One for One

Just over a week ago we not only celebrated being sailboat owners for one year, but also my 44th birthday.   For my birthday, my daughter gave me my first pair of TOMS Shoes which I've been wanting for some time now.  I wanted these shoes not only for their comfort (my daughter loves hers) and simple design, but also because every shoe purchase provides a pair of shoes to a child in need around the world. 

The story of how this came to be is pretty interesting.  In 2006 American traveler and sailboat liveaboard, Blake Mycoskie, befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes and the One for One program.  Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers.

As of September 2010, TOMS has given over one million pairs of new shoes to children in need around the world.

 
So, I thought I'd show off my shoes and mention them here in case you're not familiar with the One for One
program and TOMS Shoes.  Not only is this a great cause, but Blake Mycoskie is gorgeous and lives on a sailboat!  How cool is that?!

I can't wait to start wearing my TOMS!  Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

The Mayflower Ship

Mayflower Replica

Now that Ken and I are sailboat owners, I found myself wondering about the Mayflower, which has played a major role in the history of Thanksgiving.  The Mayflower was a ship weighing about 180 tons crowded with men, women and children making the voyage to the "New World" in 1620. 

The first record available about the ship is somewhere in 1609. At that time it was a merchant ship, which traveled to Baltic ports, most notably Norway.  The ship's initial purpose was the transportation of goods such as fish, tar and lumber.  However, the ship was later used in the trading of Mediterranean wine and spices.

In 1620 the Mayflower and the Speedwell were hired to undertake a voyage to plant a colony in Northern Virginia.  The Speedwell turned out to be a leaky ship, and therefore the Mayflower had to make the voyage alone.  The captain of the ship was Christopher Jones, and the ship was anchored at Plymouth Harbor on November 11, 1620.  The Mayflower stayed at Cape Cod for four months and throughout the harsh winter.  During this time over half of the pilgrims perished.

The ship started sailing for home on April 5, 1621, and it arrived back one month later. The Mayflower made a few more trading runs to places such as Spain, Ireland and France. However the captain, Christopher Jones, died shortly thereafter.

After the death of the captain the Mayflower lay inoperative for about two years.  Since the ship was not in very good sailing condition, it was called "in ruins".  Ships "in ruins" were considered more valuable as wood, which was in high demand in England at the time. Therefore the Mayflower was most likely broken apart and sold as scrap.

It's amazing to think about all of the people that migrated on sailboats, and all of the discoveries that were made with them.  Of course, there are many sailboats today, but so many people think we're crazy when we tell them about our future plans of sailing to our travel destinations.  There are planes and trains now!  Why would we take a sailboat?!

Anyway, that's your history lesson for the day!  We hope everybody has a "Happy Thanksgiving"!

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!