June 30, 2025

CATALINA ISLAND, CALIFORNIA - DAY 2

Another sunny day and adventure for the 3 of us! Sarah's top pick of activities, was to conquer her fear of heights and go Parasailing. We had hope to go up as a triple, but it was too windy for the boat operators to feel comfortable.We had to split into two rides and Sarah volunteered to go up twice! Sarah & I went up first, then she stayed strapped in and went again with Sherrie.

Amazing view from 1200 feet above sea level. So calm, quiet and peaceful!

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After Parasailing, I decided to skip lunch and indulge my curiosity in learning to Scuba Dive. There was a theater in town called IMMERSED and it was a dome shape. You laid on bean bag chairs and got immersed  watching a 30 minute film with dive breathing sound effects, so you got the sensation you were diving in some of the greatest underwater spots through out the world! I loved it but also realized I didn't enjoy the dark cave dives. I never knew how stunning the surface of the water looks from deep below!

When I came out of Immersed, I was talking to the manager and found out there was also a Mermaids experience available.I had asked about this the day before at the tourist center but they made it sound like it was more for a character at kids parties! Turns out we could have done a whole photo shot with them in the water on the beach, had we known. Since there was only a couple hours left in the day until we set sail, I had to settle for a photo shoot in the grotto area of their studio. I talked Sarah into doing it too, and we are still awaiting copies of our photos while I type this blog post up. We only have the following shots for now.

KUANTAN, MALAYSIA

By Pat Patrick • October 12, 2026
Just the other day a friend asked me if I got enough down time while living this lifestyle. My answer was "you have to make it !" In the beginning, it was go, go, go, every port. We had lots of FOMO ( fear of missing out ) and we tried to cram in as much as possible at every port. Sea days, were our only down time and there were never enough. It was a tad exhausting. Now two years into this life, I can say there are some ports that just don't call me and I opt to get other things done. Kuantan, Malaysia was one of the Ports. I never got off the ship, either day we were here. I intended to this morning, but we had storms with loud thunder late into the night and then was awoken by a crew alarm around 6:45am. My energy was low, there were shuttle issues, town was an hour ride away and there is alot of air pollution, ( due to neighboring Indonesia burning organic materials, in preparation for the upcoming monsoon season ). So I bagged my plans and continued working on my never ending TO DO LIST!

Sad Passing of ODYSSEY Shipmate

By Pat Patrick • October 11, 2026
During our two years of sailing we have had several Shipmates come and go for a variety of reasons. Their health, has sadly been the reason for many departures. Cindy Harvey , would have loved to have lived out her days here on the Odyssey and even bought a second cabin and had an adjoining door added, to have a care provider, stay with her full time. However, Cindy's limited mobility, pain and confinement got to be too much - so she left us a few months ago. She went to an assisted living facility, on the coast of Oregon, to be near her family. Tragically she fell, was trying to recover, slipped into a coma and sadly passed away this week.

SANCTUARY OF TRUTH MUSEUM, CHONBURI, THAILAND

By Pat Patrick • October 8, 2026
The Sanctuary of Truth Museum is the world's largest hand carved wooden castle, located on the coast of Pattaya, Chonburi Province, Thailand . Conceived in 1981 by Thai visionary Khun Lek Viriyaphun the structure is built entirely from 4 types of wood - Teak, Mai Daeng, Mai Takien & Mai Panchaat and put together using Thai nailless wood joinery - mainly dovetails, carrying poles and tongue & groove. We started the tour in the workshop where the artisan, mainly woman, were hard at work. Since conception, the Museum has been an active construction site, thus we all wore hardhats! The artisans continue handcarving sculptures and columns, daily and will most likely continue for years to come.