Many of you know by now that I made it home safe and sound
from Maui. I must tell you that in my
heart I never believed the outcome would be otherwise however, during my
preparations my mind told me to prepare for death, prepare for Winston to die,
and believe that the kids would be OK without their mother. Preparing for the aforementioned was my
insurance that I would cheat death!
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| Afternoon Watch |
I know, I know this is over the top dramatics for me. Let me explain… often I will have fleeting thoughts
about the what if scenarios. In
the days leading up to my departure for Hawaii, my little (and aged) fur baby,
Winston, was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. His health and his energy were rapidly
declining. My kids are going through
their own transitions and on occasion they needed my motherly and sound advice
– OK, it is I who thinks it is sound.
I praised the kids for all they have accomplished. I reminded them that occasional changes in
life are also opportunities to take a negative and turn it into a
positive. I reminded them that we never
stop learning and we can always strive to be better and do better. I am proud of my kids and knew they would be
just fine without me.
I was more worried about Winston than the kids. Having said that, he was being left with my
ever-faithful neighbours, Tim and Tara and I knew, without a shadow of doubt, he would be in good hands no matter how grave
his health. The vet, Tim and Tara and I
were all on the same page when it came to making choices for his care during my
absence.
Now let me fill you in on the chain of events leading up to and during
my adventure…
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| Mahi Mahi - Lunch and Dinner |
In January 2012 I decided that I would like to cross an
ocean by way of sailboat. This decision
satisfied three desires: 1) to test myself and stamina on a blue water voyage,
2) to fulfill a dream of both Ron and I and 3) to celebrate and honour my
husband. I discovered a sign up web page
for sailors wanting to crew on a sailboat from Maui to Victoria. These boats were also the same boats racing
from Victoria to Maui in July 2012.
Within a few weeks I received a telephone call and an invitation to
crew.
Once I established a home for Winston during my absence
(which only took a few days) I accepted a position aboard Red Heather, a 40’
Olson. I had neither met the skipper nor
had I toured the boat. This was truly a
leap of faith and it felt so right. To
top it off, most of the crew did not know each other before departing Maui; it
was me and six guys.
Red Heather raced to Maui July 7th to 21st
– 14 days. They proudly placed 3rd
in their class. I arrived in Maui on
July 25th. There was very
little time to be a tourist. We, our
crew of seven were slated to leave on July 29th. To prepare we needed to develop a menu and
meal plan. From this plan we created a
shopping list and subsequently shopped til we dropped. Costco Maui and Safeway were happy to see
us. Fifteen hundred dollars later we had
the essentials to keep a crew happy with healthy and tasty food for 28
days. Not to be overlooked was an
abundance of water for hydration. Next,
came the storage and listing of all food items aboard Red Heather.
While in Maui I was physically involved in the preparation
activities however my mind was still detached from the reality that I would be
stepping aboard this vessel and sailing home.
I was very much in a ‘pinch me, is this real?’ state of mind.
It really hit me that we were leaving Maui when we left the
dock. I shed tears of joy for me and for
Ron. He was right there with me. As we were leaving, the crew that raced down
saw us off with wishes for fair winds and Devon played his bagpipes in our
honour. The send off was surreal.
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| Squall Ahead |
While I had claimed my sleeping space before heading out, I
had not organized my things. I just
could not go below for fear of missing the diminishing views of Maui and
Molokai. These two islands were nothing
less than a profusion of green foliage rising out of the agitated, blue Pacific
Ocean. The wind was blowing 20+ knots
and the seas were vigorous. We had
hoisted a small head sail and put two reefs in the main.
Believe it or not, I found myself not feeling well. What the heck? I couldn’t be getting sick. Or could I? Yep, heave, vomit, puke, retch; I was not
well. Seasick, the malaise, nausea,
queasy; call it what you want, it was not pleasant. The throwing up lasted only
a few hours. I was green around the
gills for three days before a feeling of normal returned to my body and
mind. I could not take pictures nor
could I write in my journal. I managed
to use the head (bathroom), sleep, get dressed, and sit outside during my
watch. My watch buddies, Jack and Ian
made sure that I was fed and hydrated.
Of the crew members, four suffered through the malaise. I was fortunate as I got off easy compared to
the others.
Red Heather was not a luxury cruiser. She is a racer. We had no canvas outside to protect us from
the elements. To steer we used a tiller
rather than a steering wheel, something that I had to learn as it is not
intuitive. Of the crew, five were
racers. We changed sails as often as the
wind changed. We had no less than eleven
sails to choose from. Up down, up down,
up down. We were a well-oiled team in no
time.
Our crew made up three teams; John and Gary, Brian and
Damien and me, Jack and Ian. Our day
consisted of five watches: 6 PM to 10PM, 10PM to 2 AM, 2 AM to 6 AM, 6 AM to
Noon and Noon to 6 PM. This schedule
allowed all teams to cycle through all watches.
It worked very well. I must say
except for daylight and darkness, I paid very little attention to the
time. We slept all hours of the day and
night. We slept as much as necessary to
be alert on our watch.
Shortly after leaving Maui and especially after losing sight of land, it became very apparent that nothing much mattered except keeping the boat afloat, ensuring our progress was towards Victoria, and the crew was safe at all times. I do believe my biggest fear was falling overboard on a moonless cloudy night with high winds. If any one of us went over and became detached from Red Heather, it would be a miracle if we could be found and retrieved.
Cleaning and cooking chores were shared by all. We just stepped up when something needed
doing. I was responsible for reporting
scheduled information to the Maui-Victoria boaters net. Each day at 5 PM (except at the beginning
when I was sick) I compiled our coordinates, wind speed, wind direction and
debris. This information was then shared
on the net at 6 PM every night. While we
rarely saw other boats, there were several returning to BC after the race.
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| Safely Home |
This journey was as much about Ron as it was for me. Prior to
leaving I was at a loss as to how I would celebrate my husband on the wide and
open ocean. Ron and I have a profound
Hawaiian history: we renewed our wedding
vows in Hawaii, Ron was cremated with his Hawaiian wedding ring, and his ashes
were spread in the ocean off Oahu. Mere
hours before leaving Victoria for Maui I discovered our love-fill Hawaiian
wedding vows that had been tucked away.
I crafted my plan… half way, between Maui and Victoria, I placed my
Hawaiian wedding ring over our scrolled wedding vows. I then, with great love,
joy and respect, committed my ring and our vows to Ron and the vast Pacific
Ocean. Our vows, bound by my wedding
ring, floating on the sapphire ocean surface and disappearing into the wake of
our vessel is a vision forever etched in my mind.
We arrived in Victoria on August 15th. We had been at sea for seventeen days.
Ron always told me it was about the journey and not the
destination. For me, this passage was
about both. The journey caused me to
soul search and to recognize strengths and weaknesses. It was a personal journey. I discovered that I like ocean passages, I can
do it and I will do it again. I
celebrated my amazing husband and by reaching our destination I realized our
dream that we had shared for many, many years.
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