Sailing to Jessica
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    • What is it?
    • Chapters 1 - 6 >
      • Chapter 1: Double Maiden Voyage
      • Chapter 2: Meaning of Life
      • Chapter 3: No Regrets on Rosie
      • Chapter 4: Surviving Cape Fear
      • Chapter 5: Life with No Means
      • Chapter 6: Beginners on Board
    • Chapters 7 - 12 >
      • Chapter 7: Provisions, Preparations and the Harmonica
      • Chapter 8: Woman Behind-the-Wheel in the Bahamas
      • Chapter 9: Chickentown
      • Chapter 10: No Emergency Exit
      • Chapter 11: Transiting the Panama Canal Twice
      • Chapter 12: Storms, Pirates and the Galapagos Islands
    • Chapters 13 - 17 >
      • Chapter 13: Land Ho! after Twenty Two Days at Sea
      • Chapter 14: Buddy-boating to Black Pearls
      • Chapter 15: Tahiti to Bora Bora with a Cat
      • Chapter 16: John and the Sharks of Suwarrow
      • Chapter 17: Spin Cycle to New Zealand
    • Chapter 18 - 22 >
      • Chapter 18: Boat Work and Body Work
      • Chapter 19: Misadventures of Howie and the Engine
      • Chapter 20: From Soggy Suva to So So Bay
      • Chapter 21: Celebrations in Tuvalu
      • Chapter 22: Sorrowful Goodbye, Sudden Hello
  • Setting Sail
    • Our Cruising Sailboat
    • Anatomy of our Sailboat >
      • Category List on Rosie >
        • Autopilots >
          • Robertson Autopilot (aka Bob)
          • Fleming Windvane (aka Ian)
        • Canvas
        • Dinghy
        • Electronics >
          • VHF
          • Nav Computer
          • Radar
          • Quad Cycle
          • Trace Inverter
          • Silva Instruments
          • Trimble Inmarsat C
          • Garmin GPS
          • SGC2000 SSB Radio
        • Ground Tackle
        • Luxury Items
        • Miscellaneous >
          • Boat Alarm
          • Bilge Pumps
          • Bosun's Chair
        • Refrigeration
        • Safety Items >
          • EPIRBs
          • Grab Bag
          • Life Raft
          • Sea Anchor
        • Sails, Sailing and the Running Rigging >
          • Jennaker
        • Power Generation
        • Water >
          • Water Maker
          • Propane Hot Water Heater
          • Electric Hot Water Heater
        • Engine Room >
          • Engine
          • Alternators & Regulators
          • Fuel Systems
          • Batteries
          • Miscellaneous Engine Room
      • Location List of Rosie >
        • Pushpit
        • Cockpit
        • Lazarette
        • Galley
        • Nav Station
        • Quarter Berth
        • Salon
        • Head
        • Corridor
        • Master Cabin
        • Sail Locker
        • Chain Locker
        • Aft of Mast
        • Up the Mast
        • Forward of the Mast
        • Pulpit
    • Sailing Books Onboard
  • Forever Family
    • Infertility
    • Adoption

An Excerpt from "Sailing to Jessica" 
Chapter 19:  Misadventures of Howie and the Engine

    
We were anchored off Waiheke Island on one such trip when Howie peed on our salon settee, prompting us to take our diabetic cat to the vet.   I chucked a protesting Howie into his cat carrier and climbed into the dinghy while Paul started the outboard.  It was dusk and we had to surf the dinghy over the beach’s breaking waves in order to land.  Howie meowed frantically as we whizzed down the back of one wave. 
    In the brief lull between crashing waves, Paul lifted the outboard out of the water to clear the beach while I jumped in the four-inch deep ebb to hastily pull the heavy dinghy to shore.  I wasn’t fast enough...

We should have attached the engine with wing-nuts...

A Special Tribute to Bruce

Picture

If Bruce were alive today, I bet he would urge everyone to live life to the fullest...as he did.  He was hiking up a mountain with his brothers when he had a heart-attack and died; he was only 50 years old. 

When he and Claire had flown out to New Zealand to sail with us on Rosie, the boat wasn't ready.  Rosie was still in the paint shed.  I felt horrible.  They took advantage of the time by renting a camper van and touring New Zealand.  When they returned from their camping trip, the boat still wasn't in the water so they flew to Fiji for a romantic beach holiday.  After their trip to Fiji, they returned to New Zealand with hopes of sailing on Cherokee Rose.  But the engine refused to work!  I suggested that they charter a sailboat at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and while it was an expensive "excursion" on top of an already expensive trip, they decided to do it and had a wonderful time.  

At Bruce's funeral, Claire told me that they never regretted the trip; that it had been their second honeymoon.  And she has such fond memories of it and Bruce.

Bruce, thank you for having the guts to sail with us on our Maiden Voyage.  Thank you for the laughs and the help and for being such a friend.  We miss you tons.

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