829 Southdrive

829 Southdrive

A New Jersey state of mind



Saturday, June 15, 2013

Two Fathers' Two Fathers


Jim, Dave, Hans, and Bob, on Bob's MC 1, E motion.


As with many families, parents eventually realize they're not meant
to be together for eternity, so they divorce and very often re-marry.
A lot of the time, the break-ups are bitter and the kids suffer the
consequences. My brother and I were fortunate in that although
our parents had their difficult years, they both found someone
to continue life with.  All parties were either friends, crewmates,
 sailing acquaintances, or all of the above. Life in those days
largely revolved around sailing. 


The Murphy Nye sail means that the day started out with light
wind.  Evidently it picked up, as seen in this photo.  Had Dad known, he
may have gone with a flatter Seidelman main instead. 


Because of the common interests of  the parties involved, there
was not only a civil acceptance of the new spouses, but a 
friendly and sociable relationship emerged.  My brother and I
lived with our Mom and Bob, but spent most summer weekends
with Dad and Jill, sailing and racing.  However, all of us were on 
the Bay on Saturdays.  One race with Dad in the
morning in the Penguin, then maybe on Bob's E scow in the 
afternoon.  Or Laser in the morning, and Dad's E scow in the
afternoon.  There were many permutations by which we
spent our summer Saturdays.  The continued involvement
in racing almost guaranteed that we'd all be somewhat bonded.


Dad's scow, MC2, Repechage.  Google 'repechage' if you want.
MC is for Metedeconk.


So much for the history lesson.  I don't remember for sure but
I have to believe there were at least a handful of Fathers' days
that we were on a boat together, or at least around boats.  How
could we not have been?  Sunday?, in the summer?


Jim and Bob on the patio at 829 South Drive, on the Metedeconk.


I'm lucky to have had two sailing mentors, two life mentors, two
 Dads.  Happy Fathers' Day, Bob, Hans, and all the Dads out there!  
I'll say HFD to Dad tomorrow when we're out on the Bay.


5 comments:

  1. Ok....Bay wife in tears right now. We will continue the tradition and be on the Bay tomorrow. Love you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You children (and parents) were very fortunate. But I doubt it came about accidentally - it sounds like all involved acted like adults through a difficult time.

    And, I would like to think that all being involved in the noblest sport on earth helped tremendously.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Replies
    1. Sometime, whenever we connect up together on the phone next, remind me to make a comment on this thread.

      Delete