What's next for the Polar Seal crew?
As we are getting close to the start of hurricane season and my visa is about to expire, we are getting ready for the next chapter of 2022, and boy do we have some plans!
On the list of things that we are looking forward to, we have the launch of the biggest project we ever undertook, a change of scenery and climate, and some pretty massive life changes looming on the horizon :)
But first...
What we have been up to
I arrived in Antigua on the 26th of February, only a few days before Ryan made landfall from his solo crossing.
In the last 3 months, we have barely moved from our marina spot in Jolly Harbor, and this is why.
Back in December of 2021, we got an email from Andrew, the CEO of Bright Trip, who came to us with the idea of collaborating on a massive project which was going to require a consequent time commitment for the better part of 2022.
It sure delivered.
On top of producing our regular Youtube videos and dedicating time to an important consultancy mission, I (Sophie) spent a good chunk of time producing a 200 pages script.
Together with a team of 4 people (a writer, two producers, and a director), we poured HOURS of our time, tons of energy, and the best of our respective skills towards the production of that script.
Our goal was to film the script during the second week of May, which we almost managed to complete ;) (it turns out that one week wasn't enough to film the giant script we had been working on)
So meet our director David, who flew down to us with an outrageous amount of filming gear and captured over 2,5TB (!!!) of video data in the relentless heat and humidity of late-May Antigua.
Meet David the director, a newborn sailor and cruising convert ;)
Last week, within the seven days we spent together, we captured the amount of videos that we normally produce in 8-9 months. And if you know Ryan, you know that it will take him a while to recover from it ;)
If you are curious about the project in question, we covered it in our latest live session here:
https://youtu.be/VRT1Z8WZtWQ
We are very excited for this intensively collaborative baby to see the World, which should occur sometime in September of this year.
And with that out of the way, we are now ready to continue our season!
Hurricane season plans: Howdy Canada!
It is May 19th as I am writing this, and we feel quite lonely in Jolly Harbor. All of our friends are gone, most boats in the marina have left, and the few boats here are all empty and ready to be shipped by cargo before the end of the month.
It is time for us to leave!
Our next destination is Bermuda, and we couldn't be more excited to return to this gem of an island.
Sunset in Saint George
Just a regular view of Bermuda...
Last year, we got stranded in Bermuda for 3 weeks while waiting for a new VHF and a good weather window to cross, and absolutely fell in love with Bermuda's scenery, culture, and people.
View from the ferry to the dockyard.
We will be spending a few weeks between Saint-George and Hamilton before making our way North and FINALLY making landfall in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Oh Canada, how we have been longing for you!
It has been a long time since Ryan and I have wanted to visit Canada, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, but as for a lot of objectives in the last two years, covid came in the way.
This year, it is happening, and I am looking forward to a change of climate and scenery.
We are planning on spending the month of July around Nova Scotia, then put Polar Seal at the marina to execute some "not quite established yet" plans ;)
After three seasons in the Caribbean, I'm looking forward to wearing sweaters :p
The world is our "Oyster"
Our plans for August and September aren't completely set in stone yet, but it could very well be that we undertake yet another project that would include... other boats ;)
This is all I can say at this point, as no flights have been booked yet, but let's just say that this summer could be very very exciting, both for ourselves personally, but also in terms of what you will see on Youtube.
We will keep you posted as our plans materialize.
Go East, young woman!
One thing is for sure though, we hope to go spend some time in Sweden, as I need to pay a visit the US embassy in Sweden for my green card interview. It has been over a year since we got this process started, and over three years that our lives revolve around my inability to enter the US territory (not even to transfer flights).
We are really hoping that my interview will happen in the early fall at the latest, so I can fly to the Annapolis boat show and participate. Otherwise... Only Ryan could attend, which wouldn't be a lot of fun :/
Vintage photo of Polar Seal in Stockholm's archipelago, circa 2016!
Life changes on the horizon
A lot of you will have guessed it by the mention of the word "green card", but for those of you less versed in the World of US immigration, Ryan and I are moving to the United States!
(Another vintage photo, this time of Ryan and I with his parents and sister, circa 2017 :p)
You have probably heard us talk about how three years ago in 2019, I got denied a non-immigrant visa under 214(b).
214(b) denials are somewhat arbitrary, completely up to the agent's discretion, and non-appealable. It is on my permanent record and essentially tags me as an "immigration risk".
My ESTA (visa waiver, which I could get as an EU citizen) was revoked the same day I was denied under 214(b), and from one day to the next, I had no means to enter the US territory (not even to transfer flights).
Ryan is an American citizen with lots of business in the United States and a family that we are close to, so this wasn't just an inconvenience.
I cannot understate how much this visa denial has impacted our lives and our plans for the future. It left in its wake a giant financial, emotional, and general life chaos that we are still dealing with to this day, and that we will continue to deal with in the coming years.
Because I am now permanently tagged as an immigration risk, it makes my chances of ever entering the US as a "non-immigrant" very compromised.
So after a lot of reflections, talking to our immigration lawyers, weighing the pros and cons, and considering our general life goals, we decided that we were going to immigrate to the United States.
Well, I was going to immigrate, because technically as a citizen, Ryan is just returning home :)
At this point, we have paid over 10 000$ in legal fees, and have been waiting in over a year.
Now I would like to ask a favor from some of you. By all means, please stop telling me to "simply walk the Southern border" (because it has happened so many times now, I do not count anymore).
We are privileged enough that we can pay a lawyer, pay all the fees (more fees than you can imagine), and wait while an underfunded and understaffed USCIS processes our case amidst the most giant green card backlog ever seen in the history of the US.
We are not all that fortunate, and certainly, no one would want me to be an illegal immigrant, would they? We certainly do not. (read my frustration between the line.)
*End of rant*
The last time we were in Des Moines, where Ryan is from, was January 2019. It hurts.
Are we selling Polar Seal?
Moving to the US does not mean that we will sell Polar Seal and stop sailing, on the contrary. Now that we will have access to the thousands of miles of coastline, lakes, islands, and rivers around the United States territory, we fully intend on making the most out of it!
We are considering making our home base in the Annapolis area or around the Chesapeake Bay, and a preliminary plan is that we will take Polar Seal up the canals to the Eerie canal and sail around the Saint Laurent river.
With that being said, we are seriously thinking about Polar Seal II, and when we are "settled" in the US, we will start taking the steps toward our next boat.
So that was it! A quick summary of our 2022 plans, which have already changed a lot since the beginning of the year.
We are very excited to continue to travel, meet new friends, explore new regions of the World, and continue to create videos.
In the coming two weeks though, I will need to take a break as we will be sailing a 950nm passage from Antigua to Bermuda, and editing while sailing is not an option :)
We will return in June with some new episodes of life-madness onboard Polar Seal.
Cheers from Antigua!
