Reflections II

SHIP'S LOG:

Moved the boat 700 yards to the Tidewater Marina. Had wanted to meet with some friends who live in Glenn Allen, VA and everything was planned but circumstances arose which prevented us from make a meet. I am glad that I was able to see them on the way down and am saddened that we couldn't hook up this time. But I got a shower out of the deal and didn't have to ride out an rather nasty thunderstorm at anchor. All in all, a good deal.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

I have meet some rather wonderful people on the trip up & down "the Ditch" and there is simply not enough time to write about them all.

It was great to see my dear friend Gerry again. It was also great to finally meet his wife Lucille. They are obviously very happy and that was a real joy for me. Gerry always had time for me as well as lots of words of encouragement and always seem to have an answer for any little "nautical" problem that raised its ugly head. The depth of the man's knowledge and experience and common sense is really remarkable. A true great guy and I hope he and Lucille can make it north some time in the future.

And there was Guy McSweeney, a man I had never met before who basically was as warm and open and giving as if he had been a friend of years rather than of days. I met the man only four(4) times and yet it is as if I have know him for years. The welcome he gave to me and the graciousness he showed were remarkable. And his buddy David Dixon was much like him. Dave couldn't do enough for me and like Guy I had never met him before either. If I had asked him to rewire the boat I have no doubt that he would have and would have done so with pleasure and without cost.

Bob & Chris at the Cocoa Village Marina at Christmas time made what could have been a lonely time into a real family time. They gifted me with friendship and companionship, as well as with a couple of bottles of wine and a free couple of nights.

And there was Mike Tolover who rowed up to my boat in Daytona as I dropped anchor and asked if he could take me to the market or any place I needed to go. And Brad Smith, the "boat-builder" at Fort Pierce, who never went by without asking if there was anything he could get for me and who really enjoyed discussing everything as we worked on his boat.

When I begin reflecting on all these people and all of the others the point that comes across so clearly is that they were the most open and generous and friendly people I have ever come across. I was constantly amazed at there generosity as they would so easily give of what they had to help me in my need and were so happy and appreciative of even the smallest bit of assistance that I could provide for them.

I loved all the stories that they told, of hearing of "their adventures" and their travels, and sitting around "gaming"- as sailors call it - was a wonderful way to spend an evening. You would show up at anchorage or a marina and you had an instant community of people, always family, and I hated when it broke up and people went their separate ways, but it always reformed in another spot with different people(sometimes some of the dsame) and it was every bit as much a community, a family. It has been a very unique experience, one that I have not experience in quite the same way anywhere before. And I will miss it greatly if it does not happen again.