Category: Odysseys in Paradise

  “After you called, I immediately hired a man to find Ramona,” Tim said. “She lives with Tiki in Auckland.” “So far not complicated,” Rich said. “She is almost 18,” Tim said. “Tiki has sold her to a man from…

Rich showered. He planned on a having a meal at a restaurant a short walk from the marina. He stepped from the marina’s gate onto a road running alongside. “Are you the man looking for Ramona Cantwell?” Rich turned. A…

Rich asked for a private phone. The marina had one available in a small office slightly larger than a closet with only enough room for the chair and desk. Rich explained he might need the phone for quite some time…

Two days later, the seas rolled and churned; not enough to be a danger, but enough to demand attention. It was like an unsteady old man waking after a nap and shaking off the drowsiness. The sea now ready to…

Other than being marooned on some distant planet in a far away galaxy, the seas are about as lonely as it can be. It is a test of fortitude and emotional fitness. Rich surmised, “If a man can not live…

  The light blue velvet waters of the Fiji Islands rippled smoothly and endlessly. The choppy uncertain seas were distant memories as well as future realities. Rich sailed south. It seemed the time to do so, just as instinct governs…

Rich sailed east for three hours. Again, he dropped the sails. He slept as The Odyssey drifted. It was a short night and he awoke more from the frustration of not being able to sleep. At the chart desk with…

Another island appeared on the eastern horizon. Rich checked the map and it appeared to be Nairai Island. Like so many of the islands, it appeared as a risen patch of green on a blue blanket of sea. Circling the…

An hour beyond Batiki Island, Rich dropped the sails and the gentle roll of a placid sea lulled The Odyssey into a rest. Lazily she bobbed. Rich sat on the deck with his back against the forward outside wall of…

When tomorrow came, Rich was 12 hours out to sea and smiling broadly. He reclined in the cockpit shaded from the sun and drifted off to sleep. When he awoke, he lifted his head above the windshield looking over the…

The Weird Couple Rich filled his water and gas tanks; thus by sundown, ready to set sail at a moment’s notice. Rich stocked up on items like motor oil and filters before abruptly leaving Maine. He changed the oil and…

Rich examined his map and surmised a good day or so of sailing would put him on the shores of Vanua Levu, the second largest of the Fiji Islands. The seas and sailing were good, but this was the wet…