“Ideally, travel broadens our perspectives personally, culturally, and politically. Suddenly, the palette with which we paint the story of our lives has more colors.”
– Rick Steves
Our 220 NM leg from St. Augustine occurred on the shortest day of the year, marking the increasing number of nighttime hours since November. Due to the length of the travel legs and our desire to arrive in daylight, we deliberately sailed during the year’s longest nights. Nighttime passages have resulted in a unique and challenging experience that has tested our skills and resilience.
The passage, a downwind motor sail, was not without its surprises. Unexpected large swells pitched the boat sideways for much of the night, challenging our ability to stay balanced while underway. During Kim’s midnight shift, the cloudless sky revealed the star-filled Milky Way, which never fails to inspire awe.
We crossed over the North Atlantic Right Whale Critical habitat and heard a warning on the VHF radio from the Coast Guard to be on the lookout. During an Association of Aquatic Biologists conference, Kim recalled hearing that less than 300 of these critically endangered 70-ton animals remain on the planet. They were coined the “Right Whale” because they were the right whale to kill. Because there are so few of these animals, it is difficult to find mates, and many are injured annually from boat strikes. Scientists at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, MA, follow their patterns and have noticed an uptake in unusual behavior attributed to warming ocean temperatures. They migrate from the northern waters to the calving grounds off the coast of Florida in the winter. While we hoped we saw them, we were happy they kept a safe distance, as we would never want to injure one. We passed six glowing cruise ships heading north in a line. We traveled with several companion sailboat boats visible on AIS, each event adding a new element of discovery to our journey.
We both have different strategies for occupying our thoughts in the darkness. With Starlink, Scott listens to music, watches videos, and reads his Kindle. Kim has listened to podcasts, including a recent interview with Rick Steves on The Daily, entitled “Rick Steves Refuses to Get Cynical About the World.”
Rick Steves is a travel guru who believes in the transformative power of travel. We were both struck by his perspective on travel. Steves categorizes travel as follows:
Tourism – largely vacation or escape travel, captured by an Instagram photo
Travel – a practice where one experiences a place the way the locals do, immersive and
respectful…and/or…
Pilgrimage – a journey where one learns about oneself and returns home as a different, better citizen, more grateful, and a better steward of the planet.
Steves embraces all these opportunities without judgment; in his view, they are all good and lead to discovery and communion with the world.
We must admit we both have commented that the timing of our departure on a boat was a welcome escape pod from the cacophony of the world and life in America. With 6 weeks of travel behind us, our trip is beginning to feel indulgent. Thinking about Steves travel framework added a new dimension. Could this sailboat journey be about transformation?
Steve’s advice resonated in statements during the interview, such as “a good traveler is more exposed,” “travel with the windows down,” “focus on the little moments,” “recognize serendipity,” avoid trip advisory and crowdsourcing,” and “find the less traveled path.”
As we approached the entry channel to West Palm Beach, we noticed that our surroundings suddenly felt different. The water had changed from grayish blue to turquoise, and towering palm trees complemented the warm, humid air on the shore.
Once secured in our slip at Haven Yacht Club, we were treated to a delightful surprise. Fishermen were cleaning their catch of three 80-pound swordfish, a sight that added an unexpected thrill to our day. We never knew that swordfish are visual predators. Their enormous eyes are adapted to hunting in the dim, down-welling daylight at great ocean depths. Their long swordlike noses are an adaptation to slash and stun their prey. The fisherman used 10-pound weights and caught the fish at a depth of 1600 feet in a canyon off the coast of Florida. One of them even handed us a fresh vacuum-packed filet as he wished us a ‘Merry Christmas. ‘ This unexpected act of kindness, or what Steves would call ‘Serendipity, ‘added a heartwarming new dimension to our journey, reminding us to recognize the joy of embracing the unexpected. Scott cooked this fish the next day, and we couldn’t help but reflect that the same fish had been swimming along in the ocean’s depths the day before. Somehow, consuming the fish was different, knowing the source.
With a different framework for this extended travel, which we are now referring to as a pilgrimage, we are looking to explore and connect with the world. Maybe, in this process of traveling, we will uncover the wonders of the world that we didn’t know before, foster a deeper connection with it, and hopefully we return a little wiser for it.
With gratitude for this opportunity, Kailoa signing off.
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