The Adventure Begins

I went sailing this summer for the first time in years. I think the last time I went sailing was with my good friend John--we went out on the SF Bay with his dad in his old wooden boat and John nearly sailed us into the main cement support of the Bay Bridge. Oops. Most of my sailing experience came from the Boy Scouts, where my friends and I would take out Sunfish and capsize them, or take out Catamarans and try to capsize them (we never succeeded, but we sure got those things cookin'!). I also went out a few times in Alaska with various friends who owned boats. But, it had been years. Krystal, Brady and I went out in a Lido in Fisherman's Bay on Lopez Island in Washington, where Krystal and I were visiting our dear friends Jesse and Lisa. Actually, there wasn't much wind that day, but we had a good enough time drifting along. Then, a week later, I took Krystal out--again, in a Lido on Fisherman's Bay--but this time there was a good stiff breeze, and we got going pretty fast with a nice amount of heel (that's where the boat leans over), and it was a blast! I think Krystal was pretty scared, but I was having the time of my life. She had a good time too. I had forgotten how much fun sailing was! I knew I wanted more sailing in my life. Careful what you wish for.

I just finished HSU's Single Subject Teaching Credential Program last spring, which marked my 8th year of college (props for longevity, right?) and seeing as I hadn't taken a break between High School and College, nor did I take any breaks during College, I was feeling pretty ready for a vacation. I earned a bit of money during my credential year and so I was in the position to blow it all on some glorious adventure. I've never been out of the country, and I've always wanted to travel to a Spanish speaking country, so I thought, "well, hey, Mexico is pretty close. I can get there without flying. That sounds pretty cool." So I had already set the intention of going to Mexico. Then, one fateful night on Lopez Island, looking out over the waterways of the San Juan Islands and watching a beautiful sunset, I thought, "I like sailing.....I want to go to Mexico....Sailing.....Mexico.....Sailing.....hmmm.....I think I'm getting something here...." and I said softly to no one in particular, "Maybe I'll sail to Mexico."
Brady was standing somewhere nearby and said, wistfully, "I've always wanted to do that." So it began.

We started researching. It would be about a month before I would be back in Oakland where I could seriously look for a boat, so we had some time to think this thing through. By all accounts, it sounded like it was a common thing to do, and that October and November where the beginning of the best time to do it. Perfect. Then, an amazing thing happened. Krystal and I got back to Oakland after our whirlwind summer of adventures (check it out on her blog: Krystalmae.blogspot.com) on about the 1st of October, I believe. It was a Thursday. On Friday I looked at a couple of boats. One was pathetically underequipped for ocean sailing. One was exactly what I was looking for, but was way out of my price range. On Sunday, the owner of the perfect boat emailed and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. He offered me his boat for 1,500 dollars, less than 1/3 of what he was asking. Why did he do this for me? He was excited about what I was going to do with the boat, and he wanted to see it go to a good home. Also, I don't think he really needed the money, and he just wanted to help out a young man with big dreams. Thanks, Mark. Here's a picture of him. He likes motorcycles more than sailing, now.

In the book The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho (everyone must read this book), Paulo talks about what happens when you follow your dreams:
"whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth." ...."And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to acheive it."
I feel that, for the first time in a long while, I'm pursuing something that I'm truly passionate about--following my dreams--and the universe is helping me. And when you pursue your dreams, your whole life brightens up, and that light spreads to those around you, and you help all the world evolve into something better. That's as close to the heart of my personal spirituality as I can describe.
That's how it all began.






Here she is! It's a pain in the butt to put pictures in with the text, so I'll just put a bunch up in an album or something.