From a Noisy Bar in Avalon

Chuck is in California helping his friend Roi shake out his sailing skills.

Roi is an archetype: the life of the party; the loud teller of outrageous stories that turn out to be (mostly) true.  He has a noble dream that will make the world a better place, and you will want to jump on board to make this dream come to fruition.  However, details bore him and stifle his spirit.   Roi is a big picture guy.  I was a believer at first:  that he would would get a huge contract to build shipping container structures for disaster relief or maybe low income housing.  That he was going to hire Chuck to be his plant manager. The Haiti deal, the Colombia deal, and now the New Mexico deal?  Nothing seems to get off the ground. He's stuck, broke and homeless, driving back and forth and trying to negotiate a contract as the months go by.   Do I dislike Roi?  No! I love him, but with my eyes open. Chuck, though, has tirelessly helped and supported Roi year after year.  

Roi has met a beautiful, brilliant woman.  Depi is emotionally and financially stable.  She has a son who is mentally ill, unwilling to get help, wandering the streets. Roi is worried about Depi and wants to keep her safe. At Roi's urging, she has bought a sailboat.  It is in a slip a few minutes from her home in Long Beach.  A boat would give Depi a place to hide out from Johnny.  Roi would like to take her sailing.  When he was young, he sailed a lot, shuttling boats back from the Caribbean.  That was a long time ago, though.   

Depi is out of town this week, visiting family in New York. Roi wants to get comfortable with this boat before she gets back. He wants to make her happy about the purchase - she has not sailed on open water before.He and Chuck practiced motoring around in the marina, fixed a few broken things, then sailed across to Avalon this afternoon.  

Chuck called me tonight from a mooring in Avalon harbor.  He said that Roi had gone ashore - wanted to try to call Depi from a noisy bar in Avalon.  Typically of Roi, he didn't hail a water taxi - just flagged down some people in a dinghy, jumped aboard and made for shore before Chuck knew what was going on.

I told Chuck to hail a water taxi and follow.   Finding him should not be a problem: the noisiest bar will be where ever Roi is.