Bogley

[Bo_Beck]

How I met My Wife

The internet is an amazing place. Sometimes a place to find our wildest desires; sometimes a place to just soothe an immediate whim. One thing is evident to me after presenting my thoughts, and occurences, is that one has to be very careful, and deliberate before “speaking” because IT will be known by so many. I have presented many times portions of my life that might have been better kept quiet. Tonight I feel much differently.

Today, July 4, 2008 is my wifes “Maria”, and my 25th wedding anniversary! In an age that has so transitioned I often wonder how this is possible? Love? A Sacred Institution?......Not too sure? No... I think it is much deeper, however this isn’t for me to council. It happens and is glorious.

My intent now is to unfold a short history of our beginning.

My beloved parents retired at an early age in 1975 to pursue a lifelong dream to sail around the world. They bought a 51’ sailboat from a disenchanted couple that had made it as far as Tahiti. The boat was delivered back to Los Angeles, and so their adventure began. Loaded up and hatches battoned, off they sailed into the sunset. Wally and Jane spent the next 5 years “gunkholing” as their journey took them to such exotic places that you might only be able to imagine. No..they didn’t frequent the tourist spots that sported hotels, spas, and resturants. Life was much, much simpler than this! An atoll might have an unihabited island that just seemed right? That’s where you might have found mom and dad just hanging out for a month or two? Their dream had come true! God do I respect the way they could make it come so true!

In 1980 I recieved a phone call at my home in Albuquerque NM from my dad. They were in Hong Kong, and life was good. It seems that Mom’s health wasn’t top notch so dad requested that I might join up to assist getting back to the good ‘ole’ US with “Tempo”, and give Mom a rest?. I flew out just two weeks later , and so the journey began. We spent August through most of December doing reparations and outfitting before we set sail to the south. Christmas and New Year were spent in Manilla after a short passage in hurricane force winds and 35’ seas of the South China Seas. I was seasick for all but one day. Our journey then took us south through the endless, but exotic islands of the Philippines for the next month. The islands, water and people were so beautiful! Next came the short eastward passage to Micronesia and a month of gunkholing around Babelthaup. South again and a month of repairs on an unhabited Island in the Hermits before setting sail southward to New Guinea, Salomons, and New Hebrides. Dad had taught me well by this time to navigate celestially. I was very comfortable that I could locate our position on the globe to within 1-2 miles! We arrived in Suva during the cyclone season so we would spend the next 4 months sitting it out there. (I really believe that dad just wanted to golf with his friends, Bosse Luntantabua and Greg Norman at Pacific Harbour!). Any way we spent most of our time anchored off the small unhabited islands south of Viti Levu in the Astrolab Reef. We would sail north for re-supplies periodically and have lunch in an indian resturant. I overheard a gentleman that had completed the Auckland to Suva yacht race, but had blown his engine motoring out of Suva on the way home. He needed crew and most importantly a navigator to get back to Wellington. “Mom and Dad? Would you mind if I took off for a few weeks?” Well.....off I went for the next month as we crewed TaAroa south. I spent a couple weeks hitchhiking on the south island before Ian flew me back to Suva. No sooner than I had returned a letter arrived for me. It seems that Ian had entered the “Innaugural Sydney to Rio Cape Horn Classic” and wished my company to assist. After some calculations of time, I realized that I could compete and be back to Suva at the end of the cyclone season. Mom and Dad saw me off at the Nadi airport. Four days in Wellington before we set sail to Sydney. A week outfitting and stocking in Sydney and let the race begin! Six boats started, but by the southern tip of NZ two boats had already been incapicitated. Now in the “roaring 40’s”, the seas began to show their fury. Another boat had to end. Now it was down to Annaconda, an 81’ Whitbread retiree, Buccaneer, another Whitbread veteran with a similar Champagne “planing” hull, and us, TaAroa. We were a 1960’s “ocean greyhound” Sparkman Stevens displacement hull at a mere 60’. We stayed between 45-50 deg. South lattitude for most of the passage as did Buccaneer. Losing our diesel fuel because the buffeting ruptured our tank made radio contact on an “emergency” basis only. As we rounded Cape Horn a Chilean Naval Vessel cheered us on. My spanish enabled me to make contact and request that they contact the race commitee. The race committe was ready to disqualify us because of our lack of contact, but they soon realized our dilemna. We spent 6 hours in the harbour of an unhabited island “Isla del Los Estados” after rounding Cape Horn so that we could mend the last of our 25 sails, and also repair the hole in the deck where the windlass once was. Yes...the southern seas took their toll. We were tired after almost 40 days of 4 hours on and four hours off for the 2 teams of 4. The seas warmed and became gentle as we sailed up the east coast of South America. At midnight we sailed through the heads and entered the bay to Rio de Janiero. It was amazing! There were at least 100 crafts to greet us! All of them cheering us on! We arrived an hour later and relized that we had come in just 11 hours after Buccaneer! Soon we found out that we had won the race by over 4 days on “handicap”! Whoo-Hoo! The parties began and didn’t end for the next month! Thank you Avon, Rio-tour and Rank Xerox! Dinner at the Mayors palace, dancing on stage with Eliana Pitman in front of a crowd of 10,000 and televised, Copa Cabana, Ipanema...my god what a party! Well...during the race our crew had made bets quite frequently. When will we see the first iceberg? When will we round Cape Horn? Will we win? Will we live? A case of beer, a bottle of rum, etc, etc. Well, instead of just paying up we decided to have a shindig on the veranda atop Marinha de Gloria. As I carried a case of beer up the stairs, three young ladies walking the opposite direction stopped and one of them questioned, “Biggie?” she asked?.... “Quien, Yo?”.... She replied, “Hablas espanol?” ; I replied, “No,yo hablo mexicano!”...anyway, I invited the 3 to join in our festivities and they accepted. I spent the evening at a picnic table trading “mexicano” with Maria "socorro" as she detailed the intracasies of Portuguese. The sun came up. Maria and I spent the next 3 weeks together on tours that were provided by the race commitee. We realized that we loved each other. The time came that I had to fly back to Fiji. I missed her. It was so good to get back to mom and dad though. Just in time for the end of the cyclone season we set sail. Passing through the Samoas and northward to “civilization”? and Hawaii. A couple weeks to haul to the dry and repaint then the 3 week passage to San Francisco in July of 1982.

