Father's Day June 15 2013

This weekend started with “Anton”. 
Over the past few weeks, Anton and Samantha have become great friends. Normally, I am a very protective father and don’t have much patience for gentlemen befriending my daughters. That being said, this guy is kinda cool. Well, I mean he is not out of the box cookie cutter, young adult male. He is open; he is polite, and he is filled with Christ. Not the fake type but the real type. Not to mention that he likes to sail. He’s a natural on a sailboat. Watching him and Sami center the main, pre-load the lazy sheets, and know what to do as we round up to meet the wind, was quite a joy. To watch the two of them working as a team was so sweet. I just did not know whether to send him down to be with Davy Jones while we were there or to be nice. As you can see I chose the latter...

It was Anton that put in his request to go after work on Saturday. He said he could get off early and would be at the dock by 2:00. He was there like clock work. He went for a swim as I prepared the East Coast Lady for departure. Not long and the girls show up. We were off and headed for the heart of downtown Beaufort. It was a great day. I was driving the boat, Deb and Anton were raising the sails. A little rough start as they jammed the wenches and hooked the head sail 3 different ways.We were headed north and had a easterly 12 knots off our beam. It was a great day to go for a sail.

On the way back from Parris Island I gave Capt. Debby the helm. She did a great keeping the wind in the sails and not putting us against anything hard or running us aground. All kidding aside she is a natural at the sailing thing. She is a great deck boss as well. When I'm busy with steering she takes control of the deck and explains to everybody what is coming next and what to look out for.  She is what makes sailing fun. Quite a few times we got hit with 20 mph puffs. Each time the boat picked up speed like it was turbo charges and Deb let out a WAAAHOOOOO. She is so fun to watch.  The excitement in their faces when the boat takes a puff is so fun.. I just love sailing.

To find me way up here on the bow of the boat is very unusual. It was only because I trust my baby not to throw me over board that I posed here for this shot.. 

  The rest of the sailing went great. We had a bit of a time getting the sails down. This will take some more practice to get right. The biggest thing is nobody got hurt and we put another 15 miles under her keel.

After sailing we put the East Coast Lady on the face-dock for a more favorable tide for her birth and eased up to the Back Porch Grill for dinner. Much to our surprise, Anton treated us. It was a very nice thing to do. We laughed and talked for over an hour and a half. After we finished our dinner and conversation, we headed back to Battery Point, played the guitar, and talked under the ceiling fans. With the gentle breeze the Low-Country offers up this time of the year, one hardly needs a fan at all. 

Anton Thanks for making this a good day... You are welcome to come sailing when ever we shove off.

Till next Post.

Live your dreams don't just talk about them...