Ever since we moved onto our boat one of my biggest wishes was that I would be able to show my parents how it feels living on a boat. As both my parents are over 80 years by now, I was concerned that I have missed the opportunity. For the last few years they told us that they don’t want to fly anymore. I was so happy when they told us this spring that they changed their mind and they like to visit us.
So in October my wish came true and they arrived at Newark airport, where I picked them up. After showing our boat, we introduced them to our sailing friends with a fondue party at the next door sailing club. The first night went well and they still looked like they enjoy the boat life. The next day we took them out on their first sail ever, on our friends saling boat. The sail was very exciting as the wind was gusting up to 28 knots and the boat which belongs to our friends Dragona and Kjartan’s was heeling a lot. To all our surprise my parents enjoyed every minute.
After surviving the sail, my parents were ready to go out with our boat. The following day we took them on a river cruise to see the Statue of Liberty, Governers Island, Brookyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan. After the cruise we visited our friends Don and Pam on their boat to have a view of New York during our sunset drinks. Another adventure was the ride in our little dingy (Jolanda calls the tender “Ugly Duckling”).
The following week we took our boat up to City Island to visit two of our longest friends Alex and Noelva. I think I mentioned that they own an island so we did a little sighseeing tour. In the evening we went to the local Japanese Hibachi and next day we did some Yoga all together.
We also did a little road trip to Sandy Hook to go to the beach, it was a very beautiful day.
My dad joined us for our workout with our personal trainer, with 84 he is still very fit.
Conclusion written by Jolanda:
It was a true inspiration to have Marcus parents visiting! They embraced our boat life like pros. Got up and down the steps and deep steps. Got on and off our boat and even managed to get into the dingy and out well. They had the choice to stay at our friends place, but preferred to stay with us on our boat while we were on a mooring ball at City Island. Marcus Dad was invited by Marcus to go and see a soccer match, but he preferred to watch me racing during our yearly end of season Regatta instead. We had a beautiful time together and are so grateful they decided to visit us.