Publish Date: Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Location: Near Upper Canada Village, Morrisburg, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates: 44° 56.221′ N 75° 05.570′ W
Yeah! Today is Three@Sea’s official 1st birthday, and what a year it’s been! Her travels have taken her 6382 nautical miles, visiting the Eastern U.S., Bahamas, the Great Lakes and Canada in the last twelve months. She has been incredibly patient with the learning curve of her new crew, and she has proved to be a fantastic ship!
Although we moved aboard last year on August 2nd, Three@Sea was not officially christened with her new name until August 6th. Since we boaters are a superstitious lot, we wanted to follow all the correct rituals in renaming her (including removal of her previous name and any mention of the old name before moving aboard). We of course had plenty of champagne to toast her new name; and the seas and winds that would take care of her. Which of course, we will repeat today on her birthday.
None of us can believe we have already been aboard for over a year. My how time flies; and what an adventure we have had. Between the three of us we have written more than 200 blogs sharing pictures and stories of the voyage, along with 21 From The Pilothouse videos hosted by Ayla.
For those of you who prefer the “Reader’s Digest” form of my blogs, by far the greatest highlight has been all the people we have met. From guardian angels who have helped us out at critical junctures; to generous souls who have shared their knowledge and possessions with us; to “locals” who celebrate their heritage through stories, food, and smiles; to the downright crazy, caring, and freespirited cruising community; to those of you who have joined our journey “virtually”. Our heartfelt thanks and love for being part of this incredible journey!
______________________
For those of you who enjoy the details, here is our Best of the First Year List:
- Favorite Anchorage: South Benjamin Island, North Channel, Canada (Kathryn); Big Majors, Exumas, Bahamas (David); The Bight, Cat Island, Bahamas (Ayla)
- Favorite Small Town: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada (Ayla); Beaufort S.C. (Kathryn); Harbor Island, Bahamas (David)
- Favorite Water Adventure: Snorkeling the Sea Aquarium near Cambridge Cay (Kathryn); Thunderball Grotto near Staniel Cay, Bahamas (David); Blue Hole on Long Island, Bahamas
- Favorite Time Aboard: Extended Crossings at Sea (Ayla); Nights at anchor (Kathryn); Quiet anchorages (David)
- Scariest Experience: Mooring line around prop in Hudson River (David); 2:00 a.m. anchoring incident at Allens Cay (Kathryn); Anchoring/tying to shore in a thunderstorm at Benjamins (Ayla)
- Favorite episode of From The Pilothouse: Island School (Ayla); Erie Canal (Kathryn); Standing Watch (David)
- Favorite Dilly Moment: Kitty Paw Ball
- Favorite New Game: Mexican Train (David, Kathryn & Ayla)
- Favorite Outrageous Experience: The Atlantis, Paradise Island (Ayla and David); Eating fresh Nooni at Max’s Conch Bar on Long Island (Kathryn)
- Favorite Boat Name (other than ours): More Cowbell (Ayla); Da Do Run Run Run (Kathryn); Wind Lass (David)
- Least Favorite Boat Chore: Opening and closing portholes (Ayla); Holding tank pumpouts (David); Digging provisions out of obscure places (Kathryn)
- Least Favorite Boating Experience: Extended periods of locking (Ayla); Docking in high winds (David); fog (Kathryn)
- Biggest Ah-Ha of Living Aboard: Realization that we are running a small city (David); Camaraderie of the cruising community (Ayla); That a corkscrew can also pull stuffing out of the stuffing box (Kathryn)
- Favorite Special Moment: Sleeping under the stars on New Year’s Eve at Cambridge Cay (Kathryn); Arriving on Harsens Island via our own boat (Ayla); Seeing the anchor chain on the bottom by moonlight at Big Majors (David)
- Best Hidden Treasure: Norman’s Cay Beach Club (David, Kathryn, and Ayla)
- Favorite Three@Sea Festive Event: Tropic of Cancer Party (Kathryn, David and Ayla)
- Best Historical Site: Fallingwater, PA (Ayla), Perry International Peace Monument, Put-in-Bay, OH (Kathryn); The Hermitage, Cat Island, Bahamas (David)
- Best New Dish Mom Created: Fish Curry (David, Kathryn and Ayla)
- Best Local Fare: Conch Salad at Chat & Chill (Kathryn); Wild Blueberries (Ayla) Great Lakes Whitefish (David)
- Favorite New Boat Addition: AIS (David); Kayak (Kathryn and Ayla)
The list could go on and on, but even those who like more detail are probably bored by now. 🙂 Truth is, we have treasured every moment of this journey! 🙂 🙂 🙂
I love fish and I love curry! Can you share the recipe?
