We’re coming up on Thanksgiving here in the US, and though gratitude is a regular practice in our house, it seems only fitting to call out a special round of thanks. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, bar none, because of the emphasis on family and food - and particularly on those who have gone before us, paving the way in whatever way you want to define it. Our work on the boat, as we prep to go cruising once again, is paved by incredible generosity and help.

As I write this, we’re hanging out in a cozy waterfront home in Deltaville, 8 minutes (if we get stuck behind a slow-moving tractor or deer-peeping car) from the boat. This means we can knock out a couple of hours of work each night. We can put a coat of paint on bunk boards that are set up on sawhorses on the (well-protected from our paint and sawdust) screen porch. We can drive to Calypso at her berth at Fishing Bay Yacht Club, grind fiberglass until we can’t stand it anymore, and head home to a place that is far closer than 3 hours away. Thank you, Amy and Sean McGlynn, for offering us the use of your wonderful river place. We’ll take good care of it and tag you in any progress photos we post!!

Even closer to Calypso, a mere 2 minutes away by car, we have the use of a garage (and frequent dinner invitations) where we can set up shop for the “gotta endlessly fit it on board and then take it off to tweak it” projects. Alison and David Lennarz have been friends for longer than we’ve owned the boat - in fact, Alison is directly responsible for Jeremy and me even meeting each other. We’ve worked together at Sail Caribbean, taken vacations together in the Bahamas and the Outer Banks, and revel in seeing the world through similar eyes. Their endless enthusiasm for our cruising lifestyle (and their enjoyment of it!) is matched by the way they offer space, time, showers, and time together. There are no words that can express our appreciation for their friendship and belief in us.

This time last year, we were similarly able to set up a home base close to the boat when Carol Vaughn and Dave Tabor asked us to housesit for them while they joined the Oyster Around the World Rally. We were still Charlottesville-bound for much of the time as our younger child was a senior in high school, but we headed to the river on Friday nights and knocked out a LOT of work in the process. Being able to say, “We’ve done enough” and to just drop the work where it was, not having to clean up and make the boat habitable? Priceless. I know than once we actually head off cruising, boat work will be done around and among the everyday detritus of life. It’s beyond amazing to not have to live that way now.

We are incredibly fortunate to have families who, if they don’t understand our desire to head off into the sunset, at least support us to the best of their abilities. My parents, Linda and Phil Chapman, and Jeremy’s mom, Anik Waters, ask questions, share ideas, and have even flown to join us on occasion. Christmas in Bermuda next year, anyone? We’re well aware that not everyone has parents as supportive as ours, even when cruising isn’t part of the dream. Lucky, lucky us. Our kids, too, while being less than thrilled that we’re pulling this off after they’ve left the house, are still cheering us on, “liking” every progress post on Instagram and enthusiastically asking us about the latest plans. Julian and Bee, we hit the jackpot - and so did the world.

There are people who daily lend us support, by asking questions or listening to rants or even asking for our advice on things. Behan and Jamie Gifford, Carolyn Shearlock, Wendy Mitman Clarke - I cannot even begin to fathom how we’d be doing without you.

This is turning into an Oscar-awards reminiscent “thank the whole world”, which is not my intent. Basically, it’s a reminder to all of us that we’re not in this alone. Sure, what we do with our support is up to us. But nobody, in any fashion, does anything in a vacuum. Thanks.