Rebel Heart

I haven't written for awhile and now, as I sit here, our friends on S/V Rebel Heart are experiencing the double nightmare of having encountered trouble at sea (very sick infant and debilitating boat troubles all together 900 miles off the coast) which required national level intervention (Navy, Coast Guard). I'm pretty sure that NO ONE on the planet has not been touched- positively and negatively - by their story and the media reverb. And if that wasn't hard enough, their blogs were plundered by the press and quotes were misused and I can't even imagine the horror they will feel when they are finally back safe on shore and can fully comprehend the maelstrom of support and scrutiny (also on a national level) their peril has caused. *Big Sigh*. I have known personally that blogging was a risky venture and now I know for sure. I am working on a blog entry to get caught up on Planet Appa's travels but I felt the need to post a little entry about our friends. And while we have not known them long, we consider them to be friends. For the record, Charlotte and Eric are AMAZING individuals, parents, citizens. We have loved them from the minute we met them in La Paz and Marcus was already following their blog for years before that. Samey and Cora became friends in La Paz and in La Cruz and we spent so, so, so many good times together with them before they left in La Cruz. Lyra is a beautiful baby. They were prepared, they are SMART, they are wise, they are good, dedicated parents. The full story of what happened has yet to be shared and soon we'll know more about what happened but I KNOW that if they got to the point that they called in help on this level then they tried everything else in their vast repertoire before that. They were prepared, they were smart. They knew their boat, their kids, the risks. They do not deserve what happened to their boat, to their lives now, ever marked by the crass media and a planet of people who are choosing to judge them. They lost their home, their dreams (for now) and I can only imagine their despair. On the flip side, the support has also been amazing as SO many people all over the world love these people. I wish them a clear path to healing through all the bullshit. And that the spirit that is Rebel Heart never dies. The boat may be sunk to the bottom of the ocean but they are far from sunk. Godspeed, Rebel Heart.

Love you Rebel Heart Charlotte (and Monique LaBarre!) at Punta de Mita beach