All this boat business is pretty much Lisa's fault to begin with. Had she not suggested we go out on a sailboat when we were dating none this would have come up and I / we would have continued to lead "normal" lives.
Granted I had sailed in the past, in fact, I can remember, when I was eight years old, listening to my uncle Buddy talking about being at sea in the Navy and wondering what adventures awaited on the open ocean. All that lay dormant until I was in my twenties and my friend Karen said she was invited to go sailing by someone she worked with and asked me to go along. I went and met Ken Delson. Ken had a little Catalina 22, but to me it was huge and magical. I was completely amazed how it moved with just the slightest breeze. After being on the boat for awhile, Ken gave me the tiller and said he was going to go below and fix lunch, I asked him, "Where do you want me to go?" And he replied, "Anywhere you want to." That was all it took. I was hooked.
I spent the next few years crewing different boats and looking for any opportunity to combine wind, water and sail. Even while I was stationed in Germany when I was in the military I always dreamed of getting back on a sailboat.
But let's jump ahead a few years. Life happens and, of course, change comes with it. That change brought me to my first boat, a Helms 24, the little sister of the boat we now own. It was a great boat, easy to sail and very forgiving. It was perfect to learn on and I filled most waking moments learning everything I could.
Sailing at Lake Murray, I learned that most sailors there are much more interested in socializing than they are sailing. For them sailing was a means to and end, for me it was the end. I soon realized that if I wanted to be a better sailor I had to sail with people who wanted to sail as much as I did so I moved myself to Charleston.
The first week I was there I found CORA and was quickly invited to race on a J30 for two reasons. One they needed crew badly and two I said I would work the fore deck, not having any idea what that really entailed. I had some great times and learned as much as I wanted about sailing. If you want to learn to sail, race; if you want to learn to be a sailor, cruise. When I look back on these times the things that have meant the most to me are the relationships I developed on and around the boats. I sailed with a crazy Citadel grad who could flat out fly a spinnaker (which you really don't want to be flat) Ken never failed to make me laugh. He and his wife always extend grace to me. I was able to work with a competitor in the Vendee Globe Around Alone race. More people have been in space than have accomplished what he did and he did it with virtually no money. I still can't figure out how he did it.
It was a significant time and a truly happy time in my life. I eventually lost my way again and stopped sailing for all the wrong reasons, which brings me back to Lisa.
We started dating and as couples do we talked from time to time and she, being the amazing woman that she is, noticed how I changed when I talked about sailing. So one day she asked me, "Why don't you take me sailing? You obviously loved doing it." I didn't have an answer or an excuse, so I told her I would look around and try to find some place that would rent us a boat. After a bit of searching on the Internet I found Lanier Sailing where this guy with a funny accent and a razor sharp wit agreed to let us rent one of his Capri 22's, for a nominal fee of course. So we sailed and Lisa loved it and I fell in love with sailing again and eventually fell in love with Lisa, partly because she encouraged me to do things that made me happy.
That is why I insist that had it not been for Lisa this wonderful adventure with all its...Change would not ever have happened.
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