Tawodi Sailing Adventures

The Tall-Ship Lady Washington is in Puget Sound for part of her summer tour.  She is the Tall-Ship ambassador for the State of Washington.  I am filling the role of Captain for the month of July and will be stopping in different ports along the way.  I have picked up the ship in Olympia and that is where we are now.  On wednesday we leave for Seattle and will be on lake Union for the fourth of July, in fact we will be firing the cannons as part of the celebration.  After Seattle, we’ll take the boat up to Blaine, just at the Canadian border.  After Blaine we go to Bellingham and I get off the ship there on the 24th of July.  I’ve been associated with this organization for about 8 years now and I always enjoy operating the vessel.  There is nothing quite like manuvering a square-rigged ship through a cannon battle.  We travel in company with the Hawaiian Chiefton so we always have someone to play with.  We provide sail training for our volunteer crew and maritime education for school children and adult passengers.  Both vessels are owned by the Gray’s Harbor Historical Seaport Authority held in public trust by the city of Aberdeen and Washington State.  If you would like to see more the Seaport maintains a website and there is an unofficial but well run site at ladywashington.org.  If you think you might enjoy something like this come see us for a day or volunteer for a tour of duty.  It is only $500.00 dollars for two weeks before the mast.  We’ll feed you and give you a bunk and after two weeks of training you can stay for as long as you wish to volunteer at no additional charge. If you see us on the water be sure to say AAARRRRRRRRR!

Abby has failed in her goal of circumnavigating.  Once failure has occured it is easy to claim you knew it all along and many, many people have jumped on this band-wagon.  I cannot walk down the street without being stopped by someone wanting to talk about it.  It is a little frustrating as my only association was to give her good advice which she ignored.  My dentist always tells me to floss, but I still don’t, who’s fault is that?  Did I see this coming?  No and Yes.  The whole point of advising was to help her find success, if she doesn’t follow the recommendations, then I can see why it didn’t work.  I don’t really know what to say about it at this point, so I’m going to use the words of others.  First is Kathleen who sent me a nice e-mail saying;

“People have walked up to you and said- “Well, what do you think of your girl now?”

It’s a jab, a poke in the ribs for a moment’s support given to Abby Sunderland, a girl you took on as an individual.  You afforded her a respect few others have the hubris to consider, but you, perhaps, because you remember 16 as something other than childhood, did just that.  You took Abigail Sunderland on as her own person.

That was your failing and your success.  In the brevity of time spent with her you had no way to comprehend all the manipulation, all the merchandising, all the selling of Her; Abby Sunderland, as Product.  You talked to the person while the marketing circus minced along in the background.  You focused on her as the individual about to attempt the spiritual and physical gain that IS the act of sailing round the world south of humanity.  That was your success.

Never apologize for that.

They asked advise and you gave it.  And they ignored and now the boat drifts alone in the Southern Indian Ocean.  She was never ‘your girl’, she was a person you treated as a sailor without understanding that she was, first and foremost, a product, a piece of merchandise in the Sunderland Catalog.

When people walk up to you and ask you what you think of ‘your girl’ all you can do is shrug and admit you got taken.  You thought you were dealing with sailors only to discover you were dealing with an advertisment aimed at culling as many dollars as possible.

Even if it meant Abby lost her life.

O.K., that’s what I think.  Call it a letter from a friend who knows what it means to close the circle.”

Thank you for those words Kathleen.

I remember Moitesseir saying something to the effect of “Those who attempt to sail around the world for profit or fame are doomed to failure.”

While we’re at it, I’ll throw a few more quotes your way.

Francis Stokes- “The sea finds out everything you did wrong”

Uffa Fox- “You must at all times remember that the power of the sea is greater than anything else on earth; and that although many fleets have sailed over it, not one has conquered it or harnessed it, and no one ever will.  Remember too, that like fire, the sea is a good friend but a bad master, so you must never, never allow yourself to get into a position where the sea takes control”.

