Author: Scott
As we approach Nuku Hiva many thoughts have been rushing through my head. There are the obvious things like ICE. It is amazing how much of a luxury ice can be in your life when you have just crossed the equator without even the use of your refrigerator, due to the broken water pump. Coconuts and pineapples filled with mysterious Polynesian concoctions and adorned with the obligatory foofy umbrella or more savage plastic sword piercing succulent tropical fruit come popping randomly into my head. We have a new fancy ice cooler on deck that will keep ice frozen for five days. If it was full of luscious ice today, I would stick my head in it until my ears turned blue. I have also been thinking of food, I know big surprise since we seem to fixate on food quite a bit in the Journal. I am not sure what we can expect on an Island with just a few thousand people, but I am beginning to salivate with visions of spiny lobsters and succulent fresh fish, not to mention a big fat juicy cheeseburger. As we get deeper into our stock of non perishable food (today dinner is chilli with three week old warm American cheese and our last sliver of onion, my stomach is drawing us closer and faster to our destination, and Pam thinks it’s the wind, no way Jose it is my great tummy magnet sucking us in to French Polynesia. In all of our cruising guides there is mention of fresh French pastries and breads baked daily, yeah baby bring those baguettes and croissants on!
There are also other personal indulgences that are filling our brains like long walks on land and cool showers (if we can find them). But I also find that I have spent a lot of time thinking about the significance of the crossing to myself. It is important to me because it is now the longest passage made by legally blind people to date, and I hope this translates as an example of the capabilities and determination that are in all people, with and without disabilities. I sure as hell hope it hits and sinks into a few peoples brains like the guy who would not let me drive my own bumper care when I was a little kid living in Santa Monica, just because I was blind. Imagine that, I wasn’t allowed to drive a car that was intended to crash into other cars, go figure. But this crossing is also a huge personal goal, in many ways more challenging than starting and running a business with my partner Steve. This trip represents years of planning and preparation, a financial commitment, and a change in my safe life in San Francisco. Now we are almost to our first major destination, after crossing nearly three thousand miles of open ocean! I am thrilled! So, you think about all of the things you will do when you get there, but these are all things you could probably do anywhere, though the venue is vastly different and probably fascinating. The real excitement is in the journey and overcoming the obstacles, like eating purple food or continuing on without an engine, and of course doing it anyway when so many said we couldn’t or shouldn’t.
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