When I was seven or eight I had in my room, a toy chest. Not an ordinary Toy Chest, mind you. This one contained fantasies and adventures. Such an enticing item, sitting there quietly, yet always ready to play. It was actually a bench that when you lifted the seat, revealed the treasures collected by a boy of that age (a plastic “Tommy Gun”, Army Helmet, Lincoln Logs, toy airplanes, boats and I can’t remember what else). A place to store one’s fantasies and bring them out on demand to “play”.
As I sit here today, I’m struck by how I still have a toy chest standing ready to reveal new adventures. Now it’s called the Lazarette and it’s under the hatch of one of the cockpit seats. Open it and deep in the recesses of the boat it reveals toys with which to discover the world’s oceans. Snorkel gear, storm sails, diving spear, fishing tackle and other stuff. And as when I was a child, some of the stuff is only revealed when I dive in deep into the locker among the “treasures” and search. Still unorganized as ever, but as always, when you open the lid there are so many adventures just waiting to emerge.

I was also thinking about how I’ve been “planning” this adventure that Ann and I are going on for as far back as I can remember. Back in second grade I used to “doodle” desert islands that I would invent and “live on”. Elaborate fantasies that no doubt contributed to my not paying near enough attention to the teacher when the subjects were multiplication or division. Robinson Crusoe and Swiss Family Robinson were my heroes and then later, Robin Lee Graham who sailed around the world when he/and I was/were 16. I was with him via his articles in National Geographic and later his book; “Dove”. Then the books from Sir Francis Chichester, Joshus Slocum, and so many others who wrote of sailing to far off places that lined my bookshelf- when as before, I should have been studying math or physics. But they kept the dream alive.
In my teens I sailed San Francisco Bay on, among other boats, a schooner named Landfall II. She and her owners had sailed around the world in the early 1960’s and being able to crew on her in the Bay was somehow getting me closer to the fantasy of sailing to the South Seas.

Just some ramblings while sitting here in King Harbor, Redondo Beach getting ready to leave this afternoon for San Diego (and beyond). This leg will be about sixteen hours, so we’re not leaving until this afternoon so as not to get in before sunrise.
So anyway, with these thoughts in mind I’m thankful that I have such a great partner in Ann Adams who is enthusiastically sharing this adventure and the support of family and friends all of whom allow me to reach into my “toy chest” and pull out a new adventure. Only this time it’s not the fantasy adventure of a seven year old, it’s a reality realized some years later. I hope all those reading this will stay with us and share our discoveries along the way!