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For me, it's not been a great year, healthwise. First came the hormone shots and back in January went through prostate
open surgery which was followed by seven weeks of daily radiation at a hospital 110km. away.
I was tired, somewhat disillusioned and in more than my usual grumpiness. Debbie knew I had been checking the internet about
the Great Lakes Tallship Challenge and suggested I try to book a sailing trip on one of the vessels. Got my attention alright but when I showed her the costs and knowing we did not have the extra money, partly because of the many trips for treatment, she offered to pay for the trip with the money she had been saving for a new set of bedroom furniture. How could I say no to that ? Not enough money though for both of us and yet, I did not want to do this alone, so she suggested I ask a best friend if he was interested. Immediate answer was: YES!
So, there we were, Tom & I on a train to Milwaukee on September 3 to board the Bounty for a 6 day non-stop voyage to Erie, PA. for their Tallship Festival. The photos pretty well tell the story, including the cannon fire, just for Debbie as a way of thanking her for allowing me to do this trip. as we passed our apartment building while sailing by my hometown of Sarnia.
We also had a surprise stop-over in Lake Erie on the Island of Put-in-Bay. Great break for us and the crew! On Thursday we were, along with 5 other tallships, part of the Parade of Sail, into the Erie Harbour where thousands of spectators were waiting our arrival and cannon fire.
All great memories of trying to 'learn the ropes' of a tallship.
Thank you Tom for doing this with me and thank you Debbie for the trip.
Here is our facebook page with lots of pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=118163038237330&v=wall