All About the Dream Team

Now you know. We needed a celebrity name to go along with our inevitable celebrity status. Now that the blog is online, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.

Perhaps the most frequent question we hear is “What the hell are you doing?  Why sailing?” After realizing that teaching was not the career path I (Krystle) truly wanted, I found myself in a bit of a quandary. What the hell was I supposed to do with my life if I couldn’t use my degrees? Right around the same time, Craig went on a study abroad course with SEA (Sea Education Association) and sailed from Hawai’i to San Francisco aboard the SSV Robert C Seamans. I went to SF to greet him on the dock. I saw the ship, saw the photos, heard the stories, and was sold (even though he hadn’t showered in a significantly long time). Within a couple weeks I had submitted my application to attend the program myself, and sailed round-trip from Tahiti to Hawai’i. We can’t find words to truly express what the time on that ship meant to us, but it has clearly shaped the course of our lives. Plus, we just can’t believe that the whole reason we’re alive is to work most of the day for most of our days. It’s a big, gorgeous world out there (despite the boat name), and we intend to check it out.

All about Krystle

For the first time in my life, I find myself excited to write. This blog gives me the ability to talk about some of the things I love and hate about this dream we are pursuing, all while convincing myself that there is an audience out there eagerly awaiting my entries. Despite this new found excitement, I still struggle to write resumes, cover letters, and “about me” sections. So I’ll give it a shot, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The Basics:

• Born in and raised mostly in Chicago (CHI TOWN!!!)
• My family is crazy. I mean everyone has a crazy side to their family, but I am pretty sure all sides of my family are off their rockers. I can’t explain most of the things they do and have (for the most part) stopped trying. (If you’re reading this, dearest family: I assume that you already know this, but just to be clear, I love you despite/because of your quirks.)
• Forced to move to Phoenix for high school and never forgave my mom and step-dad for it. Because teenagers don’t appreciate anything being uprooted and having to make friends all over again. And because most of my family was in Chicago, so why would I want to leave? Plus, have you been to southern Arizona in the summer? It is literally hell on Earth.
• Attended and graduated from the University of Arizona because it was almost free after scholarships. Since I was planning on becoming a teacher, there was no reason to get into debt that I would never be able to pay off.
• Met Craig at age 20 and have been (mostly) stuck with him ever since. (Love you, boo!)
• Moved to Seattle in 2008 and felt like I finally found a city to call my own.

Bonus Round:

• What’s your favorite ice cream? Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. HANDS DOWN. I don’t even bother getting any other flavors because I’ll just be disappointed that I didn’t have cookie dough in it.
• Who are your favorite people? Other than Craig (duh), I have to give a shout out to my homegirls.
  1. Mamita – My maternal grandmother who is funnier than anyone suspects. She’s a food pusher, incessant interrogator, Croc-wearing, cancer surviving badass. She loves me and I love her and it’s adorable. Bonzai!! (That’s an inside joke we share. Because she’s hilarious.)
  2. Donna – My aunt who has been a friend and a pseudo mom to me through some rough times. She calls it like she sees it and isn’t afraid to tell me if she thinks I’m acting like a damn fool. (Very rare, I assure you.) I know that while we may not agree on all things, she’s got my back no matter what. She loves me and I love her and it’s rock solid.
  3. Joyce Gramma – My paternal grandmother passed away from lung cancer when I was just ten years old. (I WILL smack cigarettes out of your hand and/or harass you about smoking.) She was a strong woman who wasn’t afraid to talk to me about the uglier side of life, even as a child. She was my first soul mate, she loved me something fierce, and I continue to love her and think about her all the time.
• What’s an embarrassing story about yourself? For the first couple decades of my life I was painfully shy and felt embarrassed about the most mundane things ever. Now, despite finding my extroverted personality, I turn beet red every time we dock. Perhaps it is because we had an “incident” the second time we took Small World out of her slip that resulted in getting pinned to the dock, all the neighbors trying to push us off, and another neighbor jumping in his dinghy to help push us off the dock. Or perhaps it was because the third time out, our dinghy (in the davits) snagged the boat that belongs to our dock captain and some folks from the next dock tattled on us. (Don’t worry, we tattled on ourselves first.) Either way, every time we leave the slip I get nervous and just know that everyone is watching what happens in the fairway.

All about Craig

Craig, Craig-o, Eggman, Aquageek, Craigory, Craigumz, Bubba, Craigy boo-boo, Craigy-poo, C. I answer to all of the above along with Hey You. Rather than bore you with the long drawn out details of growing up in various small towns across the country, I’ll skip ahead to the long drawn out details of what I’m like now. Please enjoy the tidbits below. They are like tiny little sneak peaks into the weirdness that is me!

• I’ve seen 14 year old kids with more facial hair than I can grow. How the hell am I going to be a legit mariner without a beard? This is a serious concern so if you have any suggestions, please send them my way.
• Allegedly I make weird chewing noises and I let my teeth scrape the fork when I’m eating. Allegedly.
• My big pet peeve is when windshield wipers are moving too quickly for the amount of rain that is falling. I will reach across from the passenger seat and adjust your wipers. I’m a neurotic helpful person.
• Oh and another one. Coworkers that unnecessarily “Reply All” to emails. I’ll give $5 to the engineer that writes a program that requires users to solve a math problem before being able to utilize reply all. Ya know what, let’s make it $10 and a hand written thank you letter from the President. (I didn’t check first, but I’m sure he’d be on board with this idea. Mr. President, if you are reading this, please feel free to comment below with any additional stipulations or contributions. THANKS, OBAMA!)
• When I have cereal I take at least two different varieties and pour them in the same bowl. Despite living on a boat with very small amounts of storage, we regularly have 5+ kinds of cereal aboard to feed my addiction.
• We used to live by the airport and I memorized the departure schedules of the big UPS jets. I blame my father’s Navy career as a pilot for instilling this fascination in me. It’s genetic!
• Growing up I had an imaginary friend named Ralph. He was always the firefighter, lifeguard, airplane pilot, or stuntman. I think I was always hoping that one day I would be him. I may not be jumping into fires (which Krystle is pleased about), but let’s just say that his adventurous spirit continues to be part of me.