Thursday, October 2, 2008


June 6, 2008 - Christening Ceremony - 7:00 pm

Maureen memorized the little ceremony and it went like this:

"Let it be recorded that on this date, June 6, 2008, and forevermore, this fine vessel will be named Blue Heron. I christen this ship, Blue Heron. May she bring fair winds and good fortune to all who sail on her."

Using a bottle of champagne enclosed in two ladies knee high hosiery, Maureen tries to break the bottle on the anchor at the bow giving it two really hard whacks. She was unable to break the bottle, so Gale tried, but not before wrapping an old rag around the bottle neck. It took him a couple of tries, but, at last, it did break into many pieces. The boat was showered with champagne. The toasts were next.

Two glasses of almond champagne were poured.

Maureen: "First, a toast to the Captain, my Captain. May he guide Blue Heron easily and expertly over the water and bring all who sail on her safely back to port."

Gale: "A toast to my wife, and lovely First Mate."

Gale and Maureen: "Now a toast to Blue Heron."

Maureen: "And, finally, we will place this silver dollar aboard Blue Heron and keep it in a safe place as a good luck charm and as a symbol of generosity to her to show her that we will care for her and attend to her every need and desire."

After the ceremony, we had some cheese and crackers along with our champagne. Gale called his mom and dad to share the experience and let them know we were safe. He also called Bob Schaut.


Maureen was in bed before the sun went down (a little champagne and a busy few days will do that) and Gale stayed up until midnight plotting our course to Delaware City.

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