Cruising awards dinner...

We made it through the cruising year, and the Deborah kept her part of the bargain – I did all the work, she took most of the glory. Well, not really. She tried, but in the end had to give me some credit, too. We had our annual cruising awards dinner last weekend, the culmination of fifteen cruises, lots of sailing, and loads of parties.

My son-in-law Matt helped us out by demonstrating the sorts of talents it took to run the cruising program. I couldn’t explain it if you tried, but in just a few minutes Matt was able to demonstrate what I’d had to do all year long. A world champion juggler (Silver Medalist in 2003 and Overall Prop Champion in 2005 at the world competitions) and a Cirque Du Soleil juggling instructor, the Juggling Sensei, he gave a top rate show, which explained everything.


Our two most noteworthy awards include the “Half-Assed Award,” which was particularly hard to determine, since the candidates just seemed to step forward at every turn of the cruising season. It ultimately went to two cruisers whose boat dragged anchor at the Summer Sailstice cruise to Treasure Island. The worst part was that when good Samaritans saved the boat, pulled up anchor, and brought it to the docks and tied it up, our sailors thought it was another boat that looked “just like our’s” – and “look, it’s even got the same name.”

The other to prize for Cruiser of the Year also had a lot of competition, but we finally settled on a particularly active couple, one who had gone on eleven of the fifteen cruises, sponsored one of the most well-attended and complicated cruises, and taken lots of others on their boat during the course of the year.

Now we can look forward to cruises next year without having to do most of the work, which really will be a relief. I can hardly wait!

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