Travel + Ships Log

Yesterday I left Nassau at 5pm and arrived at Hope Town on Elbow Cay in the Abacus at around noon Today. Again it was all motoring! I wonder slowly why I have a sailboat as most times the wind is coming from the wrong direction - on the nose or close to the direction I want to go to. The real adventures go where the wind blows them - I guess I did not make that transition and still have some plan as to what I want to do next . As you might have noticed the web site has changed slightly and is no longer advertising a circumnavigation. I found out on my way down from Portland to the Exumas that I am not the type of Person who likes to be alone and without the person I love. That's why the plan was changed and I am heading back to Portland now. It is nice to experience the Bahamas, the clear water, the happy hours and drinks with fellow sailors on a bar, the blue sky and the empty beaches - but it is no fun doing that alone - and most important doing that without my wife Norma! Vorgestern habe ich Nassau um 5 Uhr Nachmittags verlassen mit Richtung Nord zu den Abacos Inseln wo ich gegen Mittag in Hope Town ankam. Die ganze Strecke musste ich motoren da der Wind wieder von vorne kam. So langsam wundere ich mich warum ich ein Segelboot habe - ein Trawler waere besser. Die richtigen Abenteurer segeln sowieso immer dort hin wohin sie der Wind hn weht - wahrscheinlich bin ich kein richtiger Abenteurer. Da sind immer noch Plaene die gemacht werden und Erfahrungen die diese dann manchmal wieder aendern. Ihr werdet sicherlich gemerkt haben dass auf der Webseite eine Aenderung passierte, alle Hinweise auf die Weltumsegelung sind verswchwunden. In den letzten Monaten habe ich bemerkt das ich nicht der Typ Mensch bin der gerne alleine ist und ohne die Person die ich liebe. Deshalb habe ich meinen Plan geaendert und bin wieder auf dem Weg nach Portland. Es ist unbestreitbar schoen die Bahams zu erleben, das klare Wasser, die happy hour drinks an der Bar mit anderen Seglern, der blaue Himmel und die leeren Sraende - aber es ist nur halb so schoen wenn Norma nicht dabei ist.

Here is a letter from a man I greatly admire and which I would like to share with you. Some times the most important things are quite simple and basic - discover them before it is to late!!

Best Regards Gerhard

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, famous writer from Colombia, and Nobel Peace prize winner for literature, has retired from public life for reasons of health. He has a form of cancer which is terminal. He has sent a farewell letter to his friends and it has been circulated around Internet.

A GENIUS SAYS GOOD BYE FOR GOOD.

It is recommended reading because it is moving to see how one of the best and most brilliant of writers expresses himself & with sorrow.

He says: If God, for a second, forgot what I have become and granted me a little bit more of life, I would use it to the best of my ability. I wouldn't, possibly, say everything that is in my mind, but I would be more thoughtful of all I say. I would give merit to things not for what they are worth, but for what they mean to express. I would sleep little, I would dream more, because I know that for every minute that we close our eyes, we waste 60 seconds of light. I would walk while others stop; I would awake while others sleep. If God would give me a little bit more of life, I would dress in a simple manner, I would place myself in front of the sun, leaving not only my body, but my soul naked at its mercy. To all men I would say how mistaken they are when they think that they stop falling in love when they grow old, without knowing that they grow old when they stop falling in love. I would give wings to children, but I would leave it to them to learn how to fly by themselves. To old people I would say that death doesn't arrive when they grow old, but with forgetfulness. I have learned so much with you all, I have learned that everybody wants to live on top of the mountain, without knowing that true happiness is obtained in the journey taken & the form used to reach the top of the hill. I have learned that when a newborn baby holds, with its little hand, his father's finger, it has trapped him for the rest of his life.

I have learned that a man has the right and obligation to look down at another man, only when that man needs help to get up from the ground. Say always what you feel, not what you think. If I knew that today is the last time that that I am going to see you asleep, I would hug you with all my strength and I would pray to the Lord to let me be the guardian angel of your soul. If I knew that these are the last moments to see you, I would say "I love you". There is always tomorrow, and life gives us another opportunity to do things right, but in case I am wrong, and today is all that is left to me, I would love to tell you how much I love you & that I will never forget you. Tomorrow is never guaranteed to anyone, young or old. Today could be the last time to see your loved ones, which is why you mustn't wait; do it today, in case tomorrow never arrives. I am sure you will be sorry you wasted the opportunity today to give a smile, a hug, a kiss, and that you were too busy to grant them their last wish. Keep your loved ones near you; tell them in their ears and to their faces how much you need them and love them. Love them and treat them well; take your time to tell them "I am sorry";" forgive me"," please" "thank you", and all those loving words you know. Nobody will know you for your secret thought. Ask the Lord for wisdom and strength to express them. Show your friends and loved ones how important they are to you. Send this letter to those you love. If you don't do it today...tomorrow will be like yesterday, and if you never do it, it doesn't matter, either, the moment to do it is now.

For you, With much love, Your Friend, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

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