Maiden Voyage

Born and raised in New England. Maybe not "hardy" New England(Greenwich Connecticut)but New England just the same. Now,in Massachusetts for the past 20 years, I understand the term; "Hardy New England Stock" The winters are long, dark and cold. One way to warm the heart and soul is to travel somewhere sunny and hot, with gentle ocean breezes.

My family had already been boating for years when I was born. Weekends in the summer were spent either on the boat, or playing around the boat yard. I was the youngest of three girls and sometimes wondered if my dad was disappointed not to have a son. I remember asking my mother, when I was very young, if dad "wished I were a boy"... My mother was a kind, intuitive woman. Intuitive enough to know that her answer might determine how I defined myself as an adult. She answered without hesitation, "He said you were the closest he would ever come to heaven." My dad died when I was six years old. Her answer sustains me today.