One of the few remaining constants in my life has been our Sunday morning tradition of watching YouTube sailing videos, something we started back in 2019. I first stumbled upon Sailing Parlay Revival when YouTube recommended their video following an episode of SV Delos or Gone with the Wynns. I was captivated by the romanticized idea of buying a broken boat and restoring it back to its former glory. Fixing a hurricane-damaged boat is a monumental task. We watched each week as they attacked their projects head-on, armed only with Colin’s experience working on superyachts and his Kiwi “can-do” attitude. He always managed to stay positive, even after the craziest of setbacks. It was so inspirational to watch, and his channel quickly became our favorite on YouTube.   

As I followed his journey, I couldn’t help but imagine myself being on the Parlay crew sailing the world. I cherished the thought of being with friends on a mission, each of us on our own path of a shared dream. But these moments were short-lived. Reality would set in as I caught a glimpse of the kids on one side of me or my wife or the other. “If only I were younger,” I would think to myself. I would have killed to be a part of that ragtag crew. They had cut ties with society and were free to go anywhere the wind took them – but it was just a far-fetched fantasy, something I could only experience in another life. But life has a way of providing the unimaginable and leading you there if you are only willing to leap. Never in a million years could I have predicted that all these dreams would come true, that I would see myself on those very same Parlay Revival videos years later.