Over the last 4 months I’ve gone from well-paid and talented HR professional (even if I do say so myself) living in my own home with 2 horses, 2 dogs and fully maintained company car with a circle of close friends who shared my hobbies, to a completely ignorant, nautical dwelling, grotty yachty (common term for boat people not arriving illegally to Australian shores).

Instead of crawling out of bed, spending half an hour in the bathroom, straightening my hair and applying my face, then donning the suit, driving 45 minutes down the Calder freeway to an office in the CBD ready to commence a day of problem solving and workplace politics….. I now wake at sunrise and simply walk (albeit in a wobbly fashion) to the saloon or up a ladder into the sun to retrieve the coffee that’s usually waiting for me, ruffle my unkempt bed hair and think about the many things that either have been done or need to be done (and there’s always a long list). Quite a significant change!

Basically all of the points of reference I’ve had in my life to date that provide sources of reassurance in my abilities and mirror my understanding of ‘the way of things’ are no longer present…I am an greenhorn sailor, apprentice mechanic, novitiate electrician, fledgling labourer and galley wench which is sometimes a joy…but also sometimes a stretch…. Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change - this is the rhythm of living.