The Miracle of Mare: Voyages of the Maya

By Dorsey Gratia Danielson

I flew fifty feet and knew it was my time to die. I found out for sure I do not want to die.

This is a true story of adventure and survival. It took us three years to get our boat into the water. That was an amazing feat. Boats come alive once they go into the water; they develop a heartbeat. We sailed for ten years and made it halfway around the world, from Bermuda all the way to New Caledonia.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Nov 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9780228825746

Dorsey Gratia Danielson

Dorsey has her degree in accounting, but is more of a theoretical accountant. The thought of sitting in an office all day with the same people is not what she wants to do. Building and designing are her passions. Helping others is her missionary role in life. She is most proud of her four children: Maya is restarting Vermont Vaudeville, Dan is a consultant to companies in New York City, Owen has written two books and is running an Airbnb, and Kris has illness but is a wiz with money.

Book preview

The

Miracle

of Maré

Voyages of the Maya

Dorsey Gratia Danielson

The Miracle of Maré

Copyright © 2021 by Dorsey Gratia Danielson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-2575-3 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-2574-6 (eBook)

Table of Contents

Dedication

Prologue

Introduction

Chapter 1 Preparing for our voyages

Chapter 2 Rob’s Story

Chapter 3 My story

Chapter 4 What Made Me Desire Boat Life?

Chapter 5 Meeting Rob and the Maya

Chapter 6 Building the Engine

Chapter 7 Making the Keel

Chapter 8 Tenant from Hell

Chapter 9 The Maya Comes to Life

Chapter 10 Putting up the Mast

Chapter 11 Preparing for Our First Long Voyage

Chapter 12 Sailing to Bermuda

Chapter 13 Bermuda

Chapter 14 Sailing to the Virgin Islands

Chapter 15 Virgin Islands

Chapter 16 Sailing to Puerto Rico

Chapter 17 Puerto Rico

Chapter 18 Puerto Rico Recording

Chapter 19 Sailing to The Bahamas

Chapter 20 Spanish Wells, The Bahamas

Chapter 21 Sailing to Florida

Chapter 22 Florida

Chapter 23 Reminiscing

Chapter 24 Crossing Florida

Chapter 25 Across the Gulf

Chapter 26 Port Aransas, Texas

Chapter 27 Aransas Pass

Chapter 28 We Left Aransas Pass on New Year’s Day

Chapter 29 Mexico

Chapter 30 Sailing to Belize

Chapter 31 Honduras

Chapter 32 Sailing with Danny through the Panama Canal

Chapter 33 Panama to Costa Rica

Chapter 34 Crossing the Pacific

Chapter 35 The Marquesas Islands

Chapter 36 American Samoa

Chapter 37 To Maya from American Samoa A Letter to My Daughter

Chapter 38 A Letter to My Friends from American Samoa

Chapter 39 Sailing to Fiji

Chapter 40 Almost to Australia…The Wreck of the Maya

Chapter 41 On the Beach

Chapter 42 Hallucinations Real Mixed with the Unreal

Chapter 43 To the Hospital

Chapter 44 The People of New Caledonia

Chapter 45 Traveling Home

About the Author

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my children:

Leo helped me financially,

Daniel gave me advice,

Maya held the bar high,

Owen helped with all the details,

Tyler’s spirit watched over us

They helped me, believed in me, and pushed me along the way.

Prologue

When I flew fifty feet and landed in the water, I knew this was my time to die. Sadly, I thought, I do not want the party to end! Who knew life was a party? I was devastated. I hadn’t thought of life that way until that moment.

Something whispered in my mind, If you can find a way to get away from the waves, you can live. Just then the beach was passing me by; too late, beach is not an option. The water was moving fast. Thrown against the cliff, I believe I will die, but thank god I live. Just then a cushion from the main salon came floating nearby. Do I use it as a float? No it would slow me down. A split second decision.

I was trying to stay close enough to land to get to safety, if there was any. Maybe rocks to hide behind where the waves are breaking. Two more trips to the cliff — BAM! I knew one breath of water and it would be over…then I remembered my children. I did not want them to have a dead mother. It made me mad, and I grew stronger. Suddenly, I could stiffen and dive through the waves, then look to the cliff for safety…my eyes stung so bad, but I had to keep them peeled…

Introduction

All voyages begin with an idea that turns into a dream. This is a book of triumph. The things that make life worth living.

Rob Mills and I sailed halfway around the world, from as far as Bermuda all the way to the island called Maré in New Caledonia. From Bermuda we sailed to the Virgin Islands, and we spent a lot of time in central America. We stayed in each place for four to six months.

I lived with a lot of pain for many years, and the only relief I got was to keep my mind occupied enough to not think about it. Therefore, I took on projects where I was required to learn something new, whenever I finish a project the fun thing is to pick out the next project; each is bigger and badder than the last one. All of a sudden, I was sailing around the world. Now that is big.

