CARIBBEAN BOUND

So I have been asked several times recently just what the hell this whole undertaking entails so here it is. Side note- those of you who have read my earlier trip journals can probably skip this part.

In early October 2007 I was in my underwear on the couch dicking around on the internet and I found a couple advertising for a crew member on a website. This crew member was to help them circumnavigate the world over the course of 3 and a half years. It looked interesting and I have been dreaming, reading, and planning on doing this exact thing so I thought what the hell and e-mailed to apply. They replied that they had picked a guy the morning following my mail and thanked me. I said best of luck and didn't think about it. A few days later I got a follow up e-mail saying that they were talking it over and that having an alternate wouldn't be a bad idea and given my resume they would like to meet me. I was headed to the Dominican Republic at the end of October so I swung by the boat to meet Brett on my way to LAX. By the way, don't take sand to the beach down there. There are insanely hot European and Dominican girls all over that place, so unless your girl is into girls, go with the bros. When I got back, Brett called and asked me to come meet Naomi. I drove to Marina Del Rey and met her during their Bon Voyage party. He called me the next day and offered the alternate position to me and asked if I would be interested in crewing along with the other guy up until Cabo. This would take from early November until about x-mas. I jumped on it and you can read all my blogs from that portion of the trip at www.myspace.com/oceanhuntersb

Then things got difficult. When I started the trip I was merely second string. When we arrived in Cabo, I was asked to step up and do the first two years of the trip. The other guy did not mesh well with the dynamic of the crew and things were tense for a bit. At that time I could not commit to the whole two years. I promised to return in late February and help sail the mighty Pacific Ocean down into the South Pacific islands. If I could get my affairs in order I would stay, if not I would fly back from Tahiti in April. I flew home, worked a ton and started slowly trying to figure out what I was going to do. I had a very nice house, a truck, two boats, all the normal bills everyone else has, and of course, my constant companion Drake the dog. Not too mention I had a great career that I was going into my eighth year at. Being a professional firefighter is not something many people walk away from. It's much like the mafia, once you are in, you're in for life. I considered jet-setting, couple months on the boat, couple months at work. Then Nick had to open his mouth at work one day.

I worked on Ladder Truck 3 downtown in the busiest fire house in that area. That truck is 50 feet long, weighs 82,000 lbs and has a 100 foot aerial ladder on it. When we drive down the street women weep and men tremble. I also happened to work with some of my very best friends. Nick is the Captain and he mentioned to me that I needed to call a friend of his wife's. This guy has a boat down in the Caribbean and needs some help with it. Apparently he doesn't have much experience but has the dough. So I called. Brian automatically asked me if I wanted to join him for a four month cruise through the Caribbean starting in the Bahamas and ending in Cartagena. I would have been all over this but I committed to the crew of Fearless to help sail the Pacific and those of you who know me understand that I can't break my word. But this opportunity is too good to miss so I told Brian I would come down and sail with him for 3 weeks in February. He said no problem and the proverbial snowball ensued. Things have been absolute chaos since that point, mostly because instead of lining up my affairs appropriately and tying up loose ends, I spent most every waking moment off duty out getting obscenely drunk with my friends in a last ditch effort to spend some time with them and probably in my warped mind find some "clarity". This culminated last week in the most raucous Vegas trip I could imagine and I still fear that I may never recover. In the end, it came down to serious soul searching and ultimately, I'm married to the sea. I had to go. None of this has been easy. I sleep in intermittent bouts of forty or so minutes, eat very little, drink way too much and just generally try and avoid having a freaking panic attack each time I think of what I am giving up to chase this dream. This is more or less a condensed version of what has got me here.

Currently here is Fort Lauderdale and I am in Terminal 1 awaiting the boarding process for my plane to Georgetown, Bahamas. It has been a long journey thus far but it is really only the beginning. This whole process of getting here has just been utterly draining. Yesterday I ran some errands, stopped by Station 13 to finish some e-mailing for department business, grabbed some lunch and was at home for a bit. I had to meet Brian's girlfriend to pick up a big rolling suitcase full of frozen food so I could take it with me. Brian has been in Georgetown for about a week and has reported that the market there has a pretty limited selection. After I met with her I went home and started the task of packing. Earlier in the week, sometime in between binge drinking and trying to sleep, I decided that there was no way I was going to get everything done in time to go and that I would have to forego my original plan of going to Austin to hang out with some friends before sailing the Pacific. So I will be returning for one last bash at the end of this month. My 30th bday is the 23rd of this month so my friends are throwing me a dual bday/bon voyage party. I shudder to think of the brain cells I will kill and the irreversible damage that will ravage me after that night.

I pulled it off. I'm here. I got packed in time. About half my shit is sold, the rest is in some form or another handled. I am no longer able to say that I am a firefighter and that is a fucking weird feeling. That's all I have been for 8 years of my life now. The support and sentiment from some of my brother firefighters was more than I expected and it's difficult to read the e-mails from them without having that twinge of doubt knowing what a great thing I am leaving behind. No matter what, I will always be their brother and I hope that as they read this they can live some of this with me.

I wanted to get this journal entry in before I get down to the Bahamas, not sure what the internet situation is down there. The plan is to get down there tonight and we are setting sail first thing tomorrow morning for the Turks and Caicos islands so I won't get to kick it too much in Georgetown but I'm not gonna complain. If you are interested in seeing the catamaran I will be on tonight and for the next 3 weeks, http://www.ed-hamilton.com/yachtlink/Two_If_By_Sea~4015-2.html Click here. This is the same make and model boat that Brian owns but the boat on the site is a charter boat down there. Also, for those who don't have it, the site for the other trip is www.fearlessmdr.com
Talk to you later, oh, and someone tell Puss in Boots they have Agavero in the Tequila bar in the Phoenix Airport, sweet.