Lying
in bed, I'm listening to the pulsing beat of drums throbbing from the shore.
With my eyes closed, I can see firelight flicker across the muscled flesh of
men and women as they dance around a fire. I wonder if this is how the English
felt the first time they set anchor in the South Pacific Islands. I can almost
feel their discomfort, listening and watching from their deck at night with no
idea what could possibly be happening on shore.
This
is just one moment in the trip of a lifetime as my husband Graham and I set off
from Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, to fulfil his dream of
sailing home to Australia.
Who
would have thought an adventure of this magnitude would begin with a 5 year old
boy standing at the outer harbour breakwater in South Australia, watching a
sail boat gliding through the water as it slid into the Port River. The young
boy looked up at his Grandpa and asked
“Where
do they come from?” Eyes squinting as he looked across the water Colin McKenzie
pointed at the foreign flag and replied
“Over
seas.” Still holding his Grandpa’s hand, eyes fixed on the sailboat the boy
said
“I’d
like to do that some day.” Grandpa Colin looked down considering at the young
lad, gave his hand a light squeeze to get his attention and nodding said
solemnly,
“You
can do anything if you want to.”
That
young boy was my husband Graham, and this moment was the birth of the dream
that would take us sailing halfway around the world.
Frankly,
I would never have believed I would be sailing anywhere as I’ve always had a
very healthy respect, bordering on fear, of the water. Although this was
Graham’s dream, it would become my adventure and the story of it, is told
through my perspective.
This is the book that proves anyone can make a leap of faith, and enjoy tremendous
wonder and life
changing experiences.
I'll be looking for a publisher in early 2017.
