that is “up on the hard” (out of the water) is no fun at all. And then winter sets in, and you pretty much want to be anywhere but on Lake Superior.
So what comes next? I have no idea. Perhaps I will write it here when I know. For now, it is enough to say the adventure is launching now, and to share it as I go. But I hope that one thing separates this blog of the adventures from others. I hope for it to reveal and document as much of the inner journey as the outer one. Everything in life seems to have an inner, spiritual component, especially at this age. There will be facts and projects and trips and explorations, but I hope to bring this other dimension along as well. It seems important as we steamroll into and through the last one third of life.
Anthony Signorelli