50th Birthday Family Sail

So the theme of this past week was my 50th birthday.  (I tried my best to hang onto my 40s for as long as possible, but time always wins in the end.)  John and Gabby came over a few nights ago to kick off the celebration with some ice cream cake.

At the impromptu party, I had made arrangements to achieve my last sailing goal for the year, which was to sail to dinner at Bahar's Landing.  We made arrangements to do it on Sunday since crappy weather and John's schedule made Saturday impossible.  

Or so I thought...

It seems that other plans for Sunday were being made... Vicky and John had conspired to surprise me with my brother and sister and their families visiting.  So we delayed the sailing trip to Bahar's and elected to go for a quick sailing trip, followed by driving to dinner at Bahar's. 

We did have one problem... Marissa (my niece) was on crutches and the launch wasn't comfortable having her board Seas The Day that way.  So we approached the KYC dock to load Marissa which gave my sister, Emma, a chance to capture our yacht at the dock.  

Here my brother, Rob, is helping her board (I'm below, fighting with the depth/speed sensor - AFTER approaching the dock in shallow waters blind to my depth because I forgot I pulled the sensor.)  

So here's Seas The Day finally being skippered by a mature 50 year old guy (instead of the young late-40s whipper snapper that had been at her command).

Above are nephew's Marco and Evan.  Both took their turn at the helm, and even put down their iPhone based video games for a bit.

John is becoming quite competent crew on board, being very helpful on this trip.  Emma's family is below (husband Mario with Marissa and Marco)... testing their patience for photography.

We went out to the Great Bed's Lighthouse, getting some photos of Rob along the way.

The guys hung out below for a brief bit as we were sailing back.

And we got a nice photograph of Emma and Marissa.

As we were returning to head off the Bahar's Landing (by car), we passed the Millers heading out on their boat.  I had Vicky grab a quick photo because they had a really neat reflection due to the smooth water.

Then we headed to Bahar's Landing where we celebrated Oktoberfest!

The only person missing was Rob's daughter, Meredith, who had a work conflict.  She's told me that she's eager to see Seas The Day, but unless she gets here next week, that will have to wait until next year.  It's starting to cool off a bit and Seas The Day is scheduled to be hauled on Oct 20th.

Finally, while she's missing from the birthday photos (because she was behind the camera this time), I'm truly thankful for Vicky Lai's love and support during the entire birthday celebration.  She has made the last 5% of my life so much better than the previous 95%.  I'm eternally grateful to you, my love!