During a trip to Barbados last year with some friends we decided to charter a small yacht for a 4 day trip around the islands. The yacht was great, we had the hilarious and highly professional Captain Alexis Fecteau on board, as well as 3 staff who would prepare food and clean. I have to be honest I wasn’t thrilled by this, I have never really had much desire to take to the water, but under duress I went along, and I am so pleased I did! I absolutely loved being out at sea, and here is why I think others who feel like I did, will do too.
World Away
The reason why any of us take a vacation is to get away from it all, to get away from our daily grind and just hit the pause button for a while. I have now learned that there is nowhere better to do that than heading out to sea. With the exception of the occasional boat in the distance, there is absolutely nobody else near you and once you get out of shot of the land you’ve left behind, you are out there, alone, in absolute peace.
Bonding
I found that this was a great bonding experience and although we were all friends already, this gave us some concentrated time to spend with each other, without distractions. To be honest we even struck up a great relationship with Captain Alexis and the service crew, all of whom were warm and friendly.
Night Sky
Something which completely took me by surprise was how the sky looked when the sun went down. I was already looking forward to an uninterrupted view of the sunset, but I had no idea the sheer scale and beauty of the starry night sky. On land we often have this magical view obstructed by light pollution which inhibits our ability to spot all of the constellations and planets which are visible with the naked eye. Out there on the boat however there is nothing getting in the way and you feel so close to those stars that you feel you could reach out and touch them.
Surprises
There are always surprises which you may find when you are out at sea and in the last year, during a number of sea trips, we have ran into some special sights. Groups of whales swimming past the boat, strange beaches in the middle of the ocean where we have spent an afternoon, shooting stars and random islands which look like paradise. Although you may not expect to see anything during your time at sea other than coasts and waves, there are things that very well may surprise you as you sail across the water.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of heading out on a boat before, it is something which I would wholeheartedly recommend to you.
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