Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
I suppose this could have been one of the happiest days of my life. A day when I couldn't
have asked for anything more. Not even a beautiful girl companion would have improved
upon my sheer joy.
After a long time, I made my way back to the cockpit and turned on the gas to make tea.
Murphy was awake just sitting on the sole in a ray of sunlight; I admired his form. His ears
were very tall and his face curiously narrow and un-catlike; he almost looked old, but in
a sweet way. He had a magnificent display of white whiskers which he was now pawing.
I checked his water and food bowls and made myself a cup of strong, sweet tea. Thick,
wholewheat bread and butter and a few slices of cheese with hot mustard made my lunch.
I was sleepy afterward and had a good look about for signs of any boats and to ensure we
were still on course, then I went below and lay down on my bunk. It was stuffy below, and
I opened the fore hatch. Usually when sailing, I kept it and the ports firmly locked. Today,
however, I knew that the weather was going to remain the same as it was. I turned my tape
player on and selected a tape that Liz had given me, Silken Road by Kithara, the Japanese
keyboard maestro. The cabin filled with the heavenly sounds of this tranquil, pleasing mu-
sic. I can still hear it today, and it shall always take me back to that most wonderful day,
one day on the way to Lanai.
I eventually fell asleep, lulled by the music and the boat's cradle-like motion. I awoke some
hours later and sprang guiltily up and climbed smartly outside, hurriedly looking about. We
were OK! But look at that! There was the grey outline of two sets of islands in the distance!
Molokai was to the left of Lanai, and I could also just make out Kooalawi, the deserted
island used by the U.S. military as a shooting target. I couldn't believe the arrogance of the
U.S. for using one of these precious land masses as a shooting range. What little respect had
they to do this and destroy something that could never be used again safely? Now, some
twenty years have gone by, and I believe they are cleaning up the place and supposedly
removing all the unexploded ordinances. But will they get them all? Would I feel comfort-
able now on that island? Probably not.
I had left my VHF radio on, and there was the usual ships' radio traffic back and forth, but
out of the blue I heard Gavin's distinct voice coming through clearly, “Déjà vu, Déjà vu,
this is Felicia; do you copy, over?”
I went down below and lifting the mic, replied, “Roger, Felicia, this is Déjà vu. Go to chan-
nel ten if you can, over.”
“Roger, Déjà vu, going down ten.”
I turned down to ten and said, “Hallo Gavin, are you there?”
“Yes, Jon, how is it going?” he grinned through his voice.
