A Cold Farewell
27 February 2014 | Indianola, Iowa
Amy/8 Below Zero
Well, it's my turn to write this time.
Yesterday, Gene and I got home from work, changed clothes, put on our Carhartts and headed out to get on Barely Awake. The weather was sunny, dry, and not a cloud in the sky. The temperature though was a bone chilling 20 below.
Barely Awake, our little Clipper Marine, was heading off to her next adventure. We wanted to make sure she was all ready for her new owner, and even though we got her ready for winter, we wanted to look her over again. I got inside the hull and looked around for anything we may have missed last fall when we put her up for winter. Of course, I found a pair of Gene's beloved sunglasses frozen to the floor. Anyone who knows Gene knows he never buys the expensive sunglasses because he loses them before the day is over. But the thing that made me smile about this great find was that these are the glasses he wore on our last sail on Barely Awake. The sail we had with Dan and Cher in September when the winds were perfect on Lake Rathbun and we laughed A LOT. We didn't know then that would be the last time we would sail on her, but looking back, it was the perfect day - well, aside from getting the boat on the trailer when the winds picked up, but that is a different story. Gene and I got her closed back up, got one final picture with her, and then sent her off with Caleb, her new owner.
I am excited for Caleb and the fun he is planning to have with Barely Awake. It's always fun to watch someone else who has that wild hair for a new adventure, and know exactly how they feel. And it's even better when you know that they will take good care of something that you put so much care into yourself.
We didn't have Barely Awake that long, but it was long enough to make some great memories and learn the basics of sailing. Now we are ready to get through the next month of cold weather, and see what we can learn this year on Clair De Lune!