Vision, Passion and an Experience of a Lifetime

By Dave Dawe

“You’re doing what?”

That was a question we had to answer quite often as we let people know our idea. For years my wife Shirley and I dreamed of taking our son Christopher on an extended family adventure - to do something totally different as a family and experience the world from a unique perspective. In what seems like a blink of an eye, we have completed our year of adventure and now I am back, refreshed and focused with the InCourage team.

And what an adventure it was! We embarked on a sailing trip from Lake Ontario to the Florida Keys and back – about 7,000km. Sometimes it seemed like I was taking this notion of courage a bit too seriously and I felt like I was in over my head. Somehow the three of us were always able to pull it together and keep us and the boat safely above water. 

To make this all happen there were a few significant hurdles to get over before we could cast off. Having never sailed before was the most significant one and we were counseled many times by well meaning advisors that we may want to rethink this plan. We overcame that by taking a couple of courses, joining a sailing club the summer before and asking lots of questions. Buying the boat and learning about all the systems was the next challenge that threatened to overwhelm us. I am not a mechanic and working in the tight, awkward quarters of a boat engine compartment, while the boat is rocking and rolling was stretching my capacity to cope. But my enthusiasm to make it work always seemed to win out. Another potential pitfall was that Christopher, who is a 16 year old with Down syndrome, cannot swim. This meant creating and living stringent procedures for all of us to minimize the possibility of him going overboard without adequate support. After this short intense time of preparation and seeking much help we cast off from Hamilton Harbour and headed south.

 What a wonderful feeling! Just minutes after leaving the dock I could feel the weight and pressure of getting ready start dissolving. We were underway!

If we had boarded a plane then hopped on a boat and drifted around Florida for awhile this would have been considered a holiday. Journeying all the way down the eastern seaboard however, was probably some of the hardest, sustained work I’ve ever done. Constantly dealing with the weather and the water conditions and venturing into the unknown on a daily basis is exhilarating and exhausting at the same time.

We did spend a few months exploring and relaxing in the clear waters of the Keys and then it was time to point the boat north for the journey home. As you might imagine, excitement was the norm and there was a lot of learning along the way. The world of traveling by boat is rich with metaphors and analogies that leap out to instruct us in aspects of our work and personal lives. A key lesson of this unlikely adventure for our family is that, having vision and passion are tremendous forces to make the impossible possible - even when the required conditions for success are not readily apparent. I am still digesting many of the lessons and am looking forward to sharing these as the opportunities arise.