I had planned to get underway at 10:00am on Oct.4 for Epilogue's Maiden Voyage. I invited a few people who have been instrumental in moving this dream forward with me. Of course there have been so many without whom I could have never pulled this off, the number grew to 15 and could have easily kept going. The forecast for the day called for 15-20 knots from the SW, building to 25-30 knots by afternoon, low clouds and 60% chance of rain. Eager to get out before the winds built above 25knots, I paced the docks waiting for a couple stragglers I'd already reminded would be left at the dock if not there by 10:00am. Well, one of them I had to wait for was Bob Doyle, the master rigger who was coming to sail-tune the rig under load. He wanted 20 degrees of heel to take the slack out of the leeward shrouds on each tack. He definitely got it, and then some. The day was really quite surreal for me. So caught up in the thrill, and stress, of sailing this boat for the first time, I think I forgot about the profound meaning of this day. Flanked by my father and some of my best friends, who've fought with me for this dream for nearly four years, we hoisted her sails and felt the rush of wind, water and silence. As her sails filled and tested the seams she nearly lept out of the water, quickly informing us of her power and beauty. With two fingers I steered her, perfectly balanced as we bore off onto a reach with the freshening breeze. The thousands of hours I've spent with her, tracing my hand over nearly every part of her many times, she's been whispering to me with a mysterious seduction of how it would feel to sail her. I hear those whispers, sometimes in my sleep, and they somehow keep me from quitting her altogether on the days when I leave her broken, bloodied and furious, wondering if she'll ever be more than a crushing burden. On this day she was far from a crushing burden. Everyone on board that day has a memory of how this story began nearly four years ago and to forget that tragedy would be to lose the fullness of the gift we all received. Truly, the Epilogue would be meaningless if not for the perspective of the full story. And the page we turned this day was utterly glorious.
