Page 20 - Exile-ebook
P. 20

20                      AN EXILE OF THE MIND                                                                     CASTING OFF WITH A BANG                          21










































             Lantau Island, one of our favourite destinations near Hong Kong.                         could circumnavigate single- handedly  A petite,  vibrant woman, olive
                                                                                                      this watery globe in an oyster boat  skinned,  with  eyes  flashing  brown
          chocolate  truffle,  my  first  thought  miles and a bit to New Zealand. So                 with  a cheap  tin clock, and the  under  a canopy  of  jet-black  hair.
          was, had I been  grossly  underpaid  much for my timid plan to stick                        minute  hand missing  as well,  then  Perhaps a little  touch  of  Iroquois
          for the three years I worked there?  within eyeshot of the  coast  and                      this little hop across the longitudes  from past  generations. The eldest
          And with a quick tally of dollars, yes I  sail  out  of  range  of  bazooka  fire           should be a cakewalk.                of 12  children when large families
          would be able to buy a yacht after all.  from war-torn  Vietnam, to  avoid                     Nicole, a plucky four-year-old  were encouraged and contraception
            I  then had to wait patiently the  fleeing boat people coveting a more                    Marcel,  and  I  had  flown  to  Hong  discouraged  in  a Catholic  Québéc.
          yacht’s construction in the ‘Fragrant  seaworthy vessel than their own.                     Kong from  Vancouver  after a long  Nicole  still  backpacks to  the  four
          Harbour’, half a world away where      There were no satellites orbiting                    drive from  Montréal  where  we  corners of the globe to this day.
          I would have to learn quickly the  the globe to provide affordable course                   had lived for the past four years. I    Skyscrapers reached out to us on
          art of blue water sailing. To chart a  plotting  to seafaring backpackers.                  met  Nicole  in  Greece  seven years  either side as we flew into the city
          passage across 600 nautical miles of  No shore  to  heave  into to  ask                     before. A gutsy  French Canadian,  of  Hong Kong.  Plunging  through
          open water and then another 5000  someone the way. If Joshua Slocum                         and an ideal travelling companion.  a narrow  corridor  towards the
   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25