Month: October 2007

  • Another lovely day at sea


    Hard to believe our trip is almost over.

    today is the day todd and I go swimming. YIKES

  • This about says it all


  • day 2 stuart island

    The trip is settling into a nice rhythm now as everyone is getting used to thw routine of meals, boating, looking for wildlife, and one another.

    I’ve had a couple of really nice talks with bill & shan so far. they are just the most sincere type of person you could ever meet. its also fun kind of getting to know everyone else and I’m sure that will happen more completely in the next couple of days.

    highlights of day 2. I loved seeing the porpoises as we move from san juan island to stuart island. the is just some mezmering about such a beautiful creature ride a wave in front of you. later we had our first trip in the kayaks. that was pretty cool. I bore easily so I didn’t want to be out there forever. plus the fitting on the pedals wasn’t quite right so it felt like a really long skt up after about 20 minutes or so. it was cool to get out on the water and at eye level with such beauty.

    I forget where we are off to today but I am sure that it will be fun.

  • The goat


    Every trip has a joke and apparently its been decided that I am he so far . that is no fun for me and a reminder of why we generally travel alon3. so rather thawhine about being called a whiner, I guess ill just make myself a little less of a target. time to focus on relaxing and reading books.

  • IM


  • Catalyst Cruise Day 1


    all jokes and silliness aside, here is my impression of our first days on the boat.

    The first hours aboard catalyst have been incredible for kristen and I. the first things that strike about it are….

    1. it is beautiful. I had the pleasure of getting here a smidge early and they allowed me help them move the catalyst from the harbor to its dockside position at friday harbor. eli, bill and shannons son, talked me through how I could help them. but what an indelible impression on me was the other captains who came from their wheel houses onto their decks to watch catalyst move. when captains of larger and newer ships are coming over to say how beautiful the boat is you get the idea how beautiful it is. likewise, while dockside loads of people would slowly walk by, take pictures, and ask questions.

    2. it is sturdy. I am the first to admit I was leary about going out on a small, 75 foot boat for a week. I was afraid it would rock a ton and feel unsafe. I could not have been more wrong. it is a very cool ship. bill makes you feel completely safe in his fun way. the simple fact that they don’t have a thing to hide speaks volumes to me.

    3. bill and shannon are great people. I love going into peoples lair that so clearly demonstrate the spiritual gift of hospitality. I don’t just feel that as a guest. you see that in how other people regarded them at the docks, how they treated fellow guests, and in one other cool way. as we arrived at our anchorage last night, ben (bill and shannons son) saw the catalyst and called to say hello. mom and dad instantly invited him over for dinner. right in the middle of all that they had to do bill took the smaller boat over and got ben and two of his friends. remarkable hospitality.

    of course, we are also here to talk shop about YMX. today I want to lead a discusion about the company’s identity. because if the end result of the conversation is going to be… who and how will we represent ourselves at our biggest marketing opportunity of the year, that needs to flow strategically out of a deep conviction for our identity.

  • From the wheelhouse


    We are just hanging out in the wheelhouse.

  • On the catalyst


    We are here in friday harbor. the boat is unreal cool. woohoo!

  • On the ferry


    We grossly underestimated how far our hotel was from ferry dock. we thought it was 3 miles or so and it ended up being 6+. the bad news was that kristen and I had decided to walk it… and we only had an hour.

    we were so going to miss the ferry… putting the whole trip in peril. that’s right I said peril. like if we missed the ferry we were screwed.

    just when I was starting to deal with the reality that we were going to miss the ferry… right when we trotted past a sign that sais… ferry 2.9 miles with 20 minutes to go… right then a car pulled over.

    I said to kristen, is this lady about to save our lives? (ok, a tad melodramatic) but she totally saved the day. thank you nancy and her nasty smelling dog socks.

    so now we are on the boat. a couple hours and we will be on the boat.

  • Anacortes

    We have made it to our day 1 destination of anacortes washington. its pushing midnight and we have to be up pretty early in the morning to catch our ferry to friday harbor.

    a couple of quick observations.

    first, dean force defines hospitality. he picked us up from the airport and drove us up here. that was super cool on a lot of levels. more than anything it was awesome to talk about his passion… messianic judaism.

    second, its cold! kristen and I just went for a quick walk and it has to be in the mid 40s.