Timing is everything
by Christine Kling
When I was returning from the Bahamas last week, the day I traveled from Great Sale Cay to West End, there was absolutely no wind. I was headed for the Indian Cay cut and because I didn’t want to pass through at low tide – which was half a foot below mean low tide – Barney and I were having to putz along motoring at about 3 knots to allow the tide to rise a bit before I passed through the shallowest parts. And because I am a writer, all that slow going in a windless world where I could see the bottom of the sea struck me as a metaphor for my life.
Being in the right place at the right time is not always a matter of luck. It takes hard work and planning. I stuffed my son into the quarter berth of my boat and two weeks later I flew him home from the Abacos for an interview for a job he landed – full time and with benefits. It’s not the food blogger job he applied for, but it is one of the dozens of places he sent a resume to. I couldn’t be happier for him.
I brought my dear new puppy Barney home to my vet and learned he does indeed have a juvenile cataract in his left eye. The vet doesn’t think it was caused by anything other than nature in spite of the fact it came on in 48 hours, but the good news is it can be fixed and thanks to healthy book sales, I will be able to afford to do it.
And finally, I returned home just in time to be able to take part in a great joint effort by several writers who are helping out a good friend and fellow sailor, Steve Brown, who is going through a very expensive bone marrow transplant to battle leukemia. Steve is a real life P.I., the author of The Complete Idiots Guide to Private Investigating, and a member of the Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. In addition, Steve is the former owner of the sailing vessel Liahona which is now the home of my good friends Mark and Willie Haskins who are full-time cruisers currently located in Trinidad. I spent several days enjoying their wonderful hospitality aboard Liahona last November at the end of the Caribbean 1500. Steve has been writing about his bone marrow transplant experience on his blog, Handcuffed to the Ocean.
On Monday, July 16th, I and several authors will be donating a portion of the proceeds of our book sales to the Steve Brown Bone Marrow Transplant Fund, thanks to the organizational abilities of Steve’s friend and fellow blogger, Jeffrey “Hammerhead” Philips. Jeffrey has set up links to all the offered books here on their blog: http://handcuffedtotheocean.com/
The important thing to remember, though, is that timing is everything with this fund raising effort. If you would like to take part, you must do it on Monday. Maybe you could set yourself a reminder right now. There are some terrific books offered and you will be helping out another one of us who loves to write on the water.
Fair winds!
Christine
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