Sailing Passion Sweeps my Daughter Away

Sailing Adventures BeginWelcoming Junonia to our Family

Just add water!

Last summer, our oldest daughter fell in love with sailing. On our last day of sailing camp, the tears simply came and stayed…for days.

Hubby and I looked at each other and understood the tears, she has found something SHE LOVED and we needed to help her get on the water. We knew this wasn’t a fleeting thing, we knew she couldn’t live without it!

I have ALWAYS lived on the ocean. Growing up, I lived a stones throw away from this view. I longed to be able to sail. I was envious of my pals at the local yacht club that sailed away their days in their backyards and even taught sailing lessons.

It simply was sort of WHY people live so close to the ocean. To play beside it AND in it!

As an Innkeepers daughter, the hustle of that life didn’t afford us the time nor interest to get into that sort of lifestyle – we worked hard, and played in the winter. But the LONGING continued. I met my husband in the CAPITAL of sailing communities and at the world’s ‘most’ famous sailor bar called Maddie’s Sail Loft. Again, I lived on the ocean, had sailing friends, etc…but NEVER again had the opportunity to GET ON THE DARN OCEAN.

My daughter and her new sailboat

Then, the ocean started to beckon even more as I started to raise a family. ALL OUR OUTINGS were visiting seaports all around like; Ogunquit, Rockport, Gloucester, Truro and Newburyport. Telling the girls tales of the ocean blue were some of our fondest things to do. Some of our friends have boats and on occasion we were invited along, those were the most memorable journeys of the summer.

Finally, a few years ago, while enjoying some time with friends on their gorgeous boat in Provincetown, an event started the journey of my daughter to want to sail.

Early, one afternoon, on a gorgeous July day, we were gearing up for a kayaking excursion off the boat. My best childhood friend heard the cries and SAW a sailboat in distress. She JUMPED on the kayak, paddled her way to the out of control sailboat, climbed on and took the ‘reins’ so to speak and navigated the boat to safe harbor.

Turned out, the woman on the boat’s husband left the boat briefly with his inexperienced wife on board and the tide changed suddenly. She was all of a sudden in a very eager sailboat heading to hit some lovely yachts in the harbor.

My friend saved the day, in more ways than one, and my daughter looked up at me and said, ‘I want to be able to do THAT!’

The following summer we enrolled her in sailing camp. We knew from the first day that her passion had been found, she was in her ELEMENT and she was good. It’s something you just wait for when you have kids. You wait for that smile that beams from within, that smile that puts a smile on YOUR soul for ever and ever.

Hubby and I then decide to put into motion something we knew we had to do – get her into an activity that we can SHARE IN AS A FAMILY at the same time.

Everything sort of played out in a cool way, despite tragedy.

My dearest friend’s father owned a fabulous boat shop and marina nearby. Fernald’s Marine is old school, and only sells top of the line New England sturdy boats. Well, my friend’s dad passed suddenly a few month ago in Florida while on vacation. The loss is huge and gut wrenching. We all are still heartbroken, and lost, but a little boat was made known in his warehouse.

A little boat that needed a home. A little boat soon to be called, Junonia.

A Precision 15 boat had now joined our family!

My friend’s wonderful uncle took to preparing our boat for us – and to tell you the truth…it’s an HONOR my daughter has her boat from this marine shop and named her boat Junonia, the rare seashell from Florida

A look at the elusive seashell

I have been searching for the elusive Junonia shell much of my life, and when my daughter, on her own, named her boat after it, I simply couldn’t contain my joy! She get’s me, at her very young age. It meant the world to me!

Life is too short – even dreams of childhood can be realized in midlife! Enjoy!

This is the boat site: http://www.precisionboatworks.com/

Fernald’s Marine is a fantastic place to buy top performing sailboats and kayaks. Check out their website – http://fernaldsmarine.com/

Sailing Passion Sweeps my Daughter Away

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