Re-connecting on the Pacific

By Sam T - on "re-connecting while sailing from Galapogas to Marquesas......

Departure. There's nothing like that word. It can be filled with day-dream inducing connotations - travel, adventure, exploration, vacation - in summary, a point of separation from the mundane. Of course in my life (and for most others) it usually has quite a different flavor - business travel, work, stress, deadlines - in summary, a pain in the arse.

For the first time in my life, this word has taken on the former definition in all its potential grandeur. I am off on a true adventure. The “stated” goal of this adventure is help a friend deliver a 90' sailing vessel from the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, to the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. The friend, Tim Forderer, is one of my oldest companions - we lived in the same neighborhood and ran in the same pack in high-school; sailed and roomed together in college; and shared many a wild time aboard the racing vessel Group Therapy, a J-29 based out of North Cape Yacht Club on the Western shore of Lake Erie. I use the term “stated” as making this transport is actually Tim's job - he is full-time, professional captain - and in proper terms, I am being hired by him to help crew a 90' sailboat - safely - across 3,000 miles of open ocean.
But like most things centered on Tim, the stated goal is more of a cover-story. The real goal is to reconnect with a close friend who was as important to me in my formative years as any family member. It was Tim that helped to re-introduce me to competitive sailing during our college days at the University of Toledo - which began after an abortive attempt at the University of Texas - but that is another tale. Along the way, he helped me re-learn some of the lessons of childhood learned in junior sailing: try to leave the boat in better condition than you found it, always pitch-in and help when something needs doing rather than waiting for it to be requested, be courteous and helpful to your crewmates, always keep a level head in emergencies, and most importantly, always take the positive view and make the best of any situation.

......

As anxious as I am to be on my way home, I hate goodbyes and I hate to see the crew break up. As I've mentioned several times before, this crew has great chemistry. I've heard many stories of crews and even good relationships being destroyed by the close quarters required by these types of trips. For us, this has been the exact opposite and one of the most positive experiences of my life. I consider Zac, Gordon and Lisa to be, at the very least, a part of my extended 'sailing family,' and I'm certain that TF and I have accomplished our goal of 'reconnection.'
Obviously, these are more than just “sailing” lessons. Many of them sound like those you learned from your parents… or in catechism… or the Scouts, and ultimately, the inherent messages really are the same. However they came to you, for me they came through sailing (or really through my parents who insisted we all learn to sail). The reasons I had to re-connect with these lessons are many and varied but they may have a bit to do with my particularly unruly teenage years.

TF asks a really good question, “What is your highlight of the trip?” I struggle for an answer to this as a dozen thoughts spring to mind - the pod of whales, the sunset with the wave after wave of dolphins, reaching an “understanding” at the wheel of Vivid, a deep-woods trail, a near decapitation by a rabid frigate bird, the flying fish shoals, a possessed winch, any number of late-night conversations, green flashes at sunset, and that is what occurs to me in just a moments thought.

Lisa makes pretext of using the restroom I think to give TF and me few more moments alone - five minutes to discuss family, friendship, what it all means… I don't think either of us has the answer, but I do tell Tim that I think he has found his place and calling. That 'place' isn't fixed on a map, but rather at the helm of a boat, on the open seas. I promise to be an ambassador for him to recruit more friends and our extended sailing family to join him for one of these trips.