I would have bet large amounts of cash that Kelly Rae is the only cruising boat sailing in the world’s oceans that carries a Grand Lake, Colorado hailing port.

I would have lost that bet.

I would have bet ANY amount of money that KR would never be anchored next to another boat with a Grand Lake, Colorado hailing port.

I would have lost that bet as well.

I met Donnie and Dianna at last Friday’s ARG meeting on Honeymoon Beach here in Elizabeth Harbor. (Author’s Note: ARG stands for the “Alcohol Research Group”, the scheduled “meetings” of which group are a thinly veiled justification for cocktail hour gatherings on a handy beach with large amounts of food and libations available to be “researched”.)

I was wearing a Grand Lake t-shirt at the gathering which Donnie noticed. The conversation started there.

Now based primarily in New Bern, North Carolina, Donnie and Dianna used to own a sign company in Grand Lake (and still have a home there). They mentioned that their first boat, a Whitby 42, was a storm-wrecked boat that they had had shipped to Grand Lake and put on stands in an alley next to their sign company right off the town’s main street – where they proceeded to rebuild her. I remember seeing it there and doing some minor communication with the owners. A large, ocean-going sailing yacht stood out in land-locked, 8600’ high Grand Lake – an obvious discordant note.

Kelly Rae and Moon Shadow (the Caliber 38 which is their current boat) are anchored right next to each other in Red Shank harbor – hunkered down awaiting the next front’s approach tonight.

The saying: “It’s a Small World”, an admittedly trite Disney-ism, is, at the same time, all too true.

Best to All