The Happiest Days

The morning of my last day on Fezywig.

They say the two happiest days in a boat owners life are the day he buys the boat and the day he sells it.  With all sincerity of heart I can say that is not true for me.  We sold Fezywig today.  And more than anything, I am sad.  Sad for me, but happy to for the family purchasing her.  And happy someone else is about to begin a beautiful journey for themselves.  After returning to NYC last fall, I helped Travis and Jamie Anderson sail the boat back down to the Chesapeake Bay.  Here’s what I wrote in my journal about my last day on Fezywig:

The sail up the Delaware Bay was lovely.  We left an hour after low tide and rode the current all the way up.  Motor sailing, we averaged 8.5 knots.  Pretty good.  Up the bay, the water flattened out.  The canal was a serene stream of chilly water, wispy mist and massive, high bridges.  We entered at 8:31pm, just as it was getting dark.  Right on schedule.

We pulled into the Anchor Basin and were at anchor by 10:28pm.  Emily called at 10:33pm to say they were there to pick me up.  The dinghy outboard was a bear to get started.  We hadn’t run it since Hampton, VA, three weeks prior.  We finally got it running, and we toodled over to the dock at the Chesapeake Inn.  Emily and Karina met us.  We unloaded the bags, chatted, hugged.  Then I tossed the painter into the dinghy, and that was that.  Fezywig was now theirs.  Travis and Jamie motored out into the night.  Emily turned to me and said, “You’re here on the pier with a cap on your head, a beard on your face, a waterproof duffle bag, and mist rising up off the night water.  Could you look more like a sailor?”  We had a good laugh.  I didn’t particularly feel like a sailor, but she was right.  As usual.

That was the last time I saw Fezywig.

Travis and Jamie took their kids out for six months.  Back down the coast.  Out to the Bahamas. Then back to Ft. Lauderdale.  Today another couple from California bought her.  She’s theirs now.  We’ll miss her.  It’s the end of a chapter.  For me, the happiest days on our boat were not the first nor the last day, but all the ones in between.  Thank goodness for that.  There were a lot more of those.  We hatched this whole idea seven years ago, and here we are.  It's done.  Beginning to end. 

Sunset, my last day on fezywig.