I am writing a book! This is to sooth my spirit and to have for Jamie and Andi a lasting memory of Andy and Sammy, and all the glorious times we had as a family sailing together.
All my log books, Sammy’s diaries, and the adorable letters between Jamie and Sammy and their long distance teachers along with us on our voyages, have contributed to bringing back to me the delights, and challenges, of a life aboard KANDARIK.
My hope is to pass this incredible family journey on to Jamie’s family and Little Andi’s family so they will know how precious these fleeting times were and have become.
I hope you will enjoy and cherish your moments even more after reading this book!
My First Paragraph!
How can I possibly describe to anyone the overwhelming feeling I get when I write this book? Even after I have read it so many times, I am still moved by the presence of my family in the wisps of memory that float across the pages. They are with me as I read. We are out there on Kandarik, traversing the world. As I close the book, they are gone but still there for me to live again. This book was originally dedicated to my love, my constant companion, Andy Wall─the husband, father, captain, navigator, plumber, teacher, bread-maker and best friend─who cast off on his final voyage in October, 2008. Andy avidly read books and poems to us, sang sea songs and bawdy Australian folk ballads with grand theatrics in the cockpit. His constant quest for adventure and knowledge enriched our lives. I do believe Kandarik sailed the seas, her sails full and by with his adventurous spirit. Andy Wall gave Samantha, Jamie and me a lifetime worth of rich, unrivaled experiences, the memories of which will never fade.
After Andy sailed off to fairer places, I never once thought I would have to dedicate these wanderings to anyone other than Andy─his loss causing such an aching loss in my life that I could not comprehend anything more devastating. I can only take solace in the fact that he was not here with me to experience the absolute worst tragedy a parent can endure, the heartbreak of which I am sure would have taken him anyway. My heart flowing with memories, glistening reflections of a life so abundant and brief, I know I must dedicate this book once more.
Jamie, I know you will understand. Sammy brought you up just as much as I did. Your sister was a treasure, a human gem, with a spirit that blazed so hot, her memories still warm me. I can still hear your whispers in the cockpit during your watches as you two shared stories, fears, and laughter under a huge bowl of stars and friendly constellations. You and Sammy gave Andy and me so many precious moments. Sammy’s heroic battle with cancer now lost, but, but at last pain and suffering finally over, Sammy stands forever as a model of bravery, courage, and the kind of unquenchable thirst for life that we all should try to achieve. Most of all, I hope this book will encourage other families to embrace a unique and utterly fantastic life as we had aboard KANDARIK. Andy and Sammy and Jamie, you are the best crew any ship could ever have. I am proud and humbled to be your mother and overwhelmingly grateful for the vibrance you brought to my life.
This book is now dedicated to you, Sammy, and your Daddy who loved every tenacious fiber of your being. I hope this book will kindle warm memories for Jamie and will give little Andi, Sammy’s daughter, an understanding of what a courageous, spirited mother she had. It soothes me to know, thanks to Andy, Jamie, and our colorful adventures aboard the exquisite Kandarik, that your life Sammy, albeit much too short, was rich and full. Sammy now sails on a glimmering sea with the angels and her Daddy. I can see her waving to Jamie and me from the bow, Andy at the helm, her hair wisping golden in the sun and her smile so bright it is seen for miles.
“How can one explain the passion, the fear, the wonder, and the beauty of growing up on a boat? I would do anything to be out there on the ocean again, with the stars up above me and the sea moving underneath the elegant hull of our boat. It is simple out there on the ocean with nothing but the horizon, the sea, and sky.”
— Samantha Wall, excerpt from [insert article title], published in Cruising World Magazine, [insert date].
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