Planting Tomatos

Be careful of what you dream, because those dreams sometimes come true. This is close to a quote I heard once. The truth of this statement is brought to my attention very often. One of the lasting impressions I have from my San Carlos sailing experiences, is often brought to my mind, as I am doing some hot, dirty chore here in our nice winter home, (that we usually turn into our summer home because we are up north in the frozen country when we should be here).

It is May 15 and the temperature has been over 100 for the past few days, a real jolt to your system when you have just returned from a week in San Diego at 65 nights and 75 days.

When the little invisible critter, (often referred to as the sail bug) bites, it often causes some major life altering changes. It seems to raise the most havoc with the poor desert land lubbers like me. I, for one, could spend hours expounding on the life altering changes it has and continues to make in my life.
Roger Kunzler my trusty accountant son-in-law, (who is one of the most careful and wise persons I know under normal conditions) got bit a few years ago and had to have a major bad experience to get a partial cure. But that's his story to tell if he wishes to tell it.

The spring of 2008, I had a lot of my family visit and sail with me in San Carlos, Mexico. It was during this time that I met couple that had just purchased a boat in Mazatlan, Mexico. To you dry land lubbers, that is several days sailing south of San Carlos, with miles and miles of open water. Most sailboats are capable of 7 to 8 knots (8 to 9 miles) per hr. This speed reached under ideal conditions, which are about as common as a promised check in the mail from a dead beat. This couple had purchased a good boat and had gotten, what seemed to be a good deal. I met this nice couple through my wonderful, outgoing sister-in-law Allison, who never met a stranger. She knew more people on the docks at Marina Real in the few days they were there, than I did in the whole 6 weeks I was there.

These fine folks told me the following story. They lived in the Pacific North West, they had retired and headed out to live their dream. They had bought a boat near their home, that they thought would be perfect with a little work. On their maiden voyage they had numerous problems and sold this original boat somewhere in mid California. They were more careful in buying the replacement boat.

The boat of their dreams was waiting for them in the beautiful resort city of Mazatlan, Mexico. Having spent several wonderful vacations there, I can relate with them. They found this dream boat in a city in which dreams are realized and enjoyed. This boat was ready to tour the world, it had everything just like someone got it ready to sail the world and for some reason decided to sell it all and walked away.

My new found sailbug bitten friends gave me a complete tour of their boat. They weren't wrong about it being ready to tour the world, I have had this sailbug illness for several years and have come to know a good deal and the cost of outfitting a boat correctly and this one had been someones' money hole. Some previous owner had liberally poured money in and then jumped ship for some unknown reason. My sail-ail friends told me they had a broker from San Carlos Yacht Sales coming by tomorrow to list their boat for sale.

Being the naturally curious person that I am, (after all those years spent as a cop digging through other peoples minds and deeds) I couldn't keep myself from trying to complete the mystery of why they were so quickly and decisively terminating the love and dream of retiring and sailing the world. The answer was soon discovered. The trip from Mazatlan had gone from a dream voyage to the stuff nightmares are made of. The weather turned foul, they fought rough seas and strong head winds for days, (at sea the motion and sound never stop. It's you and the ocean and you learn very soon how small and weak you really are).

Picture this, we have a middle age couple (60ish), full of dreams, but after many long hard hours, riding out the hour after hour of pounding that the sea can give to a 40 foot sail boat, you wear down, (often very quickly if sea sickness knocks you into overpowering, heaving, "I wish I could die and feel better" sickness). Many of you may have experienced a touch of this feeling while at an amusement park or carnival. Imagine a moment, this amusement ride lasting HOURS or sometimes even DAYS, without any possibility of getting off.

This motion and crashing of waves can go on for days and with a crew of two old, soft, retired city folks, things can get pretty grim, even life threatening. To make matters worse, the wife was overcome with sea sickness and fear, the husband had not only the boat to worry about, but also, his lovely bride of 40 years, who has suddenly been stricken by this rabid hate for the sea, the boat, the wind, the noise, the ever present fear of not seeing land again....., (Sound a little negative? it can be damned negative when your are the reason your loving spouse is there in the first place.) In this weakened condition, you may learn a lot of pent up feelings, but it is still just the two of you and the gut wrenching fear that hours of constant pounding and exhaustion can bring.

I think you probably can get the picture so I won't go into any more specifics except the Captain's loving wife spent many hours on the floor of her dream boat wondering why she ever agreed to being part of this dream gone nightmare, and promising herself and God that this would be her last time at sea if she could only make it to land alive. The Captain, with his longtime dreams in tatters, like his main sail, (after he made a major sailing error that he opted to not tell anyone about), other than to ask me, "Do you know where I can get my sail repaired soon because I'm selling the boat".

His parting words to me was, "ALL I WANT TO DO, IS GO HOME AND PLANT MY TOMATOES".

As I'm here digging in the hot desert soil, planting my tomatoes, the realization is brought home, that my oneness with the land may be my ultimate dream.

When all is said and done, this is a marvelous, interesting and exciting world, but, in the end there is nothing that comes close to the fulfillment that comes from being with my loving family, friends, and the warm, safe comfort of HOME.

The salty ole tracker still Cut-N-Wind to the end