Daughter of A Sailor
Voices mix with the ice in the whiskey and the night pulls up around us.
Worn boots rest on weathered decks.
Half-mast eyes look on.
Glass rims are raised to meet knowing smiles.
Time pushes back against the tide coming in and for a moment it is within this still alcove of water that all else in the world pauses too.
It is a storied wonder that this is perceived as a type of heaven.
—☽ —
Released with my Daughter of A Sailor video a few weeks ago was this gem! A piece focused on my Father, the sailor, and his beautiful masterfully built wooden boat, Una.
You can watch the video here!
And see more of The Sailor's boat building escapades on his blog.
And more of our joint sailing adventures on our instagram.
this was my first overnight on Luna.
a little over a year ago now.
it's crazy to think that she's been with us for a year and a half.
it seems like just yesterday that we drove across the country to get her.
such a wonderful addition to our ever changing boat family.
adventures can be had anywhere. but the ones on the water always end up being my favorite.
A crisp overnight sail.
Listening to The Replacements, drinking beer-then-whiskey, "I don't think Morrissey cares about French girls", knitting in the cockpit, stuffing over-layered limbs into sleeping bags and underneath piled high blankets and watching the night progress and move behind and around a lone lit lantern with a kind of enrapture and attentiveness that can only come from being in the warm belly of a boat on a winters night out on the open water.
these are film photos, but you can also see some digital ones from the same trip here.
Shot with Extar 100 35mm film
a goodbye i never sent
you were a faithful home away from home.
thank you for the ferrying of my heart into and out of it's ever changing seasons.
you were always there, constant.
i grew to know myself, and the world i live in, in ways i'm not sure i would have otherwise.
thank you for that gentle allowance and space for discovering those long ago washed up things.
i will miss you always.
the sailing season is drawing to a close here on the east coast.
the last spread-eagle-fingers of warmth are disappearing and trading places with their counterparts of cold winded gusts.
always a bittersweet time.
though a chance to look back on all the adventures had and sails enjoyed during the year, as well as a chance to look forward at all of the projects (nautically related or otherwise) that the upcoming months will bring.
i'm hoping the upcoming months will, in particular, allow me some extra time to post more on and about tumblehome.
the idea and concept for this venture with my father, the sailor, has been more of a work in progress and larger concept in need of further development than i originally realized...
but i'm still excited about what it can become.
just wanted to give you all an update on it as so many of you have expressed interest and excitement for the ideas i've already, however limitedly, shared.
keep expressing that. i need the encouragement.
i think one of the bigger things i'm trying to figure out in regards to it is whether or not it needs it's own website or if I can get away with continuing to link it up with A Girl Named Leney and posting here on the blog.... hmm.
what do you think?
the idea is so much a part of me, as is A Girl Named Leney as a whole, and so I'm tempted to mesh them together but the more i've been contemplating it, the more i think it begs to have it's own space for proper execution.
i'll have to keep thinking on that.
if you want to keep up with the latest on Tumblehome you can follow us on instagram and facebook.
we have a Tumblr too... though i've been pretty inconsistent with posting on that lately....
//
Shot in Agfa Vista 200 35mm film
The first of many adventures under the Tumblehome name.
This road trip up to Maine with Una and my Father, The Sailor, and our puppy named Huck, was one of the highlights of my Summer.
Camping on islands, early morning foggy sails, food cooked over a fire, drinks and stories shared with new friends, refreshing (ie: frigid) afternoon swims, shell-rock-driftwood collecting and quality time with one of my favorite people in the world all captured a mood and feeling of simplicity, intention, and that not-so-elusive-after-all slow living mindset I am always chasing after.
See more photos from our trip by following us over on our Instagram.
I thought I would take this day, Father's Day, the day in which we celebrate all of those special irreplaceable men in our lives, to announce a venture I am embarking on with my own Father.
One I am extremely excited about...
Tumblehome.
For those of you who follow me on Instagram you may have seen this post already, but I wanted to announce it here, as well as go a little more in depth about it!
Tumblehome is a brand my father, the sailor, and I are starting together.
(That's right friends, you are finally going to gain the privilege of learning a little bit more about the other person behind all of my #daughterofasailor posts.)
We both value the art of mindful and intentional living and sailing embodies so much of that mindset for us.
There's a simplicity that comes with being on a boat that teaches you to have an intentional mindset in other areas of your life as well.
Because so often it's just you, the wind, the water, and going from point A to point B.
You learn to be patient, to slow down and that it's about the journey, not the destination.
It's one of the biggest parts of my life, and I know my Father's as well, that consistently reminds me of that.
It strips everything down and there's a stillness and peacefulness that allows for the contemplation of what really matters.
Which is why we are pursuing the venture of making well made, quality goods that we design and hand craft together.
Because quality vs. quantity is another one of our mottos, and we want our creative endeavors and pursuits to reflect that as well.
We hope that you'll be up for sharing that mantra as we gain inspiration in our day to day adventures together and apart.
All goods will be handcrafted here in Richmond, VA with found and recycled materials or sourced here in the US whenever possible.
There might be a website in the works but in the meantime follow us on Instagram and Facebook as we start to talk more about our adventures and prep handmade goods for the shop this summer!
In closing, I'll leave you with a little definition of the word Tumblehome...
tum·ble·home
ˈtəmbəlˌhōm/
noun
the inward slope of the upper part of the sides of a boat or ship.
This is a story about a boat.
We drove all the way to Mattawan Michigan for her, and then we brought her back.
I feel overly fortunate to be able to say that I consider both of my parents to be some of my very best friends. This road trip with my Dad in particular is home now to some of my favorite times with him that are going to be hard to beat to be honest.
Discovering an abandoned Airstream trailer (post with photos forthcoming) during our trip was of course a highlight and culprit to intensifying my Airstream dream, and there was a stop at a yarn shop (no surprise there). But those experiences aside, there's very little that means more to me than just simply being with the people I love and doing life with them, in whatever way it's presented to us. Whether it's having coffee on their back porch, dancing our feet off wherever there's good music (or even when there's not), sitting at a kitchen counter talking while they cook (because we all know my cooking skills leave much to be desired) or sitting shotgun in a truck for twelve hours.
On the first day of the road trip we passed a sailboat off the highway that was sitting in a yard and on her transom was the name Moon Dust. I wrote it down because I loved it so much.
I'm forever making notes and lists and scribbles of words/phrases/lyrics/sentences I like.
But it must've stuck somehow because on the way home, as we were brainstorming the name for her, I couldn't get Luna out of my head.
And so it just sort of came out.
And it just sort of stuck.
So Luna she was christened.
(Not to be confused with Una of course, her sister)
The day after getting home I realized how attached I already was to her. Perhaps it was because I helped name her, and as humans we often get so attached to the things we name, or perhaps it's because of the journey and the memories along the way in retrieving her.
I'm not really questioning it though, whatever the reason.
She's going to be a great new adventure.
Even her old name, Andiamo, which is "Go" in Italian, speaks to a spirit of adventure and seeking out and discovering new waters and places unseen that I think she already embodies.