Kathryn,
Yes! I’m one of the ‘virtual voyagers’ you have following along 🙂
I’m a grandma living SW of Evergreen, west of Denver and this is ‘my’ adventure’ too!
Not too many people have the courage or tenacity to embark on such a journey as you and your family have undertaken. You have my thumbs up and encouragement and very best wishes!
What a wonderful summary! I plan to print it out so we too can look for these great experiences in the future! Happy Birthday!
Love,
Jane
Hey you crazy kids – congrats and feliz cumpleanos! With much love, Mo
Happy Birthday to Three@Sea and her crew including Dilly…
I am enjoying your venture soooooo much… and just heard about it a few weeks ago… So Happy Birthday and keep on cruising… and safe journey..
S Freeman Algonac
Happy Birthday Boat people. From all of your friends on Harsens Island congratulations on your 1st 12 months. Looking forward to hearing about all of your experiences.
Happy Birthday “Three @ Sea”! Wishing you (and your crew) a continued journey of discovery! XO
Louise
HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY.
I am enjoying all your blogs. Thanks for sharing your fantastic experiences.
Happy Birthday
It has been an exciting year for you and for we ‘followers’ of your adventures. We look forward to seeing more this next year.
Our sailing has been limited this year unfortunately but your blogs and photos have made us virtual crew on an awesome first year cruise.
We enjoy showing friends Ayla’s first video walkthru of your boat and pointing out that our H38 is visibile across the dock at HHN through the forward pilot house windows.
Fair Winds and Following Seas from your former dockmates.
Best Wishes
Bob and Rick Mains
Integrity
Happy Birthday !!!!
May you always have a gentle breeze, calm seas and two feet of water under the keel !!!
From the crew of “Ekhaya”
Hope to meet you some time
Happy Birthday, Three@Sea! We miss you guys!
Kathy and Jim
[…] Kathryn’s Voyage Blog « Happy 1st Birthday Three@Sea!!! […]
I’ve so enjoyed reading all of your posts. I continue to marvel at the confident, beautiful young woman Ayla is becoming. Thanks for sharing your journey with us landlubbers. I’m gearing up to become a kindergarten parent in a couple of weeks.
Happy Belated 1st Birthday Three@Sea!! What incredible adventures you have had so far. I love catching up with you and finding out where you are and what is happening. Wishing you calm seas.
Thinking of you,
Nancy & Bernardo
Kathryn,
Congratulations to you and your family. You are such an inspiration.
I thought you would find this interesting, your blog site just came up as a point of interest on my financial site I follow every morning. Some man from Cocoa Beach put it up. I don’t really know who it is because we all use strange identifications. But that is how I found myself over here this morning.
Anyway, I am so happy for you. I can remember when we talked about you doing something like this. You and your family are truly amazing!
judy wahlberg
Hey congrats guys, that was one heck of a year, I feel privileged to say that I was able to share some of those experiences with you. Now on to year number 2, I am sure you will make it just as good or better. And Kathryn, I am going to make that fish curry ASAP, i am confident it will be delicious.
We have really enjoyed all of your adventures. We are working towards our own and can’t wait to hit the water and see what it has to offer. We have a 31′ Prout Catamaran ‘Sunstar II’. Keep up the great work and maybe we will see you on the water someday!!!
Happy Belated Birthday Three@Sea! We are counting down the days until we begin our liveaboard adventure at the end of Aug.
Have been checking in on you guys periodically and enjoying your adventure sharing.
Thanks so much for your Fish Curry recipe…always looking for variety in cooking and especially ways to serve fish. God Bless and Happy Adventures all!
I liked all three picks for Favorite episode of “From The Pilothouse”. The three choices seem to match your blogging styles…
Dave’s blog is about How to do this: “Standing Watch”
Kathryn’s blog is about Exploration: “Erie Canal”
Ayla’s blog is about Learning: “Island School”
What a perfect combination of perspectives for the rest of us to enjoy. Thank you all for sharing and Happy Birthday.
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. 🙂 Cheers! Sandra. R.