The Plan!

"The best-laid plans of catamarans and men often go awry." 

- Someone may have said this!

The plan........

I don’t yet know it, and I am the Captain! Let me explain. A very special person in my life has accused me of “not having a plan”, to which we laugh. But tonight it got me thinking.

We (Sea Angel and her crew) departed the Dominican Republic on Thursday the 15th of January. Our clearing out papers were for a destination of Panama, a 7 or 8 day sail. That was part of a broad, general plan to arrive in the South Pacific on schedule- the grand plan so to speak. When we discussed this leg of our trip there was trepidation by the crew on where we might find harbor to stop and rest, as it would be the longest single offshore transit of the trip. I threw out the reasonable options for stopping, and concluded the conversation with “we are just going to start. We will figure out the plan later.”

Jamaican Mangroves

So, I am writing this as we motor along in the lee of Jamaica, on a glass calm sea. How did we end up here!? Well, we started the leg to Panama but listened and responded to the forces greater than us. Nature influenced our plan, or the lack thereof. The winds were abnormally light and we motored a lot to keep up the pace. We used a lot of fuel. Our plan didn’t change... because we didn’t really have one. It reminded me of a scene in the movie “Captain Ron” where in the midst of a terrible storm with everything going wrong at once, Captain Ron says, “well at least we are almost at our safe destination.” To which the crew responds, "how do you know?" He says, "because when they left the last port we had just enough fuel to make it there….. and now we are out of fuel!" He got beat up by the crew.

Jamaican Police escorts Sea Angel

Again, sailing teaches lessons about life. Plans are okay, but they should not be held to fast or dearly. So much of life is out of our control. To have a general plan, a destination, goals, is good. Those set the direction to travel. But to have a plan for each step along the way is not up to us. At this point of our journey, I have learned to give that up, to embrace something bigger than myself. We sail to fulfill a purpose, and it turns out the purpose is fulfilling us.


A quote comes to mind:

“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9, English Standard Version (ESV):

AMEN! David.

Sunrise over Jamaica

The Sea Angel is sailing to the South Pacific for a cause- Sea Mercy is a benevolent program developed for disaster and critical care needs for remote islanders. Sea Mercy is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) charity with a simple vision and mission to "stand in the gap" with a service delivery vessel, trained health care volunteers, support equipment, and critical care services as island nations develop their "outer island" health care infrastructure, when critical health care need opportunities are present, or when disasters occur. Read more about Sea Mercy's 2014 Impact.

 

If Sea Angel's journey resonates with you, we welcome you to consider donating on our behalf to Sea Mercy - there are several ways to get involved. They especially always need enthusiastic volunteers. If you are in the medical profession, consider committing to a rotation in the South Pacific!

 

Sea Mercy's Corporate "We Care" Program is designed to help organizations attract and engage clients, vendors, and employees in the spirit of social responsibility and provide a wonderfully enriching partnership. There are several ways to participate with "We Care". Visit Sea Mercy's website for additional information. If you know of an organization or would like to involve yours, please share this information forward. The more we sail, the more we understand how important it is to foster these types of relationships in everything we do. Our journey still has a long way to go, and we thank you for being here with us.