We had a grand reunion on Thursday at the Tower Harbour Yacht Club. That was part of the point to take a slip in Douglas at Tower Marine. We had to meet up with Rose and Dave, as we had the PFD rearm kits sent to their house. Rose and Dave invited Brian and Lynn along as it has been years since we’ve seen them. Al and Nancy from Desire are fixtures at THYC. Nan and John from Blaisen rounded out the group.
Of course, as I write this, it would have been great to get a photo of our group. Sadly, we only have memories of round table with snacks and ten chairs in a circle as we shared stories of sailing in bad weather, sailboat races and parties at the yacht club. As it has been a decade since we were members of the yacht club, we have all gotten a decade older. The coolers of beer and wine have replaced by Arnold Palmer’s and water. Now that we all are in our sixties and seventies, the discussion turned to ailments: breast and prostate cancer, Lyme disease, broken back, sepsis, open heart surgery, Alzheimers.
One might think that would put a damper on the occasion, but really there was joy and love shared. The health issues are just like the rough weather we have all sailed through. Inevitable. When you’ve sailed long enough, or lived long enough, you’ll hit rough weather.
There’s a saying among mariners: Don’t worry, the boat can take more than you can. Maybe I can rephrase that to: Don’t worry, the ‘ship can take more than you can. The relationships, of course.
An enduring circle of friends remembering times gone by, or remembering those as Tennyson put it, ‘crost the bar’, or for whom we sounded the eight bells. Yes, that’s why we came here on our first voyage of our grand adventure