Safe Harbor: A Year on the North Shore

A year ago today we set sail from Nantucket.

Great Point Lighthouse. Nantucket, MA. August 2025

We watched with excitement and no small amount of trepidation as our island receded into the blue, the gap between past and future growing bigger and wider. Standing on the deck of the Steamship Eagle, I remember feeling lonely and scared but ready too; perched on the precipice of great opportunities and exciting adventures.

This time last year, I had paired down and packed up 12 years of a life well lived at 3 Old South road. I had sold off the last of my paddle boards, donated half my closet to the thrift store, and compressed all that remained into a 900sq foot, 2-bedroom apartment in Amesbury.

Since arriving our days have felt tidal; filling slowly and then all too fast. Griffin joined the football team, then the cross-country team before settling on mountain biking and CrossFit. Not happy at the public high school, he eventually transferred to the charter school. I took classes at a dozen yoga studios and tried all kinds of group rides before curating an extracurricular schedule that satisfied my mixed interests and social needs. We settled in for the longest and snowiest winter of my life, and came out the other side with a small handful of great new friends and a bevy of firsts under our belts.

And while Griffin and I agree this is not our forever home, the North shore has given us a safe harbor from which to pursue endless possibilities and a home base close to bigger ports with bigger ships. It’s bought us time to carefully consider what comes next and put to bed limiting beliefs with our newly expanded imaginations.

Colonial Bicycle Company’s ladies shop ride. August 2026

Griffin just returned from a 2 weeks at sea with Outward Bound. It was hard. When I asked him what he learned he said “patience”, because “you have no choice when you’re forced to share a boat with 12 other people.”

These last months have been similar. Just the two of us. Navigating choppy water. Leaning on each other. Trying to maintain balance. Often pushing one another to be brave; sometimes successfully some times not so much but always looking to cultivate more patience.

The first year has been hard but it’s also beautiful.

Isn’t it interesting how these things so often go hand in hand.