Lawrence

.I wanted to start sharing some of the great people we meet along this journey that God has blessed us to experience.  Part of God's blessing is meeting great people.  There are so many, but sometimes they have special stories, or you know God put them in your path.  The first person who comes to mind from our journey is Lawrence.  If you read this and have any information about him, please share because we think about him often and wonder how he is and where he is.   This was one person I failed to get contact information on, so we could not stay connected. 

We first saw Lawrence in Black Point when he cruised in on his  29ft sailboat, Mini SS.  If you don't know where Black Point is well you are missing Momma's bread.  That is another story.  Black Point is a small community just south of Staniel Cay in the Exuma chain of the islands in the Bahamas.  This community relies heavily on cruisers to support it small population.  When we saw Lawrence he did have his daughter and a friend on board.  

We saw Lawrence who was anchored nearby, but we were never on shore together.  We didn't get to know him and hear his story until we anchored by each other in Georgetown, Exumas in the anchorage known as Red Shanks.  We rode out some pretty severe winds for 4 days and then after coming back from doing laundry  in town.  Lawrence was onboard and we drove by to stay hi and introduce ourselves.  He quickly invited us onboard to visit and drink a cold beer.  So we took him up on it and learned an incredible story.
​

Lawrence told us that he had been spending winters in the Bahamas for many years.  This is an annual trip for him.  He was from Canada and a retired school teacher.  His wife use to come with him, but she has since decided not to make the trip south any longer.  He was 81 and drives from Canada to Florida where he stores his sailboat and puts her in the water and heads across to the Bahamas.  Wow!  I am already impressed and the story continues.  Lawrence has had several strokes one of which happened where were were anchored in Georgetown.  Several years ago while anchored, he woke during the night and knew he was having a stroke because one side of his body was partial paralyzed and numb.  It was dark so he had to wait until the sun came up and got his in his dinghy and made the 2 mile trip into town.  The clinic did all they could and knew he needed to be moved to Nassau for further treatment. The nurse from the clinic in Georgetown came out to the boat while he got items he needed and then stayed with him until he was on the flight to Nassau for further care.  He was eventually released after treatmen and returned to the boat and continued his trip which included sailing her back to Florida.  

You can tell when you talk to him that he slurs some of his words, but he does remarkably well with speech and caring for himself onboard.  Single-handing a sailboat is no small feat and then to have had multiple strokes.  But he has a passion for the water and is no novice to sailing his boat.  I still worry about him sometimes and wish I had gotten more information and knew where he was today.  That is why I asked at the beginning.  If you know him please comment below about him.  He is one of those great stories.  He reminds that we can overcome and endure so many things in life.  Keep doing the things you love!  Fair winds and Following Seas, Lawrence.

After hearing his story it was even harder to watch all the work he did on his own just so he could continue to do what he loved:  Sail his sailboat through the Bahamas.  Here is the video where we first shared Lawrence at the 9:29 minute mark.