Eight Bells for SkiprJohn

[Celestialsailor]

John Luchau AKA SkiprJohn who was a long time contributor to this cruising Forum lost a 3 year battle to cancer. He will be missed.


Where ever you are John,
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

With love and respect …CS

[GordMay]

RIP, John.

[SV Siren]

Sorry to hear of his passing...

[LittleWing77]

A tribute for an old sailor:

Crossing the Bar

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar
~Alfred, Lord Tennyson

[Celestialsailor]

Thanx for posting everyone. John was the person that taught me celestial navigation on our trip into the Sea of Cortez.

[gamayun]

Nice picture of John with the sextant and great memories to have. I am saddened to hear of the loss of your friend. May he sail on fine seas forever.

[Don C L]

I too am sorry to hear of his passing.
Home is the sailor...

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Nice picture of John with the sextant and great memories to have. I am saddened to hear of the loss of your friend. May he sail on fine seas forever.

Opps...that was me with the sextant.

[philiosophy]

Rest in peace John. May the winds be kind on your last journey and you be well remembered.

[ArmyDaveNY]

RIP John. CS, I am sorry to hear of your loss. LittleWing, thank you for posting that poem. Fair winds to all.

[David B]

Very sorry to hear - especially of the circumstances.
Life is so short, but my understanding is he lived it very well.

Thank you for your advice.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by David B

Very sorry to hear - especially of the circumstances.
Life is so short, but my understanding is he lived it very well.

Thank you for your advice.

John never did anything that didn't make him happy. He worked in Naval Intelligence out of Pearl Harbor. He had many interesting stories of "Russian fishing boats", while we sailed.

[David B]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

John never did anything that didn't make him happy. He worked in Naval Intelligence out of Pearl Harbor. He had many interesting stories of "Russian fishing boats", while we sailed.

Nice to know - thank you.
Wonderful memories that he has left behind too for yourself, and no doubt many many others.
He made a difference, and that, is a life well-lived!

[Celestialsailor]

Funny story about John...we were anchored at Muertos and I wanted to wait until 4am. to leave so we would have light passing Isla Ceralvo and especially going through the relatively narrow pass by Isla Espirito. He wanted to leave earlier at 11pm. He felt we would encounter headwinds and current. I told him there is a lot of commercial traffic and in Mexico navigation lights are not a big deal to them. I told him if we got there early we would had to wait to go in if it was dark.

Don't you know it was my watch at 2am. when we arrived at the pass. So I tacked back and forth seas abeam. I did it on purpose to wake him up so he could enjoy the 4 hour wait to go through. Not a word was spoke between us.

[boatman61]

Condolences to friends and family..
His quest for what lies beyond the horizon goes on..