Winter Doldrums

Here we sit, 6 inches of snow on the ground, no boat prospects in sight, a call for jury duty for Jack, and not much to do all day but read and look for boats. We never imagined after being shot like a cannonball from our house in Pittsburgh that we would be stuck in limbo for so long. Some days it’s a challenge to keep the dream alive.

I went back through some sailing photos yesterday to remind us of our goal. I never got around to scanning the photos of our earlier sailing adventures so all we have with us are from the digital camera era.

Back in 2002 some sailing friends were itching to do some night sailing, so we decided to sail south from Annapolis in the afternoon and see where we ended up by morning. We made it to Tangier Island.

The islanders have their own ideas about tourism.

It wasn’t much of a trip, but we did get to sit out in the rain for a couple of days.

One of our coolest sailing adventures was crewing for a friend taking his boat from New York City to Annapolis. I’d sailed into New York harbor back in 1969 and I remember the thrill I felt seeing the Statue of Liberty from the deck of an ocean liner, especially surrounded by people who were coming to America for the first time.

We did this sail in 2003 when security was still very tight around New York Harbor. There was a Coast Guard cutter circling Liberty Island as we passed.

Looking back at Manhattan, the green in the foreground is Governor’s Island, where my grandfather was born in 1875 while his father was stationed there in the Army.

It’s nice to look back but we’re champing at the bit to move forward. I think we’ll be heading south again soon for another lap around the Gulf. Wish us luck.