The Journey Begins

The long wait was over. We were ready to take possession of the Sailing Vessel (S/V) Anastasia.

You see there are 17 United Stated Coast Guard (USCG) registered vessels with that name... Personally, I do not have an affinity with a Russian princess, and so, when I register the boat, the name will be changed to Distant Horizon. There is just one other Distant Horizon registered with the USCG; that is our other boat. For simplicity, I will refer to this boat as Distant Horizon from here on in this blog. So, when you see pictures with the name Anastasia, you will understand... these pictures were taken before the new name was put on the boat.

Linda and I, along with my son Matt, packed up the pickup with the gear we needed to sail for 7-10 days. Matt and I were proud when we finally squeezed everything into the little Ford Ranger. That is... until Linda said, "Are you ready for these?" After long stares at each other, Matt and I unpacked part of the truck and put those groceries, pots & pans, dishes, etc. in their place and re-packed the truck. Let's just say, almost everything made the trip. A couple boxes were left in the garage.

Matt's view, Baldwinsville to Baltimore

While Linda and I sat comfortably in our respective seats, Matt sat in the jump seat, back in the extended portion of the cab. The truck has two jump seats; small folding seats that face each other across the truck. With Matt, a few incidental items were also placed back there. Like an electric motor for the boat's tender (rowboat); since the oars were not conveyed with the sale.

With one highway detour, which we believe was due to a bridge being washed out from all the rain the previous couple of days, we arrived at my daughter, Brynn's, house in Baltimore in 6 hours after leaving Baldwinsville. We spent the night there and Matt was happy to stretch out a bit.

Matt, happily eating breakfast in the truck.

At 6 am the next morning, Brynn walked down to Sam's the local bagel shop and brought back breakfast sandwiches, coffee, and tea and the four of us piled into the truck. Yes, now there are four. Brynn came along to see the boat and also drive the truck back from Yorktown, VA to Baltimore.

This was another three-and-a-half hour trip.

All this has little to do with the boat, but does provide a little introduction and recognition to family members who played an integral role in the Journey's start. The next article, and those that follow will include the boat, Sailing Vessel (s/v) Distant Horizon - Syracuse, NY.