All Because Two People Shared a Dream

I always knew that someday I would have my own boat and that I’d live on it and cruise around the islands. I was only 8 at the time but I knew it like I knew my own name. I’d think about it every time I climbed onto my grandfather’s little 16 ft. boat, the Li-Da-Pa. He’d let me drive it every now and then and it thrilled me to no end. I was never happier than when I was on the water in that little boat. I loved everything about it; the sun glinting off the water in the morning; the smell of the salt air; and yes, even the smell of the docks when we came back in. The sea called to my young heart loud and clear and someday I would answer that call in my own boat.

Sadly, four years later my grandfather died unexpectedly and with him went my sea faring adventures. The Li-Da-Pa sat in my uncle’s yard on a trailer rotting into disrepair. Every time I saw it those great memories of being on the water would flood back to me, pulling at my heart. It would be years before I’d be back on boats but every summer I’d sit on the beach watching the boats go by, dreaming my dream. Someday….

The business of adult life carried on and if not for summers at the beach dreaming my dream it may have all but vanished. I have lived near Annapolis and worked in Washington, DC my whole life so I’ve spent many hours walking the docks looking at the yachts and wondering what it must be like to live the dream. It was surely out of my reach at the time but I just knew that someday that would be me.

When I turned 30 I became a certified scuba diver and once again found myself vacationing on boats but this time I was on boats in the Caribbean. Life on the water in paradise! It was just how I imagined it would be! I looked in awe at the people living on the boats as we passed by. They were living my dream. How did they do it? I talked to anyone who would give me the time of day, asking them to tell me their story, trying to find clues as to how to make my dream come true. It seemed that unless I was independently wealthy or won the lottery I was just going to have to keep dreaming my dream. But some day it was going to come true…. I just knew it.

When my mother remarried, she married a retired naval officer who loved boating. They bought a 42’ Grand Banks and began living the dream! I would go out with them any chance I could. My step-father taught me how to navigate while my mom taught me the ins and outs of living aboard and line handling. I’d spend long weekends and vacations with them as often as I could, soaking up information from them like a sponge. I loved staying on board with them. The lifestyle suited me better than I thought it would, if only for brief periods.

I was 46 when I met my soul mate, Paul. I never imagined that my soul mate would be wearing a kilt and playing the bagpipes but it was fate and fate decides itself. We didn’t know we were soul mates at first, that came later, but when I told him of my dream of retiring, selling everything I owned, buying a boat and cruising to the islands, I saw a little spark in his eyes. He was a dreamer too! Did I mention that Paul lived in Michigan? He had grown up fishing the Great Lakes and was no stranger to boating. As it turns out, he had a similar dream but he was going to buy an RV and see the country. He said that cruising sounded just as good, if not better so we began sharing the dream.

We had a long distance relationship for 3 years and in 2010 Paul froze his retirement, moved to Maryland and we got married, overlooking the water at my parent’s yacht club. At that time I still had 6 more years before I could retire from my federal job and he still had 2 years before he could collect his retirement. But the dream was getting closer than either of us could have imagined.

In the spring of 2011 the boating market was at an all-time low and it occurred to us that we should probably finance a boat while we still had jobs so we started looking. We got pre-approved for financing and had our down payment in the bank. It was a buyer’s market so it should have been a piece of cake. Having never bought a boat before, we had no idea what to expect. I assumed it would be like buying a car. Find one you like, sign the papers and drive away. We poured over listings and websites until we figured out what we wanted. The first couple of boats we looked at we contacted the seller’s broker for the showing. I remember standing on the fly bridge of the first boat looking at the overflowing ashtrays and empty beer cans in the cup holders thinking “Are we on the right boat?” I was horrified when we went below and found the galley sink full of encrusted, dirty dishes and heads that looked like they hadn’t seen a toilet brush in years! I can’t imagine what it would have looked like if they weren’t trying to sell it! We were totally disheartened.

A week later when we looked at a second boat, it was more of the same. Now I was mad. These people had the dream in their hands! I had spent my entire life yearning for what they had and they were throwing it away like some toy they had tired of! I felt like they were somehow disrespecting my dream.

Next we decided to hire a broker, figuring he could save us from looking at boats that weren’t in any shape to buy. We looked at several other boats and it seemed to be going well until we found one that we wanted to put a contract on. We were told that nobody had even looked at the boat in over a year and it would be just a matter of signing the papers. Miraculously however, the day we decided to make an offer, another mystery buyer appeared and a bidding war started. It went higher than our budget would allow so we backed out. 9 months later that particular boat was still on the market. We subsequently fired our unscrupulous broker and went about looking on our own.

In July of 2011, one week after my 50th birthday, we found our dream. Celtic Dream is a 40’ Maxum SCA Motor Yacht. She needed a lot of work and some TLC but we’ve found that when nurturing our dream we’ve got an endless supply of that. When we did our renaming ceremony, Paul played the bagpipes on her bow while I offered bottled spirits to the Gods, humbly asking for safe passage and calm seas. It really was a dream come true.

Paul and I have been living on Celtic Dream 9 months out of the year on the Chesapeake Bay, south of Annapolis. Paul has since retired and I commute to my job in DC. In a few more years we’ll be ready to take off so we decided to put the house up on the market and move aboard full time. We’re planning on doing the Great Loop and then heading down the Caribbean chain, living our Celtic Dream. So if you’re sitting on the docks and you hear the skirl of bagpipes in the distance, it just may be us on the horizon. It may have taken nearly 50 years to realize my dream but the wait was totally worth it because now I get to share it with my soul mate. I never lost sight of my dream and, despite the odds, it came true. Never lose sight of yours!