Even if it seems crazy, do it.
Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 3:15 am
The story.
When the Tall Ships visited Cleveland just after July 4th, I was reading about the venue and I noticed that some of the ships were available for 1 1/2 and 3 hour charters. The price varied between $2700 and $4500, for from 25 to 45 guests. My first thought was, "I can swing that". I had money left in the personal line of credit I obtained to buy the "Maudie Kay" and even if I went all out I'd still have enough left to refit her. The majority of the family lives within about 20 miles of Cleveland, kids, grandkids, great grandkids, nieces and nephews and a few friends could all enjoy the experience, but I only had about 24hrs to pull it off. Then the second thoughts started coming in. A vacation, another sailboat for me and so on. Mom offered to pay half the cost. I told her we'd go the next time they came to town, when we'd have more time to plan.
Mom had been to Europe 15 times, South America twice. She'd flown over the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls in planes and helicopters several times. She'd sailed on a cruise ship, been on a hydrofoil and a hovercraft across the English Channel. She spent a week on a barge trip in England, ridden on all the high speed trains of Europe and the trains in this country years ago. But she'd never been on a Windjammer.
A large part of my life are memories of good times. In retrospect, if mom, my first mate and myself were the only passengers that trip, it would have been worth it. Mom's final voyage began July 27th.
When the Tall Ships visited Cleveland just after July 4th, I was reading about the venue and I noticed that some of the ships were available for 1 1/2 and 3 hour charters. The price varied between $2700 and $4500, for from 25 to 45 guests. My first thought was, "I can swing that". I had money left in the personal line of credit I obtained to buy the "Maudie Kay" and even if I went all out I'd still have enough left to refit her. The majority of the family lives within about 20 miles of Cleveland, kids, grandkids, great grandkids, nieces and nephews and a few friends could all enjoy the experience, but I only had about 24hrs to pull it off. Then the second thoughts started coming in. A vacation, another sailboat for me and so on. Mom offered to pay half the cost. I told her we'd go the next time they came to town, when we'd have more time to plan.
Mom had been to Europe 15 times, South America twice. She'd flown over the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls in planes and helicopters several times. She'd sailed on a cruise ship, been on a hydrofoil and a hovercraft across the English Channel. She spent a week on a barge trip in England, ridden on all the high speed trains of Europe and the trains in this country years ago. But she'd never been on a Windjammer.
A large part of my life are memories of good times. In retrospect, if mom, my first mate and myself were the only passengers that trip, it would have been worth it. Mom's final voyage began July 27th.
