Happy Holidays From Phyllis & John

There is more to life than sailing…really…more on that in a minute.

That said, I have to confess that for the about the sixtieth year in a row boats have been a lot of my focus this year, while Phyllis has been broadening her horizons with volunteering and other community activities, but still enjoying sailing on our newish-to-us J/109.

Boats aside…boats aside, really!? Yup, the most wonderful part of the last couple of years, since the pandemic restrictions were lifted, has been staying in one place for long enough to really focus on spending time with the many wonderful people in our lives, both friends and family.

Voyaging was wonderful, but it was sometimes isolating and filled with the sadness of saying goodby.

In this phase of our lives we are putting time with our people ahead of all else…yes, even boats.

OK, enough of that mushy stuff…back to boats. This summer we finally got the boat set up below and found her surprisingly comfortable, at least for one or two nights.

But even so, these short “cruises” were all about sailing, and most often meeting up with friends, rather than actually going anywhere—see, back to the people thing.

Our “long cruise” this year took us to an anchorage in the next bay to ours, all of 25 miles from home. Ironically, this furthest point was the same well-loved anchorage in which we used to spend the first night of a voyage prior to heading out bound for Labrador, Greenland or some such far-away destination.

And the cool thing was that getting to and being in that anchorage was just as rewarding and wonderful as a destination as it was as a way-stop…particularly since we met up with friends.

Our fall was filled with travel to spend time with family and friends, including Phyllis spending several days with three friends from her days living in Newfoundland.

Four women in an Air B&B with 30 years to catch up on…what could go wrong…nothing. She tells me it was as if their last gathering was the week before—it’s the people thing again. And she also got to spend time with her father and siblings and their families.

In October my daughter had a meeting in Halifax, so our son-in-law Ryan, together with our two grandchildren, aged four and seven, drove their camper all the way from Ontario so we could have a family week together at a close-by national park. What a guy!

In previous years I have at least touched on the state of the world. Not this year. This year it’s all about being thankful for the wonderful people in our lives.

And in that vein, although we don’t know many of you personally, we are thankful to you members who continue to make this site fun, interesting, and viable. You, too, are our people.

And a special thank you to Colin, Eric and Matt who contributed so much to the site over the last year.