To wrap up their vacation in Williamsburg, a Maryland couple and their son sailed a serene York River on a balmy afternoon. The trip brought back memories of disaster. Lori and Bill Rodean have traveled all over the world. They got to recall some eerie aftermaths.
“We seem to bring bad luck wherever we go,” Lori said. “Last year we vacationed in Boulder and a week later it was flooded.” Bill offered, “We went to St. Louis the previous year and Ferguson happened a week later. The same thing happened in Estes Park, Colorado. A week after we visited, the dam broke and flooded out the little town.”
She added, “We took our daughter to visit colleges in Charlotte and a week later riots broke out.”
Lori is a lab tech for a big hospital, where robotics and big business have moved in. Bill said, “Quest has come in and directed the work from all over the country to just three central labs.” She added, “Our own lab loses hundreds of tests at a time. They just disappear.”
We drifted and sailed, then drifted and sailed some more. The Rodeans spoke fondly of visiting Israel, which they found was much more green and lush than the brown dryness they imagined.
Lori said, “Now that I think of it, people were killed after we left. But then, people are killed all the time over there.”
We talked about cruise ships as a efficient alternative to a big vacation excursion. “I’ve been thinking about us taking a cruise in China. Then I read where one of the ships capsized and killed many people. Gee, just thinking about disaster seems to cause it.” She laughed as we contemplated that. I’ll let them know next week what happens to Let’s Go Sail.
Sailing from Louisville
The Miller family of Louisville picked up the afternoon sail, and so too did the wind pick up. Everyone took a round at the helm, which was quite different from their prior experience on smaller tiller boats. The boat listed to 15 degrees in winds piping to 10 mph. It was glorious.
The patriarch Jay Miller recalled “Miami Vice” and the cigarette boat Don Johnson drove.
“But remember that he lived on a sailboat, not the cigarette boat. It was a big sailboat, very nice. He had a pet alligator as a guard. A very effective deterrent.” We all laughed.
“Two weeks before the [Kentucky] Derby we have the ‘Thunder Under Louisville.” It’s a big music festival that draws maybe 300 boats. They show up on the Ohio River around 1 o’clock and start drinking. At 10 that night when the fireworks are over, they all want to be the first one to get out of there. It’s a mess.”
Jay quoted a personage who once said, “If you haven’t been to the Derby, you haven’t seen nothin’ or been anywhere.” It’s also been quoted as until the Derby, “You ain’t never been nowheres.”
Let’s Go Sail
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