I enjoyed writing this book when I could find the courage. I had a lot of help from the people around me. Robert Spriggs, my partner and a shrimp boat captain, listened to all of my stories and helped with nautical accuracy. Bob Crawford, a shipmate who sailed with us to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, and is now my next door neighbor, kept the good memories alive by reminiscing about our times on the boat. My kids, Owen, Maya, Dan and Leo, have been encouraging me. Owen pushed me to dream my dream to write this book.

Occasionally in my book I will write about reflections on the water. They most likely come from nowhere obvious. There is so much time to think. I want to reserve the ends of some chapters for life truths that I have come upon.

To write this I had to immerse myself in the past, many happy memories returned but the final chapters were hard to face. Most of this book was written in retrospect, but some pieces were written as I experienced them. A few chapters came from recordings that I made. Almost all was written in the dead of night when I could hear myself think.

Chapter 1

Preparing for our voyages

Boat building was a necessary part of our voyages. Planning for every eventuality is half of it. The other half is to have an income without direct participation. These two conundrums pass through my mind like a puzzle to be solved.

We practiced running out of food. We practiced staying on the boat for long periods of time without setting foot on land. We lived out of our car for periods of time. We lived as poor as we could and did not have refrigeration. I never once bought ice because that money could be spent on stainless steel nuts and bolts. Truth is, we did not need refrigeration for most things. Leftovers do not keep well. Everything else keeps pretty well, even mayonnaise, eggs, and fresh vegetables can keep for a surprisingly long time. Cabbage, onions, and garlic last the longest.

On our boat we lived the old fashioned way. We hauled our own water, did laundry in buckets, and used very little electricity. We rowed to and from land every day. Got wet dragging the dinghy onto the beach. We walked everywhere, and when we couldn’t walk we took cabs, buses, trains, boats and planes. And we loved it.

You can skip the first few chapters if you are wanting to dive right into sea stories and then go back later and read the nuts and bolts of escaping land. If you want to do this you should jump to Chapter 11 Preparing for Our First long Voyage.

When we ran out of money, we made lists. Lots and lots of lists. Even lists of lists. Building a boat that would take us around the world took all of our money and most of our energy. We excelled in dumpster diving. We bought everything used that we could.

The boat we bought had a hull that was an inch thick with stainless steel mesh in the middle and practically finished on the inside. It was 55’ long and 16’ wide. It needed a mast, rudder, keel, engine, transmission, doors, hinges, winches, stainless steel bolts and nuts, and a lot more.

Chapter 2

Rob’s Story

Rob’s story is a sad one. His parents died when the family was moving to Georgia. His father was a banker. They were driving to their new home when a log fell off a truck and killed both his parents. Their three boys were in the back seat. Rob’s grandmother took the boys in. They lived there for two years, and then she died. Then they moved in with an elderly aunt for a few years, then the aunt died. At the same time, his brother was on his way to college in a sports car when it flipped over and he was killed. Rob was in ninth grade. He left school and went to Spain to live with his brother, Fred, who was an exchange student.

The boys got a large settlement from their parents’ accident when they were twenty-one. Rob and Fred joined forces and became investors and were successful at it, plus they had learned the banking business from their father. Rob and Fred had a falling out, so I never did meet Fred.

Rob’s lawyer told him to go to school to learn a trade so that when he needed to make money he would have a skill. He went to school to be a diesel mechanic. He also took to the water, bought a boat when he was young, and worked his way up to 100 ton captain. Rob captained a tour boat in Annapolis. Not knowing that the job market was to close down, he quit the job figuring to get another one in New York City; it didn’t happen. Meanwhile, he had purchased a building in Burlington, Vermont, and he bought the Maya in Maryland.

Then the tenant from hell enters. Rob couldn’t find a job. There are no captain jobs in Vermont! We decided not to buy anymore buildings unless they were near the water.

By the time I entered the picture Rob was in a bad financial situation. He was studying for his 500 ton license, since the only way he could see his way out of his troubles was to get the licenses so he could make more money. He came close three times, and all that he needed was to take a course at the sea school. He had two people trying to foreclose on his building for lack of payment. The IRS was after him for a check that his accountant did not forward to the IRS. They were trying to put a $40,000 lien on his half of a mansion in Lake Placid that he owned with his brother. He was also behind in the land storage for the Maya.

Rob Mills showing off his work

Traveling across country

Chapter 3

My story

At the same time, I was in trouble. The bottom fell out of the rental market when the university built more dorms and required first year students to stay on campus. It took us a year to stop things from going downhill. Then it took a year to begin digging our way out of the hole. We worked hard every day just doing what needed to be done next.

I got divorced and took custody of all of the children. It became necessary to rent two rooms in my house to be able to pay the mortgage. When I sold my house, I bought half the boat. And half the bills.

