Survival of the Brother

I may or may not have mentioned that my brother Harland has set off on a long-term sailing adventure. He bought a 41ft ketch, named it Paladino, and finally set off.

He sailed from San Francisco to Acapulco, mostly in day trips. Starting out he had a crew of two, a couple. However, somewhere in Mexico (maybe Zihuatenejo) they bailed on him and went to crew on a much bigger boat. So he decided to just go on alone. He talked to a lot of solo sailors, one of whom was 10 years older, and they all assured him he could do it. After all, it was only a 35-day crossing. And about 3500 miles.

And he did. He made landfall in Fatu Hiva island in the Marquesas yesterday (29 March). I got a text at 2:30am edt. This is officially the middle of nowhere.

Text at 1:30am edt Wed. -- there's going to be a celebratory roast pig pickin' tomorrow with poisson cru (Tahitian lime-marinated tuna salad), poulet salad (chicken), banana pamplemousse (grapefruit). Sounds good to me.

I'm very proud of him.