The Call of the Sea - Runs in the Family

Dad and I in front of the boat San Diego

My father loves water - rivers, lakes, oceans.  I think that he feels a great calm, along with the crazy enjoyment, anytime he is near the water.  He is simply drawn to it.  His voice changes when he talks about his time on the water.  There are so many old photographs of him on a boat, or with a fish he had caught ( he loved deep sea fishing, forget the small fish and bring on the swordfish).  When I was born we lived on a boat (OK, it was a yacht) until I almost went overboard and we moved to a house (I am sure at my mother's insistence).    Since then we have lived in land locked areas, the Midwest - it really doesn't get more land locked then that.  But my dad always finds the water.  Fish out of water.   His parents had a cabin on the river in Wyoming, where we would tube down the river in the day and sit by the water at night.  But some of my fondest memories were at Lake Pomme de Terre in the Ozarks.  Yes I know that it means Potato Lake which seems like a complete oxymoron, but hey it was a great time.  My best friend's family had been going to the lake for years.  They had a camper and a boat there.  Soon after we were parking our camper there and racing around on the boat too.  My dad loved driving us out and pulling us on tubes or skis.  At night he would sit outside and enjoy the sounds of water, wind and peace.  Now much older and looking for a way to escape the brutal heat of Phoenix in the summer,  he bought a boat and lived on it during the summers in San Diego.  His own escape, sitting out there in the ocean breeze.  I think that he only took it out a couple of times for an actual trip around the bay.  He developed friends and a social circle that he loved.  We all worried about him going out there - but who could stop him when he was so happy.  

He finally had to sell the boat. I know he misses it every summer.  It was a real joy to tell him that we bought a sailboat.  Of course, I don't think he knows how to sail and I sure don't.  But that is besides the point, the call of the water runs through me as well.  Something I think that I got from my dad.  And I hope that he will get a little joy out of my ridiculous journey as I learn how to be a sailor.(well he would if I could teach him how to get to this blog)  I hope that he is proud of me for answering the call of the water. 

My sister and I enjoying the sun and water