A Note About The Adventure

In the winter of 2005 we decided to buy a sailboat.  That was six years ago.  We've lived on the boat for nearly 5 years.  In those six years we've (our entire family) had what we could loosely compare to a college education in sailing and all that it entails.  Navigation, Sail trim, boat repair, seamanship, docking techniques, anchoring techniques, Coast Guard regulations, yacht restoration, canvas repair and fabrication, marlinspike, and weather are just a few of the many areas that we've been faced with on a regular basis throughout our time here on the water.  We feel as though our experience in sailing as a whole has grown tremendously since the first time we nervously backed the boat out of it's slip.  Of course, we've still much to learn.

We cannot adequately express our gratitude to all of those individuals that have been kind enough to spend time with us along the way.  We've been given countless hours of advice, and had many a round table discussion and fellowship with some well traveled salty sailors, and have learned with many of them as the years have passed.  They are in essence what has made this experience for us so enjoyable.  Those individuals have helped guide our children through building their own sailing dinghy, gone fishing with them, led us through unknown waters, and unfamiliar channels, and enjoyed many an incredible sunset out on this salty water.  They have encouraged us when we were feeling overwhelmed, or lost.  They have showed us that even a family with not much more than each other, can follow a dream and succeed in acheiving that dream.  They have enriched our lives, and they are our friends. 

With all that being said, our journey on the boat is coming to a close.  We will soon be packing our belongings into a truck and heading north to Ohio, to regroup and start new adventures in life.  Ohio grandmother has been patiently awaiting some much needed time with her grandkids, and we are excited about the idea of getting back into a house, and firm ground under our feet.  We're excited about gardening, and look forward to spending time up on the lake (Lake Erie) and have already geared up quite a bit for camping, and spending time with our friends up North. 

On our sailing journey we've tried to make a good effort to take as many pictures as we could along the way.  Our blog is mostly pictures, and we've tried not to bother writing too much, in hopes to keep it simple and interesting, sharing things we've seen with anyone whose interested.  If you haven't already, feel free to browse our blog, and hopefully you'll get to experience a small portion of the places we've been on our adventures on the water.

We have said it before, and will say it again.....  this is not about a boat.....  this is not about sailing.... 
This is not about pictures or the beautiful water.  This has been an experience that has brought our family out of a life of corporate mahem, traffic, cell phones, distractions, and has brought us closer to each other.  We hope to share it with you!

Neighbors

Our neighbor off our starboard bow....

took this this evening as the sun was going down....

A shot from inside the walls of Fort Macon
a few years ago

Our boat earlier last month before all the traffic came in!

I

I like the way Bridget sees photos

this is a shot she caught one recent evening

After The Storm

We had 40 knot winds and a nasty lightning storm

come through two nights ago

This was filmed after it passed