2015

REALITY CHECK

So it’s ’15, Thalia and I are in Palawan Island, in the Philippines. Debrae and I had sailed there from NW Malaysia, where I had been working in a small boatyard for better than 2 yrs. Debrae, a spectacular sailor and I had covered a lot of miles in the Pacific, arrived with her dog a tiny and unbelievably well disciplined Jack Russel. The passage around Singapore and to the Philippines was unremarkable until we actually got to the bottom of Palawan and it became obvious that the dog was ill. By the time we anchored near Puerto Princessa the dog couldn’t walk, we found a vet and the vet wasn’t optimistic, “Her liver is failing, why I can’t say, it’s not normal in a 3 yr old dog.” A week later the dog had to be put down. Debrae had to return to her life in Maine, USA, it was a rather somber parting.

Palawn was pretty mellow, there was a very small cruising community, perhaps a dozen boats occupied and that many again at anchor and stored, owners elsewhere. It eventually occued to me that this would be a god place to leave Thalia. A return flight from Manila to Toronto was a jaw dropping $900 and I hit Travelocity’s buy it now button. Who cares how long the layover in Shanghai is, it’s way faster than sailing. I showed 3 of my friends how Thalia worked and flew out. China East is a lovely airline and once the hostesses had established that I like Tsing Tao beer we all enjoyed the flight. I flew to Portland, Maine during my visit to Toronto to see Debrae and the hostess tossed me a package of peanuts with the entreaty “Enjoy”, couldn’t afford the beer though.

Obviously it was wonderful to be back in Toronto, I’d sailed out 22 yrs prior and only showed up briefly every 5 – 6 yrs, this time I had 2 mths to annoy family and friends. A long time friend of mine, David, was out of work and had lots of time for me. I found myself staying with him and his family for days at a time. One day David and I found ourselves in a beer store. Hard to believe. Ontario still has the quaint notion of government run beer and liquor stores. Again, hard to believe. As we were paying David asked “So do you have a driver’s license?” “Well, sort of” I replied “My American Samoa license expired so I photo shopped the date and bought an International driver’s license on line, in Malaysia. At this point we both became aware of the very attractive lady processing our purchase, she’d stopped and was staring at us. Nice. “You did what?” she asked I explained in more detail and she countered with “Where the hell is American Samoa” Canadians. I explained that it’s an American Territory in the western south pacific. “What were you doing there?” she inquired, the store wasn’t busy. “I sailed in there on my boat, pretty much dead broke and worked there almost 2 yrs.” I replied. “You sailed to Malaysia as well?” she asked “Sure, it’s mostly downwind” I replied “So you sailed here?” she asked “Oh hell no, the boat is in the Philippines, I’m from here, I wouldn’t sail here, it’s too damn cold.” I replied “Are you looking for crew?’ she inquired “Always” I laughed as we exited the store. “What are you doing walking away, that woman is gorgeous?” demanded David as we approached his car. “Yeah right, she’s been waiting all her life for an aging boat bum, let’s go drink some beer.’ I suggested. David fired up the car, after all he had a valid driver’s license. George and Thalia

“If I’m lyin’…”