Roughing it: San Diego to Tahiti by Marshall Lubin

Challenged America volunteer sails to Tahiti, French Polynesia. Challenged America volunteer Marshall Lubin takes a break to sail to French Polynesia, a six week journey taking him from San Diego to Tahiti.

Voyaging thousands of nautical miles on a Beneteau 50, Marshall visits the Marquesas and the Tuamotu Archipelagos and the Society Islands.  The names alone bring out dream images of turquoise water, lush islands and magical lagoons with names like Tahiti, Moorea, Rangiroa, Bora Bora.

Chapter 2: Trouble in Paradise

Then there was our passenger. The woman who refused to watch a video on sailing and be a part of the crew decided she would rather sit and watch. She had a fight with her boyfriend and not getting sufficient satisfaction from berating him started in on me. I was sleeping in my cabin, door ajar, and was summoned to the saloon. I refused, stating, “I’m busy, sorry, can’t come out!” Difficult to support that statement when she could look in the cabin and see I was lying in my bunk. So…I complied, even though I didn’t want to be part of a festering problem, didn’t want to get involved in their argument. I could foresee disaster resulting from this coming encounter. Continue reading →