Aleria's Adventures

Aleria 's Irish flag clearly visible in the marina We wanted to stop by to say goodbye temporarily to Carmella and Carmen at the RCN in Portosin. We heard in the meantime that RCC was going to be coming there for a stopover on a cruise in company. Peter Hayden, ICC and OCC, helped them organize it. At the last instant, we heard that Peter Whatley, OCC & RCC, was going to be in the day we were heading in. I worked closely with Peter when he was VC for OCC and really enjoyed it. It would be nice to see him again and the new Van de Stadt exploration vessel her had built.

A boat is not a simple thing. A boat is many things to different people. A fishing boat can provide pleasure or livelihood. A cruise ship provides a means to travel in style. A dinghy gives the option of racing or playing. But a sailing boat has many options of things it can deliver from racing on Thursdays to sailing off into the sunset. It delivers absolute freedom in an increasingly complex and controlled world. It uses the wind to propel us around the earth with the currents. It lets us escape the rigors of the "real world" which we quickly learn wasn't real at all. A boat is about dreams and fulfilling them. It's about being drawn out to sea to see what is beyond the horizon. Last week, we were contacted by a young man doing a research project for his dissertation. The subject he chose was studying what instigates a decision to sail offshore. We were fascinated, particularly since he was the winner of a goodie basket from the Irish Sailing Association at