Growing up in Maryland, my family (dad, uncle, grandfather, siblings) were sailors on the Chesapeake Bay,\u00a0a\u00a0beautiful body of water with over 5,000 miles of shoreline and many fun places to visit when sailing.\u00a0\u00a0My Uncle and grandfather had a 35 foot sailboat that they owned for personal use and also chartered.\u00a0\u00a0My dad had a 25 foot that we was solely for personal use.\u00a0\u00a0Our summers were spent sailing almost every weekend and then we took longer trips when Dad would take his vacation days.\u00a0\u00a0I enjoyed that a lot.<\/p>\n
As occurs to all of us, as we grow up and get older, \u201clife happens\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Parents\u2019 divorce, remarriages, step-familys etc.\u00a0\u00a0I moved from Maryland to Illinois in 1975 during my freshman year in high school with my mom, brother and step-dad.\u00a0\u00a0Then high school, college, my own marriage and children.<\/p>\n
The first few years after moving to Illinois, my brother and I would spend a good part of our summers visiting our dad in Maryland and still sailed a lot.\u00a0\u00a0After about 1978 though, with the start of my adult life, trips back to Maryland became fewer and sailing during those trips rarely happened.<\/p>\n
Dad of course continued to sail and even got a bigger boat in 1992, a Contest 29 built by Conyplex B.V., a Dutch company.\u00a0 S.V. Dutch Treat<\/p>\n Growing up in Maryland, my family (dad, uncle, grandfather, siblings) were sailors on the Chesapeake Bay,\u00a0a\u00a0beautiful body of water with over 5,000 miles of shoreline and many fun places to visit when sailing.\u00a0\u00a0My Uncle and grandfather had a 35 foot sailboat that they owned for personal use and also chartered.\u00a0\u00a0My dad had a 25 foot … <\/p>\n![\"Dutch](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sailingthanksdad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/DutchTreat2004-061.jpg?ssl=1\")
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