As we headed out early morning on this exciting adventure, reality set in on of all we were leaving behind. Our family, friends, known places and routines, time we would never get back to be in the moment with those we love. It was bittersweet.
Photo by Kim Sandefur
We left the marina with the escort of Incommunicado and Jackal along with their crew members and the crew of Amy’s Delight, we traveled the six miles together sharing photo’s, waves, and tears, and then we headed under the 2nd Street bridge and into the canal to maneuver through our first lock, it was so surreal. We were alone, embarking on this journey, just the three of us and leaving our world behind. Bittersweet.
Yes, we will see friends and family along the way, and return home, in fact, we have some boat work planned in Mississippi in late July and will be home for at least a week, but it will be different. We will be visitors in our own home, there for a brief time before we head back to our boat and the adventure that awaits.
It is also bittersweet that our first week aboard cruising includes Father’s Day. We have been dreaming of this trip for a long time and Tasha’s Dad, Kurt, dreamed with us.
Kurt was a boating enthusiast to say the least. He owned many boats, and his primary cruising grounds were the Great Lakes, where he shared his love of boating with us. Some of our best trips were on the lakes with him and he would say his favorite trip was cruising the entire Ohio River with David, on a 25’ walk around. Our first week of the trip we retraced half of the trip Kurt and Dave made. There was a story for every marina and stop which kept us laughing much of the way. There is no doubt that if he were on the Earth today, he would be co-piloting the entire trip! But I think he still is, we definitely feel his presence.
There will not be a day on this journey that we won’t say out loud – “Kurt would have loved this!” This one’s for you Kurt!
Cheers! D, T & R