Somewhat burned-out, and with mutinous aspirations, J V Kernaghan turns his back on his former life to save a classic, old sailboat that is close to sinking in the harbour of Luperon, in the Dominican Republic.
Equipped with his trusted Swiss army knife and gallons of British self-opinion, he imagines that it should be a fairly straight forward task - especially for one such as he who has endured numerous exploits in the most remote and highest of places of the world.
In this story of managing his limited know-how, dealing with corrupt officials, and enduring sickness and hardships unlike anything he has previously experienced, JVK will come to learn things about himself that only the ocean could teach him.
At the helm of Tropical Delight, he will embark on a solo adventure that will explore the wonders of the Caribbean, and lead him eventually, to the northernmost shores of the American continent and Nova Scotia.
This is the dream that many people dream, but seldom realize.
My old father-in-law would say to me...
"John, you always stick your head through the hole in the fence without checking first if your arse will fit".
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Of course, he was right in many ways.
For most of my adult life, I bounced along, sticking my head into all sorts of holes, with all sorts of outcomes, in all sorts of places throughout the world.
Some were dreadfully unsuccessful. But eventually, tenacity and luck decided to conspire, and I came to enjoyed a certain success in life.
Wisdom has many faces. There is the wisdom that comes about by simply being. There is wisdom derived out of success, and wisdom gained from failure and loss.
Certain details herein will cause some wise folk's skin to crawl at the folly of it all. And yet, despite my lack of wisdom, in this instance, I was successful.
In saving Tropical Delight, I also saved myself, which led directly to the life I now so enjoy.
This story is not about salvaging old boats or learning to sail - It's about embracing what lies on the other side of the fence, regardless of the outcomes. So, to my old father-in-law I would say, "If only you could have seen all the things I have seen on the other side of that fence".
Note: ebook formatting for photo-journals is not straightforward. In a few instances, photo captions appear on separate pages. I hope this does not distract from the reading experience!
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Below is a short video of Tropical Delight underway off the pristine coast of Nova Scotia.
