Cole Tyler

About a day off Cape Horn and there are a flock of seagulls above the ship — they are a sign that we are nearing the Edge of the Earth.

 

Not sure what will happen as we enter the next few days and when we do get through, I’m not sure I’ll blog immediately. I may take a week and sit on the beach, I may venture back into the ocean, or I may go to see a special someone.

 

Therefore, I leave you all with a thank you for following me, thank you for your support, and thank you for understanding that dreams are meant to be lived and that life, no matter what, will always work out for the best.

I’ve been reflecting on this trip for the past few days and there are so many thoughts going through my mind. From when I wasn’t much more than a nuisance and the crew didn’t accept me to when Captain Carbajal finally approved of me in Columbia. This entire trek has been memorable to say the least.

 

The only regret I have is that we had to go through some tough times to get here, in particular Diego. I’m not sure if that will ever leave my soul, but I kind of don’t want it to.

 

We’re on the precipice of rounding the Horn and I can’t help but think back to being 8 years old and seeing my grandfather’s journal for the first time and formulating this dream. It’s funny, but I can even recall when I learned that once a sailor rounded the Horn he was able to place his elbows on the dinner table.

 

I can also remember the day that I left and by “left” I don’t just mean left home. I left my family, my friends, my life, and Adelaide.

 

I wish she understood why I was leaving at the time, but to be honest, I’m not even sure I understood why I was leaving.

 

You see, I have always wanted to change others, change someone’s life in one fashion or another and I initially thought this trip would allow that to happen. But in reality, the life that’s truly changed on this voyage has been mine.

 

Off to the deck,

 

Cole

 

Was going through Gramps’ journal on the bus ride to Lima and came across his entry when the rain got the best of him, like it may have towards me on the Incan Trail. I think you’ll enjoy and get to know him and his temper a little bit more. Gonna grab a bite to eat with the fellas and Maya.

 

                                                April 28

Fanning Island in sight but poor signs of getting there because we are becalmed and it is raining and has rained incessantly for the last four days. It seems as though all the windows of heaven are open. There is nothing but water above us, water beneath us. In fact there is water all around and whatever light air there is hauls around the compass about three times in 24 hours keeping us busy bracing the yards continually. Add to this, short intervals of scorching rays of a torrid sun and you have all that is necessary to break down the constitution of any common man. The ship’s Mate is laid up reduced to a mere skeleton. Some of the members of the crew are sick while others are complaining of sore hands and a disagreeable feeling is pervading throughout the whole ship with signs of insubordination among the crew during the last two days. My apprehensions are anything but agreeable unless we get fair weather with the change of the moon. We have the most stubborn and unmanageable crew I ever saw aboard a ship. They are all foreigners with the exception of one and he is a devil of the first water. I am feeling unwell and am certainly not in a very agreeable mood and have but one thing to say to them and that is that they must kill before they can trample on me. I have patiently held off punishing them in a number of instances because I did not have sufficient grounds to warrant extreme measures. Today, however, forbearance ceased so I struck a real genuine John Bull on the job and sent him head first under a spare topmast. I knew he would resent the blow as soon as he could get up so I head him down, when suddenly a damn big Scotchman pinned both of my arms behind me and in two minutes I had the whole watch on top of me. The Captain came to my help and got me out of the crowd with my face in a rather lacerated state. While the Captain was between me and the men, the Scotchman who was spokesman for a part of the watch happened to edge in front of an open door in the forward house, the threshold being about 20 inches from the deck. I could get hold of no weapon to strike him so I made a spring at him and sent him backwards over the doorway. He struck with the back part of his head on a large iron boat davit. Although I am sorry for what I did if the Captain would have left me alone I would, on the impulse of the moment, placed that Scotchman at a place where he never would have pinned another man’s arms. The Captain gave me a severe lecture and put me under strict injunctions. I suppose if the man’s health had not been in a precarious state things might have looked better. I don’t care a pipe, the ship must carry me home and that is all I want from her for if ever I get on American soil once more it must be a decidedly advantageous inducement that will get me on board another ship.

So I leaned against a man-made stone wall and slid down until I was seated. As I was sitting on the relatively cold stone I could hear the Incan culture. As I aimlessly watched the wild llamas graze, I could sense the 2,000 Checian’s working.  And as I watched the crew explore the different rooms, various paths, and forward thinking architecture they looked like little kids.

That is also when Maya came over to me.

She sat beside me for what seemed like an hour without saying a word. Confused I finally broke the silence. “How are you?”  Still, nothing.

Another ten minutes passed and she reached over, grabbed my journal and opened it.

“Why do you write in this so often?” she asked. And after trying to play her game and not say a word she hit me with the journal and we broke into laughter.

Still, her question remained of why I write in my journal.

