Spreading the Gospel of Sailing to Animals of the World
Enrique Fleshman, a defrocked friar from the seminary of Our Lady of the Perpetual Offering, has found a new calling. “There are lots of references to animals and the sea, take on the Ark for instance. And then there’s camels, known as the ships of the dessert.”
Fleshman makes his home in little Shipwreck, Oregon. His cozy two story, one bedroom, three bathroom home overlooks over the sea he loves so much. The walls are covered with pictures of animal converts, showing rowing raccoons and halyard hoisting horses. “My most famous pupils have been the squirrels you see water skiing at the boat shows.”
Maria Jenny Chiquita Hernando-Fleshman, Enrique’s wife, says she understands his calling. “It’s a gift. He’s a good husband and loves the animals, so animal husbandry is his natural course. He graduated with honors in AH and did graduate work in Bovine Communication.”
Enrique is gone much of the year, tracking down animals he thinks have seafaring tendencies. “The worst time is winter, when animals trying to get out on the water break through the ice and have to be rescued. They’re not too bright but they make great sailors.”
Enrique uses “48° North” a popular sailing magazine, to show the animals how easy and fun sailing is. I show them a picture of boats towing sailing dinghies with inflatable dolls and rubber sharks. The animals, especially the goats and horses always get excited when they see people dressed in grass skirts.
Fleshman’s dream is to cross the Pacific Ocean with an all animal crew. “It would be just like the bible, only different. There would be just the animals sailing the boat, with just Maria and I — humans, two by two.”