By Kimberly Mayer

“As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.” Rumi

We are thinking about selling the boat. The boat that brought us here, to the San Juan Islands. We lived in Seattle then and we were just starting to dream about living here.

We found a waterfront house on San Juan Island and lived on the boat in the marina while our home was being remodeled. On our bay there are no ferries, no commercial boats of any kind. Only residents quietly coming and going in kayaks, canoes, and small fishing boats. We see our neighbors paddling by more often than we do on the shore.

This is where I want to live, I said way back then. At the end of the world. The archipelago reminded me of Pat Conroy’s beloved low country in South Carolina. The turning back of the clock, stuck in time, almost off the grid.

Life on an island will be made even smaller if we sell our boat. Will we lose this connection to other islands?

When a woman I know from Houston came to Seattle on book tour she remarked, “When you’ve seen one pine tree you’ve seen them all.” I’m wondering, is it that way with islands? I think not. You can turn my husband around at sea and he can identify any island by its shape, by the contour of its hills.

The islands are individuals much like trees are sentient beings. We have talked to the kids about the boat and everyone understands. The boat is getting old, and we’re not getting younger. For one reason or another, she is spending too much time in the slip. A couple of our friends recently sold their boat. Another couple was relieved when their sailboat sank.

Lately, a broken down expresso machine at home impacts us more than the loss of a trawler.

Haven’t I always said the smaller the boat, the more fun? Our time would be freed up to kayak more. Kayaks, paddleboards, a canoe, and a rowboat, such is the small fleet at home.

As my friend said on putting down her dear old ailing dog, “As much as I miss her every day, I’m thinking I may have kept her too long.”

We are living with the idea. I’ll write this up and see which way the wind blows. We’re heading out this week to the Gulf Islands, BC, and time will tell. Trawling will tell. It’s a fluid situation.