[Rhodes22-list] Delayed Gratification

[Ellner]

Congratulations, Joe!  .........and how awesome that you will be sailing 
on Lake Hartwell (where they have NO WINTER!)  Blew goes into storage 
this weekend.  Sad day at the Ellner's!  (I think I now know why my 
sister says "there IS LIFE after Wisconsin!!)     Mary/Rod    s/v Toy 
Blew   Hudson, WI
>      I fell in love with the Rhodes 22 at the Annapolis boat show 16 years
> ago.  It rested on a trailer surrounded by an admiring crowd.   Many in the
> crowd were most likely awed owners still mesmerized by the gleaming hull and
> the promise of adventure at the sight of a new Rhodes.   
>      This Friday Elton delivers my “new to me” dream boat to Big Water
> Marina on Lake Hartwell GA/SC.  I have enjoyed the process of this boat
> coming to own me.  I have met a great group of people, on-line and in
> person, who have helped make the delivery of S/V Second Wind a reality.    I
> sailed on my first Rhodes with  Peter Thorn.  He had somewhat reluctantly
> put his boat up for sale a number of years ago.  I called him and he
> informed me that he already had a bid on it pending a survey.  If things did
> not work out I would be the next in line.    He invited me to join him on a
> sail from New Bern down to Orient NC where he would sail in a single hand
> race later in the week.    It was a confirmatory sail for me.  This boat
> felt as great in the water as it looked on the trailer.    I was “next in
> line” on a number of Rhodes over the next few years.  Always the bride’s
> maid and never the bride brought me to Edenton to see if Stan could fix me
> up.  Stan invited me out for a different kind of confirmatory sail.  I had
> some personal nagging ageist thoughts that I might be too old for this
> dance.   I retired seven years ago.  Stan proved to me by example that I had
> at least 20 something more years of sailing ahead.    I “listened” and
> learned from all of you over the “lurking” years so I could make informed
> decisions when the time came.    Thanks for the debates over what is needed
> on a Rhodes 22 and why, thanks for the written sailing accounts and
> accompanying pictures and art work that kept the dream alive on cold winter
> nights and when the economy tanked.   I will take pictures of what you
> helped launch.   I have invited Rummy to the launch and he has kindly
> accepted.  I wish you could all come but I could not afford that amount of
> Mt Gay.   Best Wishes,  Joe Riley, almost on Second Wind.       
>
>