It recently occurred to me that I have not written anything in almost a year! How can this be? As a rule, I generally only write when I feel inspired by the interesting events and experiences that I find myself in. Given the significance of some of the things that have occurred since the last posting, one might surmise that I'd simply fallen off the edge of the Earth while going about my daily business and thus had been unable to write. Fortunately, this is not the case. Also fortunate is the good fortune which, fortunately, I've found myself fortunate enough to be in. Gather around and hold on tight folks, because a year's worth of updates is coming at you in approximately ten paragraphs!
When last we met, Jenn and I had recently moved into a lovely little studio in the converted attic of an old Victorian house in Pacific Grove. We had plans to paint one wall in a kind of lavender or perhaps minty green shade, being careful not to cover up a previous tenant's artwork of flowery vines that wind up the hallway and out into the kitchen. The place is oddly shaped, which left us scratching our heads trying to figure out just how to arrange the furniture and such. But, it was a block from Monterey Bay's beautiful Lover's Point and surrounded by friendly, quiet neighbors.
These thoughts of accomodation were accompanied by the more practical ones along the lines of, "We're here. Now what"? We'd just left Maui, followed by a summer stint on Catalina for me and a bit of travel for Jenn (Guatemala, family road-trip). We'd left because a) I didn't like Maui (too much sun!) and, b) we couldn't really see a future there for either of us.
Since leaving Maui, much in the way of progress has been made: I not only earned my Scuba Diving Instructor certification from NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors), I've been steadily working to teach and train Beginning divers all the way up to Divemasters since last October! I work for a shop in Santa Cruz (Aqua Safaris Scuba Center), that is run by a generous lady-boss who basically has given me free rein to teach in whichever fashion I choose. This means that I am not only free to achieve the standards set forth by NAUI in more or less any way that I want, I am actually encouraged to exceed them as I see fit in order to train safe, competent divers who are capable of planning and executing their own dives in a variety of environmental settings!
Not content with simply one career step up in a year, I also opted to pursue a path towards becoming a license Boat Captain after having conversations with several of the boat owners and captains that I work for on Monterey's dive boats in which they kept asking me, "When are you going to start driving this boat"? It wasn't that long ago that the thought of being responsible not only for all the passengers on a boat, but the vessel as well, was a horror that I wanted nothing to do with. "I'm not mechanic", I'd reason. "What would I do if the boat broke down"? The response from every captain I spoke with was the same: "You'll learn what you need to keep the boat going and the passengers safe". Given that several of these responses came from people who had enough confidence in my judgement and abilities to want to put me behind the helm of their boat, I felt it was time for me to step up to this challenge.
And challenge it was! I enrolled in a two-week, 80 hour captain course whose sole function is to prepare you for the brutal Coast Guard certification exam. I'd been told a couple of things about the course:
First: clear your schedule day and night of absolutely every other responsibility for those two weeks. No work, no sleeping in, no going out to dinner, nothing!
Second: do ALL of the assigned homework, no matter how many hours it takes. Seeing as how the folks who gave me this advice were licensed captains themselves (and dependable, hardworking mariners to boot), I did as they said.
What a good decision THAT was! From 7am in the morning until I crawled into bed each night no early than midnight, I was taking practice-exams, looking up coast guard regulations, memorizing light and sound signals (for vessels in both inland and international waters), tying knots, plotting charts, and generally getting my ass kicked all up and down the CFRs (Code of Federal Regulations).
The last day was a pass/fail all-day exam that encompassed everything we'd studied in the last 9 days in class. The results? I PASSED!
"Whoo hoo!", I thought, "Now I can hang up my wetsuit long enough to let it dry. Make room behind the helm!"
Not so fast...
It turns out that passing the exam is only a small portion of the actual application process for the coast guard captains license. It took me two additional months to fill out all the forms that were required. I had to document all of my time spent at sea (which, for me, involved getting signatures from 8 different vessels scattered between Monterey, Santa Barbara, and Maui). There was a physical exam to pass, page after page of inane government forms ("Why were you born in Canada and not the U.S.?", "Do you know Osama Bin Laden and, if so, tell us where he is", etc.), letters of recommendation, an absurdity called the TWIC (Transportation Workers Identification Card), and more. Much of the process involved trying to pin down busy (or disinterested) people from different states and cities in order to obtain signatures on everything. The whole packet finally got put together (with Jenn's endlessly supportive assistance) and sent out three weeks ago.
Just today, I received a notice saying that so-and-so department of the coast guard has received my application, reviewed its contents, and forwarded the packet on to the next department. This is the third-such notice and I have absolutely no idea how many departments are left, nor a clue as to when they expect to finish it and give me word as to whether or not I've earned the right to be called "Captain Luke"!
The good news is that it is now out of my hands. I did my part, and I am excited as heck to think that soon, it will all be worthwhile. Between the application and all the time I've been spending practicing driving, anchoring, and docking three of the boats in the dive fleet, I may soon enjoy another rewarding and dependable source of income.
"But what about life with Jenn?", you might ask, "How's that going?"
She's been an unwavering source of comfort, encouragement, and joy every step of the way and life with her is, simply put, fantastic. Between her endless love and support, and her steadfast commitment to bettering herself both professionally and personally, she is as wonderful and inspirational a partner as I can imagine. She is about 1/3rd of the way through the CSUMB Teaching Credential Program, which will undoubtedly open many doors for her in the future. We excitedly discuss combining work and travel someday in the future, and feel like this could be a step in the right direction for that dream to come true. Whichever goals she sets for herself, I look forward to seeing her achieve and exceed expectations for all of them.
And so, this brings us more or less up to date. Though I haven't fallen off the edge of the earth, I have found myself happily settled into a small corner of it here in sleepy Pacific Grove. We still live in this lovely old attic, and no, we haven't yet figured out where to put the couch. Suggestions are welcome.
