[Editor’s Note: The following post is by TDV contributor, Michael Fielding]
We arrived after a beautiful sunset on November 11th following a few days of heavy winds, high seas, and cloudy skies as we crossed the Gulf Stream. I only mention the clouds because we drained our batteries and couldn't start my engine for the approach. But Sovereignty's a sailboat and we were ready to go ashore, so we sailed in from the South along the main ship channel. Another captain called it the “washing machine”, and I can't think of a better description. We were getting beat up by the wind and waves, fighting to stay in the channel and praying we could make our way to anchor without the motor. Even worse, there was barely any charge left on our only working laptop/chartplotter, so I was doing my best to navigate based on memory from the one night I spent here in July of 2012.
We had enough juice to check our position 3 or 4 times for a few seconds each, and try to memorize the route to our anchorage. We mistook part of Key West for Tank Island at first and checked the computer just in time to pull a quick controlled jibe and avoid running aground, but that was the end of the laptop battery. We finally made it around the SW point and into a protected harbor where the waves died and the wind dropped to a nice 10-15 knots, but we had to fight a 2-knot current pushing us back to sea. We sailed close-hauled towards Flemming Key where I planned to anchor, passed the marina I had considered trying to sail into, but ended up hitting the sandy bottom in a shallow anchorage off Wisteria Island. Like my dad used to say parking his car, "We're not there till you feel a bump." We were there.
We had to sleep another night at an angle, but that wasn't hard. A bunch of people dinghied over to help the next day. Eric set our anchor out in deeper water and Taj let us borrow a battery to start the engine. At 6 pm we motored off at high tide, but just barely. We had to raise the sails to heel over and reduce the draft, running full throttle on the engine and pulling on the anchor line we slowly made our way out of there. Went into the marina and walked on dry land for the first time since Little Inagua a week earlier.
Key West has been a lot of fun. The people are cool and it feels so good to be eating real food again. We cut it incredibly close on the rations for the voyage. It seemed like we had plenty when we set off, but by the end we were boiling and filtering dirty water from the tank, and sifting through a moldy bag of rice for the good bits, 'cause there was little else to eat. My last two meals on the boat consisted of tuna in tomato paste. And two days later I ate the greatest meal of my life at Blue Heaven, courtesy of Mrs. Magin and Mrs. Ferris. Each of us got the surf and turf, lobster and filet, and the joy it brought us was indescribable.
The last month feels like a year. I couldn't begin to tell all the stories in a blog post, but we captured some incredible footage and I can't wait to share a taste of the adventure with all of you when we release our film. We are working on another trailer as I type, and I'm hoping to have the movie ready in about a month. [Editor’s note: Have a look at two video previews from Michael’s film.]
I hope it lives up to your expectations. I tried to emphasize from the start that this was all improv and we had no idea what was going to happen. We only stayed a week on the island, didn't exactly build what I had imagined, but the real goal was to find out more about ourselves and the Universe, and I don't think I've ever learned more in a month.
I also came to realize it's time to sell Sovereingty. She's treated me well, but she was always a means to an end. A sailboat is a cheap way to explore the islands, but they're slow, expensive to maintain, and have to stay anchored in deep water. I'm looking to downsize. I've learned this boat is more than I need, and this tool I used to free my mind has become a ball and chain.
For my next house, I want to build a canoe with trolling motors on outriggers with a retractable solar panel roof, probably a 17' aluminum Grumman. And I want to be able to tow it behind an electric bike that I can store aboard. That way I can go just about anywhere, land or sea, and carry plenty of supplies and a comfortable place to sleep. A canoe like that would probably beat Sovereignty in a race, plus I could drag her ashore and sleep easier knowing I'll never drift at anchor.
When I told my brother, he couldn't believe it. "What about your donors? Didn't you promise them a sail to the island? Didn't you say you were going back to establish a colony?"
I did, and I still want to, but I figured out a sailboat isn't the best tool for the job. And Little Inagua might not be the best spot, either. I love that island, but it will be difficult to settle. I need more money if I want to make that happen. But in the mean time, I believe I can help people more effectively if I work where they live, and make it easier to participate.
I baby-stepped my way up to this lifestyle, so it's difficult to ask people to just dive in. I want to show people how they could take their own baby steps toward greater autonomy, and I'm thinking a river bank might be a better place to start. That's why I'm planning a Free Academy Campout along the Brazos for the weekend of December 13th. There will be a nice meteor shower that weekend, and a big waxing gibbous moon. I still need to work out the details so I'll keep y'all posted, but I'm hoping to have the film ready to screen by then. Everyone's welcome, after all, it's not MY river bank. I'm picturing something like what we did on the island, or a Burning Man festival. We build whatever we like, spend a lot of time relaxing, conversing, reading and reflecting, then leave without a trace.
Michael Fielding, a Dollar Vigilante contributor, founder of the Free Academy, and Anarchast guest, recently graduated from the University of Texas with a BS in Computer Science, after which he headed to the Caribbean aboard his boat, Sovereignty. He describes himself as a full-time thinker and adventurer.
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