[Rhodes22-list] Blessed with this Boat....

[Herb Parsons]

Jim, where is your "homeport?"

I ask because last August, my wife and I took our O'Day 25 to Corpus Christi, and sailed down the ICW to Port Isabel. I absolutely fell in love with that area. If home and hearth (and .... ugh .... work) wasn't in North Texas, I would have already moved.

BTW, we made it to Port Isabel just in time for Erika, even though it (barely) lowered to tropical storm status by the time it hit Port Isabel. That was our first "away" trip of any kind on our sailboat, and we got to endure a hurricane! Fun stuff. We slept on the boat, slipped in a well protected marina on "the Fingers" in Port Isabel, and with the help of the manager at Anchor Marina, did very well. A great story to tell. 

>>> Jim White<jdwhite at panam.edu> 7/28/2004 9:31:31 AM >>>

   We took Le Menagerie across the bay over the weekend to lay her at a
   quiet dock on South Padre Island in order to work on our sticky
   centerboard (with SCUBA). On the trip across I sailed with my 7 year
   old twin girls, who had been bugging me to "go sail" on their
   birthday. We stopped and fished for awhile, had lunch, and made the
   dock in the blazing heat of a South Texas summer afternoon.
    After quite a bit of work the following day, and in a current that
   had me holding onto the fixed portion of the keel, flying in the water
   a little like superman, we finally got the CB down, and operational.
   Monday I decided to return to homeport, about 10 miles across the bay,
   so we took off around 7pm. The day had been hot, near 100 degrees with
   light uncharacteristic NE winds, less than 10mph, giving us reaching
   and running conditions all of the way back. Tide was low, making
   passage out of the narrow channel a bit challenging, but once into the
   deeper portion of the bay, I lit the sails, trimmed out and watched as
   the big red ball began to sink on the horizon, stirring the cool ocean
   breeze. With a CD of my favorite sailing tunes, a boat that tracked
   smooth as silk, and dolphins, flying fish and other critters playing
   in the clear blue water, I had time to reflect as Le Menagerie danced
   along with them. I dropped sail at the mouth of our narrow channel
   entrance, reached my slip around 930pm, tied off and waited for my
   family to pick me up.
   A year ago, almost to the date, we experienced an uninsured fire that
   destroyed 95% of all the material things we owned. Since then, we've
   been blessed with an abundance of work, prosperity and most of all the
   gift of friends and extended family. Then there's this boat, that came
   along at just the right time. I'll admit, I didn't have a whole lot of
   information on the Rhodes when I ran across her. But the price was
   right, the sails were fairly good, and so we ventured out and bought
   her (or maybe she bought us....). I subsequently found this list, and
   have enjoyed the various personalities, information, spirited
   conversation and topics that the list provides. Our sailing community
   here is small, very loosely knit, and so I figure you all are like an
   extension of that.
   And so, I thanked God for my family, my friends, blessings, many
   opportunities, the democrats, the republicans, Stan, MJM, Le
   Menagerie, the list, and this great country where all of this is
   possible.
   Had I not bought that boat, and made her a part of my soul, I would
   have never connected to the world that only sailors know.
   Bien viento los amigos
   Jim White
   Le Menagerie
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