Hello I'm Blue Raven and I run the main sail on The Arroyo. I grew up in something similar to a commune run by university types. My parents thought the end of the world as they knew it was not a good enough excuse for me to forgo an education. They saw to it that I learned a lot, maybe too much. I knew there had to be more to life than growing beans under artificial lights, reading books, our frozen hellscape and never going anywhere. My boyfriend at the time, a self taught thief, and a few others felt the same way. We set off, wondering aimlessly through the frozen remains of the eastern northern plains. We had no plan, only a vague idea of going somewhere. The wasteland was unforgiving. A series of hasty and bad decisions ground my group down to only me. I wandered alone and lost for weeks before coming across a young man almost frozen to death. Tired of talking to cold rocks and dead trees, I managed to save him and changed both our lives forever. His name was Pick.
Pick was cute but almost as ignorant as a lump of coal. He did know about one thing I did not, guns. We found a forgotten stash of guns and ammo. He knew what was what and I didn’t have a clue. We kept each other warm and agreed to trade lessons. I’d teach him how to read and he would teach me how to shoot. The whole world was almost dead and I refuse to make it any worse, no gunplay unless it's absolutely necessary for self-defense. As you may see this also includes less than friendly wildlife. Most of the few people we encountered had a live and let live attitude, a few were out right generous. Our story would be lame without a young dog that Pick at first wanted to cook. The young, fluffy dog, Oscar, stayed and Pick came around. A tip from some new friends led us to Captain Ugo Santee and his sailing ship, The Arroyo. He was both one of the most terrifying and wonderful men I ever met.
We found Ugo sitting alone on a dock in his wheelchair, the only black man in an otherwise all white neo-feudal settlement. He gave off very bad “don't approach me if you want to live” juju. I would have kept walking by but Pick led me closer by the hand and Oscar did not bark. Ugo was skeptical and almost ran us off but decided to hear us out. We wanted a ride to South America and Ugo was ready for a change of scenery so we came to an agreement. He led us to his ship, The Arroyo, which was also beautiful and terrifying. We all had a lot to learn.
Pick and I had to learn how to sail while Ugo had to learn how to trust people again. Oscar adjusted quickly to life on the boat. My dream of a quiet life on a farm raising kids with Pick was shattered. Ugo invited us to join him in life at sea. We found a father and his two kids needed a ride home along with Ugo’s long lost daughter, Akimi. We crossed the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and even beyond.
I had never imagined a life at sea before but it suited me well. There's always new things to learn, new places to see and I'm never bored. It seemed to suit Pick as well. Who knew there was so much more to learn? Who knew we could dare to hope again for another chance? I invite you to join us on this adventure! Here is our story.
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