COME SAIL AWAY

Bainbridge Islanders Take To The Sea On An Epic Journey

“Can I tell you about the night watch?” begins Joy Archer, in a blog post from early April 2022. She’s nestled into the cockpit of a 44-foot sailboat gliding through the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Puerto Vallarta and French Polynesia. With no land in sight, she enjoys a 360-degree view of the night sky.

BY CHRISTY CARLEY PHOTOS COURTESY JOY ARCHER AND HARRY PATTISON

This first Pacific crossing—2,841 nautical miles—took Archer and her husband, Harry Pattison, 21 days. They traveled mostly on wind power, desalinating their drinking water and generating electricity through solar panels. Moving constantly, they slept in shifts to ensure that someone monitored the boat at all times.

It sounds like a lot, but it’s just a fraction of the island couple’s two-year journey around the Pacific aboard Oh Joy II, which came to a close when they docked in Eagle Harbor this past fall.

Setting out from Bainbridge in September 2021, Archer and Pattison sailed south to Mexico, then crossed over to the South Pacific, through small atolls and island nations, and on to New Zealand. Their return journey took them north to Alaska and back down along the coast toward home.

For Pattison, this trip was a long time coming.

Growing up in Arkansas, Pattison taught himself to sail on a 9-foot boat he won in a mail-in sweepstakes; the sail, to his mother’s horror, featured a prominent ad for Kool cigarettes (this was, after all, the 1960s). When his mom said the boat had to go, he stowed it in the bushes near a neighborhood pond, where he began to learn the ropes.

While Pattison has spent decades dreaming of a round-theworld sailing adventure, the same can’t be said for Archer.

Originally, Archer said, Pattison wanted to circumnavigate the globe “as a lifestyle.”

“I thought if I just kind of go along with it, but don’t commit, it’s either gonna go away, or I will come around to it,” she said. Eventually, they agreed on two years.

Archer’s decision wasn’t a reluctant concession. Both Pattison and Archer knew that if they were going to spend two years living in 250 square feet at the mercy of the Pacific Ocean (and each other), it was important that they both actually wanted to be there.

An open water swimmer, Archer imagined stroking through the tropical waters of the South Pacific, as well as some cooler water up north (similar to the cryotherapy that she practices swimming in Puget Sound).

“I found a way to make [the trip] a dream that I could embrace based on my own wishes,” she said.

Both writers, Archer and Pattison each documented the voyage in their own ways: Archer with a blog sent to an email list and Pattison with entries on PredictWind.com, a site that allowed visitors to track Oh Joy II’s position in real time via satellite.

Archer plans to turn her blog entries, now hosted on Substack, into a book. From reflecting on the realities of climate change at sea to extolling the merits of daydreaming, Archer’s blog is a far cry from a curated Instagram page documenting a dream vacation. Sure, there’s swimming in “impossibly” blue waters, foraging coconuts on tiny atolls and devouring street tacos in Mexico. But there are also honest accounts of relationship tension, the Sisyphean task of constant repairs on the boat, and one comically tender story of wart removal in Mexico.

The tale of their journey is also one of an enduring, evolving relationship. For Archer, learning to be patient has been key. Pattison attributes their lasting connection to “a default place of kindness.” They both agree that humor is essential.

You don’t have to care about sailing to be captivated by the couple’s story, but if you are interested in a nautical adventure, Pattison is eager to help. He runs a charter company aboard Oh Joy II as well as Mates First, a venture focused on trip planning and boat handling for couples.

His advice to the adventure curious?

“Commit to doing it and set a date.” While there’s plenty to learn before taking off, there’s even more to learn at sea.

“If you’re trying to be completely ready before you go,” said Pattison, “you will never leave.”

Read about Archer and Pattison’s journey at joyarcher.substack.com and visit matesfirst.com for help planning a journey of your own.