Seafaring Warriors

I hope this email finds you doing well and I am so glad to see Nashville is getting back to some normalcy after such a traumatic weekend. I can only wish the city and its resident a speedy recovery.

While battling the rains and floods in Nashville I received a call from my girlfriend with the unfortunate news that her father had finally lost his long-term battle with cancer. I found myself scrambling to book any flight that would get me to Norfolk in time. My originally scheduled flight from Nashville, where I was teaching a weekend workshop, had been cancelled mid day on Sunday. Luckily for me … one last flight out of Huntsville that had me racing the two hours home in time to catch it and have the opportunity to be present during the “celebration of life” of a very extraordinary man. His contribution as a father, husband, grandfather, and civic and community leader will be forever missed but not soon forgotten.

Like warriors returning to battle, the charter boats in all of their majestic color are returning to the Outer Banks for another season of charter fishing. The marinas are slowly filling up their boat slips with these huge fishing vessels. Fishing and tourism is the lifeblood of these fishing communities.

It is a sight to behold as the charters go out to do battle and then return at the end of the day with their bounty. The beauty is when they conjure together side by side to reflect on the day’s activities. One of the many splendid sights at twilight is the charter fishing vessels at Hatteras Harbor Marina in the Outer Banks of North Carolina after a day of battling the elements and Mother Nature.