So like our boy Tom Cruise in Risky Business I said “What the fuck” and told her. I told Maya that the journal is a story for my family about my travels around the Cape.

Maya then asked what I write. My response, which I hope you can feel in this blog as it is my journal on a computer, is that I write what I feel and what I think the crew is feeling. Essentially, if I write my emotions down my parents and others may be able to connect with my voyages.

She then opened the journal to its first page where it reads, “If found please return to William and Devorah Tyler” along with our address underneath.  After all that we’ve been through over the past couple of days, I think we both felt the significance of that statement.  And I know that I was grateful to share that moment with her.

All in all, a great week as the Inca Trail and city of Machu Picchu allowed for us to become lost and eventually, found in 4 days.

The third day was a little easier, but much more emotional and still wet. As we hiked through the rainforest and the various ruins my imagination came to life. I felt like a kid again as I ran through the wet leaves, swung from the branches, and laughed with our group. One moment in particular captured my soul as I was walking around a bend where a village of 3 households resided.

As I looked at the homes I noticed a young boy, about 4, sitting on a rock. I stared at him and he stared back with his dark, deep brown eyes. His eyes, while not empty with life, seemed void of hope. So I bent down, said hello to the little fella, took his picture, and realized that life is meant to be lived for others – even if you don’t know them.

Waking up at 4:00 AM tomorrow for the walk to the Sun Gate.

And yes, I thought about Adelaide again, but this time it was when we were back together. It was our anniversary and while we didn’t meet on the 50, where we had our first kiss, we met on my Dad’s sailboat.

There, we had dinner and a few glasses of wine.  Our relationship had never been better. As the clouds moved in Adelaide and I began to talk about our future together, marriage, and our love for one another.

Basically, I told her that I wasn’t in a rush to get married, that I loved her, but that I had a dream to sail around Cape Horn that had yet to be accomplished.  And in typical fashion, Adelaide brushed it off as one of my dreamy ideas. But this time I became aggravated and began to sail the boat back into the harbor and of course, into a rain storm.

So our anniversary ended with both of us wet, both of us with a headache from too much wine, and both of us conflicted on what we wanted in life.

Off to bed.

Cole

P.S.

Six weeks after our anniversary is when I left for this trip.

I failed to mention that again I thought of Adelaide today when it started to rain.

 

It was when I came home to visit during spring break of my junior year. I went to the bar with Connor, Jackson and Brady to have a few drinks and a ton of laughs. Also at the bar that night was Adelaide. It had been about a year since we last spoke and she looked absolutely stunning.

 

She ended up taking off and I ended up walking to her house in the pouring rain. After a ton of small talk and her basically telling me I’m still a piece of shit, I convinced her to come outside.

 

There, we sat on her porch swing and, in typical guy fashion, I kept apologizing and trying to place the blame on football, not me.

 

About halfway through my defenseless explanation I realized that something was wrong with Adelaide. I kept prodding, but she wouldn’t budge.

 

Instead, Adelaide’s eyes just filled with water and her tears flowed like the rain as she ran inside.

 

I still do not know what was wrong with her, but my gut tells me she was hiding something horrible.

Today was easily the hardest climb, but the funniest. Since I’ve already been here I knew what we were up against, but everyone other than Maya was not prepared.

 

Remember, the crew is a bunch of guys who are strong willed and have a strong upper body, but their lower body strength is relatively weak in comparison. And today was all uphill and into a strong wind and rain.

 

Dead Woman’s Pass is a vertical, skinny, and windy path and we literally had to dodge bounding llamas coming down the rainforest’s path. This, of course, turned into a competition that Isaac joined in on. Once at the top we turned to see the mountain that we just scaled and while I had done it before, it was one of the most amazing things my eyes ever witnessed.

 

Tonight at dinner I sat next to Captain Carbajal and he told me that he was able to truly feel the culture and the path that the Checian’s walked daily. That he could feel their triumphs, pride, and history. A cool conversation as it made me wish my Dad was there.

Making our move…not sure what will happen, but know that I love you all.  In case something happens, please forgive me Adelaide.

 

Cole

 

Woke up this morning with a plan. The idea is to attack them late in the afternoon.

I kind of feel like Jack Bauer. Isn’t that supposed to come back on soon? Dad and Connor are huge fans.  I hope I have what it takes to help our guys out of this mess.

 

More later.

 

Cole

Happy New Year!  Heading to this bar called The Rock.  Should be interesting as the night already was pretty fun with the crew excited for New Years Eve.  Crazy how it is still a big deal over here.  Staying at Hotel Flamingo, a classic hostel.

 

Also want to say thanks for all of the support. I’m not sure who many of you bloggers are, but your small, subtle comments have aided me throughout this entire trip.

 

And for everyone back home, I miss ya, I love ya, and I thank ya.

 

Cole