Rich, my ex-husband, and Rob got along quite well. Since the three of us were landlords, we spent a lot of time laughing about our situations. I met Rob long after Rich and I split up, so there were no hard feelings. Rich was like a big brother to us. He said that his greatest fear was that he would have to take us in. It was very reassuring to know that if we got into trouble we’d know just where to go.

The kids went to live with their dad after Rob and I started working on the boat. The younger two kids stayed with us for the summers. Kris and Danny were already in high school and were working, then off to college. They had lives of their own. Plus, we figured the little ones needed to have a mother. So, Rich and Rob usually ended up paying for Maya and Owen’s plane fare.

I paid for half of every bill on the Maya, which, on my limited income, was almost all I had. But, I have to say that I am proud of my accomplishments.

Rob always made me laugh. He always brought me food when I slept for days. I am bipolar, which is part of what makes me so courageous. Rob was a kind person. He carried on with business wherever we went. He was always looking to buy property and invest. He learned the rules for foreign investors in each country and kept up with our properties in the US on a daily basis.

What follows is the story of an adventure of a lifetime as I remember it.

Dorsey, Maya, Dan, Owen, Kris (Leo)

Chapter 4

What Made Me Desire Boat Life?

My first experience of boat life came to me on a trip to St. Martin in the Virgin Islands. I was eating dinner with my family when my mother, being the friendly type, started talking to the people at the next table.

Do you live here? she inquired.

I live on a boat. one of them replied.

This caught my interest. Despite being across the room, we started a conversation that continued long after the meal was through. I had visions of pots and pans all over the place, with things overflowing. I thought about playing pirate with my brother, Eric, when we were young.

It turned out that Pierre had just arrived from Europe the day before. He sailed alone. He said he would sleep and keep watch at the same time. I can’t understand how a boat going out to sea as a single-hander can be safe.

Pierre invited me to see his sailboat. This was an opportunity. Always well almost always the lucky person is the one who opens the door when opportunity knocks. You never know. When we got to the boat he showed me how to climb on board. He was impressed with the way I got onto the boat.

To my surprise everything was neat and tidy. Not a thing out of place.

Ixtlan was the name of the boat. He lifted it from one of his favorite books by Carlos Castaneda, called The Journey to Ixtlan, about the teachings of Don Juan in which the author develops the yogi way of thinking. In the next year I read these books, Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes from the Bible to round things out while contemplating life. It was the perfect time for me to make a radical change. I did not have a good job, and I was not in a relationship. I did, however, have four amazing children.

Pierre said to me, This is paradise.

St. Martin is paradise? I asked.

No, paradise is anything you want it to be.

I needed to process this information. I often think about this observation.

I inquired, Why doesn’t everyone move here?

And he replied, They don’t know that they can.

Another astute observation.

Aboard the Ixtlan, there was a place for everything. He let me look everywhere. Only the necessary objects for everyday life.

He said, All you need is five pairs of shorts and five shirts.

He invited me to stay overnight on the boat. My mother did not want me to go, but my thinking was that I will not allow my teenagers to tell me what to do, so how could I let my mother? It sounded like fun to me; in fact, we partied well into the night.

In the morning I was scheduled to fly back to the States, so he took me back to land.

I said, Have a nice life.

I had to put one foot after another to walk back into my life and board a plane going home. I did not want to leave.

His observations changed my life. I want very much to thank him. When I read The Teachings of Don Juan I learned a whole other process of thinking. I learned how to shift my center and how to be able to move on in the face of great obstacles.

Chapter 5

Meeting Rob and the Maya

I first laid eyes on the Maya on New Year’s Day. It had been my dream for about a year to live on a boat. I made it my business to talk to anyone who knew anything about boats. I was in search of a new dream. At times in our lives we are at a crossroads. A choice must be taken. After my experiences on St. Martin I came to realize that I could move to a warmer climate. I believed that a warmer climate would help me with my illnesses and, somehow, buying a boat seemed the right thing to do. Of course, everyone thought I was crazy.

The reason that I laid eyes on the Maya was that I met Rob. Living in Vermont in the winter is a strange place to look for a boat. One weekend before the kids were going to see their dad, they helped me clean up the house so that I would have a good weekend also. After three hours of driving, I was tired and very tempted to go back home and relax. But something inside me was saying it would be fun to go see the Last Elm Café, a coffee shop co-op in Burlington, Vermont. It was a place where you come for a cup of coffee and stay all day as long as you paid for a bottomless cup. A different artist was able to show their work there for one month at a time. There were also concerts by different musicians each weekend. A few people had mentioned it to me, and I really did need to talk to adults, so I made the life-changing decision to go out that night.

I saw Rob out of the corner of my eye when I walked in. I overheard him talking about his