AWESOME

Who: Jamie and Matthew
Where: Seattle’s Lake Union, WA, USA
Multihull: 68’ power cat Malcom Tennant design www.awesomecatamaran.com

Mermaid Crossing would become my lightfilled, single-girl sanctuary and my blissful home base filled with music, friendships, and carefree heart-healing fun. I learned how tightly friendships can be forged and renewed among the diverse collection of characters that make up the tightly-knit marina communities around the lake. I stood up to the myriad of challenges that boat ownership brings and conquered them alone, one by one, building character and perspective with each temporary setback. The self-reliance was nourishing. Eventually, my pursuit of happiness led me to skippering my own 27’ sloop, Affinity, and I took great pleasure in the freedom that exploring the Sound by small craft afforded. With my nautical passion to guide me I finally came to peace with pressing realities back then: the sun was setting on my potential for a family and life as a single-handed cruiser was my most likely course. So be it. As the old adage goes: you can’t change the wind, but you can adjust your sails. I had mentally set my new course, trimmed my sheets, furled up my jib, and embraced the coming horizon. Then I met Matthew. And isn’t that always the way…to find what you seek, you have to let it all go. Our story is basically a nautical, Seattleite version of Girl-with-Cat meets Boy-with-Dog. The spark ignited, we checked our compatibility as sailors do with a relationship-testing shakedown cruise for several weeks up into BC waters aboard Matthew’s beloved 54’ sailing catamaran, Boondock.

Turns out, you can find a mutually perfect match later in life and fall into intense love, even with a pair of heavily seasoned hearts. With Mermaid Crossing sold, we set our sights on the next vessel for our little family and our future aspirations to visit distant parts the world by boat. Our daughter was just over a year old when we purchased Awesome.

I’m thinking it may soon be an ideal time to cast off on a South Pacific/Australia/New Zealand adventure for a couple of years. You only live once. Living aboard as a family brings amazing quality time and a satisfying organic connection to the rhythm of the tides and the marine environment at large.