Last night at Pt Hudson

I have to figure out how to live here.

Yesterday my family stopped by for a visit, and Matt heard someone congratulate the sail boat making it’s way into the marina. That boat was the winner (first to reach Ketchikan) of R2AK. So I got a chance to check out their bikes driving propellers.

This morning I’m drinking coffee and reading the news and a sail boat came in that I recognized. I was crew on my best friend’s sail boat in the 1980’s and raced in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea. The boat was an Islander 28 called “Jubilation”. A few years ago I saw it in the boat yard here in Port Townsend, but named “Jubilatio”. I talked to the owner, he asked me about that dent in the deck rail (a port start off Shilshole. In sail racing, that phrase is a complete story). We were both surprised to meet each other again.

So I’m sitting there and Jubilation sails by heading for the boat lift. She was here to be hauled out and surveyed before a sale. I met the lady buying her, and talked to the owner I met a few years ago.

The very first thing the new owner and I discussed was the name. She was intent on changing it back ASAP. I couldn’t agree more.

By the way, the boat parked next to Jubilation was the boat that won the R2AK. When I mentioned that, she said her lead crew person was on Team Sails Like A Girl, who came in 4th in this years R2AK, but was competing as the winner of last year’s race.

I had a great chat with Kristen’s (new owner) dad, and an old guy like me who used to race. It was damned difficult to get my head around that my racing days were 30 years ago, and yet here in front of me was the very boat in perfect condition. He talked about the boats he raced back in those days, and it turns out we raced against each other a lot of times.

Kristen and I did the email thing, and I’m going to search for photos from those days.

David (RIP) would have been happy….