Quite a few years ago, 2015 to be exact, Alchemy and its three mini-pirates returned to shore after 13,000 miles at sea. We had sailed from Burlington, VT to Dominica in a vintage 1974 41′ racing sailboat. Many adventures were had, Legos played with, ice cream eaten, sails torn, and donkey’s freed.
Returning to shore, the pirates started another journey, one through their middle and high schools. As 13, 11 and 9 years old’s, this was a new journey of adventures of a different sort!
After a brief stint with another vintage sail boat, a 1968 Pearson, we have moved to a form of transport that has started getting much more use – a 1985 Westfalia Van.
The Westfalia Van was, and still is, a cult classic vehicle. It has a huge following in Europe and the US, with millions on the road. Just like the Tartan we once sailed in, it’s an enduring classic used by thousands as their escape pod to adventures.
In the year plus since we bought our van, we’ve had a few adventures. Broken down (a Westfalia must-do it seems), camped on beaches and next to fire pits.
With their busy lives, now 21, 19 and 17, we haven’t yet managed to adventure together, but have still managed each to spend some time with the new (to us) van.
With trips already under the belt to Main, Rhode Island, Montreal and locally around Vermont, we’ll try to document more of our travels in the van here.
All Westfalia’s have a name apparently. We decided on “Bob”. I’m not sure why – it just sounded right. If you are wondering, the tally marks on the dash were the number of cars we overtook that month. Westfalia’s are sometimes described as “fast houses” 🙂
Sailing With Kids 