All Hands On Deck

An email went out in late September 2011 from Serge Bisson, our Skipper of the racing vessel Fire Drill. Our racing days now long past and the crew scattered, his email was about a vessel he wished to acquire. It was in Croatia. He and his wife, Cynthia intended to sail her to St. Thomas. His note said,  "We are closing in on a Jeanneau 54DS, which is lying in Split Croatia.... We should be leaving Croatia around the 20th of October to cross the Mediterranean towards Gibraltar, We will make several stops in Italy, Sardidna, Corsica, France, the Balearic Islands, Spain... Gibraltar, then on to Rabat in Morocco, for a short stop. From there a jump to the Cannarie Islands for a few days before crossing the Atlantic. Our destination is St. Thomas USVI, after a short stop in St. Martin. St. Martin will be our first landfall after the long crossing. This may change of course as conditions dictate. We would love to have you with us for any legs of this beautiful trip. If any of you has the time for such an adventure please let me know so we could plan for it."


I immediately thought good for them! AND then quickly told myself there was no way I could go. Too many responsibilities. We were in the middle of building a hospital after-all.


On October 2, 2011 Dolores invited me to crew for her on her boat on the seasons first Chowder race out of the Berkeley Yacht Club. Dolores and I crewed for Serge when he skippered Fire Drill. I joined her and during that race we spoke about Serge's offer. We talked about how great it would be to go on any leg of that trip. We both had our excuses why we could not even entertain the possibility.


The following week was my 48th birthday. I had a very good Birthday weekend. Friends and family took me out and everybody was on their best behavior. It was sometime during this weekend  that I had this epiphany, This trip is an experience of a life time. I am 48 years old. I slave away at work and have months of time on the books. It is highly unlikely I will ever be offered a chance to sail the Mediterranean from Croatia to Morocco again. What is the point of working so hard if you cannot take the opportunity of a life time when it comes your way?


It was on my birthday, October 8th 2011, that I sent an email declaring that I wished to go. During the following weeks Serge and Cynthia negotiated the purchase of their yacht, Vanilla. (www.vanilla-yacht.info) Mary asked if she could join us and she immediately became a member of the crew. We made plans and we are now set to fly out of San Francisco International Airport at 6:00AM on November 11, 2011 (11-11-11). 


This blog is intended to chronicle this journey. This is a true adventure and at the time of this writing I do not know what stories and images will fill these pages, but I hope you enjoy watching it unfold.


~Terry L. Saltz