If you wear the uniform of the U.S. Navy you can count on spending time at sea, but being on an aircraft carrier for several months is a far cry from spending three years on a 47-foot single diesel Sunnfjord trawler. The trawler is a slow boat and relatively easy to operate, according to Coupeville tavern owner JOHN RODRIGUEY. He should know. He and wife GAYE, who is happy to be back now and running the pre-school at Oak Harbor Lutheran, left in July 2005 for Mexico, Central America, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands, with side trips to Peru, Argentina and Chile.
Their journey home actually began last September in Libertad, Ecuador, after they mingled among Mayans and Aztecs in the Andes and Guatemala.
They encountered a few “petty bureaucrats” who found new things to tax them with. “They look at us Americans and figure we can afford to tip them,” said Rodriguey, “so we don’t drag it out. The people of Ecuador have relatively nothing.
“The cultures are so different and so colorful. We met wonderful people along the way, many who were doing what we were doing.”
What happened to the business in his absence? “All my staff at Toby’s did a great job. I have a manager, GARY SIMS, who pretty much ran the place. I’d come home every six months for about a month each time. We had close coordination.”
Their 10-year-old black alley cat named DARIA is the only one who stayed on the boat for the entire three years. Rodriguey said, “We sailed into Coupeville by way of San Francisco, Port Townsend and the Deception Pass Bridge, where some of the same people who saw us off came to welcome us home.”
At 60, Rodriguey sums up, “If I don’t do this when I can, I’ll miss this opportunity and that would be much worse.”
He’s flying to Fiji in October to help a crew sail to New Zealand. Gaye will skip this trip and keep the home fires burning. “A trip such as ours doesn’t hurt a marriage, but you realize you are living in a very small world,” he said.
When he speaks to the Oak Harbor Yacht Club in October, landlocked sailors will see the pictures and hear the rest of the story.
Arrivals and departures
Local Regency on Whidbey MARJORIE ERIKSON recently welcomed family from the far south and even farther north when her sister JEAN and husband IRA COHEN came to town. They live on Singer Island, Fla., just north of West Palm Beach. Whidbey must have felt cool to the Cohens.
Marjorie’s son, CARL, who works as engineer of a Trident fishing plant in the Aleutians, works 24-7 for three or four months and then gets a month off. “He comes down here three or four times a year,” she said. Hope Carl enjoyed our heat wave.
Marjorie’s late husband, Warren (Erik), served 39 years in the U.S. Navy, retiring as a captain. His absolute favorite tour was as captain of the destroyer USS Zellars. From there he went on to serve as chief of the Military Assistance Group in the Netherlands, and also had duty in Okinawa and Korea during the 70s.
The family got to live in, see and make friends in those places. “It enriched our lives in many ways,” said Marjorie, who as a painter and crafts person had a chance to observe wonderful art of all kinds.
Even an artist needs to step back and refocus, so she has decided to paint less. Thanks, Marjorie, from all your friends, for sharing your talent and perspective.
Time to return the favor
HAROLD PICARD, formerly command master chief, has been with the Retired Affairs Office for 16 years. “I’ve seen the need grow over that time. For example, we assisted over 45 widows last year after the death of their spouses and helped them prepare in advance for what the pay office, Social Security and Veterans Administration will need,” he said.
Help is needed to keep retirees and their families informed of their benefits, changes to current policies and legislation. Currently eight volunteers are signed up but they need several more to cover the 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., four days a week schedule.
Can you devote three hours a week, once a week to keeping things running? Maybe your spouse or buddy would like to join you.
Retired Navy Commander DUANE KEMP, a former executive officer of the naval air station, has devoted 23 years of volunteer service to RAO. He just got home from the hospital and is ready to get back to the office in building 12 on the Seaplane Base. Call 257-8054, 8057.
See you back here next week. Meanwhile, call me at 675-6611 or email lifeonwhidbey@yahoo.com.
