Categories: Oldale
I Laughed, I Cried

Dear Mr. Wilson:

I'm an old sailor and an old WoodenBoat fan, and largely because of this and the reference to your magazine in the Utne Reader, I became a subscriber to Hope as soon as I heard about it. My reactions to your previous issues have been somewhat mixed, but sufficiently positive (and hopeful) that I renewed my subscription.

My mail to the ship follows a rather circuitous route, but I finally received the May/June issue. This issue, particularly "Fences and Fields" and the article on Nadine Goodman, "The Instigator of San Miguel," was undoubtedly your best yet--the icing on the cake.

In my thirty-odd years of seafaring I have covered a lot of ground (water), been moved by the cultures and people that I have come to know, and through direct and indirect connections, have semi-adopted or become the "padrino" to families from Swaziland to Guyana, through Colombia to Ecuador, Trinidad, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

I read "The Instigator..." this afternoon. I laughed, I cried, I was inspired. To a very minor extent, I know what Ms. Goodman has been going through all these years. People like her are beacons of hope in this seemingly uncaring and cynical world.

Now the challenge for Hope is to maintain itself at this dizzying height of excellence. You can do it. Keep the faith!

Capt. Stephen Oldale
Master, M/V Canouan
off Hispaniola

Note: I have got some feelers out to contact this particular Oldale. His story will make for an interesting addition to our Site!

Ian and Karrina Oldale's Web Site.
Regarding their business.

Cobblestones was established in 1990 by Ian and Karrina Oldale who were fully trained and were granted a license to install creteprint pattern imprinted concrete. We chose Creteprint because they had over twenty years experience in the business and were able to give full training and ongoing practical support something we still use today. Our son Sam joined the business in 1995 which now means we are able to have a member of the family in attendance at all our installations at all times. We feel we are small enough to care about each individual installation but large enough to cope with larger projects.
We can undertake large or small installations from a garden path to a garage forecourt our own bricklayer will construct retaining walls,steps etc. so we can offer a complete service. All our staff are trained to our own high standards and we never use sub contract labour. We do not employ commissioned salespeople and try to sell to our potential customers how we would like to be sold to ourselves, after all we are all customers at times.