This week’s meeting was started off with a compelling video showcasing our upcoming event, Rise Against Hunger. Arcadia Rotary and our friends at the Sierra Madre Rotary Club anticipate assembling and distributing approximately 20,000 meals to a needy country in the next month or so.

Speaking of international work, this week’s program was on international travel. We were promised a “wild and interesting discourse” from Linda Szerdahelyi in her presentation: Sailing Around the World. While some parts of her presentation were wild, and all parts were interesting, what we learned from Linda is that sailing around the world can also be commendable. All throughout her presentation, she highlighted various efforts she, her husband and fellow sailors would dedicate to altruistic acts on land such as community service, community meals and other community efforts in different countries.

To begin her talk, Linda introduced us to “Interlude,” a 32’ sloop built by Cheoy Lee and designed by American yacht architect Ray Richards. A “sloop,” for those who do not know, is a one-masted sailboat with a fore-and-aft mainsail and a jib. Interlude is sleek and lean, but still managed to carry 300 pounds of anchor chain, solar panels, two bikes, a four-man life raft, and library and a rather sophisticated kitchen for Linda Szerdahelyi and her husband. Interlude generated 24 gallons of fresh water from sea water every hour and, as a low-tech boat, required just two laptops: one for navigation and one for personal use. Linda shared with us pictures of her sophisticated laundry process on Interlude involving a five-gallon bucket, another implement and some line that sometimes was strung across the galley. Laundry, of course, being a “pink” job while Frank was assigned the “blue” jobs.

Linda and Frank began their sailing adventure in 2007 and started down the California coast to Baja. They stayed a few seasons in Mexico, narrowly escaped a freighter, experienced some bad weather but, all in all, met some great people, shared some great meals and spent some time doing community service.

Linda and Frank parted ways with Interlude for a family wedding. They returned to the United States and Interlude traveled sans her owners by freighter to Florida. To get on the freighter, she was brought on board with water, the water was drained and divers put her along other boats for the journey. It appeared as though she was traveling in coach as she had no leg room; she was squished between a number of other boats.

After the wedding, Linda and Frank met up with her in Florida and sailed off to Spain, France and Italy. They navigated the Greek Islands through to Turkey. From Turkey, they visited Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Israel and into Jordan. Linda found the people of these various countries to be very friendly, warm and interested to learn about American life and culture. They were also very willing to pose for pictures.

Linda and Frank sailed for a few years. They met quite a few sailors from all over the world, took in sailors and travelers for some of Linda’s amazing cooking, and narrowly escaped some fierce and unusual weather of every kind including golf ball size hail that wreaked an entire bay full of ships and blew the roof off a building. Linda and Frank have a lot of stories to tell about this amazing journey and a seven-year-old tortoise who, if she could speak, could probably add some choice tales as well.

As I looked around the room, I say a lot of Rotarians reminiscing about their own travels overseas, waxing poetic about their own desires to cast off everything and live out of a sail boat for a few years. I, for one, am still quite content never leaving the California coast. But, for some great stories, and probably some great advice, for those who are interested in international travel and international sailing I think Linda and Frank should be your first point of contact.