We’re pleased to announce …. (imagine a drum roll here)….. that we are casting off the dock lines and launching ARIOSE NOTES, our blog about our cruising-related experiences. We’re beginners at this blogging stuff – and cruising stuff, come to think of it – so don’t expect us to hoist our sails and immediately head out into the high seas, so to speak. We’re going to offer the equivalent of a cautious motoring out of the marina, and get comfortable over the next few months recording and sharing the lead up to our adventure.

What is this adventure? We plan to cruise on Ariose, our Alberg 30, from Ontario, Canada to the Caribbean, and we are aiming to set sail around October 1^st. Well, initially we’re heading south from Lake Ontario along the New York State canal system, so I guess “set motor” is a little more accurate. “Set sail” will happen once we hit the Atlantic. We plan to use this blog to write about it.

That’s the short answer to the “what” question. The details of our plans, our motivation, and what we are hoping to accomplish is a little more complicated to describe.   We’ve recorded a conversation we recently had while sitting on Tim’s front porch watching the snow melt, about our intentions. We invite you to check out our “About our Cruising” and let us know what you think.

But why have we decided to blog about our experiences? Mainly for personal reasons. We have both journalled in the past: Tim for much of his life and my journalling has focused on my travels. We both lean toward and enjoy writing as a way of capturing our experiences. I’ve been organizing past family photos and memorabilia recently, and have been shocked at how many important events, and even people who were important to me, have fully slipped from my recollection. That’s scary. Not only will our blogging serve to hold future memories, the very act of knowing we intend to record highlights and reflections, and the actual act of recording them, we hope will be a powerful lens to focus our attention and give us pause to appreciate. So it is an easy decision to document our experiences.

Making our record public through this blog, though, has been a harder decision. We have a nagging concern about joining what feels like the growing “look at me” culture. I rarely even use Facebook because of my discomfort with shifts in personal boundaries and the way social media brings out a voyeuristic side in me that I prefer to pretend doesn’t exist.  The hypocrisy isn’t lost on us about putting our experiences out there.

There are lots of positives, though – enough to convince us to give it a try. The pressure of going public may serve as added incentive to follow through on our intention to record our experiences, and that may be helpful at times when our motivation is sagging. It also allows us to share with family and friends, and anyone else interested. That’s good. It can be a means for us to stay connected to those we care about. Our sharing may even be appealing to a wider audience. We can provide vicarious entertainment for some, or perhaps encourage others to act on their dreams. We certainly have REALLY appreciated the learning and the inspiration from others who have adopted a cruising lifestyle or tackled work on older boats and have shared online: the Delos crew, the Shards, Offshore Harbour, Good Old Boat, and so many others. We do hope our blog is not a one-way dialogue – we’d be thrilled if you share your impressions and experiences with us too.

We expect our blog to cover a wide net of subjects. We’ll capture topics that interest us, or move us, or cause us to pause, as well as day-to-day what-we’re-up-to details. Cruising will be our unifying theme, but we’ll let subjects flow as the winds and currents direct us.

So, that’s what our intentions are in heading off to cruise, and in blogging about our experiences.

Welcome aboard! Glad to have you along.

~ Shirley & Tim, SV Ariose