Mom and dad remained with “Tempo” until her sale, but I needed to get to work now. Too much fun does that to you! Thanks mom, and I'm sure that you can hear me dad. Off to Durango now to work and Ft. Lewis College with my GI Bill, but I sent for Maria. Maria joined me in December of 1982 and we married under a parachute at a home on CR220 with the snowcovered La Platas and San Juans as our backdrop on July 4th, 1983. 25 years now with the best woman on the planet. I love you Maria! :nod: :2thumbs:

[Iceaxe]

:2thumbs:

[Cirrus2000]

Fantastic tale, Bo - thanks for sharing it. And congratulations on your 25th Anniversary!

[oldno7]

Congrats Bo---Heres to your next 25
Great story

[erial]

Raising my water bottle: with best wishes for another glorious 25.

So how are you all celebrating this 25? disneyworld? branson? photos?

[abirken]

And this is the kind of love that movies are made from!!!! What an amazing journey both as a young man and into your life with the woman you love. Happy 25th ya'll!!!!!!!! :2thumbs: :nod:

[DiscGo]

Bo, you are already my canyoneering hero, and are quickly working your way of the ranks with me. Your parents sounds awesome! I love that they followed their dreams like that, and you story was incredible. This whole story could easily be a movie. Man, that was awesome! Thanks for sharing.

[sparker1]

You have led an amazing life, so you deserve an amazing woman. Congratulations to you both on this happiest occasion. And, best wishes for many, many more.

[savanna3313]

Truly a story for the ages! Congratulations and best wishes for many more happy years together. :2thumbs:

[Kent K25]

Para Bens! Que os proximo vinte anos sejam melhores que os primeiros!

[tanya]

Very Sweet!

Thanks for being there for me this last week too! You are the best! :hail2thechief:

[Bo_Beck]

Iceaxe wrote: :2thumbs:



Thanks! Yep it's been a great 25 years!

[Bo_Beck]

Cirrus2000 wrote: Fantastic tale, Bo - thanks for sharing it. And congratulations on your 25th Anniversary!

I always love sharing. Maria is an amazing woman and I look forward to spending another 25 (or more!) years with her!

Thanks!
:nod:

[Bo_Beck]

oldno7 wrote: Congrats Bo---Heres to your next 25
Great story

Thanks Kurt! It has been a great adventure with a wonderful person. :nod:

[Bo_Beck]

erial wrote: Raising my water bottle: with best wishes for another glorious 25.

So how are you all celebrating this 25? disneyworld? branson? photos?

Thanks Jeff :2thumbs:

We have been pretty tied up here at home remodeling, so we took some walks and then spent some great time with each other at home reminiscing. It was a very relaxing, happy time for both of us!
:nod: