Farewell Newport 25/06/09

At 0900 EST Dinah slipped her lines, and left the dock outside the Newport
Yacht Club where she had arrived to much celebration ten days earlier. That
same cannon that had fired as she arrived went off again to mark her
departure (thank you George!). It was quite emotional leaving, and I was
glad to be wearing my sunglasses to keep up the macho appearance of a
hardened solo skipper.

As we motored past the Newport seafront, I gave a little wave to each of the
wonderful places that will be engrained on my memories forever. The
Landings, The Moorings, Buskers Irish Bar (good man Tom!), the little beach
in the middle of town, the New York Yacht Club, these landmarks now mean so
much I'm sure it won't be long before I find an excuse to come back...

It's only fitting to say thanks to all those who made the event so special.
David and Jill, Marten and Jean, the tireless race comittee. Norm Bailey and
Chris Arscott, the two hosting club Commodores. Bob and Aileen, my shore
crew. My parents and family, all those that kept my spirits up in various
ways along the way, and of course my fellow competitors with whom I now
share a bond through shared experiences, and membership of the Half Crown
Club.

The plan now is to cruise to New York, inside Long Island Sound and enjoy
the 4th of July celebrations there before heading back to Ireland via the
Azores. I intend to maintain a daily blog on my own site www.dinah.sail.ie
diarising the adventures still to come so please do stay in touch.

From Ostar 2009 this is Dinah out.

Barry

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