Ya gotta admire Jim for his courage, tenacity, & full blown commitment to a dream. While some may say he's over the edge, and they themselves have not pursued their own dreams, and many have their own opinions without fully understanding Jim's desire to follow this passion of his. I myself did not even know the real "reason" for this crazy idea of his... until this past Monday. The day after we returned from the Carribean on our attempt to head to Florida.
I've known that he has always had this dream, since High School, to do something like this. And I just thought it was about getting away touring parts unseen by many, on a boat & in the past when I talked to him about it, he would mention he loves hearing the sound of the water lapsing up against the boat as she's sailing along, stopping along at quiet islands & listening to the fish jump & the birds in the trees on shore. But Monday, while we were discussing our options of what to do now, the real reason came out. He honestly feels "this" is what he's meant to do, living on a boat. That was his exact statement. "This is where, among all the work & headaches, I'm at peace."
This has been the only thing I have ever seen Jim pursue with such passion & commitment. Sometimes I have faulted him for it, saying that he's putting Sunshine first, being irresponsible. But after this conversation, I have a better understanding of what this all means to him. And I hope some if not all, of those who've questioned this whole thing from the beginning will also understand better. With all the years that we've had family health issues starting way back 14 + years ago, Jim has had to put aside for his family everything that he's wanted to do. And he's done so without a single complaint. When he pitched this idea to me, that he really wanted to do this, NOW, I saw all the times he put himself last for his family, and that now he deserved to do this. But still, this was not just about him, he wanted this to be a time for our family to bond & spend together seeing some of the fantastic areas of the World that most kids only read or hear about. He wanted this , not just for himself, but all of us. And to see him struggle to make this work, has been hard for me to understand why he keeps going forward, but I think I have a better understanding, and my only hope is that this has a happy ending for him. It will be extremely difficult for him to let Sunshine go. He's put so much in to her, she's not looked or been in this good of shape since we took ownership of her. Things can only get better, but here in Central America there's nothing more we can do. She's too far away for us, Jim needs to take care of other responsibilities, get back to work, mainly. And we've been gone from our kids longer than we told them already. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone with this much of a passion for something, and maybe to some, it's called a pipe dream, but dreams aren't just dreams. They are ideas that when pursued gives a person a reason for living, a way to enjoy life. Some stop with the dream, some go after it If we didn't have dreams, we wouldn't have Olympic Gold medalists, beautiful statues & towers, music & paintings, Lance Armstrongs, Tiger Woods, or high rise buildings, electricity or airplanes, or even the computer your reading this on now. Someone had to think it, had to dream it, for it to begin. I'm going to end this long post with again, that t-shirt quote from Mike Dooley that Jim has had for over 15 years. This is Jim's favorite quote & sums up what this is all about.
Your Dreams Are Gifts
that set You in Motion,
on the Tides of Time
where Life is an Ocean.
Your Sails are Filled with
the Winds of Desire to
Surge through the
Waves of Murk & Mire.
And When You Awaken
With Your Goal at Hand,
You See Your True Destination
Was the Voyage Not the Land!


I have updated the past few days, so if you haven't read those, make sure you scroll down & get caught up.