Lulu Waldron - Hitchhiking Across the Atlantic: A Sailing Adventure

HITCHHIKING
Across the
ATLANTIC

A SAILING ADVENTURE

Written and Illustrated By:
Lulu Waldron

HITCHHIKING ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

A SAILING ADVENTURE

Copyright 2016 Lulu Waldron.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-0359-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-0360-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016911984

iUniverse rev. date: 08/29/2016

Table of Contents

Dedicated to my children and grandchil dren.

May they have their own exciting and challenging advent ures.

Journey through the Panama Canal to New Zea land

Island of St. Ma rtin

Islands of St. Kitts and N evis

Island of Ant igua

Map of the first race

St. George Harbor in Ber muda

Island of Ber muda

Map of journey across the Atlantic O cean

Islands of the Az ores

I thank Selma Beckwith whose gift of editing helped bring this book to life and Teri Brentnall who gave it a final polish. The book cover design is by Jane Sharpe of Jane Sharpe Designs. Austin, Texas. The cover photograph is by Mary Pat Waldron, Studio Penumbre, Austin, Texas. Both are outstanding artists and their contributions to the book cover are truly appreci ated.

To the people who helped me out with managing the computer when it got over my head: Mary Pat Waldron and Andrew Levy and to my daughter Dianne for her insights and suggest ions.

In grateful appreciation to all my skippers, without whom there would be no journey, and no s tory.

This is a true story with only the names of boats and people being cha nged.

Being a person who thrives on challenges I find myself with one of my most difficult ones: trying to share with you my story. It is about a life changing adventure which had so many unplanned twists, that all I could do was keep going and see what God had in store for me. I am compelled to write it down because I think the story needs telling for future generations of my own family and perhaps others who dream of the chance to have a grand adventure. It is my way of encouraging you to get out on the skinny branches of life where you have to face down your fears, celebrate the joy it brings when you do and trust in Gods plan for you.

It was late May, 1988 and I was onboard the Panther , a 44 foot sailboat. Seventeen days before, Conover, my skipper, and I had set sail from Bermuda for the Azores, a small group of islands approximately 1,900 miles off of the east coast of Portugal. We were nearing our destination and as I took my turn at the night watch, I could see the lights of the island of Faial beckoning to me in the darkness. As much as these lights were summoning me onward, so was the life of adventure that I had, with great trepidation, chosen to pursue. I had joined the ranks of sailors who hitchhiked the oceans of the world by crewing on different boats. Mostly, these sailors were strong, young men and the fact that I was a fifty-five year old grandmother made me a bit of an od dity.

I have come to believe that God had given me this gift of time at sea to teach me to let go, to trust his plan for me, that no matter how hard I tried, or what sacrifices I would make, there were things I could not control. Also that it was okay to try something challenging and, perhaps, fail. That sometimes God closes doors because its time to move forward and he knows you wont move unless circumstances force you. In the best of all worlds, my journey might have been all on one boat and with people I knew and trusted but, in reality, I had several skippers who treated me in such a way that I had finally learned how and when to get off the boat. I overcame my fear of what might lie ahead and moved on into a world of uncerta inty.

Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the f acts.

Albert Eins tein

Be fearless and undaunted, for go where you may, Yahweh your God is with you.

Josh 1:9

Map of the originally planned six month jour ney
through the Panama Canal to New Zea land.

It had all started the end of March, 1988 when I flew from Seattle, Washington to the island of St. Martin in the Caribbean. My friend Peggy and her boyfriend, Don, were planning to sail his 40-foot boat, Osprey , through the Panama Canal and then on to the Galapagos and other islands en route to New Zealand. The voyage on which I was invited to crew was to take six months. Although I had been sailing since college, when I was on the sailing team at George Washington University, most of my experience was on rivers, lakes and bays. I had little ocean cruising experience but had always dreamed of a high seas adven ture.

The timing of the invitation was perfect for I was feeling very much like a displaced person, confused and very fearful. My marriage of thirty-two years had fallen apart and the pain was indescribable. In spite of my desperate efforts to hold my marriage together, in the end it had failed. Now my dream home overlooking Lake Washington had been sold, my belongings were in storage and my three adult daughters were living their own lives. I felt that this incredible trip that was being offered to me was a lifeline, for I truly didnt know where to turn next.

Osprey had been in dry dock at Bobbys Marina on St. Martin island for several years. Don had flown down some weeks earlier to launch her and get her in shape for the trip ahead. I barely knew Don, but was good friends with his girlfriend, Peggy. I had met Peggy in Seattle, while skiing at Snoqualmie Pass, where she was a member of the Ski Patrol. Peggy had become a bright spot in my life. Being married to a workaholic, I had time to spare, so besides skiing together, Peggy and I had sailed a small boat that she owned. It was fun having a friend who liked to do the same things I did. Then, too, I admired her for raising three wonderful young men, as a single mother. Peggy was tall and slender with almost masculine features. I liked the idea that Don looked beyond her physical looks and saw the wonderful inner person. Don had only recently become part of Peggys life and agreed to take me on as crew at her request. Our only meeting was in Seattle when he interviewed me regarding my sailing experi ence.

It was evening in St. Martin when Peggy and I arrived from Seattle. We were among the last people to get through customs, probably because of the eighteen boxes of provisions Peggy had felt were necessary for our six month journey. We were almost through when a customs official decided that I had to have an airline ticket to show I had a way to leave the country. St Martin is a two nation island, half French, half Dutch and neither country wants visitors who might become liabilities. Don was right there to attest to the fact that I would be leaving the Island on his boat, but to no avail. I ran to a ticket counter which was just closing and managed to purchase a ticket to nearby St. Thomas, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. After finally getting through customs, we discovered that the one remaining taxi, a large van, had just been hired by a young couple. Most kindly, they made room for us and our 18 boxes. We were driven across the island and dropped off at the dock in the town of Philipsburg on Great Bay, located on the Dutch side of the is land.