Finding SV Terikah

How does one choose THE boat to take their family thousands of miles safely, across open oceans between tight passes, and become a family home? 

We first looked to our beloved 36-foot Bayfield monohull.  Having put 10,000 miles under her keel, we know her ins and outs and she has been our family boat for seventeen years.  It has been the right boat for our young family, but we realized with pain and honesty, that it is not the right boat for this voyage of much longer distance for much more time than we’ve done before.  I’d feel anxious in rough seas when we’d have to leave the cockpit to go forward to the mast to raise our main.  We also needed more water and fuel capacity, as well as more space for food to feed the hungry teenagers.

Then started the discussion of monohull versus multihull.  The stability of a multihull, like a catamaran (2 hulls), appealed to me.  To be honest, a video I saw of a woman’s wine glass sitting out on the table underway had me sold!  We knew we wanted skeg-hung rudders, direct-drive on the engines, a protected cockpit (and many other details) and found only monohulls that met our specific criteria. 

One night, I was reading an article in Cruising World about a family of four cruising the world and doing “boat-schooling” along the way; the family has a 44’ Antares catamaran.  I was intrigued and shared my discovery with Chris.  The next day I received a text from Chris, “I think you found the boat.”  Known as a family long-distance cruising cat and the best live-aboard cat, I saw them all over the globe, out there actually cruising.  We loved the direct drive, stability, rooms for teens, redundancy of systems, all lines back to the cockpit, a lovely galley, water maker, built in solar panels, and a more traditionally styled classic wooden interior that felt like home.  However, they only build about 5 per year in Argentina and it’s hard to find one used.  As luck would have it, a used 2018 one popped up in San Diego. 

A sea trial and survey later, Chris carried me over the threshold of yet another boat! 

We  named her TERIKAH, a combination of our parents’ names (Terry, Erin, Kathy, & Henry) in thanks for the life they gave us that helped make this dream a reality – though they may be hesitant to accept responsibility for this!  

We are currently in San Diego for Spring Break, working on projects and prep for our voyage.  We have lists of lists and lists, cross one thing off and add another one (or two!).  I could write a blog entry on each of these.  In brief, I’ve been working on country-specific planning (paperwork, safety, logistics), provisioning and meal planning, an extensive medical kit (for us and others along the way if needed), entertainment (audio books, music, games), and boat-school planning for a 6^th and 8^th grader (we’re going to have an awesome Marine Science course!).  Chris is diving into electrical projects, getting tools and spare parts for the engine and all other systems on board.  There is constant maintenance on a boat with two engines, heads, pumps, winches, rigging, water maker, sails, etc…

This trip he replaced the stovetop with a safer one and we just hauled out to get new struts.  It was pretty wild to see Terikah flying in the sky hanging from the travel lift! 

We are updating charts and safety gear and technology.  Yes, we are getting Starlink on board to assist with communication, weather, and charting.  The kids are busy with boat cleaning, line handling, and getting gear for fishing. 

We ponder questions such as, if there are 5 people on a 30 day crossing, how much water do we need to carry?  What collection, both metric and standard, of wrenches should we carry?

All this prep is part of the learning and journey, as we stack the deck (or dock?!) for success with our departure date of November 1, 2023, coming right up!

I adore the quote: “Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry).”    I’m excited to have such an amazing partner in this journey and kids who are willing to jump into this family adventure.