Many Washingtonians dream of retiring on Orcas Island. 85-year-old App Applegate already lives on Orcas Island. His dream is to finish building his boat so he can sail away from Orcas Island -- to Fidel Castro's Cuba.
Applegate has two major obstacles to overcome: getting the boat down from the mountain where it is being built, and recruiting enough crew members to make the journey:
The Aproximada has eight berths and will need a crew of at least five. So far, there is only one sure bet.You can't please everybody.She is Rivkah Sweedler, 58, a woodcarver and longtime exile from what she calls "the dominant culture." She and Applegate joined forces in 1997, shortly after her husband died. He helped her move on after her loss; she eased his loneliness and turned him into a phenomenally healthful eater. She typically serves him a breakfast that includes triticale flakes, buckwheat groats and pumpkin seeds.
Applegate and Sweedler see eye to eye on religious, environmental and political matters: Her late husband, Walter, was also an atheist. App and Rivkah are outspoken advocates of open-field defecation. They deeply dislike President Bush.
Hat tip: J.A.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at April 27, 2004 10:28 PMWherever these people live, it's an island, and they are marooned by their own idiocy.
Posted by: Zhombre on April 28, 2004 05:29 AMBon voyage.
Posted by: Jed on April 28, 2004 06:36 AM"...he lives in a shack without running water, listens to National Public Radio on a hand-crank radio and avoids outhouses as ecologically incorrect. He prefers a shovel and an open field."
Yeah, this pair is going to fit right into a totalitarian society...
I'm curious how they plan to get their "80-foot, 50-ton, three-masted sailboat" the six miles through "towering Douglas firs," down a "narrow dirt road -- steep, potholed and snaggled with switchbacks" to the ocean.
I guess buying plane tickets didn't occur to them.
Posted by: Bruce Rheinstein on April 28, 2004 06:40 AMAlmost missed this, "Applegate, though, has to wait for more Social Security checks to bankroll the plan."
Figures.
Posted by: Bruce Rheinstein on April 28, 2004 06:43 AMIt's nice when crazy people can get together to share their deulsions...
I'm curious how they plan to get their "80-foot, 50-ton, three-masted sailboat" the six miles through "towering Douglas firs," down a "narrow dirt road -- steep, potholed and snaggled with switchbacks" to the ocean.
To quote P.J. O'Rourke, I'll bet it'll go like a bitch downhill.
Posted by: Brian Swisher on April 28, 2004 09:24 AMIt's nice to see that there are people (or one person, at least) trying to get IN to Cuba on a handmade boat. Most of the makeshift vessal-traffic is going in the other direction. If he wants to stay, perhaps this Applegate guy can donate his boat to some Cubans looking to make the return trip. Provided that his boat is more seaworthy than their rafts. I don't think they'd have trouble filling the 8 crew berths.
Posted by: John in Tokyo on April 28, 2004 09:19 PM"They deeply dislike President Bush."
Well, there's a shock.
Posted by: jimg on April 29, 2004 08:45 AMIf there's a similar individual in Cuba, able to live alone and gather checks, bad-mouth the government and sail away without hindrance, I'd like to know about it.
Field-crapping radio-cranking dope-growing twit.
Posted by: Bleeding heart conservative on April 29, 2004 11:59 AMQuestion #1: Is it possible to captain a boat that distance with your head that far up your ass?
Question #2: Re - Question #1 - Where will you put your floatation device?
Question #3: Dont you wish the progressive people of Cuba had the freedom to bad mouth their goverment, live alternative lifestyles and escape to a more repressive government beyond the seas by boat?
Posted by: Frank Martin on April 29, 2004 02:08 PMWhy do so many Atheists have to be butt munches?
Why?
Please, dear God*, why?
Byna
*Rhetorical, not meant to imply the existence of any particular supernatural entity.
Posted by: Byna on April 30, 2004 12:01 AMI hereby offer to buy them 2 one way tickets to Cuba. This will save them the time and effort of having to build a boat and move it through 5 miles of forest, and thereby allow them to achieve their dream of living in Cuba sooner. Do you think they will want to shit in the aisle of the plane instead of the designated bathroom? I suspect this is one of those Baldwin things though--all talk and no action. Well, with my offer its time to shit or get off the pot.
Posted by: PAZ on April 30, 2004 02:04 PMOpen field defectation? And you guys think Californians are nuts.
Posted by: kate on May 2, 2004 09:29 AMWishing you well - Rivkah & Applegate - Today, I'm sorting & filing paper out of storage. Expecting my research books on Rhodopis to arrive early September(more will follow). Writing for Stage & Screen is my fall class at the Richard Hugo House. And yes, I have partnered too - a musician and vegetarian + fish, Halim Quackenbush. Wishing you both health and happiness. MollyBee, poet, storyteller,
Posted by: MollyBee Welkin on August 24, 2005 02:35 PM