How Do Things Like This Happen?

How do things like this happen, and would they still happen, if they happened differently?

So, just how did this sailing trip happen?

Well, the three guys have all had a long time love of sailing. We have all owned sailboats and used them for fun and adventure. One year at the Mpls Boat Show, we saw a Dufour sailboat. Tom and Pat went up and inside and spent - well, we think about 30 minutes, Michelle and Peggy say more like an hour. When we came out Michelle and Peggy were sitting in chairs with glasses of wine and Michelle had just looked at Peggy and said, “It’s over, he’s going to buy this boat.”


Well, you don’t buy a boat like this without planning to sail it, and the dream of a lot of sailors is to cross an ocean. We started in Lake Superior and just grew our thinking from there. We took some week-long trips like sailing to Isle Royale and back and talked a lot about taking some time off for the adventure of a lifetime, someday, before we got too old… Several years ago the three of us decided that 2010 seemed like a good year and it seemed far enough into the future that we had plenty of time to prepare, get ready, and make it all happen. We had plenty of time to prepare, and our spouses had plenty of time to get used to the whole idea. At least that’s how we remember it.
If all this had happened differently, it could have sounded a lot like:

“Honey, I’d like to stop working for six months while you keep getting up each day and tackling your job. I’m going to go off on a grand adventure with a couple buddies. I’ll write and call, but can’t promise to be too reliable about it. I won’t earn any money while I’m gone, and actually, I plan to raid our bank account, kind of, in the year before we leave, and well, I guess, while we are gone, too. I won’t be able to help with anything at home while I’m gone, like fixing anything, changing light bulbs up high in the ceiling, or just being around to lean on. All the attention will be on us while you are gritting your teeth and putting on a positive face. We will have a public forum to talk about all our challenges, which people want to hear about, but your challenges will really be personal, quiet and in the background. What do you think?“


Boy, do we owe these three women - LOTS.

There is not enough jewelry on the planet to even this out.

Our thanks, forever,  and lots of love to (left to right) Mary, Peggy and Michele.