Changes in Latitudes…43°N to 17º S!!

Coming from his recent workplace in Grand Rapids, Michigan where the temperature had hardly breached 20 degrees Fahrenheit in more than a month, my dad’s permanent grin made perfect sense…

It was shocking to think that in the 7 years I’d owned Swell, my dear father had NEVER sailed with me!?!…He’d spent more than a dad’s share of hours working aboard Swell while she was tied to the dock in Santa Barbara and when he came to my rescue in the Puntarenas boatyard in Costa Rica, but the one and only time we’d left dockside together aboard my vessel was on the day of the sea trial back on February 10, 2004. A typical winter day in Santa Barbara it had been–not a breath of wind and a fog bank lying just offshore. We went out past the pier, around the last green channel marker, unfurled the headsail just to have a look at it, and then motored back to the dock…hardly sailing, but we felt that a Cal 40’s sailing reputation was enough.

Since Swell’s recent repair saga had ended, I’d been yearning for a visit from my dad—to show him how Swell and I had transformed, all that I’d learned, and all that I loved about the South Pacific…and then surprise! An email from Dad with a 2-week holiday itinerary…yeeee haaaa!

It didn’t take long for pops to take to Polynesian life…Christmas day hosted classic South Pacific weather–moderate trades whisking handfuls of cumulus clouds across the grand ceiling of blue, making for the perfect human climate…77 degrees and a light breeze…ahhhhhhhhhhh…kick back and enjoy, Dad!!