The "Trips I would have taken in 2020" Thread

This is a place to document your trips with your boat. Tell us about your journeys. Share your experiences. Post your pictures.
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NiceAft
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Re: The "Trips I would have taken in 2020" Thread

Post by NiceAft »

Nice picture Bob.

I enlarged it on the screen, and just stared, as if looking through a port. :)
Ray ~~_/)~~
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Catigale
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Re: The "Trips I would have taken in 2020" Thread

Post by Catigale »

Bobglas wrote: Mon Nov 30, 2020 11:25 am Missed our annual saltwater trip to little Narragansett Bay where we anchor behind the bar and dinghy, cross over to sit on one ofthe most pleasant beaches in the N.E. However most of the summer was spent on a Lake Champlain practically empty of other boats due to Canadian closure. So not a total loss!
Image
Didn’t realize you are so close to me...that’s Schoharie County isn’t it?

I’ve been driving by on 88 all year working on a cottage
OverEasy
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Re: The "Trips I would have taken in 2020" Thread

Post by OverEasy »

Hi Catigale

Image

It’s been quite a year.
At this time last year we didn’t have Over Easy.
We had been in the preliminary process of possibly designing and building our own cruiser from scratch.

Then the horrible reality came.
As a former medic for a midsize city while personally working my way through engineering school to gain a couple of degrees and professional licenses the potential of the unprecedented loss of human life that was building around the world was very real. Yellow fever, polio, scarlet fever, measles, small pox were things I had been aware of and trained to recognize the potentially devastatingly effect in loss of life.

The 1918 pandemic was to be revisited upon the world with a devastating new virus.
But we, as a country, were only vaguely aware of it and what happened back then.
The costs. The lost lives. The devastation to individuals, lovers, friends, parents, couples, families, children.

By June 22, 2020 statistically it was undeniable that that horrid history was to be revisited upon humanity.
If you have ever fought with all your being, all that makes you who you are to keep even just one person alive regardless of personal loss or injury then to realize with decades of professional experience in design, reliability, failure investigation, root cause analysis that this was now a new world wide pandemic that like it or not was descending upon not just a community, a town, a city, a county, a state, a country, a world. How small we felt. Satellites to Venus, jet engines, rockets, plasma physics, synthetic reformation, MRI, pulse field gradient coils helicopters and jet planes. Patents, trade secrets, discoveries, exposing the mysteries of so many things all became moot.

The truth matters. Not what we want it to be.
The real truth matters. Not useless egos.
The scientific truth matters. Not useless opinions from those incapable of seeing past their pettiness.

For us the plain unvarnished truth was to follow the sciences that had enabled discoveries to be made. The real causes of failures to be identified and effectively mitigated so they wouldn’t occur again. The understanding of how the fabric of the world surrounding us all functions and that it can be harnessed to do good for the present and the future.

Personally, at this point in life, I know that I’m nobody special. There are always better, brighter, creative, talented, courageous people surrounding us from all walks of life, region, country, race, gender, ability, disability.

There are some truly remarkable, talented, accomplished, kind, considerate, courageous individuals that are part of this forum. That and they just like to fuss with their boats and be on the water. The ability to dream of a perfect day under sail with the sun shining in a blue sky with gentle water is a special gift. The ability to envision and then create constructive improvement to meet a need or create a new use is a special gift. The ability to recognize the limitations of oneself when faced with the unknown but still find a way to happily construct that new galley, electrical system, anchor system, headliner, berth, rudder, keel, lighting, shower, Dodger, enclosure, sail, engine, hull, fuel system, navigation tool, or share a story or experience is a gift.

We didn’t want to take the trip 2020 and 2021 took us on but sailing teaches one to deal with reality and to adapt to the truths before us as they are, not as we want them to have been.
Sailing teaches an acceptance of limitations and adaptation to changing circumstances to achieve an acceptable fact based solution to problems. Sailing teaches facing fears and having the courage to do the next right thing, even if that might not be the thing or direction or intent we originally started toward.

Personally, my own perspective, is the trip one didn’t intend on taking tends to be the very trip that can define who we actually are when all is said and done and one takes that last deep honest look inside. How will I answer the questions of “Did I make a better, safer, kinder, more just place than when I arrived?” and “Did I find a way to appreciate and constructively enjoy the time I had?” and “Did I help others to be the better person they wanted to be?”

This past year’s journey has been made better, more enjoyable, more stimulating, more survivable and more rewarding with the help of an old sailboat, the generosity of others and the investments made by the opinions, suggestions, humor, honesty and creativeness of this collective forum.

The trips I ‘would’ have taken in 2020 are nothing compared to the trip ‘taken’ in some part due to this forum and its contributors. Thank you! 🙏
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Russ
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Re: The "Trips I would have taken in 2020" Thread

Post by Russ »

^^^^^

One of the best posts/reads. Thank you!
--Russ
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