It was difficult to conceal the reason for Andre’s sudden and mysterious boat restoration for much longer.   I finally let Lisa in on the conversation I had with Andre, and she did what Moms do; she voiced her concern and did her best to bring us all back to reality.   But at times, when faith is activated, even Moms cannot avoid the inevitable.  

Moved by Andre and Kerah’s determination to our mission in Haiti, a beautiful congregation, friends and anonymous donors were lead to offer the funds necessary to purchase the vessel, and they became the happy owners of a 30ft Coranado.   Hazak (strength in Hebrew) was added to the fleet.  

There was now even more work to accomplish before our journey, and even more funds needed and once again, every last penny needed was provided.

It was amazing to see G-d providing for all our needs, yet at times it seemed as if some unseen force was throwing us curveballs at every turn.  Like the time when the owner of a used boat parts shop ordered a rare pulley for Captain Raymond’s water pump.   After the part was delayed for weeks, the shipment finally arrived on the very day that the poor fellow decided  to end it all by jumping off a bridge.   The pulley was sent back for more delays and had to be resent to a business that suddenly ceased to exist.  

Then there was the time when we decided to move Hazak close to Aleph Tav so we could work on her.  It was to be a very simple dingy tow in a very calm harbor.    All was well until I towed the vessel across a poorly marked portion of the harbor and Hazak came to a sudden stop.   I tried pulling her in every direction for hours, but no go; we could not free the helpless vessel from the mud.  Frustrating, but the solution was simple: wait about seven hours for the next high tide. 

All would have been just fine, but then came another one of those curve balls.   While preparing to head back to Aleph Tav, an old sailor showed up on a dingy.   His skin was dark from years of being in the sun, and his hair was curled by the salty sea.  He had a gold ring through his ear and his eyes were bright blue. “Your doing it all wrong! Trust me, I’ve been at this all my life.   There’s a way to free that boat, and it’s not the way your doing it.”  He instructed.

“Ah… It’s ok.  We’ll just wait for high tide.”  I answered hoping to be left alone.   But the man persisted. 

“Here!… Take that halyard line and attach it to the dingy.” The old sailor instructed as he pointed to our mast.

“It’s ok, we’ll be fine in a few hours.” I answered.

“You really need to learn to do this regardless, because some day you may not have a height tide to help you… Here! Just hand me that halyard line and I’ll attach it to the dingy!” He persisted with his hand extended to receive the halyard line.  Andre handed him the Halyard line…

To be continued