The Rest Is History

     The story has been told once or twice, or even more, but it does warrant another time because it was purely a chance encounter.  Sharon and I were on our inaugural trip south on the ICW.in 2010.   Somewhere in the vicinity of Cocoa Beach, FL we were passed by a sailboat.  Yes, I said passed by a sailboat.  When you're a slow boat to China, aka a trawler, you do get passed by other boats that are traditionally slower than yourself.  But in this case, being passed by this sailboat was a very good thing.  After being passed, the sailboat's Admiral, Ann, hailed us because of our boat name and our hailing port.  We are Big Run with a hailing port of Rock Hall, MD, and they are Short Walk with a hailing port of Furlong, PA.  Okay, the hailing ports don't match but they do keep their boat in Rock Hall, MD.  It's all about the boat  names. We chatted on the radio with them for awhile.  As these two slow boats traveled south on the ICW that afternoon, we were never separated by much distance, and soon it was time to look for an anchorage.  Both Short Walk and Big Run shared an anchorage that night at Pine Island which included an impromptu happy hour, and the rest is history.