A Twist of Fate

My dad frequently tells me that Mike and I make the world seem so small, and we can’t help but feel that he is right the more we travel. It is amazing how a simple encounter with a person can alter one’s direction in life. The ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ theory seems to become more apparent as we expand our personal networks across the globe. It is no longer a surprise when we have an unexpected run-in with a friend or acquaintance in a completely foreign land. Similarly,  we are often brought together with someone by a simple twist of fate which ultimately develops into a lasting friendship or serves a purpose of some kind down the road. These are not little coincidences, but rather part of the bigger plan that fate has in store. Fortunately, for us, it seems to greatly facilitate in our living a non-traditional lifestyle.

At this point in our story we’re going back to  when we were in Mexico to best illustrate how fate has worked its little magic for us (and to play a little catch up as the blogs have been quite sparse lately). While stranded after a horrifying experience (check out our blog about Mexico), Mike and I were eager for a different opportunity. Fortunately, we unexpectedly heard from Mike’s friends Andy and Janet Gunson who asked us to help them out on their boat in Canada. Ironically, Mike met the Gunsons in Hawaii a few years ago solely because Andy had recognized Mike’s boat. Prior to cruising in Hawaii, Andy had cruised the Pacific side of Mexico where he bumped into Mike’s boat under a different owner (and name). Had he not bumped into the boat in Mexico many years before, Andy may have never met Mike in Hawaii which ultimately means we may have never ended up with the opportunity in Canada that got us out of a tight bind (just wait it gets even better!).

While in Canada, we spent the majority of our time refinishing the intricate wood work on Andy’s boat while trying to figure out our next step from there. At first we had decided to go back to Isabella (which is in Napa Valley, CA) to fix her up from the damage that she suffered from the past six months on the hard. We tried to motivate ourselves for the headache that awaited us as we came to the realization that we would be replicating the immense job done on Andy’s boat on our own, however, on a much smaller scale (we fortunately don’t have 75 doors and drawers to start with). We gathered up parts and pieces including a brand new fuel tank which we still aren’t sure how to get back to the boat given its weight and unusually large size. During free time, under the watchful eye of Janet (and Mike), Kelly dabbled in sewing to prepare for the projects of new cushions and canvas work on Isabella. In her first few hours of making pillows, she got a bit over zealous and took a stab at making a “two hour” skirt by pattern which in reality took a frustrating 11 hours and had her swearing that making cushions would be a lot easier. Although the work was tough in Canada, we had a great time relaxing and story telling with Andy and Janet about the cruising lifestyle. In fact, just as we were sharing our experiences from our few months down in the Caribbean, a friend we met in Aruba emailed us with some rather interesting news thus changing the possibility of us going back to Isabella just yet. Once again fate stepped in and offered us a solution, although this time due to unfortunate circumstances.

Back in February while we were in Aruba, we met a lovely couple name Jim and Lara on a trawler called Antipodes. They were inspiring cruisers who we greatly enjoyed swapping cruising info with while hanging out on anchor in Aruba. Although we went opposite directions away from Aruba our paths have once again converged.

  While crossing the Pacific Ocean from the Galapagos to the Marquesas, Lara started to loose feeling in her left arm. It started out as what they thought to be a pinched nerve, and through the course of their journey and arrival at the hospital in Tahiti (after a long and crazy experience with customs, flights, and doctors), it turned into a brain tumor that needed to be removed immediately. She was flown back to the US for surgery and a course of treatment. We are thinking of her and her family as they are going through this trying time. Her surgery went well and she seems to be doing great via reports from Jim. Unfortunately, this change in their lives put their cruising to a halt and left their boat on anchor in Nuku Hiva, Marquesas. We were devastated to hear the news when Jim first emailed us. It’s a reality check for us all that anything can happen at any given time. We wanted to help out however we could and eventually, through many emails back and forth, Jim decided to have Mike and I deliver his boat back to the US for him. It is an opportunity of a lifetime for us and we are glad that our schedule was open so that we could assist our friends in a time of need.

As we finished up our job in Canada, we made two key decisions. First, we decided to ask Andy to come along with us on the delivery as his wealth of boating experience coupled with his zest for life and vivacious personality would bring a great dynamic into the mix. Also, we decided to head out of Canada for two weeks we had before the delivery to catch up with friends in various spots along the West Coast. We stopped off in Seattle for a few days and had a ball seeing our friends Jen and George who live on their boat in Lake Union. The weather was beautiful, and although it was a short visit, it was much needed and appreciated. I also got to see my friend Billie (which is always a delight) and catch up with my old boss at the Taekwondo school. It was a trip down memory lane for Mike and I; we felt like years have passed since we’ve been there even though it has only been 10 months!

After Seattle we made tracks to Camarillo, CA  to catch up with Mike’s cousins. We  were highly entertained by the jolly jump birthday party that cousin Sammy had to celebrate his 7th birthday! And we couldn’t help but to indulge in the Toy Story alien cupcakes that his mom so creatively made. We had a great time with Jonathan and the gang; I was highly entertained by Sammy’s 5-6 AM wake up calls where he would either jump in the bed between us and put on the cartoons, get close to our faces and yell “Are you awake!?”, or hold the bright screen of the Nintendo up to our faces in hopes to see our eyes peel open in confusion. It was cute, but I think it is safe to say that we are happy to not have our own human wake up clock just yet!

From Camarillo we moved on to LA for the final few days of holiday before heading out to the Marquesas.    I spent time with a great friend from my childhood, while Mike got his guy time with his best friend from Hawaii who lives on his boat in Huntington beach. We got to go hiking and tour around LA a bit which was really nice especially since we will be spending the next month or two at sea. At last, we met up with Jim and Andy at the LAX airport on the 17th of July and began our journey to Nuku Hiva.

I apologize for the lack of blog posting lately. Although there never seems to be a dull moment in our lives these days, there was a period where I felt writing about what we were doing seemed rather monotonous. Fortunately, we have a great adventure ahead of us, so I will have plenty to write about. Bon Voyage!