We toured the hill country of Texas - checking out all the places that Keith's ancestor's had lived, visiting San Antonio's River Walk and the Alamo, driving down to Keith's hometown of Raymondville and finishing up our vacation in Port Isabel.
We originally decided to just charter so that I could get the experience of sailing. But there was no charters available at the time, and Keith was busy with broker Bill checking out the Mark IV and discussing other options. So, I hunkered down during that time, in the motel, on the computer and organizing all the info and pictures of my first genealogy "bug-hunting" excursion (that term came from a cousin who had done some amazing genealogy road trips of her own).
In between Keith's hunt for the right boat, we enjoyed visiting various places in Port Isabel and South Padre Island. We had dinner at Pirate's Landing in PI one night, and dinner at Blackbeard's in SPI on another night. We enjoyed an afternoon at the Wanna Wanna beach bar. It had a great view of the Gulf as it was right on the beach on the Gulf side of the island. We toured Sea Turtle, Inc on SPI, which began a love of turtles and their preservation for me.
Now, in all this, I really didn't even imagine we would be heading back to work as new owners of a 36' 1981 Cherubini Hunter. Keith told me when we arrived in Port Isabel that he would be looking for the "right" boat, but not buying until he was ready and the boat "felt" right. I guess the boat felt "right", because I get this call while at the motel that he wanted me to see this boat Bill had shown him. I could hear the excitement in his voice, so I said sure, come get me.
In all honesty, my reaction (which I kept to myself - reserving my opinions until I've taken the whole tour) upon seeing the Grey Bird's exterior was 'this is small....where are we going to put out our chairs on that deck? There's no room'. My reaction to the interior was, ' this is samll'.
But Keith was right, I did notice it was clean. The wood paneling needed some care, the cushions were tattered and ugly, but it had potential.
Okay, so I was totally clueless and had no idea what kind of lifestyle I was getting myself into - and it took a long time to adjust to it. But I can honestly say now, that I can't imagine any other kind of lifestyle. I can't say every day has been a challenge to triumph over, but life is never mundane or average. I can't say that every day has been an adventure, but there have been more adventures than any we would have living on a ranch, or in an apartment in the city.
So, being the clueless person that I was at that time - and seeing how much Keith liked the boat, the gleam it put in his eye - I gave the Grey Bird a thumbs up.
I was surprised at how quickly that boat was purchased and became ours. For some reason, I was thinking that it would take weeks - or even months, like a house, and we would own it after two or three more trips to Port Isabel. Imagine my surprise when Keith walked into our room at White Sands and told me we now owned the Grey Bird. A few written checks and signed paperwork and the deal was done. Whoa, that was quick - I blinked and we became boat owners.
Anchor Marina.
Anchor Marina.
I have always said that getting a boat was Keith's dream....and it was his dream. I never, in my wildest imagination, would have ever thought of it for myself. It made him happy - which made me happy for him. Over time, I adopted that dream of his - a process of embracing it, pushing it away, embracing it - adjusting, adapting - until it sneaks into the soul and settles in (quite nicely, too).After the purchase - and before leaving Port Isabel to get back to work - the Moonlight Sue had to be moved out of her private slip to a side-tie at Anchor Marina in the Fingers.
We actually had the name change completed on the sale papers, as we had already made the decision to re-name the boat we would buy.
I came up with the name on one of our "truck talks" on the road. Sue was Keith's mothers' name. She had passed on a few years before we bought the Hunter. I knew that, if she was there, she would be excited about Keith fulfilling a dream of his - and we wanted her with us always. So, I tried out a few different "Sue" names in my head and came up with "Moonlight Sue". Keith liked it and when the Grey Bird became ours - we christened her "Moonlight Sue".
Keith on our last afternoon of our vacation. With no time left to take her out, Keith is goofing off his anxiousness to get out to sea. A classic picture - of which Keith disagrees.
We spent the last afternoon on the Sue at Anchor Marina. Keith was just chomping at the bit to take her out on a day sail, but we had run out of time. It would have to wait until our next time off. We spent the afternoon talking about plans for us, the boat, our lives. And we were excited. Everything was coming together.
Little did I know (since he never tells me anything until the last minute), that Keith had some very definite plans to personalize the Sue. And, quite frankly, between him and his son, Branden, had created one of the most beautiful boats I had ever seen in my life.
