On our way

I feel happy.  I am sitting in a rather uncomfortable grey plastic chair at JFK International Airport. I see a yellow, neon sign that reads “B 28,” and outside the window immensely large aircrafts are repeatedly defying all logic as they lift off the runway, like delicate birds, into the sky.

We finally made it to this day, (which is really two days because of the time change and red eye flight combined) when we will meet Gerty!  She is our Allures 45.9 aluminum mono hull sailing vessel.  Gerty is how we choose to future. Where she will take us we don’t exactly know, but we do expect it will be quite an adventure getting there.

It would be a lie of omission if I didn’t acknowledge how difficult it was to get to this day.  It’s important to recognize here that although I am not equal to all of you who have suffered much and overcome great challenges, I can sincerely respect you. And I know what we share.  Confidence.  Everyone should be able to relish in the joy of fair winds, but those of us who have been descended upon by a tempest and are still afloat, we have untouchable confidence in our ability to survive.

It was Michael’s idea. It was his motivation and to be fair mostly his brain power that got us to this day.  He dreamed up Gerty and her crew.  It was Michael’s idea to buy our first boat, our second and now our third. He learned the tides, navigation, wind, weather, knots, and more. He taught it to me. I am very proud of him.  And I am proud of myself, for recognizing a boldly fantastic idea from the beginning and encouraging its’ development into reality.

We have boarded the plane now. I’m watching Joshua and Michael, who are giddy with excitement as they experiment with their newfound sleep masks, blankets and headphones.  I know Zachary will be reading this when we post it on our new svgerty.com website and I am watching him too in my head. Mixed images as my Tylenol PM takes effect . . . dolphins, white sails, buttery croissants, standing at the helm . . . the sun will go down a little earlier and we will watch the stars from the forward deck . . . together.