Alain Gerbault- “Adventure means risking something.  And it is when we are doing that, that we know what a splendid thing life is and how splendidly it can be lived.  The man who never dares never does.  The man who never risks never wins.  It is far better to venture and fail than lie on the hearth rug like a sleepily purring cat.  Only fools laugh at failure.  Wise men laugh at the lazy and the too contented, and at those who are so timid they dare undertake nothing”

Tuesday, June 1st, I became another year older and am now 39.  I have a good friend, Jano, who shares my birthday and this year was her 60th, so we had a party for her on the Saturday before the 1st at the Outboard Boating Club on Shelter Island.  The crowd included many members of the now dis-banded EYC (Eichenluab Y.C.), including Carl himself.  Arne, Jack, Mark, Steve, etc al.., there must have been 30-50 people.  It was a good gathering.  Kathleen was at the party too and we were able to spend some time together and commune.  Kathleen just moved into a new place and asked me to help her shop and build furniture on the coming Friday.

Tuesday itself was a day of eating.  I had breakfast with a group of friends in the morning at the “Point Break”.  Later in the day, Fritz and Richard took me to lunch at the “Brigantine”.  I rode my motorbike in the afternoon and hooked up with my friends in Alpine; Scott, Kelly, Miranda and Coral.  Scott and Kelly and I rode off together and stopped by a bar, for more eating and drinking.  Later I had a home-cooked meal and was even able to take a hot bath, which is always a treat for me.

Another breakfast, this time in P.B. with my friend Ann Marie.  I can totally see why people begin to gain weight when they get older, everyone wants to feed you!

Dispite their efforts, there is still no fat on me.  39 years old and no hint of a beer-belly, of course, I don’t drink beer, which I’m sure must help.

The following Friday, I spent the day helping Kathleen shop for home furnishings at Great News and IKEA.  In  the evening I worked on assembling the furniture while Kathleen made us dinner.  Some people are challenged and frustrated by IKEA puzzles, me, I love that kind of thing. 

Saturday I rode mostly around the bay on my bicycle with my friend Michelle, who lives on her beautiful Bristol Channel Cutter near me in the mooring field.  We used the ferry to get over to Coronado, and later the Trolley to get back up from Chula Vista.

The next day, Sunday, I did the same ride again, only this time with Kathleen and in the opposite direction.  We rode down to Chula Vista and met up with Brian, who just moved into his new Condo.  We admired his place, then we all rode out together for the silver strand.  Brian turned around when we got near Fiddler’s cove and Kathleen and I continued on to the the Ferry-landing, where we boarded the ferry for the return to the mainland.

June 26th marks the one year anniversary of our return from circumnavigating the planet.  It has taken most of the year, but we seem to be recovering our friendship and reiterating what we mean to the other, which is a lot.  We each care deeply for the other, and it feels very nice to be friendly again.  I do love her.

On June 26th of this year, I should be up in the Puget Sound.  The Gray’s Harbor Historical Seaport has asked me once again to come up and drive the tall-ship “Lady Washington”.  It’s been a few years since my last tour with them and I’m looking forward to it.  I plan to drive up on my motorbike in just less than two weeks and will be gone for the month of July.  I pick the ship up in Olympia and will leave it in Bellingham 4 weeks later.  It will be the standard tour, with education programs and cannon battles between her and the “Hawaiian Chiefton”.

Otherwise than that, live is good.  I took my sailing dingy out into the bay yesterday afternoon to cheer on and watch the “beer-can” races.  Kathleen was racing on a Oslen 34′ called “Buzz Lightyear” and they looked good at the weather mark, although K. said they had some issues at the other end of the course.  It was fun to see them go by.

Yesterday I also got to dive to the sea floor to retrieve an expensive part that someone else dropped over.  They looked for it for a while and gave up, so I said I’d go get it, and I did.  For some reason, I’ve alway been successful on those kind of missions and I was cocky enough to virtually guarantee success before I even got in, so I was happy that it worked out.

Summer is here, in San Diego that means June Gloom.  It is foggy and overcast all morning long.  This should be over by the time I return from the “Lady”

I hope all is well with you and yours.

Be well, have fun!