He says: So…I saw a flyer down by the dock about a couple of clowns from Belgium who are looking for a ride south on a boat.
She says: Yea, I saw the same flyer in the laundry mat. What do you want for dinner? I’m hungry.
He says: I met and talked with them for about 40 seconds. What do you think?
She says: I think a salad would taste good.
He says: No. About giving them a ride.
She says: What? Are you serious? That would be kind of CRAZY! We don’t know these people. They could be drug addicts or worse. And the boat is small. What about everyone’s hygiene habits and needs?
He says: Yea and we couldn’t exactly kick them off the boat if it doesn’t work out; we’ll be in the middle of nowhere for days.
She says: Well…God knows we have enough food aboard; we won’t run out of that.
He says: And this could be another opportunity to share what God’s blessed us with.
She says: Okay, at the very least, let’s buy these kids dinner and get to know them a bit.
Thus began the latest leg of our adventure with two clowns aboard Sundown.
Meet Jo and Mirabelle (a.k.a. Quentin and Amandine). They performed at the farmer’s market in Queen Charlotte City. Quentin danced with our new friend Deedee, a Haida Watchman.
Amandine and Quentin (25 and 26 years respectively) are hitchhiking throughout the world. Since 2015, they’ve toured their own country, France, Spain, Morocco, Italy, Slovenia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Alaska and Canada. They’re both trained in theater and perform as clowns while they travel, asking for food and lodging as payment. We are trading transportation, berth, board and instruction about sailing and living aboard for French language lessons.
FINALLY, a sunny, sand beach! We played and cooked dinner on a campfire on the west coast of Campania Island.
Every time we turn around, more items in the boat are labeled with French words.
Clay and I both studied French in school (oh, those many years ago), so it’s really fun to re-learn and immerse our aging brains en Français! An added bonus for Clay is that he has a brand new, captive (literally) audience to tell his stories to and eager students to teach. He’s in his element!
WATCH this video to see how to catch and release a halibut. Caution: There might be a swear word or two.
The fishing has been great! Clay has caught yellow eye (the big red fish), a chinook salmon that measured about 40 inches and one halibut. Amandine caught another halibut. Both were too big to land!
When Clay catches a fish, I hold the rod while he bashes in its heads with a hammer. YUCK!
WATCH how to catch a BIG salmon!
In our early imaginings about how our individual lives would play out, neither Clay or I thought we’d have children. Ha! The joke is on us. We seem to collect kids like some people collect stamps or trading cards. Not only do we have five biological offspring, but we have dozens of others we’ve acquired throughout the years. Amandine and Quentin are the latest additions to our eclectic clan. They are wonderful! Very smart, conscientious, quick witted and always having fun. We laugh a lot every day—but after all, we’re traveling with clowns! Once again, listening to that still small voice telling us to take a risk is paying off in amazing ways.
We can “bearly” believe all the amazing wildlife we share a backyard with.
A humpback whale swam around and under Sundown.
At one point it turned on its side and waved its flipper at us. A little scary, but SO COOL!!!
Nous vivons la belle vie!
To learn more about Amandine and Quentin’s travels, check out their website: www.nezdumonde.com and/or Facebook page.
It just shows the old saying that you never know how many lives you are going to touch when you didn’t even know they were there to touch! You guys are awesome, and you’re touching a lot of lives in your sailing journey. LOVE hearing about it!
Thanks, Karen! Life is definitely interesting.
I love reading about all the adventures you’re having!!! Thanks for sharing it with all of us😊
Hi you two. Looks like your making some time in the last couple of days. We need more pics. 💋
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