St. Pete's Beach

St.Pete’s Beach, FL

We’ve seen our first two boats now, both in the St. Petersburg area, both with funny small world connections.  The owners of the second boat, Aeolia just bought 20 acres in Forestville, California, about a half an hour from Petaluma.  We joked that it was too bad we didn’t know because maybe we could have made some sort of Victorian/sailboat trade.  The connection, however, with the owners of the first boat, Cynosure, was even more incredible. 

The owner, Art, asked Dave when he returned from his circumnavigation.  Dave at first said ’97 then remembered that, no, he returned in ’99 and said that in ’97, he was in Borneo.  Art said quizzically, “We were in Borneo in ’97.”  A few more questions and Art said, “I know you.”   Turns out that during their five-year circumnavigation, Dave and his family spent time together with Art and Pat who spent nine years circumnavigating, returning in 2001.  We called Pat down to the boat and when she made the connection, we all had tears in our eyes.  She said to Dave, “You still have those beautiful blue eyes.”  Many stories were shared and plans were made to have dinner together the next night, which we did.  It was a pleasure to spend time with this lovely couple and hear about their adventures.

Regarding Cynosure, she sure is a lovely boat.  Not only is she beautiful, inside and out, but she has been meticulously maintained.  Tricia (In Singapore where she celebrated her 60^th birthday, Pat decided to change her name to Tricia) says that Cynosure is Art’s play thing and that everyday he finds a reason to go down to the dock and work on her.  He has added many features to make her more safe, efficient, and comfortable.  He was particularly proud of the remote keychain switch which turns on the spreader lights that illuminate the entire deck useful at night when returning to the boat via dinghy.  Art calls Tricia his “varnisher” because she loves to varnish, and Cynosure lives up to its “shiny penny” description.  Lordee, she is tempting.  Time to review the finances. - L.