Fair Winds...Following Seas..and Follow the Sun, dear friend...

"Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing—absolute nothing—

...half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." ~Kenneth Grahame

It’s over-quoted for sure, but the most aptly fitting line for today. We heard news of our dear friend Russ passing after a brave battle with ALS. He made us all laugh and was a true friend. Russ was there the day I met Peter and I can hardly imagine a world without him, but we are glad that his suffering is over. 

This is how I will remember Russ: fixing something on his boat or the countless races when we’d sail too close to each other's boats and some fool would yell, “STARBOARD!” just for fun, or sitting around after a race and arguing about time-on-distance vs time-on-time and who really won the race under the bridge.

The world will be a lot less fun without you, Russ. You will be missed.

Sharing these photos for all Russ's friends...so we can all remember him well.

In the summer of 2008...

A view of Pier 3, back in its heyday, looking west toward Philadelphia. Our first sailboat* Montserrrat in the foreground, headsail still hanked on (means we must have just come in, or we think we are going back out shortly.)

*well together anyway. 

The view across the Delaware River to Camden. We often sat on the patio looking across the river to the sunset reflected in the glass rectangles.

      Our friends Russ and Mike on Russ's sailboat sailing by the marina. Note the Customs House--familiar skyline site in Old City--squatting in the background. BTW: I think Russ and Mike won this race.

 Same race night probably. Andy's boat with Al as crew and Russ/Mike again.

      The race is over. Russ was having bow issues. Andy and Al are coming up on the scene.

Anchored out in our favorite cove for dinner with friends. Peter is on our sailboat grabbing some wine and snapping the moment. (There were always arguments about who had discovered the cove first. It’s no matter any longer, the cove is silted in. I think this very night Russ ran aground—his boat draws almost six feet—and we tried to lead the familiar way out, we got out and radioed back. I think he said his boat was taking on water and he was cussin up a storm.

Peter, taking a much-needed work break in mid-September. Russ sails his spinaker in the background under the Ben Franklin bridge.

  I found one album from July 2009. Intro: As we all watched the big July 4^th fireworks on the river, talk turned to racing the next day and it was settled. No matter that there was NO wind...we had plans to get to Cattails for dinner and race back!

So this is Russ’s sailboat, “Crash Pad.”

Russ sails by the Ben Franklin Bridge in preparation for the race. It's been determined that the race will run down river to the Walt Whitman Bridge and back.

Russ's crew: Jonathan, and (Terry & Ron’s son) Justin & his wife Emmy. Everything's still friendly--until the race starts! Still, I let them know, I'm setting the time stamp as proof. (We often spent hours back on the patio disputing corrected times and actual finishes.)

We decide that the wind is so light and it's taking forever to get to the start line that we'll just start where we are.

Russ looks over to check if Peter & I are ready.


See that look on their faces?

They're checking those luffing sails!

Hey--what happened? They're so smug!!

Shouts go out about right-of-way. The tension is thick. STARBOARD!

Plans for Cattails have been abandoned over the phone, but they don't believe it till they see us tack and head back. We don't have enough gas to motor and neither of us have working lights right now so we've gotta be back by sunset.

It took us til 5:24 to get under the Ben Franklin. I was wishing we were out for a bike ride instead of the torture of racing in light wind. But I have never known Peter to quit a race. Not even mutiny (or an empty wine bottle) can make him turn the engine on!

Hmm...Russ already has his sails down...very suspicious!
We'll cut him some slack this time--his crew got him to turn the engine on. There's a reason he usually sails solo!