Voyages of Ocean Explorer
2007 - Ocean Explorer Remains
in the Shed in Manitowoc
There is a time to sail and a time to stay home. Over the past year it has become apparent that my dear wife and long-time sailing companion, Donna, is ill. The process has progressed to the point that she is no longer able to be aboard our beloved Ocean Explorer. I, quite frankly, don't have it in my heart to be sailing without her. This being the case, I elected to keep OE on the hard in the shed at Manitowoc during the summer of 2007.
For a while I had Ocean Explorer up for sale, thinking that if Donna could not be sailing I would not want to sail without her. It was a difficult decision for me and I had a lot of misgivings about it. At the urging of our family, all of whom have been very supportive to us, I have made a decision to take OE off the market. It is hard to determine in what direction our lives will go at this time. I do not want to risk selling OE and then later regret it. She can always be sold, but she can't be replaced.
Donna has many friends and family hoping and praying for her. She is getting excellent medical care. We all hope for recovery. Perhaps the three of us, Donna, Ocean Explorer and I, can soon be sailing together again. In the meantime, OE remains safe and sound in Manitowoc.
It was not a summer totally without sailing, however. I was able to spend some time racing with my friends, the Chattertons, on Lake Pepin. Donna and I also had the great pleasure of seeing our good friends, Roger and Gaynelle Swanson, aboard Cloud Nine, make it through the Northwest Passage (see Cloud Nine's vignettes and crewman, David Thoreson's blog). It is said to be the first East to West passage by an American vessel, and the fastest passage ever. Roger is the oldest person (at age 76) to have made the passage. We feel very privileged to have sailed with them in the past.
Updated November 1, 2007