Our new home !

"To be successful at sea we must keep things simple." - Pete Culler

Sunset over our new home! After a lifetime of planning and a mountain of effort it is finally a reality. Our little family has been living at anchor on the boat now for a couple of months travelling up the west coast of Martinique and Dominica. It is hard for me to articulate the range of feelings experienced since we have moved on board. Something like a sublime sense of elation overlayed with fatigue interspersed with periods of frustration tending towards despondency. Life abord amplifies everything; higher highs and lower lows. It is simultaneously much more complicated, yet in many fundamental ways much simpler. There is also the constant paradoxical feeling of having the ultimate freedom to go anywhere, while at the same time feeling somewhat trapped on the boat.

As we were forewarned, sailing with three small kids is primarily childcare and boat maintenance in exotic locations. Yet as one sails from place to place there is an overwhelming sense that you really are alive, immersed totally in the elements and the physical reality surrounding you. This along with a totally different perspective on the people and cultures you interact with when you arrive by boat is something that you rarely get from everyday life or other forms of travel.

The backlog of photos to edit is getting longer by the day. I have almost a years’ worth now to edit given I have been struggling to post more than once a month. I finally have a replacement laptop after my previous one died in the humidity with a swollen battery two months ago. The goal is to post more frequently as we have truly seen some amazing parts of the planet this past year that I think is worth sharing.

If you would like to learn a little bit more about my background in photography you can read the interview @photofeed did with me here.

Robert Downie
Love Life, Love Photography

_{All images in this post were taken by and remain the Copyright of Robert Downie - http://www.robertdowniephotography.com}