Here I go again.....

Not sure why I do this, but I am getting ready to do another trip south. It's really a beautiful time of year here in Vermont and I am quite comfortable in retirement so there is no logical reason why I would go back to living in cramped conditions, dealing with horrible weather, and being away from my lovely wife for many months. No, it makes no sense at all. But there is something about making long trips in small boats that I just can't stay away from.

It was 50 years ago, in 1972, that I made my first trip south. I was crew aboard my father's schooner, "Sea Song", and he wanted the boat delivered to Ft. Lauderdale where it would be advertised for sale. She was 43' on deck, 52' overall, heavily built in Nova Scotia, and gaff rigged. She was one of the boats in the family charter business and I was quite familiar with her, having been responsible for some of the maintenance and assisting the charterers during summers on Lake Champlain. I was capable of taking her out on my own starting around the age of 15 and I remember making other boat owners very nervous in the close confines of the docks at the Shelburne Shipyard. At that age, I was very small, and looked to be about 12 years old, so the seasoned skippers would look askance as I manoevered the massive schooner into the dock around all the other boats, but happily, I never caused any damage.

I will tell more of this story in later posts!