Owning Our Story

Eric and I before the ARC2018 start
Las Palmas, Gran Canary, Spain

Thank you for visiting our blog and the story of our circumnavigation!

As of this date, 5 January 2019, we have successfully sailed 45,000 NM on our circumnavigation.  We have visited 49 countries, and many of them are featured here in previous entries.  Is is our goal to continue to share these stories and inspire many of you to pursue your own dreams, for dreams do come true!  Our dream to circumnavigate the world began a long time ago, with a yacht race from Long Beach, California to La Paz, Mexico in 1979.  We plan to share this story and many others with you over the next several posts!

Prepping the country flags after the ARC2018 finish, St. Lucia
photo courtesy of Hugo De Pavant

It's not impossible to dream.  It's not impossible to fulfill a difficult task that is limited by pain or discomfort.  On Sea Child, Eric and I have suffered hardships and challenges in the most remote places on the planet.  We've met fantastic people in all parts of the world, with different cultures and religions and political points of view.  We will share more of these meetings and stories with you as well.

Arriving into the Yemen Port at Socotra
photo courtesy of Denis Romanov, Socotra.info

In our past posts, we only touched on some of the highlights of our destinations.  For example, on our Gulf of Aden Crossing (see story by clicking link on right under 2016),  I experienced a high level of anxiety after coming up on watch and finding that Eric had jibed Sea Child on a course of 270, taking us closer to the IRTC lanes but at the same time closer to the coast of Somalia.  This high anxiety caused a certain level of pain due to my 17 year battle with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).  There are many other details about our world journey that you may find inspiring in overcoming personal challenges while achieving life goals.

Sea Child at Graciosa, Canary Islands, Spain

It is our hope that we can help you achieve your goals through the inspiring tales that we will keep sharing.  We will also get into more of our  own personal hardships, while at sea or on land.  We will share how I overcame a high fever for several days in Kos, Greece.  We will also share how Eric saved our torn spinnaker and how it fell back on the deck rather than into the water while sailing at 11 knots.  And we will open our picture book to give you a glimpse at our views along the way.  So stay tuned and be sure to add your name to our followers list by clicking the "follow" button on the right.

Sea Child at Tavolara, Sardinia
Summer 2018

Again, thank you for your time and interest in our Sea Child: Big Cat Sailing Around the World.  Please come back often and bookmark this page.  The story continues and we will share the challenges we have overcome along the miles at sea.  It's not the easiest thing to do, to sail the world either with a group or double handed.  But it has been worth it every nautical mile we've traveled.

Happy 2019 from Eric and I on Sea Child!

Celebrating our circumnavigation at the ARC2018  finish, St. Lucia
8 December 2018

Smooth Sailing,
Tamara Barto

Please come back for our next story: 
Eastern Mediterranean Crossing: From Port Said to Turunc, Turkey including the Suez Canal transit