It all started when we anchored our catamaran Selaví in Tahiti on a delightful sandbar next to a 42 foot trimaran called Little Wing. That’s right, just like Aldebaran!
We instantly hit it off with the owners, Julie and Andy, who actually come from the town nearby Sabrina’s childhood home. Incredible!
Andy was an editor at Latitude 38. After he heard the story of our catamaran purchase, he said, “You have to share this story with readers of Latitude.”
All the skills that we learned from the 5 years of cooperative adventuring are now really paying off… and the boat purchase was a big example of this. Due to the pandemic, in August 2020 the seller thought that Tahiti might re-close and had us rush with the babies to come purchase the boat. Moving our whole life with 26 bags was incredibly difficult, thankfully we had our nanny-extraordinaire Alexandra (who’s a naturalist guide in Galapagos) to help us. Upon arriving in Rangiroa, with even more bags being shipped by cargo, feeling completely uprooted and delirious, we had a major falling out with the seller. This is the story of how we salvaged the deal under such delicate and stressful circumstances.
Green Coconut Run 
Thanks Kristian, always enjoy your writing! With all due respect to your saintly execution of patriarchal duties and obligations, a situation like that is exactly what violent communication is for. ð¤£. You’re a better man than I. Be well and be careful out there in the wild west. Today’s bowl:
Scott
Scott Chatenever
http://www.villagepotter.com insta: @chateneverceramics etsy: Villagepotter
Scitt,
Second your thoughts! An article on the subject (link). Not quite the “Non Confrontational Way” I’ve been (unsuccessfully) indoctrinated with.
https://aeon.co/essays/why-disagreement-is-vital-to-advancing-human-understanding
Still…. I’d never have had the restraint and maturity to avoid blowing up and scuttling a dream and sale in which we had had so much invested.
And that’s for sure…
The point is not really that Kristian was “saintly.” It is that by taking the NVC approach, he spared himself the far greater suffering that would have resulted from the owner bailing on the deal entirely, which a confrontational approach surely would have guaranteed. Good on you, Kristian. Admirable, and the result was that you got what you (had already) bargained for. Happy for you and your family.
Agree under the circumstances, Kristian made the right, although humiliating, decision. It was the only civilized way he could have gotten what he bargained for. Or most:. 99% equals a truly excellent decision.