Dreams are the Language of the Heart
Position: S 15°21.338’, W 133°32.270’
Talofa everyone, it’s always a pleasure to have a conversation and to share this time with you. Gaualofa is about five days from Tahiti. I’m sitting on the deck on the bow watching the waves go by, taking in a panoramic view of my horizon. I’m in awe of the beauty that surrounds me. My mind now begins to wonder, remembering our last conversation about those that dare to dream, making Gaualofa a reality, a reality that has touched and blessed the lives of so many people that we have met throughout our voyage so far. Yes, I’m talking about you. You have blessed us with your kindness and generosity. We were strangers before we met, but transformed by the fabric of the experience. Gaualofa is no longer a dream, but a reality and there is no denying the sense of pride and joy that we have all felt. Maybe if you are not too busy, you might share your thoughts with us, the crew. Speaking of dreams becoming a reality, one of our own crew, Charlie Uhrle, is living his own dream, sharing how he welcomed the Hokule’a on a canoe when it arrived in Pago Harbour about 30 years ago. He too dreamed of how he could sail on a canoe like the Hokule’a, and here he is, sailing on a canoe, not just a canoe, but a Samoan canoe, with his own people, his own language, as Charlie put it. Charlie’s story, like many on our crew, is a tribute to those who dare to dream in making Gaualofa a reality, providing an opportunity and a platform for others to pursue their dreams and making them a reality.
Two years on and a thousand nautical miles later, the dreams of these seven canoes has become a full on reality in a message that brings awareness to the plight of our oceans and its fragile balance. My dream is that Gaualofa with the other canoes on this voyage is making a difference to you and the way you view our ocean, your ocean. To dare to dream is to dare to believe, to dare to believe is to dare to hope, and to have hope you must dare to have faith.
Arriving in San Francisco last year, we celebrated with great joy and jubilation while we passed under the Golden Gate Bridge. Unbeknown to us, there stood a woman whose tears fell silently as she watched Gaualofa pass by beneath her, as she stood on the bridge recalling a conversation 30 years before, her tears flowed silently as she watched a dream sail into reality. She stood silently witnessing faith at work believing for so long that a dream had come to life. I will finish this story off next time we talk, but, thank you for your time and I hope that as dreams are becoming a reality on Gaualofa that your own dreams are coming to fruit. As for Charlie living his dream, he just hooked up a wahoo and I’m going to celebrate his dream having raw fish, oka Samoan style.
Tofa Soifua,
John Misky and Gaualofa Crew
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