| I cannot begin to understand what happens to a man, that one
day he wakes up, and wants to sail a boat around the world,
Alone....
By age 75 most people, would think that that the battle is over, or
not possible to win. Resigned to some station in life, and that all
other stations are taken, or held by someone else. To think, to
hold the concept, to make a commitment of this magnitude is
beyond my comprehension. But he did, and I was talking to an
ordinary man, not special, Kind, nice, and worried about having
enough food, on the boat, and whether we needed paper plates.
I had to literally talk my way on the boat, by promising to take a
lot of pictures, and to do anything. I was not needed.
The boat was a 42 foot, homemade boat, no bragging rights here.
Unlike most of my sailor friends, that would constantly be telling
me the draft, the length, how it compared to other sailboats, and
the reasons they made the decision to buy their boat. He never
talked of his boat, other than strictly pragmatic needs. The goal
superceded the lesser concern. Focus in such a simple way on his
objective.
He was going through the canal the next day, and he had a few
things to do. He was not talking about the future, or what could
happen, solely making the plan. I ask what happened to you?
What make you special. We laughed and joked and finally define
the word as:
TENACITY....
He was not going to stop. I am not sure whether the other people
on the boat even understood what he was doing. He was just an
old man with a boat, and they were happy to go through the
canal. I took over 160 digital pictures of the event. Not one person
ask me for my email address, I collect the ones that I wished, but
I felt that maybe, I was the only one who looked at it as a small
piece of history. I want to capture all of it, I tried my best,
climbing up and down, jumping and running to take pictures of
everything. Afraid that I would miss the moment, or the perfect
shot. I wanted to get out of the boat, at the locks and run along
side to take pictures. As it turned out, I manned one corner or
one line of the boat. I had to take pictures in between doing my
line handling job.
Funny. as I travel the world, I find so few people that can look at
the wonder of the world. There is a constant minimizing of the
spectacular, and a constant glorification of themselves. Like
somehow any of us are that important. I hope that I endeavor one
such accomplishment in my life.
I think I met a hero. An ordinary person doing a something
extraordinary
.
A passion...
The thought scares me, ALONE around the world.
Thank You Dave,
Andy Graham
andy_graham@usa.net
|
|
The canal finished in 1914, and
given to the Panama people
December 31, 1999 12 noon.
Started at the Panama Canal
Yacht Club. Located at Colon, on
the Atlantic side.
Not pretty, but very ordinary
in many ways, doing this
extraordinary event.
Mollie Millar
This canal was started 20 years before the
United States took over in 1904, and finished
in 1914. NO Fax, No Telephone, BIG
dreams.
Opening of the gate to the
Gatun lock
Small lead weights attached to
a small rope are thrown to all
4 corners of the boat. The boat
is than secure to the walls, so
that it does not move when
lowered or raised.
We are waiting her in the Gatun
lock to enter. This boat has
entered the lock. The water
The one thing I am sure we had
in common. We both like coffee
in the morning!
