Goodbye to Eagle's Wings!



Beautiful Eagle's Wings sailing down Charlotte Harbor

It's been hard to write about selling our beautiful sailboat, Eagle's Wings, a 2003 model 350 Catalina, #37.  We had such a wonderful time over the 13 years we owned her! This boat kept me sane when I was working a very stressful job because every weekend I knew I could go down to the marina and chill out aboard her.  Not only did Eagle's Wings provide lots of adventures and growth opportunities learning to sail her, the greatest joy was in all the friends we met along the way!

I'll remember the great Texas locations especially the Houston Ship Channel experiences sailing along with the super tankers.  Also, it was great fun talking to the Texas/Louisiana barge operators when we called them asking for a pass on their "one whistle" or "two whistle" side.    We loved the Texas Mariners Cruising Association (TMCA) events, especially the French Picnics in Double Bayou.  It was also fun going down to Moody Gardens in Galveston and traversing the St Bernard River.  All the friends we met in TMCA and in Waterford Harbor Marina were great.  Some of them were/are: John & Peggy Allison, Doc & Monica Mulloy, Barry & dear Barb Dupuy, Gloria & Mike Rooney, Lorna & Dave Glascock, Sue Bertram, Steve O'Brien & Alice, Ron Eddleman, Patrice  & Lee Mixon, Renne Siewers, Phillip Kropf, Gina Gibson, Sue & Hank Knippa, Marion & Ed Herndon, Karen & Alan Albrecht, Kat Ley & Doug Haberman ....and lots more!

With her beautiful spinnaker near Houston Ship Channel

Upon retirement, Richard had a wonderful adventure sailing and motoring Eagle's Wings here to southwest Florida with Captain Bill and his crew of guys - Barry & Bill.  They had quite an adventure that involved even taking the boat on a detour down the Mississippi River.  Florida has such gorgeous cruising and anchoring destinations e.g., Pelican Bay and terrific marinas to visit.  The highlight was sailing Eagle's Wings in 2011 to the Exuma Island Chain of the Bahamas.  We made it all the way down to Georgetown.  It was a wonderful time that we chronicled in this blog.  Then in 2014, we took her to the Abacos in the Bahamas -  gorgeous blue water and awesome snorkeling with new friends that we made along the way!



Anchored on the Bahama Banks on way to Exumas

We decided it was time to sell her and move on to a trawler.  We'll be able to cruise into areas that have been unavailable to sail boaters and hopefully, it will be easier for Richard to maintain.  We sold Eagle's Wings to a wonderful new owner, who is renaming her Chance.  He will sail her up to North Carolina waters where we hope she will be well maintained and loved.   Goodbye to a wonderful boat and hello to new boating adventures!