Rewind…Gallivanting the globe, sans Swell: 1

Ahuna-Marotta wedding: shortly after I was swept off the rocks by a wave and into the lava pool :)

After my bout with dengue fever mid-June, only a few days remained to get Swell out of the water and sorted before the once a week flight to Hawaii for one of my oldest friend, Nicole’s, wedding. Due to the leak in the hull, I couldn’t leave the boat in the water while I was away, so I made my way back to the all too familiar boatyard with barely enough time to explain my return, stash the goods belowdecks, and blow her a kiss as I ran to catch a ride to the airport.

“I’ll be back in three weeks,” I thought, “What could happen in three weeks?”

Amidst the flurry and fun of the Ahuna-Marotta wedding wonder week, I received an interesting proposition in response to needing a way to raise money to fix Swell—a photo book of the voyage thus far. Hmmm, why not? Thus between managing the wedding house recycling program, hot glue gunning napkin holders, and hurling myself into shorebreak poundings at Sandy’s, I pondered the book proposition…It was certainly worth a hard look…and so Swell would have to wait…it was off to the mainland.

Timing had it that, Dear and Yonder, the film project that I had been involved in over the last year and a half, was premiering in Encinitas: a line around the block, brimming with young girls and families, surfy eclectics, a herd of my old friends, and local female shredders. Standing on stage with my wave-riding heros: Lisa Anderson, Judith Sheridan, Sofia Mulanovich, and more… And after all that hard work, Tiff and Andria: the film is absolutely beautiful…thank you for including me! (Go to http://www.dearandyonder.com/  to get a copy)

Yes, i'm the nerdy one with the mismatched fins…

With barely another breath and I found myself in Portland, mid-summer: Sal and Heidi graciously put up the “Tiny Captain” as they deemed me (check out Heidi Swift, writing/biking phenom at http://heidiswift.com/). Stiv set me loose on a roadbike and off I went cross-town pedal commuting to the Wend office—generally a little lost–falling over at stop lights with my toes in the toe clips and getting left in a swirl of dust by radical Portland biker grandmas. I’m only alive to tell about it thanks to Anna’s helmet. By day 6, though, I’d figured out a few good routes. I won’t forget those warm summer nights, riding home under full moon shadows through the urban backstreets, smells of summer blossoms and harvest flowing over me in the 10:30pm dusk. I’m no expert, but what a fantastic city! Rows of ROSES, every imaginable color! Environmentalists and activists on every corner. Hide your Nalgene, that was sooo last year, get a steel water carrier or be Portland scum. Just not enough time to explore between 14 hour days of sifting through 10,000 Voyage of Swell photos: eyes crossing, rear flattened…Day 6: must exercise…low and behold… “What’s that 80s song coming from down the hall??” ‘Jazzercise’ the sign read on the door!? No, it couldn’t be…The beats of the feets lured me up the stairs…It’s REAL! Rockin jazzercise routines with a pink headband to forget computer screens. Summer berries enough to make up for 3 berry-less years aboard Swell. Exquisite family meals: only Heidi would come up with coconut curry quinoa when delegated the starch. Grand finale Portland=photo shoot for Wend cover as a ‘photo action’ for the climate change awareness group, 350.org !  (350 parts per million is what is believed to be the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere.) 6 hours in a peed in Patagonia wetsuit (not my pee) on an 80 degree summer squelcher…to raise awareness for global warming, it’s worth it.

Do you own 'photo action' for climate change…check out 350.org!!!!